The SG Food Blog

Char Kway Teow

2006-08-13T18:24:00.000+08:00

seah im food centre.

garlic prawn pasta

2006-06-16T03:10:00.000+08:00

ok seriously. this has to be the best pasta EVER.

Coffee Club Garlic Prawn Pasta.

the photo doesn't do justice to the food. like seriously. the prawn is almost transparent and it explodes in your mouth in tangy juicyness. it really tasted like they just dumped the live prawns into boiling water and then put it on the plate.. together with the lightly olive-oiled pasta tossed with delicious herbs and garlic. oh the garlic. umm. the taste is still lingering.. (in a good way). and this pasta was given the Excellent Food Award.. and seriously. the taka branch is supposedly the best out of the 3 branches available. i never knew that coffee club (not express!) is so good~ and the price is not like outrageous. its like swensens range, but the food is no where near swensens - its way beyond.

plus, the MUDDY MUD PIE!

who can resist a giant slab of coffee and chocolate ice cream sitting in a lake of chocolate sauce with cocoa power sprinkled all on top? with a chewy, unidentified chocolate?cocoa?coffee? base that taste oh so orgasmic. its an attack on your tastebuds that will go straight to your head. yummm. it won the food award too and its damn famous. for good reason.

coffee club, i LUB CHEW!

chinatown ah balling

2006-05-13T13:17:00.000+08:00

sorry sorry for the lack of updates!

but here it is.. introducing you to my favourite snack when i get tired of walking around chinatown.. the famous ah balling! they are actually "tang yuan", in peanut or almond soup, and they are gorgeous. the soup is not overly sweet, and the tang yuans are bursting inside with filling. best part is the price, where it is just a mere $2 for a bowl of six balls, with the wonderful soup as well! its not the clear syrup, but the goey, fragrant soup made of peanuts cooked so soft and sweet.

the stall is found at the street where the entire street is lined with stalls in wooden carts. it should not be too hard to find if you get out from the chinatown mrt stop and walk a bit along. flavours of the dumplings include sesame, peanut, yam, green tea and red bean.

yummmm.

NTU Food Review

2005-10-18T01:22:00.000+08:00

ok ok so i've haven been updating since ages and ages. that's for a very good reason actually. i was busy tasting the life of uni. haha k erm pun intended. cold, i know. to actually make a small comeback, i shall do a food review of all the canteens in NTU! how cool is that! actually, i've only been to Quad, Can A, Can B, Can 1, 2, 3, 4, 13, 14. but that is enough! cos i say it is!

Quad
good place for food! among one of the best eating places in NTU, with its excellent western food like roast lamb and beef. and the japanese is not that bad too. but i must rave about its chicken rice. so what if its 3.80 and a bit on the pricey side? its worth it! freaking damn nice the best in NTU. the portions are just nice, with the ingredients placed separately. there's veggies and nice chilli and dessert as well! only complain is the bland soup. but the rice is cooked to fragrant perfection w/o being too oily. thumbs up!

Can A
the one with cheap Macs and average stalls. try the western mix grill, its not bad. pple say the mee sua there is nice but not tried. duck rice too. erm, the strawberry milk from the fruit stall is water + strawberry flavour. the chicken rice there is only 1.50. the cheapest in campus i believe. fruit stall has the most variety. i saw huge papayas in baskets stored in front of the stall. no kidding this stall knows what its doing.

Can B
the one where everyone goes to because they have no other choice. they have radioactive chinese noodles. the one with the orange gravy that looks like toxic waste. the stalls are basically crap. but the vegetarian stall has some saving grace. the fake meats tasted damn real! erm, the yongtaofoo stall has bland soup and blah ingredients. muslim stall has $1.50 meesiam but dun buy cos it sucks! yeah. never tried the chicken rice in can B. advice- avoid can b if you can cos its crowded, without good food. its only good for chatting over a cup of coffee when school's over cos its big and windy.

