The Best of Noodle Boat

Everyone was talking about the Boat Noodles near Victory Monument and I thought I should be persistent and not having ourselves to leave Bangkok with regrets even after the fail visit on New Year eve.

It was our last breakfast in Bangkok for the trip and once again we headed to Victory Monument, this time round with better navigation as we have been there once. Traffic was better and it was just another beautiful day for us.

Victory Monument

So much of the crave and wish was finally granted. The Best of Noodle Boat had resume its operation after their New Year's Holidays in early January.

The Best of Noodle Boat

Eating place is located beside the river but fret not, there is no foul smell from the river even if you choose to eat by the open area.

River

Dining area is spacious and airy with ample of ventilation with ceiling fans installed if you are dining by the side of the river.

Seating by the river

 If you want an air conditioned environment, just head over to another side of their dining area.

Over into the dining area

Interior dining  was painted in orange on its ceiling and walls are covered with white and brown tiles.

Interior

The servings of a bowl of boat noodles is known for their mouthful of noodles with gravy and ingredients. The amount of food per bowl is undeniably "kids serving" or even lesser than that. Apparently the prices per bowl had changed from 10 Baht to 12 Baht now but even so, it bowl cost no more than a dollar when converted into Singapore dollars.

Noodles Thicken Soup with Pork - 12 Baht

Having tasted Bangkok's fiery boat noodles, we were aware of hot spicy it could became and requested for less spiciness. However the level of spice level still exceeded my threshold.Noodles were flavourful and rich with meat ball and pork / beef with cut kang kong.

Noodles Thicken Soup with Beef - 12 Baht

Noodles Sour soup portion came with a slice of "Char Siew" (pork) with peanuts and beansprouts in a sweet soury broth. Its presentation was different from the thicken soup version.

Noodles Sour Soup with Pork - 12 Baht

They asked if we wanted some add on with a bowl of cracker in their hands and we agreed even though we have no idea since they were talking in Thai. After that we figured out that it was actually a bowl of crispy fried pork skin. It was not oily and also not my favourite.

Streaky Pork with Crispy crackling - 12 Baht

The fried dumplings has no meat in it. Instead, its only fried dumplings skin. Similarly, it was not oily.

Fried Dumplings - 12 Baht

These are what we ordered for two pax. It's not uncommon to people ordering so many bowls due to their bite size portion servings. Cups of ice were all ready at the side of the table in case you need to put out the fire in your mouth. Haha!

Our Order

Meat ball were good and springy. For those who can take more spice, dab these meatballs into the given chilli, its "shiokingly" good.

Pork Meatball - 200 Baht

It seems that I didnt get enough of Bangkok's Meatball! They were really good!

Yummy

Our humble breakfast meal with only 10 bowls completed. Having tried its competitor's (Pranakorn Noodle Restaurant) Boat Noodle which were located nearby. I find that Pranakorn is better. No matter which stall you go, I find that if you are visiting or in Bangkok, having their boat noodles is a worthy experience. Cheap and good, just dine like the locals!

Finished Bowls

The Best Of The Boat Noodles

Location: Sutyot Kuetiau Lua Payak Phaya Thai Bangkok 10400, Thailand

Soi 19

Though Soi 19 Thai Wanton Mee has been around for 2 years, it only become talk of the town recently on social media platform. Due to my recent trip to Bangkok which lead me into an increasing urge for Thai Food, I find that it's time I should make a trip down to Soi 19 in Singapore. And with the constant reminders from their Facebook page posts, I could not help it but allowed it to tempt me further.

Soi 19

We drove into Ang Mo Kio district and began our search. The queue was long just like what everyone was talking about, thus we were well prepared for a wait.

The style of Thai Wanton Mee was dry but filled with aroma especially from its free flow of crispy pork lard. The bigger portion costs $5 and you are entitled to Char Siew, 2 fried wanton, 2 soup wantons, "lap cheong" (chinese sausages) , blanched vegetables and chopped spring onions.

Wanton Mee - $5 (Big)

Though those egg noodles were dry, the noodles were springy in texture and evenly coated with shallot oil. What's more, the strands of noodles did not cluster together into a lump.

Close up on the big bowl

Having a bowl of original version costs, $3.50, a dollar more as compared to a usual bowl of wanton mee, lessing out the sauce and moist texture, that's what you have got at Soi 19, Ang Mo Kio. The smaller version has only 1 fried wanton as compared to the big bowl and also chinese sausages were no where to be seen there. For additional flavours, condiments like chilli flakes, green chillis

Wanton Mee - $3.50 (Small)

The wantons were juicy and each of them was wrapped in its tightest form, revealing the shape of its filling.

Wanton

With such concoction where Wanton Mee looks plain into its simplicity, it kinda jog my memory to a stall in Chinatown Hawker Centre which has the noodles served exactly in Simplicity but it falls under the chinese kind of wanton noodles.

Having tried Wanton Mee from Bangkok, I would say Soi 19 in Ang Mo Kio may have the closest taste here in Singapore to Bangkok's. Well, what's more can I say? At least we dont have to fly a few hours to Bangkok to enjoy it. :)

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Soi 19 
Location: Blk 151 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5 Singapore 560151

Restoran IT Roo Cafe

Said to be having the best chicken chop in town, it urges us to head down to the old JB old town. IT Roo Cafe is a standalone cafe at one corner of the shop house at the junction of Jalan Pahang and Jalan Dhoby

Facade of IT Roo Cafe

It was rather packed in their restaurant during my visit on a Saturday afternoon. There are internal and external seating.

The Best Chicken Chop In Town

And washrooms are situated at another corner extended from the main building.

