The Lightwood by Mues

A recent visit back to the Lightwood for we miss their Duck Confit and Dirty Latte. There is a good few items on the menu that has been banging in our mind ever since.

The place was still as peaceful in its settings and comfortable vibes. We realised that there was a change in the menu and some of the items we had before were no longer there. 

Beef Goulash with Toast was presentable in a small pot well seated on the plate. It was aromatic and beef was well braised to its tenderness.

Beef Goulash with Toast - RM 38

The size of plates was shrunk as compared to the first visit. However, that does not equalivate that food portion had a cut too. The Garlic Butter Chicken was drenched and soaked in its gravy with Egg, Greens, Garlic Butter Cream, Chicken Ham and Sous Vide Chicken Breast.

Garlic Butter Chicken - RM 32

Highly recommended dish for those who have not been here. The Whole Duck Leg was served with Potato, carrot confit, peach compote and greens.

Duck Confit - RM 38

Luckily the Shakshuka was not removed from the menu as we planned to eat this. Tunisian Dish of Tomatoes, Onions, Carrot, Pumpkin, Bell Pepper, Herbs, Spices and eggs. Love the tangy taste and the Sourdough Focaccia goes well with it.

Shakshuka with Sourdough Focaccia - RM 22

If you like to go for something Savoury, look into their Savory section on the menu. The presentation of Avocado & Sauteed Mushroom, Scrambled Eggs, Cheese and Greens were pleasing to the eyes and looked delicious.

Avocado & Sauteed Mushroom, Scrambled Eggs - RM 24

Chicken Fajita Quesadilla was yummy. A mixture of Chicken Breast, Onion, Bell Pepper, Jalapeno, Cheese, and Fajita seasoning with Egg and greens.

Chicken Fajita Quesadilla - RM 35

For something sweet, you may want to try this Peanut Butter & Jam French Toast with Caramelized Banana topped with cream.

French Toast - RM 24

Washing down the food, we had the Matcha Latte by Niko Neko. 

Matcha Latte (by Niko Neko) - RM 15

Next, Cafe Mocha with Latte Art.

Cafe Mocha - RM 14

Thank you Lightwood's management for the friendly gesture of sheltering us from the heavy rain and to the extent of offering the fellow cyclists in the restaurant to park/pushed their bicycles under the shelter and even into the restaurant!

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Posted on 21st Novemeber 2022

The Lightwood By Mues is a chic cafe that we have discovered recently via our pedals. The cafe has a minimalistic design with natural lights flowing in via the glass ceiling. With plants around, the ambience and environment was cosy.

The Lightwood by Mues

Just right before the entrance, there is a little garden with a gravel pathway suitable for photography as well as a place to chit-chat.

Entrance

Calling the Coffee Lovers! Skip the usual Espresso and Mocha in exchange of their Dirty Latte for a coffee fix. 

Barista at Work

The drink is Instagram-worthy with a Combination of Cream and milk topped with espresso but does not take too long to snap your perfect picture for these two distinct layer might merge together in no time. 

Dirty Latte (Iced) - RM 14

Let's get Dirty

How about a plate of breakfast meal? A combination of scrambled egg, feta cheese, chicken sausage, ham pepperoni, sauteed mushroom, grilled potato, feta cheese, baked beans, and greens with the strongly advocated sourdough Focaccia

BREKKIE - RM 35

I could not take my senses away from the Chicken Confit Spaghetti since the moment it had landed on our table. The texture of the Spaghetti was of Al Dente perfection, tossed in Olive Oil, Garlic and Chilli Flakes. Its a tad on the spicy side. Whereas the crispy skin on the Boneless Chicken Thigh Confit was simply delicious and aromatic in herbs. The pasta also comprised of Cherry Tomato.

Chicken Confit Spaghetti (Spicy) - RM 32

This is part of the reason why we are here. Duck Confit (aka Confit de Canard) is a French Dish. Dry Brine duck whole leg with herbs and slow cooking for hours. The meat was then slowly poached until it is fork-tender. The skin was crispy and duck confit is packed full of aromatic herbs with sides like potato, carrot, peach compote and greens. 

Duck Confit - RM 38

What a sweet ending we had with Dutch Baby Pancake. This dessert requires a 30 min wait. This signature dessert is also known as a German Pancake topped with Berries and Fruits, Vanilla Ice Cream and Honey. If you are craving some savoury desserts after a meal, this is a perfect choice.

Dutch Baby Pancake - RM 25

The food standard is above average and the service from the staff is not only courteous and filled with passion from the server. Since we have only conquered a few items on the menu, I would not mind revisiting the place for other items. 

