Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow

Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow is one of the popular stalls in Ghim Moh Road Market and Food Centre draws a long queue. If you want to grab a plate of Fried Kway Teow, patience and time will be required as it commands at least a 45 - 60 minutes wait. 

Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow

For all you know, this stall is managed by an old couple whereby the husband will do the frying while the wife will manage the orders.

The uncle cooks every order plate by plate diligently. The packed full of Wok Hei CKT was generously loaded with eggs, beansprouts and ingredients like vegetables and Chinese sausages were included.

Char Kway Teow - $4 / $5

If you are a cockles lover, this plate of CKT might disappoint you. Not only that their cockles are tiny, but they also do not allow adding of cockles too. Other than this downside, in terms of flavours and value for money, they do hit on the spot. 

Yummy

The stall does not open daily and sells out quite fast. Do check before heading down.

Rating: 3.25 / 5 

Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow
Location: Ghim Moh Road Market & Food Centre, 20 Ghim Moh Rd, #01-19, Singapore 270020

Heng Hua Restaurant 兴化美食

Xing Hua cuisine is one of my favourite cuisines and just recently I came across some social media posts about such cuisine, thus it leads to my cravings. One of us suggested heading to Yishun Heng Hua Restaurant for a try as she find that the food is pretty decent there. 

We order a set meal for two at $32 which includes:

1）  Herbs-Food Prawns in Bamboo Shoot 药膳竹筒虾
2）Deep Fried Slices of "Tenggui Fish" 炸马鲛鱼
3）Braised Bean Curd with 豆皮芥兰
4) Lor Mee / Mee Sua / Bee Hoon
5)  Free Dessert 赠送甜品

as well as some other dishes to share among us. Xing Hua Restaurant is tucked at the far end corner of the HDB block.

Heng Hua Restaurant

Those who enjoy herbal soup may enjoy this dish. The number of prawns given was generous and the size of the prawn was relatively big. The natural-tasting soup in the Bamboo Shoot has a good subtle seafood taste in its light herbal taste.

Herbs-Food Prawns in Bamboo Shoot 药膳竹筒虾

I'm glad that they have this in their set menu. The fish is deep fruit to golden perfection and you can dip them in the homemade sauce with garlic. 

Deep Fried Slices of "Tenggui Fish" 炸马鲛鱼

A sweet gravy drenched on the pieces of braised bean curd and stirred fried with Kai Lan, slices of carrot and button mushrooms.

Braised Bean Curd with Gailan 豆皮芥兰

The White Lor Mee is also one of Xing Hua's Cuisine Staple Food to order. A version of Chinese La Mian soaked in a flavoursome broth and not as starchy as our traditional braised Lor Mee style. It was a comforting bowl of food especially when it was a wet day. The Lor Mee had included some crispy Pork Belly and vegetables in it. 

Lor Mee 卤面

The set meal includes a free dessert and it was white fungus with red date. It was refreshing and not so sweet. What a good ending to our meal.

Free Dessert 赠送甜品

The Stir Fried Sliced Yam is one of the classic Xing Hua Cuisines. These yams were fried and had a crisp exterior. They were then coated in a thin layer of sweet savoury sauce. While you bite down these blocks of yam, the internal was soft and fluffy. Quite addictive!

Stir-Fried Sliced Yam 酥炒香芋 - $10 (Small)

Of all Xing Hua Cuisine's Noodles, what I usually like most will be their Bee Hoon. The ingredients include crunchy peanuts, vegetables, clams, fried tofu puff, seaweed, prawns, pork belly and Chinese mushrooms. No doubt this plate of Bee Hoon was homely, but I still find that the taste was lacking and ruined somehow by the strong raw taste of the Bee Hoon.

Bee Hoon 米粉 - $4.50

The feel of ordering this dish is like having some Chinese banquet but in fact, we were in a coffee shop. The chicken was deep fried with crispy skin and was served with some crackers.