Toilet

Chicken chop can be served either in black pepper or mushroom sauce and I had chosen the latter. Not only one can also choose the cooking method, grill or fried.

Chicken Chop - 15 RM

Chicken chop was tender with noticeable cut mushroom laid on its meat together with the sauce. Sides include, fried baby potatoes as well as coleslaw.

Chicken

While we have the chicken chop 2 eggs to be served with the deep fried method added with mushroom sauce.

Chicken Chop 2 Eggs - 17 RM

The fried eggs were placed on top of the chicken chop hiding away the main of plate. Chicken chop was fried to golden brown and was not too oily.

Close up

Another difference is that this dish is served with potato wedges instead of fried baby potatoes.

Potato Wedges

While we ordered Watermelon Juice to quench our thirst. It was cooling to me as we were seated in external dining environment. I find that taste of the watermelon was a little dilute and was quite sweet to my liking.

Watermelon Juice - 4.50 RM

While my partner enjoys drinking root beer with vanilla ice cream!

Root Beer Float - 6 RM

What's the verdict? Having tried the claimed best chicken, it gave me a rough gauge on the expectations of the chicken chop in Malaysia.

Rating: 3 / 5

Restoran IT Roo Cafe

Location: 17 Jalan Dhoby 80000 Johor Bahru

Restoran Multi Mart

Just like Singapore, we are all spoilt for choices in Malaysia when it comes to selecting our meals. Restoran Multi Mart is within walking distance from KSL City Mall selling kinds of local delights from porridge to Char Kway Teow.

Restoran Multi Mart

There was a crowd in the Restoran when i was there for breakfast. Luckily there was still a table left and we quickly sat down and ordered the porridge at the counter.

There was a number of stalls in the Restoran Multi Mart but since most of the social media raved about its porridge, it's hard to resist.

The stall is indeed very specialized and only pork porridge is available. The only permutation they have is with or without egg at a difference of 50 cents RM.

Porridge Stall

Pork porridge was smooth and thick, generously loaded with ingredients like chopped preserved vegetables ("Dong Cai") and fried fritters top with fried onions as well as cut spring onions while one third of the striking yellow yolk  was revealed near its spoon.

Pork Porridge - Rm 5 with Egg

The bowl of pork porridge was awesome and the taste was much explained by the constant stream of customers who came forward to order from them throughout the morning session when i was there. It was both a stomaching warming and wholesome meal though it was simple. For those who requires a stronger flavour, soy sauce and pepper are all ready for you when its being served.

Pork porridge

Just in front and near to the entrance of the restoran, there is another stall selling Nasi Lemak, Otah and Mee Siam. I find it quite interesting as I observed the traffic flow in there.

Otah, Mee Siam & Nasi Lemak Stall

I seldom have Otah alone as breakfast unless it is coupled with bread. We ordered a basket of 5 for 4 RM and enjoyed them.

Otah - 5 for 4 Rm

Otah was not too bad and a good choice to order as side dishes.

Close up

Other than these two stalls were seen operating during the weekend breakfast, Cathay Laksa, Char Kway Teow and Fishball noodles did have their own customer crowd.

Barley Drink

Cathay Laksa

Char Kway Teow

Restoran Multi Mart
Location: Jalan Harimau Taman Abad 80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Restoran Yong Xin

Restoran Yong Xin is top my list when it comes to Kway Teow Kia and abalone in Johor. In terms of exchange rate from Singapore Dollars to Malaysian Ringgit, having meals like this is always cheap and affordable.

Restoran Yong Xin

During the recent trip in February, we realized prices of their abalone soup had increased tremendously as compared to our first visit.

Menu

Nevertheless, the morning crowd was still as good as before and laughter can be heard from the kitchen, which gave the place a relaxing environment to dine in, passing by the weekends in a slow and steady manner.

Dining Environment

Premium Abalone soup was the bomb, it had almost everything, from abalone to fish maw. Soup was clear and tasty, a good choice to go with the smooth and silky texture Kway Teow.

Premium Abalone Kue Teao Soup - Rm 17.80

And the heart of the ocean, presenting the one and only one abalone.

Abalaone

During the last visit to Restoran Yong Xin, we have ordered their combo meal for 2 but this time round since we had ordered the premium, we decided to compare it with the basic bowl. The differences was spelt out by the presence of prawn, abalone slices, liver and fresh oysters from the ingredients.  Soup was sweeter than the premium order.

Abalone Kue Teao Soup  (Dry) - Rm 9.50 (Medium)

Kway Teow Kia in Johor has been always my comfort food, no matter it is served in dry or soup version.  Their smooth and slim texture was something that make me ask for more even though its plain.

Kue Teao

Though Otah was deep fried and looked cripsy and served in a pale color, I quite contented with its brittle exterior texture which gave the kind of sensational crunch on the first bite.

Crispy Otak - Rm 4

However, the heavenly feeling did not last long. I was kind of turned off but its oiliness later on.

Crispy

There was nothing much about the bowl of Fu Zhou Fishballs. They were probably purchased from the factory and tasted similar to something off the shelves. There again, there was a degree of different taste in their bowl of soups.

Fu Zhou Fish Ball Soup - Rm 6.50

The fishballs are soft and chewy, filled with seasoned minced pork meat. The only thing that I like about them was the oozing part when the fluid burst out during the first bite.

Fu Zhou Fish Ball

There are a few places which sells similar dishes but so far when it comes to restoran Yong Xin, I find that every bite on their Seafood was fresh and tasty. That makes no explanation why I make repeated returns when I'm in JB.

Restoran Yong Xin
Location: No. 143 Jalan Pahlawan 1, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah