W39 Bistro & Bakery

We all heard a fair bit about W.39, a cozy home-styled bistro and bakery hidden in the neighbourhood of West Coast. Until lately, we decided to head down for a hearty breakfast meal.

W.39 Causal Dining

Tuck in the corner along the shop houses in Jalan Mas Puteh, W.39 provides a laid back and causual dining style for my Sunday Brunch in which they offer seats both indoors and outdoors. We did not make any reservations during then and was guided to the outdoor seating. Space was rather limited and we were offered a table to squeezed among the 3 of us. The weather was not any in flavour as it was abit hot and humid though it was about to rain.

Shophouse View of W39

The brunch menu is available of every Weekends and public holidays, from 9am - 3pm with 8 different types of brunch dishes in a A5 size booklet.

Brunch Menu

Under W39 Specials, we had ordered the Ribena Lemon Twist and Ice Honey lemon. The former was refreshing with ribena making up about 1/5 and 4/5 of the content with soda. Mint Leaves was added giving a soothing sensation whereas the Ice Honey Lemon tasted average to me.

Ribena Lemon Twist (Left) - $4.50 , Ice Honey Lemon (Right) - $3.50

Hearty Breakfast, an ideal choice for the hungry goers. The plate consist of 2 sunny side up eggs, mushroom, sausage, bacons, tomato and toast.

Hearty Breakfast - $16

Beautifully done with Hollandise sauce over those poached eggs, ham and thick toast accompanied by the fresh salad sprinkled with balsamic vinegar. I wonder where can I find another plate of Eggs Benedict at the cost of $10. :)

Eggs Benedict - $10

We prefer the toast to be taken with some flavours and burst the eggs and enjoy the thick airy toasts with the sweet orange yolk mixed with the hollandise sauce.

The flow of egg yolk on Eggs Benedict

Croque Madame, is also one of the recommended dish on its branch menu. With ham and cheese sandwiched in between 2 thick fluffy toasts topped with a sunny side egg and acompanied with the salad on its side.

Croque Madame - $12

So much of the European fare, we had chosen Nonya Mee Siam over Nasi Lemak with Chicken Thigh from its local menu for our last dish. Its gravy was thick but not spicy, if you want more spice, add the given home made sambal chilli and lime to the dish. It was added with tiger prawns and tasted quite fresh which somehow surprised me.

Nonya Mee Siam -$9.50

Comparing to some popular places like Wild Honey, W39 does offer a better pricing. The place is a tad inaccessible to some perhaps as it is not very near nor far away from the nearest MRT station which is Clementi. Overall, it was a good experience and do remember to do reservations if you want better seating.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

W39 Bistro & Bakery
Location: 39 Jalan Mas Puteh off West Coast Road Singapore 128637
Website

Dulu Kala

Dulu Kala, The Peranakan House is located at the 4th Level of Beauty World Centre is a family business that aims to serve authentic and home made Peranakan fare at an affordable price. Located humbly at a corner of the old school shopping building, it is rather surprisingly to see how "hot" they are over the weekends dinner crowd.

Storefront of Dulu Kala, The Peranakan House

 Interior designed was simple and atomosphere was filled with Pernakan culture with the Batik table cloth and the restaurant was adorn with Peranakan bowls and plates on its wall shelves, also carved wooden ornaments were hung up at the walls.

Interior

A table size glass was placed on top of the Batik table cloth on every table, leaving 4 sharp edges at the sides of the table. However, Dulu Kala was thoughtful enough to install rubbers on the edges to prevent diners from knocking into it.

Protect the sharp Edges

I must admit that it took almost an hour before the first dish came onto my table. I wasn't patient initially but I told myself, good things come to those who wait.

Nonya Chap Chye was really a welcoming dish of the entire meal.  It was a normal plate of braised chap chye added with a twist - the nonya style.Those cabbages were braised and soften added with black fungus and mushroom, lending a special taste in the palette.

Nonya Chap Chye - $8.90

 Ayam Buah Keluak was good, especially its gravy which make the fragrant white rice turns interesting. Meat was cooked to softness and flavourful in the tamarind sauce. For those who enjoy Buah Keluak (an indonesian nut), remember to dig your spoons into the nutty shell.

Ayam Buah Keluak - $11

 Babi Pongteh (Pork in Bean paste sauce) is another dish in the cuisine that we have to order. Meat was not too hard with potatoes added in the sweet spicy sauce.