Deep Fried Chicken 香红烧鸡 - $12 (Small) 

Another staples from the Heng Hua Cuisine is none other than this popular chinese dish we had from Cze Char Stall. The Heng Hua's will usually include Lychee in this dish to differentiate their cuisine from others.

Heng Hua Sweet & Sour Pork 兴化荔枝肉 - $10 (Small)

Another Cze Char dish was ordered! The Fried Hor Fun with sliced fish was tasty and the overall taste was rather decent. The Hor Fun had a subtle Wok Fried taste.

Fried Hor Fun with Sliced Fish 鱼片河粉 - $5 (Small)

Perhaps my tastebuds were already spoilt by our Chained Xing Hua's restaurant in Singapore and had taken that as a benchmark. Nonetheless, in this neighbourhood, Heng Hua Restaurant still deserves a talk as their menu is rather extensive with a good list of Authentic Heng Hua dishes we can hardly find here.

Rating: 3 / 5

Heng Hua Restaurant
Location:  Block 748, Yishun Street 72, #01-212, Singapore 760748
Nearest Station: Yishun (NS13)

63 Laksa

While queueing up for the stall next door (Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow), we took notice of this laksa stall and decided to give it a try. The stall is absolutely clean and neat. The guy who manned the stall is friendly too.

63 Laksa Stall

While it's not common to have a bowl of food for less than 3 bucks in a Hawker Center nowadays, this bowl of Laksa actually did it by keeping the price low. 

The laksa broth was coconutty with standard ingredients similar to the Sungei Road Laksa like fish cakes, bean sprouts, thick bee hoon and hum (cockles). The Laksa is suitable for those who cannot take spicy. On the contrary, if you love to have additional spiciness, you can ask for more dollops of sambal chilli.

Here's what to order

What's a bowl of Laksa without these fresh blood cockles? They are plum and juicy which is a plus point especially if you are a Hum Lover. 

Laksa & Hum

No doubt the portion of the small bowl maybe too little for some, you can top up your bowl of laksa with Otah or even order additional bowls. The Otah is decent but a bit on the dry side. The spiciness level of Otah is acceptable too.

Otah

Rating: 3 / 5

63 Laksa
Location: Ghim Moh Road Market & Food Centre, 20 Ghim Moh Rd, #01-20, Singapore 270020

Took Lae Dee

Took Lae Dee is a chain restaurant in Thailand since 1985 and has been popular with Thais and expats. They are also open 24 hours a day.  When translated, their business name literally means "Cheap & Good". 

Took Lae Dee

We have 4 dishes from the Thai Kitchen with Lychee Freeze and their Signature Thai Milk Tea washing down our meal.

Lychee Freeze & Signature Thai Milk Tea - $3.80 Each

Pineapple Fried Rice (Khao Pad Sapparot) is also one of my favourite dishes to order if I want to skip the white rice. The plate comes with a good portion of cashew nuts, raisins, meat floss and shredded eggs. The taste was pretty decent. It lacked the Wok Fried fragrant. 

Pineapple Fried Rice - $8

The Green Curry (Kang Keaw Wan) can be served with either Pork or Chicken. The taste is not thick enough and lacks oomph. On top of that, the curry was a bit on the sweeter side.

Green Curry (Chicken / Pork) - $8

We had a chicken version of the Green Curry and the meat was tender.

Chicken in Green Curry

The Thai Fish Cakes (Tot Maan Pla) come in a plate of 4. These snacks are good for sharing and are one of the recommended items on the menu. Dip them into the sweet and spicy chilli to enjoy.

Thai Fish Cake - $6

The Boat Noodle with Pork, better known as Kway Tiaw Reua in Thai, is one of my favourite soup noodles. There is a choice of noodles with either Kway Teow or Glass Noodle. The bowl was filled with lean meat and meatballs.

Boat Noodle with Pork - $7.50

It was a comforting bowl of food but I will prefer the broth to be more flavourful.

Glass Noodle

The Red Ruby with Coconut Ice Cream looked disappointing in its disposable container. 

