NeNe Chicken

The quirky name that makes me smile everytime whenever I think of NeNe Chicken. With Korean fried chicken up in the trend, NeNe Chicken is branching out into the neighbourhood retail malls and they offer a range of crispy fried chicken coated with secret recipe sauces. Besides the delectable chicken pieces that got my attention, the way of dining with disposable plastic gloves had also amazed me as it was not a common sight dining in the mall with gloves on.

For those who is not very clear with the ordering, it can be done simply in 5 steps.

1. Choose your chicken
2. Choose your sauce
3. Choose your starters
4. Choose your sides
5. Choose your drinks

NeNe Chicken

You will not get your order upon payment at the counter, instead you will be given a buzzer and collection of order to be made once this device vibrates.

Buzzer

The queue was relatively long during the peak hours and we got ourselves the first NeNe Chicken Meal completed with 2 drinks of our choice.

2 Pcs Chicken Meal - $8.90, Wings & Sticks - $10.90

Chicken which were coated in not too salty-sweet soy sauce were great. At least these fried chicken were not too dry as compared to other chain fast food korean fried chicken.

Soy Sauce

Chicken & Sauce

Thick Spicy Sweet sticky sauce with a mixture of sesame seeds clinging onto the meat. Plastic gloves were very handy in this case as I can totally eat at ease without making my fingers dirty. The chicken are quite hot and you

2 Pcs Chicken (Spicy Sauce)

Starters

Surprisingly, Coleslaw was good and I love the part where you can start abit pf the peppery taste among with mayonnaise used sparingly on the ingredients like corns kernels, cabbages, cucumbers, carrot etc. Good and not too gelat.

Coleslaw

For those who prefer sweet corns can order this. The corn kernels were perfectly tossed with crab-sticks in mayonnaise.

Coleslaw - Corn

Sides

The rough texture of the fries reminded me of the twister fries in Mcdonalds and was just as tasty over here. There were straight cut instead of curling up and was firmer.

Buffalo Sticks

Afterall, fast food are still fast food. Is it a matter of novelty that these stick Korean Chickens outlets keep multiplying and later on getting too mainstream? While comparing them to 4 fingers, I will give an obvious vote to this. Meanwhile still holding my thought that the original fried chicken wings / drumsticks without coating any sauce is still a very good choice.

Rating: 3.25 / 5

NeNe Chicken
Location: Bukit Panjang Plaza, 1 Jelebu Rd #02-10 Singapore 677743
Website

Stew Küche [Closed]

Stew Küche also known as Stew Kitchen when translated from German is located in one of the hipster coffee shop in Singapore. If you feel that enjoying your European meals from air-conditioned Restaurants or Malls is too mainstream, try visiting here for a different experience, also skipping the additional service charges.

Menu

Table Number

The Swiss Farmer Platter is good for sharing for about 2 - 4 pax and consists of the Bavarian / Germans Staples like whole crispy pork knuckled, 2 selected German sausages, Achar, mashed potatoes, harsh browns and darkbeer sauce for pairing. From the look at it, the Asian Cuisine had somehow influenced the "supposed-to-be" German platter as the sauerkraut that I'm looking forward to has been exchanged for our Asian Achar. Portion are large and definitely economical as compared to the usual ones.

Schweizer Bauern Platte (Swiss Farmer Platter) - $40.66

The scene-stealer was perhaps none other than that salivating big pork knuckle that were cut into pieces. Meat was moist and fare better than the chain German Bistro that I had visited. Meat was marvelously tender and best to go with the given sauce.

Pork Knuckle

The Bavarian Pork Sausage was perfectly served in its plump texture and lend a good savoury bite with its juice bursting as we sank our teeth into them.

Bavarian Pork Sausage

Though those shredded potatoes that make up the Rosti may not be as fine as what we had from Marche, it was more fragrant and not very oily. Together with the platter, we topped up this at $5.50 only.

Rosti - $5.50

Having good memories from Hofbräuhaus München in Germany, I had the Hofbräu original. This is brewed by the brewery in Germany and the acquired taste was refreshingly light to go with some good german food! While for my guy friend, he prefers something stronger in flavour and went for the darker beer.

Original Weiss Beer - $11 (1 Pint)

Paulaner Dunkel - $11 (1 Pint)

Stew Küche may not replace the restaurant environment and have limited seating but you can still call in for reservation. Overall, with menu being extensive, I find that its a good alternative if you are looking for more German Food options in Singapore.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Stew Kuche
Location: Blk 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1 #01-40 Singapore 151119

Restaurant Haesje Claes

I got hooked by the taste of Traditional Dutch Food and insisted we have another Stammpot before saying good bye to Amsterdam. We visited Restaurant Haesje Claes which was recommended by the Tourist Centre and in fact we should be visiting them for dinner during our first night in Amsterdam but due to our itineraries, we kept it for 2nd Night.

Restaurant

Menu

Part of the Intterior

Comparing to The Pantry from the first night, Haesje Claes is bigger, catering to more seating with 2 levels of dining area. Environment was definitely more rustic with wooden flooring, furnishing and given a homely feel under the orange lighting as well the hospitality from the service crews. 

