New Ubin Seafood

Good news to Westie! For those who have not heard of the relocation of New Ubin Seafood, I'm please to tell you that they are now located in Hillview, Lam Soon Building.

SHIOK MENU (Serves 2 Pax)

The reason of their move from Sin Ming Industrial to Hill View is that the original area will be redeveloping in Dec 2016. Though it is still located in Industrial Property, I already feel the great difference as soon as I stepped into the canteen of the "ulu ulu" Lam Soon Building.

New Ubin Seafood

It was horribly packed with people, be it expats or local. Not to mentioned that the private rooms were also packed with people. I was kind of amazed that the roads outside the building was quite calm and quiet while the entire canteen was bustling. Lightings were well hanged on the ceiling, creating a different kind of atmosphere apart from the old facade.

Private Rooms on the left

Having visited on their 2nd Day of opening, I can see that staff were still not very familiar with location of table numbers and hiccups were visible. Nevertheless, staff are friendly and trying their best to serve.

Environment

2 Bottles of San Pellagrino Sparkling Flavoured Beverage

Since the set comes with two bottles of Pellagrino Sparking Beverage, we decided on Mandarin Orage and Limon Drink. Drinks were served in its original glass bottle and comes together with a chilled glass.

Sanpellegrino

I didnt give the menu too detail a look before ordering the set meal, thus I was kind of surprise with 

Sous Vide Egg and Char Grilled Foie Gras served. It was indeed a very special and total new experience to me to have such dish from a Cze Char place. Moreover this dish was scented with truffle Salt making it out of the ordinary.

Sous Vide Egg with Char Grilled Foie Gras

Foie Gras

We were more than amazed to be served with another special dish before our eyes. Hong Kong Kai Lan was specially prepared with its leaves fried to achieve a crispy texture while the stalks still remain in its crunchy "green suit". Though special, a little down side about the dish is perhaps its oiliness.

Hong Kong Kai Lan Special (S)

Appetizers

You can choose fresh Carabinero Prawns or freshly chucked oysters Sashimi as your starting appetizers. However if you are a non Sashimi diner or do not feel like having raw food, don't worry, there is still alternative for your appetizers. The Chefs are flexible and can change the style in cooking the Oysters for you.

Plate of 6 Oysters

They suggested that we go for Oysters Mornay with no additional cost incurred for the similar menu.

Oyster Mornay

Though it may takes a little while for these Fresh Pacific Oysters to be served, its totally worth the wait. The Oysters were well cover by the creamy cheese sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Oyster Mornay

Yummy!

We choose the US Black Angus with fried rice to the meat platter. If you choose the meat platter, you have 3 choices to choose from, New Zealand Lamb Rack for 2, Small Size Smoke Pork Collar or Kurobuta BBQ St Louis Style Ribs (Half Rack).

Interesting enough, US Black Angus deserved some praises even though it may not be the prime type. The steak cubes were well executed and definitely worth every cent that I had paid for. The total sums up to about 600g, perfectly prepared in medium rare doneness with distinctive char flavours sprinkled with grinded blackpepper corns.

US Black Angus Ribeye with Fried Rice (600g)

They were served on a heavy wooden chopping board with potato wedges as well as caramelized onions by the side. Condiments like sea Salt, Ketchup and mustard were readily placed by the side. You won't regret ordering this!

US Black Angus Ribeye

I guessed I will regret if I'm skipping this. The fried rice was definitely awesome. It had the style of Claypot Rice coated, best still with every grains coated in the sweet black sauce. It was savoury by itself even if did not paired with those Ribeye steaks above.

Fried Rice

Individual Dessert (Choose 2)

Balancing out the Fusion, we had something local from the Dessert menu. Durian Pengat was served in small bowls warm and if you like it, you can add some coconut milk to enhance its taste.

Durian Pengat

I'm not too much of a coconut milk fan and thus I added quite little to my dessert.

Adding Coconut Milk

Banana dessert was served in a hot plate. With Gula Melaka coating all over the banana, the fruit can never be sweeter! The texture was soft and together with the sugar, it was totally not my kind of dessert.

