Shake Shack

Finally its my chance to visit Shake Shack, not at Changi Jewel but at their new location, Neil Road.
Shake Shack is housed in the iconic and historic building which has an elegant design

Shake Shack at Neil Road

We came to this outlet as we were nearby and there was no queue too. Many times when we pass by Shake Shack in Changi Jewel, its always filled with snaky queue thus we never have the chance to dine there.

Queue at Shake Shack?

The station by the side allows patrons to self help with plain water as well as tomato and mustard sauce.

Self Service Station

Ordering was a bliss as menu was clear and concise with friendly counter staff helping us out on our choices as a first timer. We order desserts, burgers and side. The burger was smaller than my palm size and the price to dine for 2 was not cheap. Are they really worth the price that one is paying for? Let's read on.

Meal for 2 for a damage at $44.70 

Oh Yes! I love crinkled-cut fries. Surprisingly, these fries were quite soft and quite different from the ones I had. Cheese sauce was light and not thick, generously spread on top of the fries. Its addictive and good for sharing though.

Cheese Fries - $5.90

Potato buns were pillowy light, fluffy and buttery. Prized for its great taste and juicy flavours, this freshly ground 100% Angus beef has no added hormones and antibiotics.The patty had a good texture, cooked evenly with a brown sear at the side. It was a good choice for a first timer like me for cheese burger with lettuce and tomato added with their in house Shack Sauce which I find it very welcoming.  However, if you can't get enough of this portion, you can upgrade it to double at $12.70.

Shack Burger - $9.20 (Single)

This is a combination of Shack Burger and Shroom Burger. The Crispy Fried Portobello Mushroom filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheese was yummy! Besides that, the burger was topped with lettuce tomato and Shack sauce on top of the juicy Signature Angus Beef Patty.

Shack Stack - $14.30

Pandan Shake is only exclusive to Singapore. If you love Pandan taste, you will love this. It is made up of frozen vanilla custard blended with Pandan and coconut, topped with Gula Melaka crumbles. Shake is thick with smooth consistency and the crumbles adding a texture to the drink. As an overall, the drink reminds me of the traditional "Ondeh Ondeh" cake.

Pandan Shake - $7.80

The Shack Attack $7.50 consist of frozen custard blended with mix-ins. Personally, I find that this mixture was chocolaty as it contains chocolate custard blended with plain vanilla brownie, Shack fudge sauce, Lemuel chocolate chunks and chocolate sprinkles. Having bought this, 5% of sales from Shack Attack support Very Special Arts Singapore, a non-profit providing opportunities for the disabled through arts.

Our Meal

Though the price may be steep, I guessed it all sums up to the quality and premium food selection where they pledged it contains no hormones or antibiotics on the Angus Beef.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Shake Shack
Location: 89 Neil Road #01-01, Singapore 088849

Piao Ji Porridge

Noted as one of the best and recommended fish soup stall in Singapore, it is not surprising that you will find such a long queue at Piao Ji Fish Porridge stall on a Sunday even though more than 90% of the stalls there are not in operation on a Public Holiday.

Stall of Piao Ji

We waited in queue for about half an hour for our orders. Having ordered the Fish and Prawn Medium portion of the fish soup with rice, we felt that it's well worth it.

Fish & Prawn - $12 (Medium)

The generous amount of fish slices were fresh and likewise for the big prawns.

Big Prawns

Fish slices were well marinated and firm. The soup was light and delectable added with Tung O for the vegetable portion instead of lettuce.

Fish Slices

While many may expect that these fish shop that contains fish slices are boneless. I beg to differ as the fish soup may contain more than just fish slices.

Fish Soup - $7 (Small)

The dipping sauce went well with the slices of fish. It was made up of not only soy sauce and bird-eye chili but also ginger strips as well as fermented bean sauce. Patrons get to enjoy a traditional feel with the used wooden chopsticks to pick the fish pieces.

Personally, I love the mixture of sauce as it gave a fiery kick among the soury taste.

Sauce

While some may think that $7 for a basic bowl of Fish Soup may be expensive in a Hawker Center, I felt that for the quality and quantity, the price paid for was reasonable. Moreover, the fish slices cut were not too slim.

Our Meal with Rice at $0.50 Per Bowl

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Piao Ji Porridge
Location: Amoy Street Food Center , 7 Maxwell Road #02-100 Singapore 069111

Ri Ji Porridge

It was one of those mornings where we traveled quite a distance for breakfast again and this time to Queen Street, not for Roasted Meat but for some local breakfast. Ri Ji Porridge is located at a coffeeshop in Queen Street selling some simple local delights such as Porridge, Yam Cake and Chee Cheong Fun.

Stall

Swee sauce was made inhouse where you can find some fried shallots and shrimps in it. Quite special isn't it? Chee Cheong Fun was also sprinkled with white sesame seed to enhance its taste. Hmmm, for the portion and quality, I would not mind paying $2.

