Royal Thai

Spotted this Royal Thai Boat Noodles & Bar everytime I pass by the roads and decided to give it a try. There are still a lot of units left vacant in the King Albert Park thus locating Royal Thai should be an easy task, moreover they are just along the main roads.

Outdoor Space at Royal Thai

We had the outdoor seats and we had a beautiful sight of the blue hours.

Outdoor

Through their friendly servers, we learnt that this is another branch apart from the main one in Fairways Drive. The menu is extensive, they have a lot of dishes to choose and diners like us are just simply spoilt of choices.

Menu

With the naturally sweet Thai Mango, this drink is a perfect cooler to beat the heat on the hot day. Love its taste, sweet and yummy with no additional coloring added.

Mango Ice Blended - $5.50

Starting with Appetizers, we had the usual Mango Salad. It gave us a riots of texture together with the sour and hot burning sensation from the chilli. Not to mentioned that it is fragrant with chopped peanuts as well as dried shrimps.

Mango Salad - $7

Boat Noodle is also one of my preferred dishes from Thai Cuisine, however not many places served them. We had the beef version and noodle was fragrant, topped with beansprouts, pork lard, spring onions for garnishing. The soup in the bowl tasted as good as one I had in Thailand. We ordered the small portion to have a try and it was satisfying.

Boat Noodle Beef (Small) - $3.90

Pineapple fried rice was fragrant topped with floss and fried with prawns, assorted vegetables and cashew nuts. The dish was appetizing and addictive. I would consider this as one of the better Thai Pineapple Fried Rice I had here locally.

Pineapple Fried Rice (Prawns) - $9.50

The grilled pork with their house sauce was not too bad. It was tender and tasty.

Grilled Pork with Garlic with Royal Thai Sauce - $12.50

Thinking of completing our meal with sweet thoughts, we ordered a bowl of Red Ruby Dessert for sharing. Love the crunchy chestnut wrapped in the soft translucent red jelly.

Red Ruby - $4.50

Meal as an overall was satisfying. Service rendered was friendly and prompt. It will be good to be back here again for some Thai Food.


Rating: 4 / 5

Royal Thai Boat Noodles
Location: 9 King Albert Park #01-01/02 Singapore 598332

Oberstrasse

Oberstrasse is a German term for Upper Street and is commonly used in Germany. The cafe is just a stone throw away from Lavendar MRT Station. It's quite a popular place for some breakfast and brunch. It was a last minute idea that we came here for a meal, but for a dinner.

Oberstrasse

Interior feels cosy under the orange lights. In fact the theme of using transparent containers with the bulbs in them gave the environment a rustic feel altogether with the wooden tables and chair.

Theme

Drink

I bet everyone hear about their Rosti and comes here for this! The homemade potato rosti was awesome accompanied by a pretty sunny side up egg, wedge of lemon and a spat of sour cream. The Rosti was pan-fried to crisp at some parts and texture was perfect without being too burnt. If I were to compare Rosti from Marche, both as are tasty, just that the differences is that Oberstrasee Rosti are more of wider and shorter while Marche's were machined cut thus the size of it is uniform.

Sunny Rosti - $11

Sandwichies are served in freshly baked Ciabatta with Smoked Cheddar, Coral lettuces, Tomatoes and Onions. It consist of Norwegian smoked salmon, Avocado spread, horseradish dill sauce and alfalfa sprouts.

Smokled Salmon & Avocado - $12

I had the Duck Confit as my main course that come with 2 sides and I had the homemade slaw as well as the House Salad. The color combination of this course looked pleasing to the eyes with purple slaw and Salad drenched with roasted sesame dressing. On the other hand the Duck Confit was deep fried, though it was a tad on the dry side, it was well complimented by the Lingonberry Sauce that elevated the dining experience of the dish.

Duck Config with Lingonberry Sauce - $18

It was quite quiet during the night and perhaps many would come for their brunch or breakfast. Service was friendly and prompt. The only down side I would have think of is perhaps the smell on the clothing after dining. I don't mind returning for sausage and rosti.

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Oberstrasse
Location: 809 French Road #01-50 Kitchener Complex Singapore 200809

Choco Choco

Having been to KSL multiple times, I did not realise Choco Choco exist until my pal told me about it.

Ground Level of KSL City

Choco Choco is located in the open space area and it is rather easy to find them. The furnishing is simple with the usual tables and chairs under the shopping mall lighting.

Location

Banner

I was kind of excited looking through the beverages menu as that was my first time ever to order beverages with 3D arts or graphics.

