Beauty Malatang 烫一烫美人麻辣烫 [Media Invite]

Walking into the back alley of Sim Lim Square with past memories flashing into my mind, I can never imagine this place has been transformed from being a place packed with computer shoppers to today where the whole stretch has become food places and spas.

Nonethless, we visited Beauty Malatang which is just located beside the popular Salted Egg Dishes place, Taste Good 好味小厨

Beauty Malatang

The place is cosy and located at Level 2. As soon as we settled down, there were increasing patrons coming in and soon it was full house.

Price of the items

Beauty Malatang offers all items at a fixed rate be it vegetables of meat, starting with a minimum of 300g to order with $2.88 priced at per 100g.

Step 1 - Pick your items here

First, we select our desired items from the above and then head to the counter and choose our soup base. For Spicy lovers, you can opt for their Signature Ma La Soup which is the soup version or even the non-soup version with their Mala Xiang Guo or Mala Sesame Pot. 

Step 2 - Pick your base

For the non-spicy options, one can choose their Chicken Collagen Soup or Tomato Soup.

Step 3 - Weight the Items

The Signature Mala Soup Base was acceptable and went pretty went with the crunch items like potato, lotus, other vegetables etc. The spicy level 

Signature Ma la Soup Base

Glad that their tomato soup base was rich and I added the Carrot Noodles to pair with my items selection. The Tomato flavours made the meal an appetizing one with its tangy and sweet flavours without being too cloying. 

Tomato Soup Base

We spend close to $40 for 2 bowls of Malatang with 2 other drinks.  Malatang has been growing its popularity over the past few years and seems to be easily everywhere, now that if we are shopping in Sim Lim Square, Malatang lovers will be happy to enjoy their meal in the building itself.

Thank you Scale Micro Influencers for the invitation.

Beauty Malatang 烫一烫美人麻辣烫
Location: Sim Lim Square, Rochor Canal Rd #02-03, Singapore 188504

Yat Ka Yan Dessert 一家人

After a hearty meal in Fortune Centre, our stomachs were calling for some desserts. A quick check on Google recommended this shop with a high rating. We were quite lucky that there was not a long queue after our dinner.

Yat Ka Yan Dessert 一家人

Unlike the usual dessert we had at Hawker Centre, Yat Ka Yan Desserts served desserts that were mostly hot and traditional. There is a page for Hot Dessert and also a page for Cold Dessert Available.

Menu

Besides serving desserts, they are also serving Yam Cake, CCF as well as glutinous rice.

Menu

While the main seating area was full, we were directed to their extended shop space for seating. The place was simple yet decorated with a nostalgic feel, with traditional Chinese tiles layout and metal sheets ceiling. 

Our Desserts

Cendol was served in a traditional metal bowl and metal spoon. Gula Melaka flavours were strong and fragrant without being too sweet. The pandan coconut jelly was soft and the red beans were nicely cooked. 

Cendol 珍多 - $3.20

I had the Hot Cheng Tng and it was above my expectation. It was not too sweet with generous ingredients like longans, sea coconut, pearl barley and white fungus. It was definitely a stomach comforting dessert after a meal.

Cheng Tng 清汤 - $3.20

Another stomach warming dessert to go for will be their Almond Barley Beancurd with Gingko nuts. The almond taste was not too strong and quite soothing for the body. 

Almond Barley Beancurd 杏仁腐竹白果 - $3.50 

It was a great experience that we stumbled upon this dessert place. It's really a gem and totally worth a comeback.

Rating: 4 / 5

Yat Ka Yan Dessert 一家人
Location: Fortune Centre, 190 Middle Rd, #02-08 Fortune Centre, Singapore 188979

Aroy-Dee Thai Kitchen

Another Thai Food Restaurant Off the list! We used to talk about having Aroy Dee for meal everytime when we pass by Middle Road especially when this Kitchen is just located next to LE Cafe. We all heard good claims about the kitchen and perhaps why it was there for such a long time.

Facade

Interior is rather modern with semi open concept kitchen. Furnishing are made up of metal chairs and wooden table with tiles flooring. They also include a mounted television for diners to watch and enjoy their meal.