Babi Pongteh - $9.90

The Assam Fish Head was not too bad, it was slightly towards the sweet side than soury. Nevertheless, the fish was fresh and tender added with brinja, tomatoes and lady fingers. The assam gravy gave another good reason to order another bowl of white rice to pair.

Assam Fish Head (Large) - $25.90

Giving off a sweet finish before we called it a day, we had ordered Bobo Chacha and its Chendol. Bobo chacha dessert was chilled with not too much of coconut milk. Instead it gave off a light fragrance of the coconut with the interesting colorful cubes of tapioca combinations as well as yam and sweet potatoes.

Bobo Chacha - $3.50

Another Chilling dessert to end with was Chendol. Gula Melaka was thick but not too cloying. It was real addictive and a happy ending to the satisfying meal.

Chendol - $3.50 (Left) & Bobo Chacha (Right)

Altogether with 4 bowls of steamed rice and with Service Charge, the total bill sums up to be $81.10 for 4 pax. Bearing in mind that preparations were tedious with long hours needed, Peranakan Cuisine generally costs dearer than others and over here in Dulu Kala, I find that pricing was reasonable. The overall dining experience will definitely be better if the long waiting time were shortened.

Rating: 3.5 / 5


Dulu Kala
Location: Beauty World Centre, 144 Upper Bukit Timah Road #04-04 Singapore 588177

Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice

I'm always amaze by the length of the queue outside Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice whenever I pass by Seng Poh Road as it is real exagerrating with those hardcore fans of Loo's standing under the hot sun and even at the roadside.

The storefront of Loo's looks rather humble, just an ordinary looking stall tucked at one corner of an old school coffeeshop.

Storefront of Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice

The sweet tantalizing sauce over the deep fried fish was as good as the zi char sweet and sour pork with capsicums, cucumbers and onions added, definitely lending a welcome sweetness to the meal.

Sweet & Sour Fish

One of the staples in Hainanese Curry Rice which I stumbled upon is its Hainanese Pork Chop. Instead of using bread crumbs, these pork loins were coated with cream crackers and deep fried. The pork chop crispiness was coated under the sweet savoury gravy with a perfect balance between its saltiness and sweetness of the meat. It was really enjoying. At a closer look, the layers of meat, fats and batter were distinctive which I conclude that the quality of the meat was good.

Hainanese Pork Chop

The Hainanese Chap Chai which we ordered was simply made with cabbages boiled till softness. Standing alone as a dish, it was nothing special.

Hainanese Chap Chai

Besides the pork chop, another dish that hit me right in my stomach was its curry Sotong / Squid. The squid was cooked to perfection whereby each bite was not too rubbery or raw, instead it was easily chewed and swallowed, really tender! Well, it kept us wonder how they were done. Not forgetting that the curry gravy given was generous and blended in well with a little spice.

Curry Sotong / Squid

For the masculine who needs more carb, the portion of their rice drenched with gravy may not be at your ideal serving. Do order additional bowls if needed.

Hainanese Curry Rice

After trying two famous Curry rice, I will conclude that both of them have their specialties and fans. Some of the dishes were sold out during my visit and this will be one reason added for me to patronise them again. Well, i really enjoyed such Hainanese fare and emphasize that it is definitely worth your while!


Rating: 4 / 5

Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice
Location: 71 Seng Poh Road #01-49 Singapore 160071

Tong Kee Cooked Food

I always enjoy visiting Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre on the weekends morning, observing the lifestyle of Singaporean folks having their breakfast with their families. Not only that, if you were lucky, you may get to see some sweet old loving couple sharing their portion of meal over breakfast.

Located just beside the popular stall, Chang Ji Gourmet, Tong Kee cooked food sells local dishes like raw fish, laksa, wanton mee and dumplings noodle.

Tong Kee Cooked Food

At a economical price of $3, I had 4 pieces of dumplings with the noodles, as well as a bowl of soup.
The soup was sweetened with chopped spring onions floating on its top layer.

Dumplings Noodle - $3

Dumplings were tasty, filled with chopped chestnuts among the flat minced meat. The crunching sound make by the chestnuts during chewing made me felt so shiok!

4 Dumplings

Surprisingly the noodle was much more springy than I thought coated with the sweet and spicy sauce with fried onions oil adding fragrant to the plate. On the contrary, I find them too oily for my liking.

Noodles - Mee Kia

Rating: 3 / 5

Tong Kee Cooked Food
Location: Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre, 335 Smith St Singapore 050335

Botak's Favourites

I still remember back then when Botak Jones was the "In" thing among the western food and everyone was patiently lining up for their portion of Muslim (Halal) western Food be it in Industrial or heartland area. One of Botak's Favourite stall is located in the West of Singapore at under Blk 233 Bukit Batok East Avenue 5, right at the corner of the coffeeshop.