Menu for Beverages

For those who are looking for bites, you can try out their All Day Brunch or Sandwiches, Pasta but these orders does not come together with the arts.

Menu for food

We did not specify any special request and the art drawn was all random and the creativity by the staff. Though our orders were served one at a time, I find that its already quite fast in speed.

Look! They have drawn me Crayon Shin Chan on my cup of chocolate.

Choco Choco (Regular) - RM 12.90

 While my friend got her cup of Hot Mocha with my favourite character, Doraemon on it.

Mocha (Regular) - RM 12.90

On the other hand, I find that the Iced Cappuccino is more interesting as it consist of 4 different faces from a cat illustrating joy, anger, worry and happiness.

Iced Cappuccino - RM 11.90

The black forest cake was ordinary and on the plate it was accompanied by the skillfully drawn Sanrio Character, Keropi Frog. Its outline was thinly drawn with chocolate syrup.

Black Forest Cake - RM 12.90

Here's our combination of orders. With so much cute stuff on the table, we could not help ourselves in taking more pictures before we got these artwork eaten up and destroying them.

Our Cute Orders

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Choco Choco
Location: GF-S04B @ Ground Floor KSL City 80250 Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Otto's Deli Fresh

Otto's Deli Fresh is located in Raffles @ Holland Village, 2nd Level. It is easily accessible with the help of  MRT Circle Line as public transport is just a stone throw away.

Otto's Deli Fresh

For quenchers, we have 2 glasses of recommended drinks by the servers. Sunshine Paradise comes with different layers of soda colored drink, which makes one feel delighted with its enjoyable colors.

Sunshine Paradise - $6.90 & Pink Lime - $6.90

I had not enjoyed a satisfying pasta for such a long time and this literally had my stomach at first mouthful. Beef was tender and juicy in the right thickness while Fettuccine was in its Al Dente Texture with ingredients such as button mushroom, sour cream, Cornichon & Parsley. Recommended!

Beef Stroganoff Fettuccine - $19.90

The beef on the skewer was well marinated, though it went under the flame, the meat remained juicy topped with Chimichuri, Garlic Risoni, Pineapple and Red Onion Salsa.

Giant Beef Skewer 200g - $25.90

Skewer on the Board

Ending our dinner in sweet notes with their Burnt Banana Waffle. Dont worry, the banana is not rotten. In fact it is Freeze Dried Banana that was burnt in its skin. We peeled off the black skin and enjoyed the Waffle topped with a scoop of cooling Peanut Butter Gelato.

Burnt Banana Waffle - $12.90

Overall, I find that the mains provided by Otto's Deli Fresh are scrumptious and worth the money spent. It will be great to be back again for other stuff.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Otto's Deli Fresh
Location: 118 Holland Avenue, #02-01 Raffles @ Holland Village

Restoran Chua Kee 蔡記海鮮樓

The last round when I visited Restoran Chua Kee was 10 over years ago. I can vividly remember rushing into Johor Bahru from Tuas 2nd Link after our working hours and have a 1 hour quick journey up into Gelang Patah for this Cze Char. During then, the restaurant was not renovated and we have to kind of dining on the side streets on the road pavement but today the dining area is sheltered.

Restoran Chua Kee

Simply love this recommended butter pork cubes that are fragrant and crispy. It was fried with sweet savoury sauce and curry leaves, enhancing its taste.

Butter Pork Cube (Small) 奶油花肉丁（小） - RM 12

The style of cooking Four treasures was unexpected with the used of fried Ikan Billis, giving additional crunch to our palettes. Other ingredients include Egg Plant, lady's fingers, long beans and petai beans drenched in some gluey brown sauce.

Handmade Four Treasure (Small) 四大天王 （小） - RM 35

Another recommended dish in the menu that is their handmade four treasure. The ingredients of the dish reminds me of Yi Pin Guo (一品锅 ). Ingredients includes broccoli, button mushroom, carrot, green pea, prawns, fish maw & sea cucumber.

Handmade Four Treasure (Small) 四宝手工豆腐 （小）- RM 35

Beneath the treasures lies the wobbly handmade nutritionally Tofu.

Hidden Toufu

The long awaiting dish that came last when we almost finished our rice. It's more like herbal chicken soup. Chicken meat was tender and fell off easily from the bone with little effort used. The meat is naturally sweet and had a good accentuation of herbs taste. The broth alone is good and suitable for drinking alone without any white rice.

