Lola‘s Cafe

It's not very frequent that I visit Kovan and I remember the last round I went back disappointed as Lola was full. We are lucky this time around as walking in customers and we get a table almost immediately. 

Lola's

In the All-Day Menu, we chose Bangers & Mash to share among ourselves. This comfort food comprises of a few pork sausages decked up by House-Made Mash Potato topped with caramelized onions and cider jus. 

Bangers & Mash - $14

The colour of the battered pollock was kind of overdone. Nevertheless, the fish still tasted good with Cajun potato fries and pairing with the Passionfruit Tartar sauce was impressive.

Battered Fish & Chips - $16

The Kurobuta Pork Collar was tough and kind of overdone. It was served with Celeriac Mash, Apple Caramel, Pickled Pomegranate and Cider Jus.

Grilled Kurobuta Pork Collar - $20

Love the light and delightful fragrance of Lychee Rosewater. The cake makes up of Rosewater Vanilla Sponge, real lychee and Rosewater Swiss Meringue buttercream sprinkled with Pistachios and Rose Petals. It would not go wrong if you are a lychee lover.

Lychee Rosewater Cake - $6.50

Tiramisu was served in a jar. The Cocoa Almond Sponge was soaked in Coffee Syrup and coupled with Mascarpone Mousse.

Tiramisu - $7

Take a look at the sponge

The cosy vibes and the environment is good place to gather. As for the food-wise, though the dish's name is familiar, there is some twist on the dish that makes Lola different from other cafes. Apart from that, the price of the dishes is relatively cheaper than other cafes too.

Lola's Cafe
Location: 5 Simon Road Singapore 545893
Nearest Station: Kovan (NE13)
Website

Geylang Laksa Prawn Noodles

Chanced by the stall of Geylang Laksa Prawn Noodles while I was at the coffee shop looking for some Kong Bak Pau over at the other extreme corner of the coffee shop. It was the long queue that line up in front of the stall that caught my attention 

Geylang Laksa Prawn Noodles

The laksa is apparently one of the popular items on the list and gets sold out fast. It will be a waste not to try it for I have travelled so far to Sims Avenue. The bowl of Laksa gravy is thicker than the watery ones I had and packed of coconut milk fragrant. Ingredients include Prawns, Cockles, beansprouts and fisk cakes. For those who love Tau Poks, sorry to disappoint you, they do not have that inside the Laksa bowl.

Traditional Laksa 传统加沙 - $4

They did not skimp on the ingredients and in fact, the ingredients were rather generous.

Laksa with Prawn

The Prawn Noodles are up to the mark too and better than the average. The broth was light but sweet in flavour. We ordered the portion with intestines and these innards were well handled, leaving no trace of gamey taste.

Intestine Prawn Noodles 粉肠虾面- $ 5.50

It might not be the best ever prawn noodles tasted but considering their standard, it's above average and the queue was fast clearing. We were lucky to discover another prawn mee stall like this.

Intestine

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Geylang Laksa Prawn Noodles
Location: 45 Sims Dr, #01-150, Singapore 380045
Nearest Station: Aljunied (EW9)

Macau Wei Chee Charcoal Roasted

Macau Wei Chee Charcoal Roasted is located at the same old school coffeeshop with Pasir Panjang Malay Food

Macau Wei Chee Charcoal Roasted

Here's the usual practice with some gravy over the plate of white rice. The gravy was lacklustre and did not aid in enhancing the taste of the rice.

Braised Gravy

The soup is definitely naturally sweet with radish and carrots slices. It reminds me of a bowl of home-cooked soup.

Soup with Carrots

For the roasted, we have a 3 in 1 combination on the plate with Char Siew, Roasted Chicken and Roasted Pork. Topping up the platter with 1 braised egg and having some braised gravy over the meat. The Char Siew has visible charred edges while the layers of roasted pork were distinct between the fat and meat.

Roasted Meat

Overall, the Charcoal roasted meat is decent in taste as well as the pricing.

Rating: 3 / 5

Macau Wei Chee Charcoal Roasted
Location: 83 Pasir Panjang Rd, Singapore 118508

Ga-Hock Roti Prata (佳福印度煎饼)

It was an interesting find in this old school coffeeshop along Upper Bukit Timah Road on a Weekend morning. At the look from the main road, we thought that it was quiet, however, if you were to go into the coffee shop, it was actually bustling with people and there are a number of stalls for you to grab your breakfast here. We settled our eyes on the Roti Prata Stall and decided to give it a try.

Ga-Hock Roti Prata

Orders were non-stop at the peak hour. The Prata master is busying doing orders after orders, stretching those freshly made doughs into regular prata shapes and flipping them. 

Prata Master at Work

I was pretty amazed by how orders were done with the teamwork of 3. The boss was taking orders while auntie was by the side adding oil made and flipping the prata, ensuring that it's cooked. 

Teamwork of 3

Different types of prata price is listed at the side of the shop. Well, their price of prata may be a little steep here.