Gula Melaka with Banana Coconut Ice Cream

The plain and not so sweet coconut ice cream served had actually complemented the sweet dessert well. Cooling and refreshing ending we had here!

Coconut Ice Cream

After paying the bill and nearing the exit, we noticed this gigantic chalk board that had drawn up with 18 kinds of recommended dishes in Snake and ladder form. Perhaps the next visit, I will need to throw some dishes and decide my dishes! :)

Snake & Ladder

Being one of the happier folks in the West to welcome New Ubin Seafood, I will not deny that Cze Char Places like this has come to a whole new level with creative dishes. It is no longer the traditional kind of Cze Char that we are looking forward to nowadays.

Now, don't say Hillview Area is "ulu", you will find hidden gems like this there! *Winks*

Rating: 4 / 5

New Ubin Seafood
Location:  63 Hillview Avenue, Level 6 (Canteen), Lam Soon Industrial Building canteen, Singapore 669569

Tenryu Dining & Teahouse

I have heard about this hidden gem among the private housing estate recently and was rather interested to explore the quiet estate. Estate is quite remote and inaccessible if you don't drive as there is only 1 bus service. However for someone who enjoy peace and greenery, the estate will be a very good choice.

Tenryu Dining & Teahouse

Marked as their "Must Try", we could not help but to order. The Salmon Sushi Roll with Tenryu Sauce was topped with bonito flakes. Each piece of Salmon was lightly torched and you can enjoy the charred taste as well as the slight crisp.

Tenryu Maki - $17.80

The sauce that held the flakes were sweet and yummy. Dabbed them to the wasabi sauce and feel the "shiokness".

Tenryu's MUST TRY

Salmon Garlic Fried Rice is fragrant. Though there wasn't any visible garlic, the aroma is there and dish was well executed. Every white pearl rice was distinctively coated with oil and ingredients like eggs was generously used.

Salmon Garlic Yaki Meshi - $10.50

 Deep fried Croquettes are crispy too! There is only one type of Croquette on the menu and that was filled with Kani (Crab) meat with cream. As fillings are hot and creamy, be careful when you bite on them.

Kani Cream Croquette - $12

Deep Fried Tofu was nothing extraordinary, skip this for another dish.

Age Dashi Tofu - $5.50

Under their Agemono Menu, you can enjoy the Tempura Moriawase which consists of Deep Fried Prawns & Vegetables. Vegetables includes slides of sweet potato, carrot and brinja. =

Tempura Moriawase - $14.5

Looking forward to visit this place again with another friend for dinner soon.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Tenryu Dining & Teahouse
Location: 17 Dairy Farm Rd, Singapore 679043

Hai Chang Fish Head Steamboat

While on the way sending my partner to the airport, we visited the popular round market in Tampines to fix our stomach. In the back of my head, I always think that they are mostly opened in the day time and most probably there will not be any interesting food during the night. However we still went ahead to the round market thinking that if there isn't anything for dinner, we will just dine at one of the nearby coffeeshop.

The barbecue pit with fire caught my attention and initially I thought it was selling some BBQ chicken instead. We decided to try out the fishhead steamboat.

Hai Chang Fish Head Steamboat

Besides the steamboat, we order the smallest plate of fried egg with minced meat. Yumm! It was well executed with greens at the base.

Minced Meat Egg - $8

Eggs were fluffy and definitely addictive to the extent that if you give me a bowl of white rice with this plate of minced meat with egg, I can finish all of them without an issue ~ My kind of comfort food.

Minced Meat Egg

With Hai Chang's stall opening at night, the round market's hawker centre will never be a "Ghost Town" as you can see 100% of the crowd are only patronizing the stall. Noted for its traditional Charcoal flavour and pocket friendly pot, it is no doubt that there will be a queue. Do visit them early to avoid longer waiting time.

Red Grouper - $25

Broth is tasty and with ingredients like fried yam, vegetables, seaweed, sun-dried flat fish and fish chunks.

Burning Burning!

For some it can be disappointing if you are looking for meaty chunks of meat. In fact, if you are diners who cant bare to dirty your fingers on the food and the bones from the fish, it may be a hassle for you as majority of the fish chunks come with bones.