Healthy Wealthy Chicken (Large) 养生富贵鸡  - RM 30 

Comparing this original Restoran Chua Kee with New Restoran Chua Kee, I will still prefer this place as food generally tasted so much better and it brings back lots of memories dining here. The journey is about 45 minutes to 1 hour to Tuas Second Link by driving and I find it worth the travel timing. Recommended!

Rating: 4 / 5

Restoran Chua Kee 蔡記海鮮樓 
Location: Jalan Kacang Panjang, Gelang Patah, 81550 Gelang Patah, Johor, Malaysia

Restoran Ya Wang 鸭皇药材烧腊大王

Restoran Ya Wang has been on my "To Try" lists in Johor Bahru (JB) for quite sometimes. By words of mouth I learnt that they are popular for their herbal duck. It is located within walking distance to City Square Mall Johor Bahru.

Restoran Ya Wang 

Besides the usual roasted duck and meat dishes. They do offer other dishes that you can usually find on a Cze Char menu. If you refer to their board, they do have set meals for those coming in pair or in groups and worth a consideration.

Intrior

The sea bird nest which is often known as the coral grass is recommended for its collagen. It tasted a tad on the bitter side perhaps it was the ginseng as one of the ingredients.

Sea Birdnest - RM 6.50

Soya Bean Drink - RM 1.60 and Sea Birdnest

If you are familiar with the taste of Dian Xiao Er Roast Duck, this Roasted Duck for 2 pax with Angelica Herb base has a similar taste. In fact, it is also stated in the menu that Restoran Ya Wang is the consultant for Dian Xiao Er (Singapore's Chained Restaurant which is well known for their Herbal Duck)

When translated from their restaurant name it literally refers to themselves as King of Duck. With its crispy roasted glistering exterior and its succulent meat, I would say there is no doubt that the duck tasted good.

Roast Duck - RM 22 (2 Pax Portion)

The herb stock that the meat sat in was rather mild and good enough for someone who appreciate herbs. However, I still find the duck from Dian Xiao Er tasted better off with more herbal taste on the meat.

Duck

The meal isn't complete without other roasted delights like their pork belly as well as barbecued char siew. Dab these meat with the chilli on their table, it tasted good!

BBQ & Roast Pork - RM 22

What I like best is the dark brown barbecued pork that was drizzled with thick savory sweet sauce.
Meat was well caramelized and had burnt edges, allowing some hints of charred taste which make these lean meat perfect on the go.

Another view of BBQ & Roast Pork

Beside pairing the roasted meat with ice at RM 1.50 per plate, one can order noodle like Mee Kia or Kway Teow.

Mee Kia - RM 2.20

The noodles were generously tossed in black soy sauce with some vegetables by the side.

Kway Teow - RM 2.20

Personally I find that the dumplings are good. They were tasty with bouncy prawns and black fungus  to give a different texture.

Dumpling - RM 12

It was a good experience of herbal duck and worth a visit. You may want to skip your cafe hopping in their area for this. Haha. Moreover, the service aunties were also friendly.

Restoran Ya Wang 鸭皇药材烧腊大王
Location: 28, Jalan Segget, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Zhong Yu Yuan Wei Wanton Noodle (忠于原味云吞面)

Having your Wanton Mee Fix? He was talking about wanting to eat "不见天" (Literally Translated means Cannot See Sky) and I was puzzled about the name of the food till it was further explained. 不见天 is actually Char Siew Meat, a quirky term they use to describe the "armpit" of the Char Siew Meat.  When you hear of that, Pork Armpits, do you even want to try?

The Stall

To avoid disappointment, we were there very early at 7am plus on a Sunday morning as we were told that 不见天 usually sold out faster than its usual Char Siew meat. It is considered as the premium meat between the belly and shoulder, whereby such cut of the meat tends to be more succulent and tender thus the price for a plate of Wanton Noodle costs more.

Wanton Mee - $4

By the look of the Pig's Armpit, it was well caramelized and barbecued. We can even see the distinct layers of meat and fat. Its definitely a bang for the buck if you are looking Char Siew that is outstanding from a plate of Wanton Mee. 

Wanton Mee with Bu Jian Tian - $6

Can you Spot the Premium vs the normal order?

Premium Pig Armpit Meat

The stall has a very good policy. It allows handicap elders, pregant ladies and those carrying infants to skip the queue.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Zhong Yu Yuan Wei Wanton Noodle (忠于原味云吞面) 
Location: Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre, 30 Seng Poh Road #02-30, Singapore 168898