Prata Menu

We ordered a piece of Kosong and a piece of Prata egg. The taste and texture was not particularly outstanding but its a kinda good reminiscent of a childhood plate of prata in that kind of kampong environment. 

Kosong & Prata Egg - $3.50

In case you want additional gravy, the fish curry was refillable and self-service. Just walk up to the counter, grab the ladle and help yourselves with the curry gravy.

Curry Gravy

Though busy, the service from the team remain friendly and it left me a comfortable impression. The place is layback and I do not mind revisiting it.

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Ga-Hock Roti Prata (佳福印度煎饼)
Location: 794 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 678133

Eng Kee Noodle House 英记面家 [Closed]

Eng Kee Noodle House is popular for its Satay Bee Hoon and Wanton Noodles in the neighbourhood. They offer a variety of noodles like mushrooms, Chicken Feet, dumplings and even pork ribs noodles.

Stall of Eng Kee Noodle House

I was kind of stunned as I received my plate of Shredded Chicken Kway Teow.  Comparing the portion of noodles and chicken for the price paid, it was miserable. The Kway Teow was tossed in chilli as well as some soy sauce. 

Shredded Chicken Noodle / Kway Teow / Bee Hoon - $3.70 (Small)

The Wanton Mee is something we seek if we are missing out on some old school canteen Wanton Noodle. The noodles were tossed in light sauce and seasonings with pieces of tender Char Siew. 

Wanton Noodle / Kway Teow / Bee Hoon - $4.70 (Large)

Char Siew Pieces were lean and tender.No doubt that the portion paid is bigger, overall, the portion doesn't do justice to the amount we paid. 

Lean Tender Char Siew Piece

Being in the same coffee shop, we can buy something else with a better portion. Guess that we will no the back any sooner.

Rating: 2.75 / 5

Eng Kee Noodle House 英记面家
Location: Li Soon Coffeeshop, 155 Bukit Batok Street 11 Singapore 650155

Chef Kin Wanton Noodle

You have probably heard about a handful of ex-chef who had left their comfort zone and turned hawkers in the past months and one of them includes the ex-chef from crystal jade. Chef Kin HK Wanton Noodle is a venture by him. The stalls have been expanding quite fast and this is already their 5th Stall on the island. 

Stall of Chef Kin HK Wanton Noodle in Bukit Batok Branch

From the first sip of soup, it gives me a good reminiscent of Cantonese Soup from Hong Kong Noodles Char Chan Teng, clear, simple and flavourful. 

HK Dumpling Soup 港式水饺汤 - $5

The ingredients in the dumplings are different compared to the usual ones we had. Besides the usual pork and shrimp meat, the black fungus strips and bamboo shoots gave the dumplings a unique texture.

Dumpling

The size of the dumplings is no doubt bigger and more filling than those in the Wantons.

Bamboo Shoot and Black Fungus Fillings

The plate of authentic Hong Kong Wanton Noodles comes with 5 plump wantons and can be served either dry or with soup. The Cantonese Style noodles are long and bouncy paired with some greens.

HK Wanton Noodle 港式云吞面 - $5

The noodles are made from duck eggs and was flavourful. 

Yummy Wantons and Vegetables

The wantons were filled with pork and prawns. We tossed the noodles in the savoury black sauce.

Toss the noodle

The soup was boiled with pork, ham, old hen and flounder fish, totally savoury and addictive.

Wanton

The quality assurance and taste are close to what we get to taste in Hong Kong. Even the fillings are satisfying and I felt that its value for money.

Prawn in Wanton

Want to have a bowl of authentic Hong Kong Style Wanton or Dumpling noodles at an affordable price? Probably you can head down to one of their branches and have a try. 

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Chef Kin Wanton Noodle
Location: Blk 177 Bukit Batok West Ave 8, Singapore 650177 (Stall Visited)

                  Blk 632 Yishun Street 61, Singapore 760632

                  Blk 59 New Upper Changi Road, Singapore 461059

                  Blk 107 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4, Singapore 560107 

                  Blk 431 Clementi Ave 3, Singapore 120431

Yishun 925 Chicken Rice

Yishun 925 Chicken Rice has been around and popular for their chicken rice. They have a number of stalls around and I'm revisiting this stall in Jurong East. There was a long queue during lunchtime but with their speedy service, we got our orders in no time.

Stall of Yishun 925 Chicken Rice

Yishun 925 Chicken Rice is known for its consistent quality and boneless chicken at a pocket-friendly rate.

Steam chicken, liver and Egg for 2 - $10

The chicken meat is succulent and tender, drenched with fragrant soy sauce and sesame oil. 

Can't wait for our food

Not many chicken rice stalls offer Achar (pickles) as one of the sides. I'm quite please that they have include these appetizing sides. 

Achar!

No doubt that it's only a coffeeshop stall in neighbourhood places, I will emphasise that their quality and consistency can beat some of the commercialised chained chicken rice stalls hands down. Do you agree with me?

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Yishun 925 Chicken Rice
Location: 132 Jurong Gateway Rd, Singapore 600132