Fish Chunks

Take a look at the blowing station which is set up in front and away from the stall. Charcoal was taken out from the BBQ pit and stacked nicely into the steamboat pot via the chimmey, there after it will be brought to this blowing station for processing where fire gets burning.

Blowing Station

After successfully making the fire burns, the assistant will bring the pot back to the stall where the fish broth will be pour into it and served to the customer. Service was quite good as Staff from Hai Chang keeps a look out at customer's pot, if the fire were dying off while our broth is still full, they will cover the pot up and bring it to the station for another "blow".

The blowing station

Video of the burning hot pot:

Travelling into the East for hawker food was quite a rare chance to come by, the way how charcoal fire was blown to create fiery flames on top of the aluminum steamboat chimney vessel was something I had not seen before in Singapore. I would say it was an eye opener and I wont mind coming back again. Having said that, I believe their Cze Char Dishes are not bad too, do check it out.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Hai Chang Fish Head Steamboat
Location: 137A Tampines Street 11, Singapore 522137

Wee Nam Kee

One of the popular Chicken Rice players in Singapore, Wee Nam Kee is currently located in Marina Square at the 4th Level just opposite of Food Gallerie. I have patronized Wee Nam Kee in the earlier days when they were still located in Novena, opposite the 7 Day Adventist Church and everytime without fail it was always packed with people. They have left a great impression for preparing delicious chicken rice and tasty soup that comes with the set.

Wee Nam Kee

The facade of Wee Nam Kee in Marina Square is outstanding as it gives a old school feel of visiting coffeeshop with iron grills, faint wooden classic doors with stone tables / chairs.

Could not decide to have either the roasted or steamed chicken? That is why we bought the two kinds, each at a quarter. Having a good last impression of their steamed chicken, I was quite excited to have visited Wee Nam Kee again. The steamed chicken was drenched with light soy sauce and with the fragrance of sesame oil, decorated with Chinese parsley. Meat was tender and smooth. However, there was not any "wow" factor somehow. What could have went wrong?

Quarter Steamed Chicken - $8.50

Roasted chicken on the other hand was dry on its skin and was not too appetizing with its presentation even though meat is as tender. Perhaps the only thing in the chicken rice set that I like most is their soup.

Quarter Roasted Chicken - $8.50

Rice

Though decent, Ma Po minced meat with beancurd was not spicy enough to live up to its name.

"Ma Po" Minced Meat Beancurd - $10

Going to the greens, we had You Miao. It was a simple dish that rounds up a healthier meal.

You Miao 

It was good to know how their standards have been ever since my last try out. Currently my preferred chicken rice stall's position still remains as it is.


Rating: 3 / 5

Wee Nam Kee
Location: 6 Raffles Boulevard, Marina Square #04-102B, Marina Square, Singapore 039594

Meat n' Chill

Meat N Chill is known for its affordable western food fare in Bukit Timah area and they are conveniently located just within few minutes of walking distance from the Downtown MRT Line, Sixth Avenue. You can find restaruants like Little Diner, North Indian Food in the shop houses along the road.

Meat n' Chill

We came here for on a special occasion to celebrate the guy's birthday. Restaurant was big and spacious, not fancifully renovated but interior furnishing blends in well with the wallpaper and cement screed flooring. Seatings are available on both first and second storey.

I had the Strawberry Smoothie, it was a both a mixture of sweet and sour taste. You can also find some strawberry flavoured jelly in the drink.

Strawberry Sparkles - $6.50

Root Beer Float - $5

All the birthday guy wanted was steak on his special day and this did not disappoint. Grade of beef was standard and this wholesome 250g of succulent Ribeye had undergone a cook in the oven before grilling to achieve the Millard reaction. We had it done medium well and it was tasty and worth the price. There was choice of red wine or black pepper sauce written on the menu but we were not given a choice and went for its default. Main dish will be served with 2 side dishes and we had the mashed potatoes and coleslaw for this.

The Red Neck Soo-veed Ribeye Steak - $27

Steak

Even though they have the meanest ribs in town, I decided to go for its pork chop which was for limited period only. Given 2 slabs of pork chop stacked by the side of each other, beautifully flamed grilled to perfection. They were paired with delicious brown gravy n' pomery mustard. All went well till the last part where we noticed the meat was uncooked and called the server to have it cooked as it was totally raw. I had also chosen 2 side dishes like Sweet pickled apples with onions and Garden Salad.

