Pao Xiang Bah Kut Teh String Tied Meat

Taking over the previous 24 hours Hainanese Curry Rice, we are rather surprise to see Pao Xiang Bah Kut Teh joining the row of eatery in The Rail Mall. If you have been to Malaysia Boleh in Jurong Point, Pao Xiang Bah Kut Teh should be of no stranger to you.

Shop front of Pao Xiang

It was a quiet night at almost their closing hours that we went in to check out. Pao Xiang Bah Kut Teh emphasized in string-tied meat technique which is believed to lower the cholesterol content and help in boosting the herbs flavours in Bah Kut Teh broth.

Menu

 Environment is nothing special with simple and straight forward furnishings around. However the environment brings closeness to people with the round table settings, encouraging family and friends to gather and building bond.

Environment

You Tiao, also known as fried dough stick is one of my favourites in a Bah Kut Teh meal. Their dough stick is short and comes in a cute pair which make it easier for consumers to handle as they dipped them into the mouth watering bowl of herbal broth.

You Tiao - $1.60

To maintain its broth warm, they practise serving bowls of Bah Kut Teh under the buring heat. Though it is good that the bowl is shallow and gets heated up easily, as a soup lover, I find that its at disadvantage to me as I finish up the soup rather quickly and requires a top up.

Burning Heat

The good thing about the topping up the broth is that they are never dilute and still bringing out the authentic taste of Bah Kut Teh. We can tell that the intestine had been thoroughly handled as there is no odd smell in it.

Intestine Bak Kut Teh - $6.80

Spare Ribs on the other hand was great! At a slightest pressure, you can remove the meat from the bones easily not mentioning that they had cooked them into the correct tenderness too!

Spare Ribs Bak Kut Teh - $6.80

I prefer dark soup in Bah Kut Teh than white ones and I find that the flavour of soup is better than the usual ones maintaining a good standard of herbal taste without being too overpowering.

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Bao Xiang Bak Kut TEh String Tied Meat
Location: The Rail Mall, 444 Upper Bukit Timah Road Singapore 678066

Yee Shun Dairy Company

We chanced by Yee Shun Dairy Company during one of our night walks along the street near to our accommodation and all of us decided that we should give it a try before heading down to Australian Dairy Company for a comparison.

Yee Shun Dairy Company

For those who have been to Hong Kong, Yee Shun Dairy Company may be of no stranger to you. They are just another common Hong kong breakfast place similar to the trade of Australian Dairy Company of Hong Kong just that they have more outlets.

Yee Shun Milk Company

Looking through the chiller near right outside its doorsteps, we get to see bowls and bowls of chilled Steamed milk, in convenient take away boxes too.

Steamed Milk in Chiller

There are a few kinds of steam milk available on top of the original steamed milk like, coffee, red bean, lotus nut, ginger juice etc. Patrons can choose to have it hot or chilled.

Chilling

Interior of Yee Shun Dairy Company was quite modern, different from the usual run down Cha Chang Teng we visited. Walkways in this outlet is spacious and we do not have to worry about banging into others while walking along the aisles.

Interior

Finally, we all had our first taste of steamed milk! I got myself a warm portion and was pleased with the taste. It tasted of warm milk but in a pudding form and was not too sweet for consumption. Having a weak tummy during the first few days of my trip, this warm bowl of milk pudding did magic to my stomach. Nevertheless, the chilled version was just as good but for such a cooling weather in Hong Kong, I still prefer a warm bowl of Yee Shun Milk Pudding like this. 

Steamed Milk - 32 HKD

Yee Shun Dairy Company
Location: 246-248 Sai Yeung Choi St S, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

Charlie Brown Cafe

The craze about snoopy has come back again and yes recently I had watched the Charlie Brown movie and it had kind of encourage me to visit their theme Cafe in Cineleisure after such a long long time. For those who are unaware, there are two Charlie Brown Cafes in Singapore and the other one is located in One KM Mall.

Charlie Brown Cafe

Charlie Brown Cafe in Cineleisure is located at 4th Storey in one corner. Be greeted by the simple and cool looking snoopy in its shades at the doors.

Snoopy

Hospitality from Charlie Brown Cafe is not too bad as you are greeted by snoopy and charlie brown with a menu in his sincere look.

Charlie Brown with Menu

In its theme cafe, you get to watch their cartoon programs from the television, plush on the sofa, and you can even enjoy kinds Charlie Brown related toys, stationery off their display shelf.