Can 1
$2 chicken rice is good. the portions are huge. can 1 is alright in general but it can get v.boring after a while with just a few stalls. the sour spicy noodle thing is reallly spicy. ohh try the fried carrot cake! NICE. andddd can 1 porridge stall is quite famous too. the you tiao is very crispy. yummy.

Can 2
supposedly the best hall canteen around, it is run by students so there is a certain standard. great variety, you can find things like muajii and tealeaf egg to vietnamese food there. the western is alright, i heard the pork chop is not bad. there's $2 chicken rice too! and its pretty alright as well, the soup is its distinctive style with the herby kinda taste. don't ever try the vegetarian. it really sunk to rock bottom in my book after the black pepper fake-chicken rice i had. wahhh lao damn gross. mixed rice not bad, there's porridge as well. and its cheap. they serve breakfast runnyeggs and toast. good for morning people.

Can 3
ahh, a love-hate relationship. as all cs students know, it is The Canteen That Stinks. but it has good food. and people are willing to brave through grease and stink to get it. but they should seriously do something to the ventilation system. anyhow, the chapchaipeng aka mix rice there is good. they are very bigshot so only open for short hours so you have to catch them! (maybe thats why. rare=good) yeah it has variety and it gives a lot. so whee. the western is not bad too, i highly recommend the Chicken Stew. it is essentially loads of chicken chunks, pototoes and carrots with campbell mushroom soup. haha. nice comfort food. erm, yes the mee hoon kweh not bad. and there's century egg porridge on some days! freaking exotic can but damn nice hah. and the dessert stall auntie is super super nice. give her a hug!

Can 4
my very own hall canteen. imagine my shock when i went there day one and saw ONE stall. for the entire canteen. but ok la its really not tat bad after the initial shock, cos you see, that one stall bao ga liao everything, so everything also cook. got hokkien mee fried rice claypot and stuff. salad crispy chicken a huge hit. i like their chicken cutlet horfun. very fun! hehe. the chestnut water is they make one so its worth the 90cents. erm, ya. hall 4 is nice cos apparently all the hall 5 pple comes to 4 to eat. that also says something about 5's canteen standard. haha.

Can 13
ahh! its the one with western food. best western in NTU. yummy. yummy. yummy. (but i had a fren who had food poisoning after eating its hotplate steak. eat at ur own risk!) pic below shows the sirloin. red juicy meat. ooh lala.

Can 14
jap food!!!! fried tofu!! the huge Dons. YUMMY.

haha i'm tired i'm blogging this at 3am hence the progressively short reviews. erm, who wins overall? i would say its a fight between the Quad and Can 3. you decide. upmarket price, or stinky clothes.

otis spunkmeyer muffin

2005-07-11T16:52:00.000+08:00

otis spunkmeyer muffin

okok, i know i haven't been updating recently but its cos i can't exactly chew due to my new braces. but never fear, for i've found the Otis Spunkmeyer chocolate chip muffins! they are so so good you feel like eating them forever and ever.. it satisfies your chocolate craving without the guilt of a chocolate candybar. filled with so many chocolate chips its almost like a chocolate cake. moist, rich and light.

you can get it from 7-11 stores at 1.30 each. slightly expensive, but worth every cent. go on, try it today!

Ikea Food

2005-06-12T23:48:00.000+08:00

cheesecake, originally uploaded by takeko.

so you wonder what's good to eat at ikea. ok, 2 words.

meatballs.

cheesecake.

its that simple. where else can u get swedish meatballs that easily? ok, it might not be as nice as the really original ones from sweden (i tried em b4! heavenly.) but the taste is not that far off. its a dozen for 6.50 i think with mashed potatoes and sauce and cranberry jam. yummmy. u can buy the meatballs from the swedish market downstairs if you wanna cook them at home.