Interior at Level 2

Interior

Place was bustling with people and if you looked around, it feels like you are entering a grandma's house with old school stuff that you have never seen before.

Interior

Interior

Though it may be old school design but I still like the low lighting ambiance that create a good atmosphere with burning flame on the candle stand.

Burning Candle

Worrying about being filled fast and Since Im looking for Stammpot in my meal,  we cant go wrong with their fixed set menu "Amsterdam Menu 24,95 which consists of 3 courses and a cup of coffee.

Coffee 

As for myself, I took the opportunity to have some beer again!

Beer

Starter

This is another version of Pea Soup I had with ingredients in it. Taste was pleasant with sausage, bacon, carrots, potatoes and celery in combination. The style of soup and even the side that comes with it was a total different picture from what I had last night and was filling. Instead of toast, they had a slice of rye bread with thin slice of bacon for pairing.

Pea Soup with Sausage, bacon

What's in the Soup?

Bacon on Rye Bread

Main

Time for seafood and that's the main reason why we had Poached Salmon Fillet. Not much of Wow Factor here but Salmon was cook to the correct doneness and given the buttery and herb flavour Bearnaise Sauce amd lemon squeeze, the fillet was down in my stomach within 3 minutes, leaving the mashed potatoes behind.

Poached Fillet of Salmon with Bearnaise Sauce

Topping up the Set with another main course, Stampotten. There are 3 in the menu to choose from and I had the one with Sauerkraut. Meatball was savoury but I do prefer the ones I had last night. Sausages, so to speak was an average fare, not something out of expectation.

Sauerkraut with meatball, sausage and bacon - 16,25

Dessert

Our meal comes to an end with the Lemon Pie as the last course. At least the colors had brighten up the dish and it gave a refreshing feel with its fruits on the plate (Kiwi and Orange).

Lemon Pie with Cream

Having Sausages and Sauerkraut in our meals these two days, I find that Dutch Cuisine is kind of close to what a German Cuisine is. Overall, Haesje Claes is a good recommendation if you want to enjoy some authentic flavour from the Dutch.

Restaurant Haesje Claes
Location: Spuistraat 275, 1012 VR Amsterdam, Netherlands

Seasalt

Checking out the hipster coffee shop in Bukit Merah again and this time round we are going for some German cuisine as well as seafood. We were quite lucky to have a seat with just walking-in and without any reservation.

Seasalt's Buzzer

Serving mussels in broth of garlic and wine and all in one pot. The pot in its handle gave us a total feel as if we were at home and an additional bucket to arrange the empty shells into it.

Mussels in Stock - $15

Those mussels were fresh and just simply dip the toasted white breads into the sauce and finished up the dish!

Mussels

Hope to be back again for others seafood.

Rating: 3 / 5

Seasalt
Location: Blk 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1 Singapore 151119

88 Hong Kong Roast Meat Specialist

Someone raved about the delicious Hong Kong Roast Meat in Bukit Batok and I immediately thought that he was mentioning about the stall in Bukit Batok's industrial estate. This is the 2nd time having dinner from them with the first round being "Tabao" back home without actually looking at the stall.

My return to the physical stall was triggered by the urge of their impressive Char Siew Meat which I thought thought was remarkable in the neighbourhood and their generous gravy was something I look upon to.

88 Hong Kong Roast Meat Specialist

Noodles were sold out and we have a meat platter consisting of BBQ Meat (Char Siew), Roast Pork and Roast Duck. The advantage about dining in is that, customers get to self help with the gravy from the pot themselves.

Meat Platter - $13 with 2 bowls of rice

Char Siew Meat was commendable as it was not too oily and it was also not to the extreme of using lean meats and ending up compromising its texture. Instead, the meat had good consistency of charred flavours and rights amount of fats.

Having braised sauce drench over the duck meat was awesome! Skin was crispy and absolutely fragrant without being too greasy, for extra kick, dab them into the spicy chilli given.

Top View

Though with distinctive layers of fats and meat on the crispy roast pork, it did not really suits me as I find them on a dry side. Since roast meat was their specialty, I believe this is a one time off thing and since most probably I will be back again in the day time for another try!

Roast Meat

Herbal Soup was accompanied with the roast meat platter and was not too bad.

Herbal Soup

Overall, it feels great to have another good roast meat option in Bukit Batok! I will be back for their noodles for sure!

Rating: 3.5 / 5

88 Hong Kong Roast Meat Specialist
Location: Blk 265 Bukit Batok East Ave 4 Singapore 650265

Chey Sua Carrot Cake 青山菜头粿

The chance is here! And this time round I was here on a weekday morning in Toa Payoh for a plate of so called one of the best carrot cake in Singapore. In the past I was there in the evening and was rather disappointed as by the time I was there, Chey Sua Carrot Cake Stall was already closed for the business day.

There was no queue in front of the stall which caught me by surprised and immediately i went up and order a medium portion at $3 but was asked for a table number. They provide the service to your table and no wonder there was no queue to be seen.