Interior

Thai Coconut - $4.90

Clear Tom Yam Seafood Soup was appetizing and even though we forgot to instruct the server to make it less spicy, I would say that spiciness was mild and the soup really whet my appetite for more. Ingredients include fish slices, tomato, lemon grass, coriander and Sotong, which were nothing out of the normal soup we had.

Tom Yum Talay (Num Khon / Num Sai)  (Seafood Tom Yum Soup  or Clear Tom Yum) 

Pineapple fried rice portion was generous and good for sharing. Tasted mediocre with chicken floss, raisins, eggs and mixed vegetables. A bit disappointing!

Khao Saparod (Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken Floss) - $6.50

The pandan chicken leaves were fried to crisp and required some efforts to unwrapped before we can get hold of the meat. The turmeric used was a tad too much and meat was rather soft. Overall, tasted like chicken satay to me. Dip them into the sweet and sour chilli sauce and enjoy it.

Gai Hor Bai Toey (Thai Style Pandan Chicken) - $10

Phad Thai, which is always one of my favourite under the Thai Cuisine Menu was really to my liking as we prefer to have a dryer version than this. However, in terms of taste, it was still alright with the fragrant of peanuts and sweet savoury sauce coated on the noodle.

Phad Thai (Thai Fried Noodle) - $6.50

Thai Fried Fish was something I always wish to order but always get turned off by its expensive pricing. Due to promotion, it cost $19.90 instead of $28. Fried Garoupa was well presented with vegetables as sides sprinkled with few stalks of coriander and soaked mildly in their three taste sauce. The sauce was not too bad with sweetness, saltiness and a little sourish.

Pla Ghao Sarm Rod (Garoupa with Special Three Taste Sauce) - $19.90

Last but not least the papaya Salad with salty crab. There was a promotion to this item at $9 instead of $15. I'm kind of fool by the menu as I thought that it was salted egg crab. This appetiser wasnt too pleasing to us, firstly it was served when we almost finished our meal and secondly, the papaya salad was too spicy for us. In the end, we left almost 90% of the food on table.

Som Tum Phoo Pla Ra (Thai Papaya Salad with Salted Crab) - $9

The good thing about the eating place is good for supper goers as it opens till as early as 6am in the morning. If you want to have pocket friendly food that comes with generous portion, this can be one of your choices. However, if you are particular about taste of Thai food then you have to be selective of what you are ordering in the menu. Personally, I have expected their standard items like Pineapple Fried Rice and Phad Thai to be better. Therefore, it is less likely I will be back for other items on the menu.

Do note  that payment terms are only Cash or NETS.

Rating: 3 / 5

Aroy-Dee Thai Kitchen
Location: Elias Building 262 Middle Road Singapore 188989

Oven Marvel

If you are in Sunshine Plaza and are wondering where did the buttery fragrance came from, guess no more. This alluring fragrance that causes perhaps anyone who are in Sunshine Plaza to be hungry is located among the cluster where Victor's Kitchen, Parklane Zha Yun Tun Mee and Teng's Bespoke Japanese Vegetarian Dining is.

Oven Marvel is mostly for take away orders, however if you are keen in dining on the spot they do have a table or 2 for you to sit and fix your instant cravings.

Shop Front

Pies are freshly baked daily and in fact I was lucky to grab some which just came out of the oven. Each box was spread out with oil paper before placing the pastries into them.

One of the box

A homely taste of curry puff is what I'm taking away with. Most of the curry puff I had either taste mediocre or were too greasy too handle. The even tone of the puff and its dedicate crust was its highlights with good texture and wasn't too heavy.

Curry Puff - $2.80

You won't feel shortchange for they are so generous with potatoes in the puff's fillings and best still the curry taste isn't weak!

Curry Puff Fillings

Eat while the pie is hot! The golden brown hue of the pie with flaking yummy curves had defeated me in terms of its food aesthetic, not mentioning the whiff of pastry aroma I had earlier on.

Chicken Pie - $3.80

Fillings are peppery, creamy with generous chunks of chicken as well as softened potatoes among the mixed vegetables. Pies are filling but it just did not stop me from wanting more. I like about the part where pastry were flaky and soft, yet not overly greasy.