Snoopy and Charlie Brown! Take a Selfie Here!

Shelf

If you notice, you will see Charlie Brown's face right at the doorstep on the cement screed flooring.

Charlie Brown at the entrance.

The best thing about chicken wings is that they have to be served hot, golden on the outside and juicy on the inside. The signature wings fit all of that.

Signature Charlie Wings - $10.80

Nothing beats my all time favourite choice of Pizza for I'm an absolute Hawaiian Lover. Just right that their Hawaiian Pizza is one of their recommendations. Its thin crunchy crust was baked to perfect edges, charred and spreaded with juicyturkey hams, pineapple cubes on a tomato base mixed with mozzarella cheese. Yum Yum!

Hawaiian Pizza - $12.80

Crepe on the other hand was quite normal, folded with nutella chocolate wrapped inside and served with a scoopy of cookies & cream ice cream.

Snoopy's Chocolate - $9.80

The crepe for this had snoopy drawn out of their chocolate powder. 

Crepe

Overall, it was quite entertaining dinning in a Theme Cafe like this. I don't mind coming back again for their mains.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Charlie Brown
Location: Cathay Cineleisure Orchard, 8 Grange Road #04-01 Singapore 239695

Tsukeru at Emporium Shokuhin

We got so excited about Marina Square's latest renovation as there is a Singapore first integrated Japanese Emporium featuring aged beef facility, live seafood, Japanese Grocer and multiple Japanese restaurants.

Tsukeru - Shabu Shabu

Dining Concept is modernly furnished with wooden hanging lamps and despite having flooring, cupboards, tables and chairs in wood, it does give a classy Japanese touch in the atmosphere.

Dining Interior

No worries if you are dining at Tsukeru for the first time as their friendly staffs are always ready to assist you. There is a side drawer at every table that contains the electronic menu as well as ordering system in an Ipad Mini. We got our orders through the staff on service and it was all sent to the kitchen without hassle.

Mini Ipad Ordering

Since Tsukeru specialised in serving Shabu Shabu, it would be best to grab their specially concocted sauce here for additional taste! Range of sauce is pretty interesting which also includes our local sambal chilli sauce despite its a Japanese Restaurant. You can also find mustard, ponzhu sauce, spring onions, corriander leaves etc.

Sauces Counter

Hotpots are individual and you get to choose your broth base from Asian and Japanese Cuisine such as Tom Yum, Ginseng Chicken, Tomato for example. I have been missing konbu seaweed for sometime and since it was Tsukeru's recommended broth, I looked no further and decided the base.

Tsukeru Konbu Seaweed Broth - $6

Thankfully, the pot of broth was not just only filled with liquid. Big pieces of Konbu were given and I was relieved as it was since a good long time I had them!

Konbu Seaweed

We decided to ditch the usual Asian Broth we normally get in the hawkers and decided on Tonkotsu Miso Soup. At the first round of the soup, it was on a salty side till the servers came around topping up the soup promptly and eventually the taste of broth get bland.

Tonkotsu Miso - $7

While the man could not do without a bowl of steam rice at $3 for his dinner, I got my carbo fixed with their Inaniwa Udon. These cream colored Udon are dried and thinner than the usual Udons we had.

Inaniwa Udon (Dry) - $6

We had the platter of 2 consisting of prawns, dumplings and 3 kinds of prime meat, including Wagyu beef and Kurobuta.

Meat & Seafood Platter for 2 - $68

Prawns were fresh and in an acceptable size. Shells in its mid body had been removed.

Fresh!

Kurobuta Pork Belly

Beef

Beef

Balancing out the meat intake, we had ourselves the healthier choice - Vegetable Platter at $15 which consist of tomatos, radish, seaweed, cabbages, lettuce and bamboo shoots.

Vegetable Platter - $15

With induction cooking, my pot boiled in a while. I particularly like their seaweed from the vegetable platter but do note that it will change your soup into purple color.

Konbu Seaweed Soup Broth with Items all in

Condiments to pair up with my Shabu Shabu meal.

Condiments

Since their Sapporo draft beer is 1 for 1, we have ourselves a cup each washing down the dinner.

Sapporo Premium Beer draft 1 for 1 - $9

Total bill for 2 is $134.88 after GST and Service Charge. It was a good experience enjoying Shabu Shabu with premium meat and a good range of self selected sauce. 