Rating: 3.5 / 5

The Lightwood By Mues
Location: 18k Basement, Jalan Abdul Samad, Kampung Bahru, 80100 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Wen Kang Ji Exclusive

After trying out Wen Kang Ji in Joo Chiat, I excited to see that they are branching out an exclusive outlet Wen Kang Ji Exclusive in the Western part of Singapore, Jurong East.

Wen Kang Ji Exclusive

They are located under the HDB Blocks and menu is more than just Wanton Noodle. They have Prawn Noodles and even Grouper Fish in Teochew style. Not only that, there side dishes like roast pork belly and nasi lemak sushi.

Menu

Coffee & Barley - $1.90 & $2.60

While Wanton Mee comes with the non-fried version of Wantons, we ordered the fried wantons as side and it was crispy, best to go with the creamy mayonaise sauce. 

Fried Wanton 炸云吞 - $6

The Roast Pork Belly was cut into 12 uniform cube size and the top layer of the Roast Pork Belly was crackling delicious followed by its fat and meat. Instead of pairing them with the traditional chilli sauce, Wen Kang Ji placed a dallop of wasabi for diners to dab. 

Roast Pork Belly 烧肉拼盘 - $10 

Layer of a pork belly

While Wen Kang Ji is known for their glistering in house roased Char Siew, ordering their Wanton Noodles is a MUST. 

Wanton Noodles 云吞面 - $6.80 (Regular)

Like the branch we had visited in Joo Chiat, the Char Siew has a good ratio of lean meat to fats. The plump and succulent meat was yummy, not greasy at all.

Char Siew

We ordered the prawn noodles with a mixture of kway teow and yellow noodles. It was fragrant with prawns, lean meat, pork lards and fried onions. The soup was savoury but not overpowering with heady prawns taste. 

Prawn Noodles 虾面 - $6 (Regular)

The Teochew Style Grouper Fish had caught my appetite. It was appetizing and comes with a tasty fish stock with fish, mushrooms, tofu and tomatoes. The chilli on the other hand had lifted the flavour to another level.

Grouper Fish (Red) Teochew Style 潮州式红星斑 - $12

I will be back for their Nasi Lemak Sushi and their new ramen item on the menu.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Wen Kang Ji Exclusive
Locations: Blk 326 Jurong East Street 31 #01-118 Singapore 600326,

Wah Cai 3-in-1 Chinese Cake 华仔炸年糕

 On a recent trip to Restoran Wah Cai 3-in-1 Chinese Cake after 5 years since my last visit. The stall was still bustling with people queuing up for the famous fried items.

Wah Cai 3-in-1 Chinese Cake 华仔炸年糕

No doubt that the weather is scorching hot, there is still a long snaky queue in front of the stall waiting to get their share of fried items.

Stall

While items are fried in batches, we only managed to get Fried Durian and fried Bananas. I wanted to get both their 3 in 1 Chinese New Year Cake as well as fried durian instead. 

Menu

Salute to the guy who is behind the hot pot of frying oil who patiently fried the item for us.

Behind the pot

He was sweating all over and trying his best under the hot condition.

Feeling Hot & Sweaty

The Fried Durian was still as good, with the crispiness outside and the creamy fried durian on the interior. 

Fried Durian - RM 4.50 / Pcs

While I did not get my 3-in-1 Chinese Cake from Wah Cai this round, I will never give up going back there again.

Restoran Wah Cai
Location: 86, Jalan Pahlawan 2, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, 81300 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

Tai Er 太二酸菜鱼

The craze for Chinese grilled fish and Sauerkraut fish has gained popularity over the years. Ever since Tai Er's opening, it was seen that the restaurant is always swarmed with patrons. Tai Er 太二酸菜鱼 is famous for its preserved vegetables and Fish and has a few outlets in Singapore.

On the Table

What's on the wall?

Starting off with the meal, there is a free-flow tea station where we can make our own proportion of Roselle Orange Peel Tea which is good to cleanse the palette.

Free Flow Tea

The OX Tongue was recommended by my friend who knew that it was my first try on such a dish. Loaded with sesame seed and chilli sauce, the sliced beef as well as the ox tongue dish was not too bad.

Sliced Beef and OX Tongue in Chilli Sauce 一见钟情夫妇肺片 - $12

With a spacious environment, it gives diners comfortable dining settings. 

Interior

We had Suan Cai and Fish which is good for 1-2 pax. We also added ingredients such as $3 for glass noodles and $3 for Bamboo Shoots. Slices of thick tilapia were spotted with dried chillies, peppercorns and chrysanthemum. If you sink the ladle deeper into the bottom bowl, you will notice that the bowl was loaded with preserved vegetables. The fish was soft, tender, fresh and addictive.

