49 Seats

Starting with humble beginnings with 49 Seats (this is how they got their name) at Kreta Ayer Road in 2012 and now they have move to a bigger shop space in Orchard, Centrepoint. 49 Seats are known for their Western Fusion Asian dishes at affrodable pricing.

49 Seats Casual Dining at The Centerpoint

Interior was casual with a good similar industrial chic look that contains bright hanging lights, metal chair. What caught my attention was the items that was sprayed coated in silver that sticked onto the wall. Totally Creative! Initially I thought they were just the usual props made especially for decorations but as I touched it, I realized they were all recycled items. How interesting with plastic cups, spoons, forks, plates, egg trags and even egg trays.

Industrial Theme

Interior from Outside

Creativity

Tom Yum Seafood pasta is rated as A spicy lover must try. Looks like this dish is highly raved because of its uniqueness. The Tom Yum was served cream base with seafood like mussels and prawns. It packed a good punch of sweetness, sourness and spiciness in every mouthful of spaghetti. This is in fact semi spicy and the bestseller here.

Tom Yum Seafood - $14.90

Another recommendation on its menu will be their Seafood Marinara and a good alternative if you are not keen in spicy Tom Yum. Pasta is pretty tasty with mussels and prawns paired with tomato sauce.

Seafood Marinara - $13.90

Adding $4.90 to my pasta for set of additional soup of the day and 1 soft drinks. I had the Cream of Brocoli with garlic bread by the side of the double layer bowl. The soup was not quite hot, however still able to warm up the tummy.

Adding On Set

The environment did leave a good impression. As we were only there for pasta, we have not tried out the other western food dishes. It will be good to be back again.

Rating: 3 / 5

49 Seats
Location:The Centrepoint #01-49 Singapore 238843

Hong Qin Fish & Duck Porridge

If not for the recommendation by my friend, I would never have discovered such place for braised duck and fish soup. Well, what a combination!

Hong Qin Fish & Duck Porridge

Although there are so many eateries in Geylang, be surprised that the coffee shop environment is actually crowded by office workers from nearby. Luckily we were there earlier and did not have to worry about seating. After which, we went up to the counter and order our food.

Ordering Stall

We choose our braised platter based on the items we like. We had braised duck, pork trotters, eggs, intestines, Tau Gua and Tau Pok. The duck meat was braised till so tender that we almost mistaken the meat as pork. However, we love the braised meat over here including the intestine as they were well handled and tasty.

Braised Platter

Good to go with rice or porridge as it might be very salty and oily to consume alone.

Cai Buay

Was rather please to have a bowl of lukewarm porridge with braised gravy and chunks of braised duck meat. The style of the porridge had the kind of homely taste which you normally wont find it from usual hawker stalls ~ Teochew Grandma Style Dish.

Duck Porridge

The other dishes not to let your stomach go empty with will be their fish soup. They provide fresh sliced pieces of fish in clear soup. Dish was simple and straight forward with preserved greens, cabbages and seaweed. Plain light meal but broth was tasty and flavorful.

Fish Soup

I like the nostalgic taste of food especially the braised duck. Since operating hours of Hong Qin Fish & Duck Porridge is till mid noon on the weekdays (Batang Fish sold out fast), it will be more likely that we will be visiting them in the weekend instead.

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Hong Qin Fish & Duck Porridge 
Location: 134 Geylang East Avenue 1 #01-217 Singapore 380134

Oasis Taiwan Porridge 海京楼台湾粥

Craving for porridge? Have you visited the Taiwan Porridge place that has been in business for more than 38 years? Oasis Taiwan Porridge is previoulsy located next to our Indoor Stadium in Kallang opposite the old National Stadium. They have relocated to Toa Payoh Town Park that is opposite the HDB hub and also next to Toa Payoh Swimming Complex.

Oasis Taiwan Porridge

A homely taste of velvety porridge with sweet potato included. Best that its free flow and a big warm pot of it was kept by the side table for you to refill.

Refillable Porridge

The Prawn Roll looks abit dry here rather than the glossy appearance but we were all glad that it was not greasy. The fillings were hot and we took caution when sinking our teeth down into it.

Prawn Roll - $8 (Small)

"Chye Poh" egg aka Preserved Raddish comes in a beautiful round shape and was yummy. It was not salty and even taste as good alone without the porridge. Texture was crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. Wow!

Chye Poh Omelette - $10 

This was one of the signature Teochew dishes that we had ordered. Braised duck with Tau Kwa was soaked in sweet savoury braised sauce. I will recommend the dish as the meat was not too "old", easily chew and succulent. Every piece was well immersed in the "Lor Chap" aka Braised Sauce and just goes very well on the plate.