Chee Cheong Fun - $2

Porridge was smooth with a thick consistency. Moreover, the meat was marinated and at least I find everything in the bowl was nothing but satisfying, packing with a good home cook flavor.

Porridge

The "You Tiao" was not those thick and doughy type, it was also cut into smaller pieces which I find them pleasant. To make it a nutritious one, we had egg added in our porridge.

Century Egg Porridge - $3.50

 Ta-Da, here's our hearty breakfast, simple and not too exaggerating. The service was rendered by 2 cheerful ladies. They were friendly and we smiley. Our breakfast was simple and enjoyable.

Our Hearty Breakfast

Rating: 3 / 5

Ri Ji Porridge
Location:  269B Queen St, Singapore 182269 Queen St, Singapore 182269

Banana Leaf BBQ Seafood

Banana Leaf BBQ Seafood is tucked in one corner of the Kopitiam and I have been passing by this place many times in a year but never come to try albeit they had won so many media reviews over the years from Makansutra, FBI food, the Business Time, Channel 8, etc.

Banana Leaf Seafood

Baby Kai Lan was whipped out from the kitchen less than 5 mins after ordering, though impressed by the speed, the quality of vegetables turned out to be unfavorable. A substantial part of the vegetables was yellow and served with visible holes in it. We did not remember having such quality of Kai Lan elsewhere, thus immediately, we feedback to the staff.

Baby Kai Lan 芥蓝 - $6

 Perhaps the better choice will be sweet potato leaves, at least these leafy greens looked more decent.

Sweet Potato Leaves 番薯叶 - $6

Other than the vegetable dishes, we have the rest of the seafood with sambal. The overall dish was too dry and even though red onion was used together with the clams / Lala. The taste was still quite bland for some reason.

Clams 拉拉 - $10

Sotong was the better dish out of all but somehow the taste of the Sotong was still quite separated from the sambal. The texture was chewy and if you notice, all their BBQ seafood dishes consist of a banana leaf just as their name suggests.

BBQ Sotong 烧烤苏东 - $10 

Here's the last dish ordered. Though we are 2 pax, we had ordered quite a number of our favourite dishes and we left the place being disappointed.

BBQ Stingray 烧烤魔鬼鱼 - $10 to $14

Food taste and quality still have many rooms for improvement. Though there are many good reviews over the years about Banana Leaf BBQ Seafood, we are still unable to figure out how was it done. Perhaps we have higher expectations having taste more decent ones elsewhere. As an overall, food is mediocre and perhaps the first and our last visit here.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

Banana Leaf BBQ Seafood 
Location: Blk 450 Clementi Ave 3, Singapore 120450

Beach Road Prawn Mee

Thanks pal for the impromptu calling and we decided to meet up in the East over the popular bowls of Prawn Noodle at East Coast's Beach Road Prawn Noodle.

The queue was long but their operations were efficient, whereby patrons can wait at their table after making orders than having to stand in line waiting for the food.

Basically, the menu was quite straight forward with 5 items, while items 1-4 come with 3 serving sizes, big, medium and small while the 5th item is none other than their ultimate Jumbo Prawn Mee.

Menu & Queue

Having ordered the basic Prawn Mee, the broth was tasty and fragrant added with fried shallot oil. No heady taste of prawns and it was not too dilute and of right portion. The small size is good enough for a normal appetite person like me and you will get medium size prawns in this serving.

Prawn Mee 虾面 - $6 (Small)

The man with a huge appetite loves ordering the biggest size available with pork ribs. Likewise, the taste of prawns was discernible and pork ribs were sweet and tender.

Prawn Mee with Pork Ribs 大虾排骨面 - $12 (Big)

One of us ordered the Jumbo Prawn Mee, the only difference is the size of the prawns, whereas broth and noodles remain the same.

Jumbo Prawn Mee 珍宝虾面 - $12

The best of everything in a bowl where you enjoy having prawns, pork ribs and the tail if you are a fan of one.

Mix Bowl 排骨面  /  猪尾面 - $9

Having a Wu Xiang (Ngoh Hiong) Stall and a Prawn Mee Stall side by side seems a good choice. This reminds me of a similar setting in Blanco Court Prawn Mee too at Beach Road where diners get to enjoy the selection of fried items while waiting patiently for the bowls of delicious Prawn Noodle.

Selection of Wu Xiang Items

Luckily my friends are foodies too, sharing the same sentiments as us. Afterall we traveled all the way here, we should also try this out".

Selection of Wu Xiang Items 五香

The orders came shortly after our order which I felt that ordering system was efficient.

Our Breakfast & Lunch

The broth of Beach Road Prawn Mee does suit me and making a return is foreseeable. However, one disadvantage of this place for those who are driving may be the availability of parking lots nearby. We went there on a weekend during Saturday and we had been making rounds and rounds in the vicinity before getting a decent parking lot which is a street or two away.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Beach Road Prawn Mee
Location: 370/372 East Coast Road Singapore 428981

Rezeki Seafood Restaurant

Many trips made to Batam but I never have the chance to travel to Rezeki as it is located at one far end of the Island and often far far away from our accommodation which is usually near Batam City Center.