Red Ruby with Coconut Ice Cream - $4.50

Nevertheless, the taste is rather standard too with some red rubies placed over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Vanilla Ice Cream with Red Ruby

Though food from Took Lae Dee is pocket friendly and Authentic, cooked by Thai Chef, I find that its a standard fare. Pricing-wise, it's not cheap in my opinion.

Rating: 3 / 5

Took Lae Dee
Location: 18 Tai Seng, 01-34/35/K9 Singapore 539775

Union "Chee Pow Kai"

A recent visit back to the famous Paper Chicken Wrapped that we had patronised months ago. The owner has told us that the current stall lease in ending soon and will be moving in the end of November 2022 but he has yet to confirm the new place.

We ordered 5 packets of chicken with a plate of blanched vegetables. Though it was simple, Kai Lan was crunchy and yummy.

Baby Kai Lan with Oyster Sauce $8 & 5 Pcs of Chicken - $10

As mentioned in the last post, 5 pcs will not be enough and we ended up ordering another plate of 5.

Another Plate of 5

We managed to get hold of the method in removing the paper wrap easily with the use of chopsticks. The quality and taste still remain the same, well-marinated and addictive!

Unwrapped from the Paper

The small portion of Egg Noodle will be just enough for 1 pax, however, if you are ordering more pieces of chicken, you may want to order the smaller portion for the noodle.

Egg Noodle - $3 (Small)

Hopefully, when we visit the next round, we will be able to know their new location.

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Posted on 24th June 2022

The legendary Chee pow Kai from Clementi Road has once again shifted from their Toh Guan Stall to this coffeeshop. Although they have shifted, they are still located in the Jurong East area.

Stall of Union Chee Pow Kai

The egg noodles are tasty and springy, topped with a handful of leafy greens. While the taste is rather flavourful with the simplest ingredients used like Oyster sauce, light soya sauce and a bit of sesame oil

Egg Noodles with Oyster Sauce - $8 (Big)

There is a minimum order of 5 packets but trust me you can ignore that as you will be ending up ordering more. 

When the plate of Chee Pow Kai was served, what immediately hits us was the strong fragrance of Hua Tiao Jiu. Without further delay, we immediately sank our chopsticks into the small packets of chicken.

10 Packets - $20

After unwrapping the baking paper, you can instantly tell that the chicken was well-marinated from its colour. The chicken was tender and sweet. If I remember correctly, the taste was rather different from their previous location and I like it even more now.

Chee Pow Kai

I will definitely drop by again whenever I got cravings for Paper Wrapped Chicken.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Union "Chee Pow Kai" / Paper Wrapped Chicken
Location: 262 Jurong East St 24, Singapore 600262
Operating Hours: 11am to 4pm (Thursday to Sunday)

Chunky Lobster

Having tried Luke's Lobster sometimes back in Orchard, my friends urged me to try out Chunky Lobsters in Orchard too as they feel that they do have one of the best lobster rolls too.

Chunky Lobster

Chunky Lobster has a wide selection of food from Starters, and sides to Mains. When we talk about Lobster, it excites me, let's dive into our orders now.

Menu of Chunky Lobster

The Interior was of nautical decor and looks like a rustic lobster shack of New England with wooden furnishings. 

Chunky Lobster

The Lobster Bisque was served with mini Brioche Toast for dipping into the creamy bisque. The texture was a bit rough with a heady crustacean taste with hints of cream, onions and garlic.

Lobster Bisque - $10

Here's the reason why we were here for! The New Original Lobster Roll is so called a must-try. The huge chunks of Lobster Meat are sandwiched with a toasted brioche roll, with Mayo, Lemon, creamy Tarragon Sauce and sprinkled with chives. The lobster meat was fresh and succulent. These are North American Lobsters fished from sustainable fisheries in the cold, clear waters of the Atlantic Ocean

The New Original Lobster Roll - $31

The spaghetti was creamy with Truffle & garlic fragrance. This dish is served with a Lobster Tail and Potato string that was topped with Parmesan cheese.