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Tsukeru
Location: Emporium Shokuhin, Marina Square, 6 Raffles Boulevard #01-18 Singapore 039594

Website

Yung Kee 鏞記酒家

It was all over the news in Singapore a month ago on this Iconic Roast Goose Restaurant of Hong Kong about the family feud that may set the company to closure if their descendants failed to reach an agreement.

Yung Kee

For those who are unaware of what was happening. The passing of the founder in 2004 had left his restaurant to the hands of his two sons, kinsen and Ronald. With Kinsen holding 45 per cent of the shares and Ronald holding 55 per cent, the former soon complained to the court that he was being blocked from running the business.

Entrance

With all the bitter wars going on, consumers who love the crisp juicy roast goose were all shaken by the news that Yung Kee may be gone for good.

Open Concept Kitchen

Sounded loud, impatient and aggressive in their culture by nature, the well dressed auntie in black asked us what we wanted as we were at their take away counter. We took a while to decide as it did not have option with just only roasted goose but goose with rice and in the end we ordered half a goose.

Kitchen

The upscale restaurant was modernly decorated with staff smartly dressed up looking professional. Interior was beautifully furnished and looked grand.

Interior

There were slight hiccups during the transaction as we were accused of not paying for the take away and it upset us with their hostile tones. Thereafter, they realized it was their mistake and toned down. We did not feel any comfort in the service and the thought of the news of the war between the siblings had surfaced in our minds.

Take away portion was pretty well done with a microwavable container covered and wrapped with a paper printed with Yung Kee's Business Name. Honey roasted sesame and sweet prune sauce were given for the takeaway.

Take Away Portion

The award winning goose that the world is raving about is in front of our eyes. Half a Roasted Goose costs 300 HKD (about $60 SGD). It's alluring fragrance and its blistering skin was our soft spot! With all the given condiments added, the 5 of us enjoyed the flavourful roasted goose in its crackling crispy skin holding the soft and tender flesh that once you have your teeth sink in, the juice starts oozing out. As we were finishing the roasted goose, there were braised soya beans revealed beneath. They were good stuff as those beans soaked up all the essential and flavours from the roasted goose

Half Goose - 300 HKD

Yung Kee's roasted goose has definitely live up to its name sake and it would be a loss if Yung Kee's business is sealed due to family feud. And it would be worst if the building was sold off as this Yung Kee's building has a hidden treasure that define their Famous Roasted Goose - a charcoal fired oven on Hong Kong Island. It would be lost even if they were to move into another place as their government no longer issues permits for such equipment.

No doubt that Yung Kee has been there for a long time, it does not mean having their service standards compromised. Our visit would have better if staff have shown more professionalism.

Yung Kee 鏞記酒家
Location: 32-40 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
                  中環威靈頓街32-40號
Website

Mei Shi Zhu Yi - Fried Porridge

Don't need to read the title all again.Yes! Its fried porridge that we are talking about here. Having porridge throughout my living, I have not even hear of frying porridge. I guess like me it would have stir your interest and wonder how does it taste like. Fried porridge is originated from Malaysia its good that we can find them in Singapore in Macpherson Road.

Mei Shi Zhu Yi is housed in Delicious Coffeeshop and offer 6 kinds of porridge including its signature fried porridge in claypot. They also sell other items like fish cakes and salted fried chicken.

Mei Shi Zhu Yi

Since we were there for their Fried Porridge we ordered a medium portion at $10. The porridge was served in a claypot and topped with garnishings like fried shallots, chopped spring onions, crab meat. The crab meat used was not from those processed crab stick and I get to bite some of the unremoved shells.

Signature Fried Porridge - $10 (Medium)

The way of serving definitely reminds me of claypot rice especially when the porridge was in claypot and was mostly brown in color.

Fried Porridge - $6 /10 /20

I can't never imagine the idea of incorporating frying to porridge especially when they are water based. To my surprise, all my idea of plain porridge had been replaced by the beautiful sight of the scoop of smoky, unami flavours of fried porridge.

Texture was more like gruel, with pork lard accentuated the plain porridge taste, strands of cuttlefish adding on to its taste and even little chop bits of yam could be found inside. The dried shrimps on the other hand had also added sweetness to the porridge broth taste.

A ladle of goodness!

I went there without much expectation as I had no idea how exactly Fried Porridge would taste like and it turn out better than what I had thought. In my opinion, I felt that they could have a stronger taste to make it perfect!

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Mei Shi Zhu Yi - Fried Porridge
Location: Delicious Coffee Shop, 456 Macpherson Road Singapore 368174