Botak's Favourites

Besides it main menu, they do offer beef burgers, massive burgers as well as pasta in their meals.

Pasta and Burgers

Sides were also available at your choice.

Sides Availablity

Condiments (chilli, mustard and tomato sauce) and utensils are available at the trolley placed next to their stall.

Condiments

A buzzer is given to customers after making payment. Though self service was expected, the helpers had actually sent us the food when it was ready.

Buzzer

We were quite excited and looking forward to having the Cajun meals. Waiting time was quite long about 20 minutes. The cheesy spread together with the tangy tomato sauce over the orange brown layer of the chicken was looking appetizing. However, the outlook of the meal did not have a good match with the taste. Though it was tender but the marinated taste was not up to expectation.

Cajun Chicken Breast with 2 sides (Coleslaw and sweet corn) - $9.90

Sides like coleslaw was overdone I felt, too milky, loaded with mayonnaise whereas the sweet corns were dry and almost tasteless. :(

Sides - Coleslaw and sweet corn

Thigh meat was tender than the breast meat and the marinated taste was flavorsome. The baked beans was nothing but from canned food, it was not heated up and fries tasted pretty common.

Cajun Chicken Thigh with 2 sides (French Fries and Baked Beans) - $8.90

My visit to Botak's Favourites had changed my impression on them totally. It is unlikely that I will be back again.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

Botak's Favourites
Location: Food King Coffee House, Blk 233 Bukit Batok East Avenue 5 Singapore 650233
Website

Tong Yi Congee

Hungry for porridge? Here's a recommendation for you at Pasir Panjang Tong Yi Congee but one thing is that you have to join in the queues during lunch hours. They have 15 kinds of porridge available and for those who love raw fish, its available, as well as Frog's porridge in claypot.

Tong Yi Congee

Every bowl of porridge was cooked to order and half  a pair of fried fritters ("You Tiao") is given to every order. Patrons will have the choice of having it as a whole or in smaller pieces. To add on, every pair of fritters were fried by themselves.

Hawker cutting You Tiao into pieces with Scissors

Enjoy every bowl of steaming hot congee over the lunch hours. If you have limited lunch hours, that will be a challenge taking the time for queuing and the temperature of the food into consideration.

Besides "You Tiao", seasonings like fried shallot oil and spring onion were added to bring in more fragrance to the meal.

Mixed Pork Porridge - $3.50

I had a good stir into the congee and notice the amount of meat given. The liquid content had a good balance with the rice thus the congee in overall was not too watery nor was it too starchy.

Ingredients in Mixed Pork Porridge

For those who like minced meat, this is another recommendation for you. 3-5 pieces of minced meat balls were given in the bowl and what's more, they had went through they fryer before sinking themselves into the congee. Just look at those browish meat balls with the congee, simply slurpilcious!

Meat Balls Porridge - $3.50

Although the shop was manned by 2 ladies, they were considered quite fast and efficient during lunch hours. For those who are queuing, do remember to queue behind the yellow line in front of the stall to prevent knocking over the bowls of porridge while they were serving at the counter.


Rating: 4 / 5

Tong Yi Congee
Locationg: Pasir Panjang Food Center, 121 Pasir Panjang, #01-44 Singapore 118543

Fei Lao Ya [Closed]

Fei Lao Ya is located within Varinice Eating House, somewhere near Bukit Batok MRT Station specializing in braised duck food.

Fei Lao Ya

A normal set for kway chap cost $4 for individual and it comes with a plate of ingredients and its kway. Having a 2 person portion were not a bad idea as the servings were generous, suitable to fix my braised cravings. Besides having Tau Porks, eggs, peanuts and pork innards, we had requested for braised duck. The "Lor" (braised sauce) used was pretty well done with a good balance of sweet and salty, definitely addictive. The innards were soft and smooth, without additional stench. :)

Ingredients with Duck Meat

The Kway was smooth and translucent with a distinct smell of shallot oil. What I like about it was that the braised soup was not oily and temperature was just nice. Better get starting or the kway will expand in size after absorbing the soup!

Kway

Here's an overall shot of the meal. :)

Kway Chap Set for 2 - $11

Rating: 3 / 5

Fei Lao Ya
Location: Varinice Eating House, Blk 632, Bukit Batok Central, #01-134 Singapore 650632