Creamy Truffle Lobster Pasta - $35

Overall, in terms of Lobster Roll, I will prefer the toasted brioche bun to have a more buttery fragrance and crispiness. 

Rating: 3 / 5

Chunky Lobsters
Location:  Orchard Gateway, 277 Orchard Rd, #01-10, Singapore 238858

Covent Garden Kway Chap

I notice Covent Garden Kway Chap stall sometime back when I was visiting Havelock Road Cooked Food Center for Meng Kee Fried Kway Teow 明记炒粿条 and learnt that Covent Garden Kway Chap is one of the popular stalls.

Covent Garden Kway Chap

We were there early in the morning and the queue has not formed yet. Uncle was friendly and asked if I wanted to customize my order.  

Kway Chap Set for 2 - $6 

I did not know what to order, therefore I ordered the default combination platter and asked for everything. The platter consists of preserved vegetables, fish cake, braised egg, skin, braised intestine and tau pok.

Ingredients

It felt stomach warming to slurp down a bowl of Kway in the morning. The soup for the Kway comes with a light braised taste added with a tad fragrant from the fried shallots.

Kway 

The portion is priced at value-for-money pricing and the innards are very clean. Overall, the Kway Chap is decent and does not have any gamey aftertaste. For those who prefer to have a decent and hearty traditional Kway Chap at pocket-friendly pricing.

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Covent Garden Kway Chap
Location: Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre, 22B Havelock Rd, Singapore 162022

La Nonna

La Nonna which also means "Grandma" in Italian is a modern trattoria located in the heart of Holland village. The environment is unpretentious and the dishes are cooked as though Grandma would have cooked them. La Nonna is also known to serve hearty and good Italian food.

La Nonna 

We were not familiar with Italian dishes and though the menu was relatively straightforward with no picture illustration, we tried to figure out the dishes' names with the elaborations on the menu. 

Menu

As usual, we were greeted by complimentary bread from a typical Italian eating place with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil to pair along while waiting for our food to be served.

Complimentary Bread

My first try of Arancini. These deep-fried Risotto Balls were filled with Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese. The 3 balls were served creatively in a wooden board. 

Arancini - $16

Take a look at the creamy melty Cheese within the balls. Dip these Bar Nibbles in Pomodoro Sauce to enjoy. The texture on the outside was a bit crunchy and it was served pipping hot. You will get the cheese-pulling effect as you pull these balls apart. 

What's inside these deep-fried Risotto Balls?

Wow. I have been looking for a decent Pappardelle from many cafés and this had hit on the right spot. This handmade pasta is a splitting image of the Asian's Biang Biang Noodles which were being rolled into flat and wide strips.

Pappardelle Coda Di Bue - $28

These Homemade Pappardelle pasta with Oxtail ragout and rosemary totally made my day.  The portion was generous with an adequate amount of sauce. The meat was shredded and cooked to soften with a good consistency to coat the amount of pasta in the bowl. 

Do you want a spoonful too?

The Pan-Grilled Pork Chop was served with Broccoli, mashed potatoes, olives, and cherry tomatoes. Pork Chop came with charred edges which tasted perfectly well with its juicy meat. 

Maiale - $32

While having Italian cuisine, it's hard not to hit on their signature dessert like the tiramisu. It is a traditional Venetian Tiramisu, the texture was soft and layers alternated with Mascarpone cheese and lady fingers. It does not contain alcohol and a pet peeve is that the strongness of the cocoa powder may be way overpowering for my favourite dessert which leads to some bitterness. 

Tiramisu - $12

The wobbly eggless vanilla custard cream was served with fresh berries and coulis. I'm so satisfied with this classic.

Pannacotta - $12

The homeliness of the cuisine was felt through the dish. Though the price may be considered pricey, their portion made justice to what we were paying for. It is hardly that we come across a good authentic Italian place like this. I don't mind looking into other items in the menu if I'm back here again.

Rating: 4 / 5

La Nonna
Location: 26/26B Lor Mambong, Singapore 277685
Nearest Station: Holland Village (CC21)
Website