I love the fact that the dish was appetizing and not filled with overpowering chilli and peppercorns as compared to Mala. 

Suan Cai and Fish for 1-2 Pax 老坛子酸菜鱼 - $49

Apart from the main dish, we had the Seaweed Roll with Salted Egg Yolk. The seaweed was deep-fried and crispy with a good salted egg yolk flavour. 

Seaweed Roll with Salted Egg Yolk 蛋黄海苔脆脆 - $6

A packet of tissue paper is provided and the wrapper was designed with illustrations and writeups of how "Tai Er" comes about.

Tissue

While there are a few outlets now and the crowd in Tai Er is getting manageable. For those who enjoy Suan Cai and Fish, do try out this popular place and rate it yourself.

Tissue Wrapper

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Tai Er 太二酸菜鱼
Location: JEM, 50 Jurong Gateway Rd, #B1-04, Singapore 608549

Wen Li Taiwanese Food

After going through rounds in Golden Mile Food Centre, I almost give up as a lot of stalls that I wanted to patronise were lined up with snaky queues. As the hunger grew more intensive, I quickly settled down with my choice and ended up with Taiwanese food. 

Wen Li Taiwanese Food is run by two young friendly guys and located at one corner of the Food Center.

Stall of Wen Li Taiwanese Food

They have 2 sets A and B where the meal will come with Popcorn chicken with Set A serving Braised Pork Rice aka Lu Rou Fan and Set B serving Mee Sua.

Braised Pork Rice comes in a good portion served with a whole soft-boiled egg, pickled cucumber and minced pork topping up the bowl of rice. 

Set A - Braised Pork Rice with Popcorn Chicken

The bowl of Taiwanese pearl rice was laid over the yummy braised pork with spring onions. It was flavourful and perhaps more suiting our local taste than considered "authentic". The pop corn chicken was fried to order and was done up with salt and peppering seasoning before serving.

Lu Rou Fan Aka Braised Pork Rice

Another Taiwanese staple is the Mee Sua (Vermicelli). The bowl was served hot and was gooey enough with a good hint of bonito taste in its stock. The taste was decent nonetheless the praise-worthy part will be their pig intestine as they had done a good job without foul taste. If you prefer other versions, they have it with oysters too.

Mee Sua with Big Intestine

The set meal is value for money if you are looking for decent Taiwanese food from Hawker. To add on, the Hawkers are friendly too.

Rating: 3 / 5

Wen Li Taiwanese Food (Golden Mile Food Center)
Location: Golden Mile Food Center, 505 Beach Rd, #01-65, Singapore 199583

Nenek.

When the food is good that makes us crave a return trip in a short span of time. We visited Nenek. on a Public Holiday in Singapore and not in Malaysia thus the place was not crowded.

Facade

The Interior was comfortable and cosy.

Interior of Nenek.

In the last round, we had hot Nenek's La Kopi served. This time, we ordered its chilled form and look at the overflowing foam.

Nenek's La Kopi - RM 4.90 (Chilled)

Not forgetting Nenek's Signature Coconut Breeze Shake too.

Coconut Breeze Shake - RM 9.90

This was our favourite sharing dish and Nenek's Long Lost Rojak was still as good!

Nenek's Long Lost Rojak - RM 9.0

Under their Signature Coconut Rice, we had their 1991 Rendang Beef. Love how their presentation of dish is for the plate is full of love and yummy items. For those who are simply addicted to their chilli, additional chilli is requestable at RM 0.80 per portion. 

1991 Rendang Beef - RM 18.90

For their Ageless Biraini Rice, we had Masak Merah Chicken. If you notice, the Biranini Rice series does not come with Sambal Chilli. Masak Merah Chicken was generously soaked in gravy and the meat was fork-tender.

Masak Merah Chicken - RM 16.90

Another variation you can choose from their Biraini Menu will be their Rendang Mutton. The mutton was not so tough and delicious too.

1991 Rendang Mutton - RM 18.90

While the last trip we did not get to enjoy their Mee Siam Licious menu for Mee Siam was sold out on a crowded weekend. If you prefer Mee Siam to their Coconut Rice or Biraini Rice, try ordering this. The Mee Siam tasted spicy by default. Nonetheless, pairing with their Berempah Fried Chicken tasted awesome too.

Berempah Fried Chicken - RM 15.90

Balinese Rendang Chicken was laudable too, tender and absolutely worth the calories.

Balinese Rendang Chicken - RM 16.90

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