and also get the cheesecake from the Cafe and Restaurant in Ikea. its not cakey nor too cheesy, so its like a perfect blend of soft dessert goodness. does not make you feel sick if you eat too much. Very very nice :)

berrynice yoghurt

2005-04-12T19:33:00.000+08:00

berrynice
Originally uploaded by takeko.

this, is mac's new offering to the masses in lieu of their sudden interest in health and fitness *cough supersize me *cough* so it added 2 permanent items on its menu, the Chicken Foldover and Berrynice Yoghurt. keep having trouble spelling the sour milk aka yoghurt. and how do u spell weird? or wierd? haha. weird is correct.

so i din try the former item, which i heard is pretty good actually. i did, however, embark to waste 2.50 on this cup of thing, against the strong encouragement of my fren to NOT waste my money, for the sake of this blog. dear reader, do you feel honoured? i did it all for you.

anyway i'll be fine if they gave me only the white stuff and the berries. NOT the honey oats and strawberries buried underneath. the honey oats simply remind me strongly of fudge's food. it even smells the same! after inspection of my hamster's food i find honey oats inside too in liberal servings. what a total turn off. the berries are nice though, they r the only thing that kept me going. the yohgurt itself is just plain normal yo that u can get in like NTUC for 5bux a tub. the strawberries i had were extremely huge but very sour and stale.

conclusion? you can only eat this once.

sugarcane juice

2005-03-27T21:42:00.000+08:00

today we celebrate another national drink (besides milo) that can be found in almost ALL the foodcentres in singapore. after all, what's a food centre without the traditional "cooling" drink made from freshly squashed sugarcane? forget your canned drink or kopi-O, this beverage is your perfect mealtime accompaniment, washing down your oily char kway teow or mee goreng with its refreshing coolness and non-additives goodness. a huge mug like this is also sometimes much cheaper than your canned drink at $1-$1.50.

i find the sugarcane juice at Adam Road foodcentre's Sugarcane Factory especially delicious, and it has a catchy marketing technique of "satisfaction guaranteed" where you can get your money back if you find the drink unsatisfactory. it is not diluted and the sweetness just right and not too overbearing and is served in a generous big cup. another famous sugarcane juice comes from this place near orchard underpass where there's an exit to the marriot hotel. its a food marketplace or something there and has a stall there which sells sugarcane juice with variants like adding lemon or sour plum. you can see many working pple carrying cups of said green beverage back to work during lunch hours.

finally, the above picture comes from the harbourfront food centre and is a classic example of a honest-to-goodness mug of local sugarcane. it has a slice of lemon in it to add a zesty tinge to it to better wash away the oiliness after a meal. sweet and sour, the way we like it.

go on, have a cup of kam jiak zui the next time you lunch at a foodcentre!

random foods from the heartland

2005-03-14T15:44:00.000+08:00

(no photos today. they are such a hassle on blogger!)

so after quite a while, i'm back! been busy sampling food from around the island so spare me. first up, i would like to recommend this stall in the Harbour Front Food Centre (beside the bus interchange). it sells hokkien mee, char kway teow and carrot cake. the 3 essentials to every local singaporean's diet. that day after my and my 2 friends went tanning at sentosa, we decided to drop down to the food centre for a quick dinner. we descended upon that stall for it seemed quite popular (their plates dotted the tables). to our pleasant surprise, each dish costs exactly SGD$2. it is quite rare these days to find 2 dollar dishes, but here it is, hidden in a remote corner of singapore.

i tried the hokkien mee, while the other 2 had the black carrot cake and CKT. delightful. i saw the uncle putting some stock into the hokkien mee while frying and that must have given the dish its wet, fragrant and slippery texture. they cook on the spot for you, so it is piping hot. the CKT and carrot cake are also very tasty, not too sweet (from the black sauce) and not salty as well. pair them with a big mug of sugarcane lemon juice at $1 and you have the most local and satisfying meal of your life, all for $3. incredible.