Chey Sua Carrot Cake

They are one of the few carrot cakes stall left that insist in preparing their own carrot cake from the scratch instead of adopting the factory packed carrot cake. And if you are looking for traditional taste like this, Chey Sua Carrot Cake may suits the list.

Carrot Cake - $3 (Medium)

Though most of the Carrot Cake comes in white or Black version, for Chey Sua, their default will be white. I was absolutely surprise when the lady took my order over. Carrot cake was fried to crisp and you can see the distinctively layer and amount of eggs used. The combination of crispiness and softness of their carrot cake was heavenly. Not forgetting about the consistent use of chai bor that had been mixed with the carrot cake, elevating its taste. Unlike the usual carrot cakes we had in rectangular and cube shapes, theirs remind me of Korean Kimchi Pancake.

Yummy Carrot Cake

Spelling another difference in their carrot cake will be the style of chilli used. If you realised, chilli was only a final touchup on the exterior crisp layer. The uniqueness of Chey Sua Carrot Cake had really won my heart! I don't mind travelling here in the morning for a plate of this again!

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Chey Sua Carrot Cake  青山菜头粿
Location: Toa Payoh West Market & Food Centre, 127 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh #02-30 Singapore 310127

The Pantry

Braving the rain and huge wind that was so strong that had physically forced and pushed me to take a few steps ahead was an unforgettable experience I ever had in Amsterdam. Can't imagine my trip throughout was mostly rainy with some hiccups but still we managed to get some good meal in between.

Pantry

Walking up and down of the streets due to the blurred vision caused by the rain and street lights, we had finally managed our navigations to the doorsteps of The Pantry as advised by our mobile application for Traditional Dutch Food.

And Wow, we never knew seat was almost all taken and was lucky that we got ourselves the window seat by the door even without a reservation. We was warmly greeted by service crew and with a question of "Where are you from?" and was handed the English Menu.

We got a Table!

Environment was cozy in its dimly lit chandeliers, furnished by solid wooden table and chairs with traditional Dutch decorations (paintings & porcelains) on its wall. This spot fits a perfect date with a nice ambiance and famous music playing softly in the background.

Environment

Interior Walls

Lamps

To be frank, I know nuts about Dutch Food and as usual we hit on the usual order by choosing the Pre-Set Menu, one each.

Pantry's English Menu

Meanwhile before the Starters, we were so excited about Amsterdam Beer and got ourselves each a Amstel Gold and Amstel Radler. They were soothing as we adjusted ourselves in the warmly heated up environment.

Amstel Gold 3,75 & Amstel Radler - 3,25 Eur

MENU 1 (19,95 EUR)

Starter

Having Pea Soup was not very ideal in my impression from a start as I'm not very comfortable eating peas alone but these dutch Peas had totally changed my mindset. Soup was served in Lion Head Porcelain Bowl and it was orange instead of mushy green color. To be honest, the soup had whit my appetite. It tasted as sweet as pumpkin soup with herbs and cream and grab the slices of rye bread by the side and dip in!

Pea-Soup with Rye Bread and Smoked Bacon

Main

Presenting the traditional taste of Dutch with meatballs and mashed potatoes. The dish has a very long history in its cuisine with boiled mashed potatoes in combination of carrots, onions, sauerkraut. It has the choice to be served with smoked sausage or meatball and we chose the latter. Meatball was made up of minced meat was real good in its sauce. 

Combination of Hutspot, zuurkool - en boerenkoolstamppot served with meatball

Dessert

While dessert was Vlaflip - Vanilla custard with yoghurt and syrup. It wasn't too bad just that I had forgotten to snap a picture of it.

MENU 3 (26,80 EUR)

Starter

It took me a while before I actually start eating them as I was kind of shocked to receive the combination as a starter. 3 kind of dutch sausages were cooling and tastes quite differently. We spreaded the paste on the bread added with pickles. Well ~ what's the best / proper way to enjoy them?

Combination of Three Dutch Sausages, Served with Bread, Pickles and Mustard

Main

Pairing of Beef with onion stew was perfect for the night. The main was delighting with its tender cubes of beef. Together with sides like the shredded red cabbages and mashed potatoes, even though the portion may look small but it actually got us filled up easily.

Savoury Beef and Onion Stew with Red Cabbage and Mashed Potato

Another View

Dessert

Ending the meal with a square-cut size brownie topped with vanilla ice cream and generous portion of whipped cream, adorn with the zig zag patterns from the cherry sauce.

Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream, Cherry Sauce and Whipped Cream

Having dined in The Pantry was an excellent choice with friendly server that took additional steps to service their customers. Moreover as an Asian who had never experienced Dutch Food, I'm very glad that my choice of dinner was wisely chosen. Don't let your taste buds run elsewhere, The Pantry is the good opportunity for Traditional Dutch Food.

Compliments after paying Bill

The Pantry 
Location: Leidsekruisstraat 21 1017 RE Amsterdam The Netherlands
Website