Braised Duck with Tau Kwa - $16 (Small)

If you eat Pig's Intestine, you will definitely like this as these braised intestine was well handled and does not have any gamy taste. In fact the combination of salted vegetable and intestine had executed well.

Braised Pig Intestine with Salted Vegetable - $9 (Small)

Forget about the calories, the stew pork is definitely awesome. With distinctive layers of the pork that melts in your mouth. Biting on them is effortless with such fork tender meat and the best thing was that it was not greasy at all.

Stew Pork - $10 (Small)

If you are planning for a family meal, Oasis Taiwan Porridge will be a good choice. For its simple and no frills meal with nostalgic environment, moreover they have big round tables which is good for families with kids too.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Oasis Taiwan Porridge
Lcoation: Toa Payoh Town Park 303 Toa Payoh Lorong 6 Singapore 319393

Hajjah Mariam Cafe

Hajjah Mariam Cafe was recommended by my colleagues for its unqie dish - Nasi Ambeng. The dish is quite popular Javanese-Malay Cuisine seen during festive seasons and served on a tray sharing to up to 6 pax. It signifies togetherness and peace at meal times.

Hajjah Mariam Cafe

They are located in the basement of Westgate and payment counter and serving food are of different counter.

Food Counter

Nasi Ambeng is quite similar to nasi padang with me just that the ingredients or dishes are rather fix. It consists of a good amount of fragrant white rice for the number of pax sharing, served with meat, vegetables, fried coconut flesh, sambal goreng and other dishes.

Duet Ambeng Standard - $17

It was my first time tasting Ambeng and will never be the last. I like the way where the portion is being served in the old school metal tray that give me good memories of childhood. Portion of rice might me too much for me but I'm save by my friend who can really take the amount of rice. Coconut flesh, Ah Zhar, tampe and as well as bagedil was given in 2 parts proportionally. For the middle portion, you can choose to have the choice of beef or chicken or even both. The meat was cooked long enough and was fork tender.

Great Portion for 2

It was a stomach filling meal with great satisfaction. My favourite item other than the 2 meats on the plate is none other than this potato, bagedil, a must have in most of my halal meals. Nasi Ambeng is really worth a try although the price may be a step over here.

Bagedil

Rating: 3 / 5

Hajjah Mariam Cafe
Location: 3 Gateway Drive, #B2-08 Westgate Shopping Mall, Singapore 608532

Eng Kee 榮記

We chanced by this place the last round while we were on our way to 2 Chefs Eating Place. We were caught by the pleasant surprise with a good long queue line up in front of Eng Kee. Where curiosity kills the cat, we walked forward to the old school coffeeshop and checked that it was actually selling some economical fried bee hoon with the standard sides / finger food that we can get from the supermarket.

Eng Kee

Lauded for its delicious and tasty chicken wings that was classified as one of the best 20 in Singapore, we find it hard to resist without ordering more than one portion for each of us. While many of us will think that economical Bee Hoon is best eaten in the morning but for Eng Kee, there are only operating from 12pm in Weekdays and 12.30pm to about 10 pm in the evening.

We had some plates with bee hoon and some plates with Bee Hoon Mee and the staples food items like fried eggs, cabbages, Otah, Ngoh Hiang, Taiwan Sausages, Fish cakes and Tau Kwa.

Fried Egg

Cabbages

The chicken wings were not ready at the point of our order due to high demands from the diner. It was quite amazing that the kitchen was actually frying chicken wings non stop as I could see the continuous batches of wings coming out of the kitchen during my queue for food.

Otah and Assortment

As I sink my teeth into the piping hot golden brown wings, I fell in love with its crispy thin crunching skin. As I sink my teeth further in, I realized the juiciness of it. However, if you are talking about the Chicken Wing's taste, it was not complicated as the marinate was simple. You do not expect something you can get from Prawn Paste Chicken's fragrance. However, its more like home cooked dishes that includes, pepper, soy sauce and some MSG for its marinate.

Chicken Wings - $1.20 Each

If you are talking about the plates of Bee Hoon, I would say that they did really have the old school plain taste with QQ texture.

Bee Hoon Mee

Beats me regarding the long queue but if you are looking for some simple and old school economical bee hoon, do not forget about Eng Kee. Where car parking lots are good enough, the only thing that turns one off may be the hot humid heat trap in the coffeeshop space after the afternoon sun shone so hard onto it.

Blk 117 Commonwealth Drive

Rating: 3 / 5

Eng Kee
Location: Blk 117 Commonwealth Drive #01-711 Singapore 140117

Pezzi Bistro 柏斯意大利餐廳

Was a little bit surprise that my colleagues had brought me here for the first meal of the week. I thought we will be having some main street Cha Chang Ting Hong Kong Lunch but guess what. They brought us to some nearby bistro in Fanling. To be honest, for so many trips that I have been to Hong Kong, I have never known of such place. Perhaps I would say, when you work overseas, you get to explore places from a different angle than being a tourist.