next up is the food in Jurong Point Food Court. finding a seat in that food court is virtually impossible during mealtimes so one has to be equipped with patience and a tolerating stomach. venturing into that area is also gastronomically tempting as each stall gives out its own tantalising aroma so you feel like trying the food from every stall. there is the famous Loy Kee Chicken Rice stall and i observe pple tucking in the Lai Lai Homemade Curry. i tried the tom yam seafood steamboat from the stall that is right smack in the middle of the 2 rows of stalls with its attention-grabbing metal mini-steamboat with fire underneath. the western fish and chips is also worth a mention with its generous portions and well fried fish :)

but the most memorable dish is the Golden Pillow meal of fried rice wrapped with a thin layer of egg. this preserves the heat and the moisture of the rice as well as make for a unique presentation. chicken cutlets are also provided, and those are nice and crunchy and fried well. add some ketchup and it becomes an extremely fun and delicous meal!

desserts

2005-03-08T02:45:00.000+08:00

today, its about desserts. specifically, very sinful ones.

nydc mudpie
for the uninitiated, nydc serves delicious mudpies at 9.90 each. its basically a slice of ice cream cake drenched with chocolate sauce with topped with whipped cream. depending on what flavour you get, but i would strongly recommend the cookie monster, the jedi mudster and the irish cream. grandma goes nuts is also worth a try! they will send you to straight to heaven at the first bite. the crazysexycool mudpie was not that great. anyway its a great dessert to share with a friend (so that you can share the calories) and then get high with sugar rush and chocolate high. you can eat it on its own, but try the baked pasta/rice if you feel more than desserty. i esp dig the chicken pepper baked rice/pasta. yummy and worth it at 9.90 too!

and next up is the Swensens Earthquake! can u smell, what the rock is cookin'?? *earth trembles and shake* ha this is one hell of a ice cream ride. lets see, we ordered lime sherbet, orange sherbet, chewy choclate, yummy raisins, strawberry, cookies and cream, choco malt and thin mint. topped with nuts, whipped cream, cherries, caramel, strawberry and blueberry syrup.. omg. sugar explosion. we could practically feel our waistlines expanding. but its just 16.90 for pure pleasure! share it with 3 other pple and its like 5 bux each. how cool is that? ice cool!

oh ok this is unrelated but i tried the Oriental Chicken Salad from KFC and i like :)

snacks

2005-02-28T01:59:00.000+08:00

a great late night snack:

milo with wheat crackers
milo is like our national drink. i heard a story of how this boy grew up solely on drinking milo since he was a baby. cool huh. anyway dipping wheat crackers into the sweet, mocha-y, creamy, chocolatey (seriously, how do you describe the milo taste??) makes your crackers soggy, which is the point. there's a technique to it though, you can't just dump them inside till they turn into mush and disintegrate. you have to get it 3/4 soggy, 1/4 crunchy. makes for a very fulfilling, yet light late-night snack!

then there's the hokee buns. very famous. the buns have char-siew meat filling inside and the top is powdery sweet and pastry-ish. 3 different kinds of texture in one interesting bun!

another cool snack is the nachos you can buy at seven-eleven. the nachos are tastier than those you get at the cinema foodoutlet, and way cheaper at 2 bux. its not too salty, and there's a peppery tinge to it. tastes good even on its own! but add the generous cheese for a tian shang ren jian (heaven and earth) combi.

nachos at palawan beach
feeling hungry, anyone?

Kenny Rogers

2005-02-28T01:07:00.000+08:00

and next up on the menu we have Kenny Rogers- no, not the singer but the fabulous restaurant found at suntec and great world city (or so someone told me). the restaurant is inspired by the singer, so there are loads of kenny rogers memorabilia decorating the place, complete with neon lights and a buffet-styled serving counter with side dishes up to at least 10 different kinds. ask about kenny rogers and most pple will remember its corn muffin, which it is famous for.