Iberian Pork Chop " THe Chuletero" - $36

Close Up

Service was a little below par as I would have expected some words from the kitchen about the uncooked food but apparently, they just passed me back the cook food without any words of apology. I believe they lacked abit of training here when things cropped up like this. Nevertheless it would not stop me from going back for their so called "Meanest Ribs in Town" as they food portion is definitely value for the money you paid and likewise the quality of food is there.

Rating: 3 / 5

Meet n' Chill
Location: Sixth Avenue Centre, 805 Bukit Timah Road #01-04, Singapore 279883

Tai Cheong Bakery

You get to find out the famous Tai Cheong Bakery in Singapore without flying all the way into Hong Kong. Just visit the basement of Takashimaya shopping centre along the eateries and you will get to definitely get lured by the baking aroma from the ovens!

Tai Cheong Bakery

Ever since this permanent outlet has been announced, everytime whenever i passed by and without failed there are Tai Cheong Bakery's die hard fans queuing up despite of the waiting time. With limited ovens, the demand is always more than the supply on the spot, thus patrons have to wait for tarts to be baked. They looked absolutely different from the conventional ones we had. The fillings portion were glossy and smooth.

Tray of Tarts Taken from the Oven

There is a minimum purchase of 4 tarts and these 4 tarts are being packed in a classic box. Before the box was closed, the staff showed us the tarts once before he closed the box.

Egg Tart - 4 for $7.50

The surface of the fillings were flawless and it was really fragrant, tempting me to eat it while its hot.
The crust was buttery and its fragrance give a reminiscent of Jenny's Cookies which is also from Hong Kong.

In a box of 4

Reading from the packets of fillings in plastic and trays of aluminum mould with dough, we realized how readily made egg tart is just that the baking time had its queue longer. I love about its filling as it was not cloying and tarts were perfectly baked .

How much is one tart?

$1.90 for a tart may be very expensive and moreover, it cant be purchased individually. Overall, it was good but it was not something to die for that I will want to go back to Takashimaya for their tarts. 

Rating: 3 / 5

Tai Cheong Bakery
Location: Takashimaya,391 Orchard Rd #B2 Food Hall, Singapore 238872

Bee Kee Wanton Noodle

Chancing by this so called popular stall in the vinicity that people are talking abotut for its Truffle Wanton Noodle while we were there waiting for our pals for lunch.

Bee Kee Wanton Noodle

Accompanying our lunch with Wantons in Vinegar and Chilli as our sides, I'm pretty new to this dish although my friends mentioned that similar dishes are available in the chain chinese restaurants. Basically, it is just another version of Xiao Long Bao to me soaked with vinegar, chilli and sprinkled with spring onions and beansprouts. I find the combination of vinegar and chilli quite potent and to my liking but on the other hand, it was also quite oily.

Wantons in Vinegar and Chilli  - $6

Here comes the main purpose of visiting the stall! For a $6 Truffle Oil version of Wanton Mee loaded with both fried and boiled wantons coupled with handful pieces of Wanton slices. Sides of the plate looked oily because they had sprayed the truffle oil over the noodles allowing them not to clump together. The noodles were special to me as they were similar to those "Mee Kia" I had in Hong Kong and were springy.

Truffle Oil Wanton Mee - $6

While these Char Siew was not your usual bright red color slices of meat that attract your attention. Instead, they were more towards dull in color, brown and have a good balance of fats as well as meat.

Char Siew Slices

While my friends ordered the Original Wanton Noodles in Soup version. Ingredients were pretty standard with vegetables, char siew, wantons and noodles. Perhaps the presentation here can be off-putting with the layer of oil on top of the soup.

Original Wanton Mee $3/4 (Dry/Soup)

In summary, the wanton noodle are quite usual just that the Truffle dish is something out of the usual ones we had, leaving an impression.

Rating: 3 / 5

Bee Kee Wanton Noodle
Location: 2 Lorong Lew Lian Chuen Kee Restaurant Singapore 531002