Chicken Pie Fillings

The middle age lady who served me was friendly and asked the arrangement of my pies and puff to be packed. Adding on to our conversation, she highlighted that if we can't finish the food on the same day, put in the fridge and thaw it for about 10 -15 minutes at room temperature before reheating them again. 

I hope to be back for their pastries as well as muffins. 

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Oven Marvel
Location: Oven Marvel Sunshine Plaza, 91 Bencoolen St #01-51 Singapore 189652

Noodle Cafe

Learning about Noodle Cafe in Sim Lim Square, it was such a joy as it was a killing two birds in one stone occasion where I can get to enjoy the long missing Thai Boat Noodle and also get to visit the complex.

Due to recent increasing complaint cases from consumers in Sim Lim Square, I noticed that alot of shops had ceased their operations and the it was no longer the crazy bustling IT place I ever knew.

To get to Noodle Cafe, we have to walked at the perimeter of Sim Lim Square. The cafe was modernly furnished and bright with TV.

Interior

Let's take a look at their special Menu and the Must Try!

Must Try

If you have never been to Thailand for their boat noodles, ordering such dishes may be new to you but its achievable in just 5 simple steps -

Step 1: Choice of Beef or Pork
You can choose Fresh Beef/Pork with respective liver or balls. Or if you want to try all just tell them you want meat with livers and balls.

Step 2: Size?
We all know about the bite size portion of a bowl of noodles which literally get finished in just 1 mouthful. So if you really just want a try and nothing else, just go for their small size at $1.90 or if you want something filling, a bigger size at $5 won't go wrong. 

Step 3: Choose your noodles
Apart from having Bee hoon, diners get to choose, glass noodle, kuay tiao, mee kia or tung hoon.

Step 4: Your Taste!
There are 4 choices, you can order them dry or with soup like TomYum, clear soup or even their special Soup.

Step 5: Level of spice
It comes in 4 levels, non-spicy, less spicy, normal spicy and extra hot.

5 Steps to your order

Just like an usual Thai eating place, sugar, chilli oil, flakes and fish sauce were all readily placed on the table. Do help yourselves with the condiments!

Condiments

We had chosen their Thai Milk tea over other beverages. Tea taste was not too strong and was overpowered by the taste of milk.

Thai Milk Tea - $1.80 Each

Having the big bowl of boat noodle in such permutation, mix pork with glass noodles and in their special soup with less spiciness. Glass noodles were soft and rather tasty with the sweet and clear soup.

Glass Noodle Special Soup - $5 (Big)

We opted for pork balls and lean meat. Having tried the authentic ones from Thailand a few months back, the standard from this bowl really varies. Pork balls were not that bouncy.

With Ingredients up

Never knew that such big kway teow exists in boat noodles, the dry version was topped with chopped vegetables (kang kong) and came with a separated bowl of soup which was opaque in color. The soup did taste a close resemblance to what I had in Thailand but still lacking of the meaty taste.

Kway Teow Dry with beef

Having boat noodles in singapore can never be compared with what we have eaten in Thailand for sure due to a higher living expense here. We got the luxury to enjoy an authentic mouthful of boat noodles at 10 Baht (less than $1) but over here in Singapore, its $1.90.

Ingredients on Kway Teow Dry

In terms of taste, they were quite close but still nothing in comparison to what we ever had. At least its good in the sense that we do not need to spend more money and time flying overseas to enjoy such thai cuisine.


Rating: 3.25 / 5

Noodle Cafe
Location: Sim Lim Square 1 Rocher Canal Rd #01-06

Minced Meat Noodle - Broadway Food Court

I have been following this stall since 12 years back. Everytime without fail during my visit to Sim Lim Square I will sure patronize this Minced Meat Noodle aka BCM (Bak Chor Mee) stall. This is my addiction till that I have never tried any other stalls other than this.

Minced Meat Noodle Stall

Comes with 3 Shui Jiao in the bowl of soup, 1 fried dumpling, 1 prawn, 1 abalone slice, 1 fried dumpling mixed in the minced meat with braised mushroom slices taken out from the slow cooker.

Minced Meat Noodle with Abalone (Mee Pok) - $4

The amount of vinegar and fragrant from the bowl was very sufficient, moreover the small fried piece of flat fish had level up the simple bowl of BCM taste. Crispy Pork lards can be added at your preference.