The restaurant is big and spacious, deck up in part of the sea.

Restaurant

Having said that, this trip will not be successful without our chauffeur. In fact, in order to go around Batam Island, it will be best that we hire a day or two chauffeur service so that we are mobile. Though GRAB service is available in Batam, there is still a limitation of their service due to some constraints.

Outside the restaurant near the parking area

For every fresh seafood restaurant, we will just get to see this corner whereby the live seafood is being housed here.

Seafood Pond

Shortly after we had chosen our seats, we were given a menu. Menu was extensive and they list the cooking method for each seafood in English, Malay, Hanyu Pin Yin language, illustrated with some pictures.

Rezeki Seafood Restaurant

There were not many local customers or foreigners but just 3-4 tables of us in the dining section.

Dining Area 

Comparing to Singapore where our currency is about 10,00 times ($1 to 10,000 Rp), these dishes were more than affordable as compared back home.

With Petai as our favorite dish, we see no reason skipping this dish. It was stirred fried with Sambal sauce and some yellow onions. Not too spicy for us as requested and taste-wise, it's quite similar to our home.

Petai Sambal - 35,000 Rp

These prawns caught our surprise as we did not encounter such prawns in Singapore where the shell is as hard as crayfish. There were many styles of cooking of their seafood for selection and each prawn cost 50,000 Rp. We have them steamed and with their shell being so tough, we have to be careful removing them as it can be very sharp. The texture of meat did not taste like the usual prawn meat we had, it's more towards the crayfish quality. It was a good experience though.

Udang Belalang  螳螂虾 - 200,000

The recommended style of cooking of Lala will be their Spicy Lala. Although the chinese description on the menu sounds different, the dish was well executed in their Sambal sauce. It was not too oily and these Lala were definitely fresh and suits our tastebuds.

Lala Sambal 调料拉拉 - 75,000

With 1 Kg at 60,000 Rp, we ordered half of it. We have a no-brainer choice, since their signature and recommended Clam (Cockles) dish is stirred fried we garlic.

Kerang Tumis 大蒜蛤 - 30,000

These clams were gigantic to those we have in the market back home. Together with yellow onion, green pepper and some chili, its simple and delicious. Better of all, the gravy was sweet and good pairing to the white rice.

Big Size

To be honest, before going to Rezeki, I have not much expectation. The style of cooking and standard suits us pretty well.  Their Seafood was fresh and most importantly was not too spicy. The staff was friendly and approachable. Though location may not be of advantage if we are staying in the City Center, I will still recommend these to my friends who are looking for seafood treats in Batam.

Rezeki Seafood Restaurant

Location: Pantai Batu Besar Jl.Haji Muhammad Saleh RT 002/RW 001 Pulau Batam Kepulauan Riau , Indonesia

Website

Great Eater

Great Eater is one of the reasonably priced Cze Char places to go in Jurong if you want to enjoy a good consistency of crab dishes. Previously known as Big Eater, they are known for serving a tantalizing collection of dishes suitable for large groups and family gatherings.

Starting our meal with the meat dishes, we decided to order the small portion of pork ribs to the usual Gu Ro Yok (Sweet & Sour Pork). These ribs came in slab serving and were soft and coated evenly with soury and sweet sauce too.

Pork Ribs - $10

It seems like the dishes we ordered have a kind of similarity and that is the gravy is gluey. The Bai-Ling mushroom was decked up by the bright green stewed broccoli and some Tau pok.

Stewed Broccoli with Bai-Ling Mushroom - $12

Surprisingly the clay pot Sea cucumber as tasty and tasted above average. Ingredients include assortments of mushrooms, sweet pea, carrot, and red pepper with sweet not too starchy gravy, a good dish to go with the plates of white rice.

Claypot Sea Cucumber - $25

Consistency of chili crab dishes never fails us for every trip that we visit. Although we paid $94 for the crab that was charged at a seasonal price per Kilogram for 3 pax, the quality of crab defines the price that we paid which is reasonable.

Chili Crab - Seasaonal price / KG

Crab is of quality selected with fresh plump succulent meat unlike some of the Cze Char places we go. The gravy was a tad spicy, generously filled with egg and was not too starchy or watery.

The Pincer of the Crab

To enjoy the Chili Crab dish to the fullest, we have ordered a plate of 12 Mantous (Buns) that was well fried to golden brown. These minis buns were pillowy soft inside and make a good pairing while dipping them into the luscious Chili Crab gravy.

Man Tou - $6 (12 pcs) 

Afterall, Great Eater was our kind of place to visit when it comes to eating crab in the West side of Singapore. Not to mention that their ordering is efficient and fuss-free with a group of well-trained servers taking down as well as serving our orders. I will recommend anyone to Great Eater if they are looking for Chili Crab.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Great Eater 
Location: 964 Jurong West Street 91, #01-342, Singapore 640964