it's very affordable if you know what to order and have a not-so-big appetite. those chicken-halfs plus 2 sides and muffin is really too much, IMO. only grumble is the drinks, where its 1.70 for a bottle of Ice Mountain (which costs like. 55 cents at watsons.) just ask for a cup of water. but their iced lemon tea is nice :)

psst. lemme tell you a secret. do you know that you can have the meal below for a grand total of 11.70?

the roasters wings plus 2 side dishes n corn muffin cost 9.90, plus extra mashed potatoes side.

share that with your fren (you can't possible finish the huge servings yourself! too much carbo!) and its $5.85 each. that's like the cost of a Value Meal at a fastfood outlet, and you get such delicious stuff. the roasters wings have crispy, grilled-to-perfection skin marinated with a unique taste. they also leave room in your stomach for the very very scrumptious mac n cheese, where its so cheesy and creamy its indescribable. next up the mashed potatoes which "contains chicken bits!" (says rux) that is subtly different from your usual KFC mashed taters, in that it is very addictive and makes a good sidekick. the garden pasta was ok, it was cold and has more of a salad kind of dressing. try the potatoe salad is nice too, as a side. and then of cos there's the sweet and crumbly corn muffin.

and there's NO GST n service charge! wonderful!

Marché Mövenpick

2005-02-24T18:15:00.000+08:00

lets talk about marché (pronounced mar-shay). this place seriously has a good concept going on, the garden marketplace setting, the card-billing thingy (making you spend invisible money b4 giving you a nice big surprise at the gate). marché gives you the european, free and easy, casual feel. not to mention being quite exotic. yeah anyway, the food there is great, especially the Rosti (shredded potatoes with cream) you see up there. as well as the Crepes. caution, however. do not over-eat because you tend to get quite sick of the taste after a while. therefore its best to go with a fren who shares food :) the chicken breast there is also tender and covered with delicious sauce. and oh oh the sausages! yummy delicious fantastic. and very big.

(actually that's all i've tried)

think you can find marché at Suntec and Heeren. the only thing is the price. but then again, this is one of the restaurants where splurging is allowed. a good meal will cost less than 25 and that's all for quality, good ol' european food, plus all the ambience, concept.. yum.

corn soup at MOS

2005-02-23T16:19:00.000+08:00

i used to not really like MOS, thinking that their burgers are over-priced, minute and not very tasty. however, that was before i discovered that they have many wonderful side dishes like the Ichigo frozen strawberries going for $1 for 3 as well as their cute lil bite-sized apple pies. not to mention their milk tea where u add the milk yourself. very nice.

however, the best of da best is actually a cup of humble corn soup. what's so special about it, you ask. well it is the only corn soup around for fast food chains (product differentiation!) and the taste is heavenly. creamy, piping hot and fragrant. better to pay $2 for this than for a cup of coke!

indonesian rice at PS

2005-02-21T15:14:00.000+08:00

first up, serving you the delectable indonesian cuisine found at Plaza Singapura's food court. long queues can often be found snaking its way around the stall tucked in the left inner corner of the food court, and justifiably so.

the rice is drenched in mild, spicy curry and there's a slice of thin egg and a bowl of soup to go along with. but the main component of the dish is the enormous chicken u see there. its grilled and then dipped in a very nice sweet sauce that brings out the grilled flavour as well as accentuate the juiciness of the chicken. the gravy also help to add flavour to the rice. definitely a must-try. portion is also very generous, leaving you fully satiated and satisfied for putting $3.80 to good use.

Pilot

2005-02-21T15:05:00.000+08:00

this is the blog to host all my thoughts about any kind of food that i've consumed. from restaurants to hawker centre to snacks to any edible stuff, including fast food. most of them are mainly found in town though. it'll take a while for me to write all since i've eaten in quite a lot of places, though none of them are those high-classy expensive kinds la. quite sad, but i believe there's a time for everything and a plate of char kway teow at 2.50 is not in any way less delicious compared to some 25 bux french cuisine dotted on an enormous plate.

hopefully i can get pictures of the food/restaurant for u guys too! enjoy.