Minced Meat Noodle with Abalone (Mee Kia) - $4

 Though it was so delicious, somehow I felt that this is the portion where it turns the dish into quite a miserable serving because of the little slice of abalone. And its just only one.

Small Slice of Abalone

The dumplings aka shui jiao in soup were very good. You can order separately in a bowl if you like them.

Minced Meat dumplings in soup

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Minced Meat Noodle - Broadway Food Court

Location: Sim Lim Square, 1 Rochor Canal Road (Basement 1) #25 Singapore 188504

Parklane Zha Yun Tun Mee House

While waiting for the Dim Sum Restaurant to open, we decided to go for something light to ease our hunger in the morning by visiting Parklane Zha Yun Tun Mee House which is located few units away from the Dim Sum Place.

Occupying 2 units of space in Sunshine Plaza, I was rather suprise that each unit is actually half pack with diners on a Sunday morning whereby most shops in the plaza has closed for business.

Parklane Parklane Zha Yun Tun Mee House

We ordered a big plate of fried wantan noodles to share between ourselves. However, the portion when served looked pretty small to me. Perhaps the portion that was being "upsized" was the number of fried Wantan on the plate, as for noodles, its as good as the smaller portion.

Fried wantans are light weighted and crispy, subsequently quite fragrant and complemented the springy noodles well. While Char Siew Meat was a tad fatty.

Fried Yun Tun Wantan Mee - $5 (large)

Soup from the wantan was decent, wantan skin was smooth with reasonable amount of minced meat in it.

Wantan Soup

All in all, I felt that the Wantan Mee is decent and worth trying!

Rating: 3/ 5

Parklane Zha Yun Tun Mee House
Location: Sunshine Plaza, 91 Bencoolen St #01-53 Singapore 189652

Victor's Kitchen

There used to be snaky queues lining up outside Victor's Kitchen even before its operation hours but during my recent visit , there was a signage placed in front of shop asking diners not to queue up and it was by the building management.

Victor's Kitchen

The internal of Victor's Kitchen is rather run down and cramped with chipboard foreceiling.

Internal

 As the tables were all lined up in rows leaving a middle walkway, the dining area were rather cramped if you were to order different kinds of Dim Sum. However such squeezy area gave us a feel on how situation is like in Char Chang Ting of Hong Kong.

Dining Area

Interestingly prepared with a bowl of ice outside the cooling HK Summer Beverages, it did remind us of the authenticity of such fare.

HK Summer Ice Tea - $3 & HK Summer Ice Ying Yang - $3

Chicken Porridge was not too thick and not too watery. Simply love its texture and the sweetness. Also, century egg with chicken meat is delicious.

Phoneix Porridge - $4.50

 I'm still in search of the better Siew Mai. Though these are good, but not to die for.

Tasty Queen Size Siew Mai - $4.50

 A bite of the "Q" chewiness. These prawns were succulent.

Teo Chew Style Steam Dumpling - $4.50

The XO Carrot cake is so soft till i thought I'm eating some gluely paste until I confirmed that it is their signature carrot cake. This is also one of the shop's recommendation.

XO Scallop, Sausage Carrot Cake with XO Sauce - $4.50

 One of the staples that we wont skip during any Dim Sum Meal. The signature dish - Golden Egg Yolk Lava Bun. Even before you bite on it, the fillings will ooze out once you tear away its paper at the bottom. Though oily and creamy, it still tastes good in the overall.

Golden Egg Yolk Lava Bun (3 Pcs Per Set) - $4.50

 Sauce is generous on the plate of Char Siew Cheong Fun. Its silky translucent thin layer skin simply wrapped the chopped pieces of char siew meat well.

Char Siew Cheong Fun - $4.50

 To enhance some of the Dim Sum taste, it is good to have dab on some chilli.

Chilli

Through this return visit, I felt that Victor's Kitchen had lost its charm somehow, she is no longer my best and economical choice of Dim Sum that will come straight into my mind.

Rating: 3 / 5

Victor's Kitchen

Location: Sunshine Plaza, 91 Bencoolen St #01-21 Singapore 189652