Facade of Pezzi Bistro

What? Italian Cuisine in Hong Kong? That made me kind of excited!

Pezzi Bistro

Promotion

Interior was chic settings laid with vintage style furniture and brick walls. I have never been to any Italian eateries in Hong Kong and this was an eye opener to me. It looked as though during the night the entire place will be turned into a pub upon seeing the number of hard liquor and wines on the shelving.

Interior

Set meals come with soup of the day as well as beverage that can be served together with the food or at the last course. Soup of the day of cream of brocolli and was well executed with a dash of olive oil and some garnishing. It was tasty and not too creamy for a start. For Italian Cuisine, there was also a plate of bread and olive oil for dipping while waiting for our meals.

Soup of the day - Cream of Broccoli

Handcrafted Pizza was thin crust topped with cheese, tomatoes, anchovy and arugula (rocket). Those who enjoy pizza but not wanting to full the stomach full of carbohydrates will definitely enjoy this 8 slices of thin crusted pizza.

Handcrafted Pizza with Anchovy & Arugula - $138 HKD

Fettucine was prepared to Al Dente perfection together with Marsala Wine Braised  AUS Beef Cheek with some pieces of cheese. By the look at it, my tummy already groaning. Yum Yum!

Marsala Wine Braised AUS Beef Cheek Fettucine - 128

I was looking for a light meal and decided on a piece of Halibut Fillet. The dish caught me off guard with a thin crispy layer of its skin letting off a slight crunch with the ever soft tender fresh fish meat. Halibut fillet was complimented by a bed of vegetables with tomatoes and potatoes.

Pan Seared Grassland Halibut Fillet - $148 HKD

Another noteworthy item on the lunch menu will be this 80g of US Black Angus Rib Eye that was well prepared to customer's preference of doneness for beef. Meat was tendered and delivered as per request for criss cross lines from the charcoal grilled.

Charcoal Grilled US Black Angus Rib Eye (80g) - $158 HKD

Ending our meal with Tea or Coffee. I had chosen lemon tea and it was a tepot of Lipton Yellow Label tea with 2 slices of fresh lemon in my cup.

Lemon Tea

Staff were forthcoming and attentive. It makes such a good environment to dine in on top of their more than decent quality food served. I don't mind coming back given the chance. 

Pezzi Bistro 柏斯意大利餐廳
Location: Fu Kwai Building, G/F, 1 , Luen Wo Rd, Luen Wo Hui, Fanling, Hong Kong

Tengawa Hokkaido White Curry

Hokkaido white curry anyone? Tengawa is located and 2nd floor of Millenia walk along the Japanese Restaurant Street. Claiming that they are the first in Singapore offering Japanese White Curry, they have limited items on the menu.

Tengawa Hokkaido White Curry

Its a 30 pax cosy restaurant with modern Japanese like furnishing around. What makes the difference between their curry is that Hokkaido White Curry is made from Hokkaido milk without turmeric. In appearance, its more like a creamy stew with hints of curry fragrant and spiciness.

Interior

Each curry set comes with a Chawanmushi and Miso Soup. Rice, miso soup and pickles were all refillable. Chawanmushi is some noteworthy item here as it was extremely silky and came with a whiff of truffle taste, allowing a pleasant surprise. The truffle was not overpowering thus bringing out a good marriage between the tasty egg and truffle oil.

Chawanmushi

Miso Soup

Perfectly done in terms of aesthetics as well as the crunchy Chicken Katsu that leave no trace of greasiness. Katsu was crispy on the outside giving a good texture and on top of that, the meat was tender and not too dry.

Crunchy Chicken Katsu - $15.80 +

The meal was simple with carrots in the creamy white curry by the side of the rice. For this portion, somehow I felt that the curry is not enough for my rice.

Chicken Katsu

The Juicy Japanese Style Hamburg White Curry Set was not too bad too. Everything of the set remains the same as the former except that the chicken katsu was replaced by a piece of pork hamburg juicy patty that was well seasoned and pan-fried, making it a nice thin crust.

Juicy Hamburg Set - $15.80 +

Hamburg Patty

I chance upon Tengawa while doing some window shopping and it was quite good experiencing curry in a different colour (not the usual cream orange red). It feels unique. While some Japanese Curry eateries are offering a choice of spiciness level, there is no preference for customer here as it is fixed. Anyway, I would say it is rather mild, thus it is still suitable for people who do not really take spicy food. Its worth a try if you have not experience white curry before.

Rating: 3 / 5

Tengawa Hokkaido White Curry
Location: Millenia Walk, #02-16, 9 Raffles Blvd, Singapore 039596