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Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Jovis Cafe

Jovis has recently launched new items on their menu. Have you tried them yet?

We had the Jovian’s Platter for Meat Lovers which is good for sharing for about 2 to 3 pax. The Platter comprised of Caramelised Black Angus Sirloin Steak, 2 Lamb racks, 2 Pork, and Chicken Sausages accompanied by Roasted Potato and Seasonal Vegetables. 

Jovian’s Platter - Meat Lovers - $88

The Soft Shell Crab was crunchy and moist with wonderful flavours while the spaghetti was cooked to Al Dente perfection and tossed in a tomato-based sauce, It was elegantly bundled up, enhancing the presentation of the dish aesthetically. The colour contrast of the dish served on the plate was totally wholesome.

Soft Shell Crab Pasta - $22



A visit to the Faber Drive Estate let me realise that it seems more happening with numerous new shophouses featuring. No doubt that Jovis Cafe has been there for quite some time after taking over the previous cafe,  BuckTile St. Cafe, I have not made a trip there. For all you know,  Jovis Cafe is just a few doors away from Lee's Taiwanese serving western as well as some home-cooked dishes.

Jovis Cafe

A sneak through the windows of Jovis, we notice cute Crayon Shinchan and a lited smiley face next to the main door. They look as if waiting for its customers and welcoming them with a smile.

Jovis The Dining Place

The cafe has some Instagram-worthy corners that you might want to spend some time making memories out of it. You may also want to write on their wishing tag then hang them onto the wishing tree outside the cafe.

Happy Corner

Pen your wish down and tie it to the heart shape tree here.

Make a Wish

The setting of the cafe was homely with soothing background music playing. It sounded as though I had stepped into some kind of spa retreat place instead.

Ambience

Do pop over to this quaint neighbourhood cafe for tea in the afternoon or if you are looking for some unpretentious cafe food with friendly service, this will fit the bill.

Tiramisu Latte & Chrysabnthemum Tea (Cup) - $5.50 , $5

This bottled Lychee Tea is crafted In House and it is indeed refreshing with the Lychee in it. Despite the natural sweetness of the Lychee, the tea as overall is not so sweet

Lychee Tea - $4

If you are going for Soda, do try out their refreshing Saltymansiberry drink. It is a mixture of cranberry, lime and soda with salt around the rim of the jar. Their cold beverages are all decked up by the cute little wooden pallet as their coasters.

Saltymansiberry Soda - $8

Another recommended soda on their menu will be the Apple Mango flavour.

Apple Mango Soda - $6

Ice Salted Caramel Milk Tea was not too sweet and the pearls were soft and chewy. While the Coffee taste of the avocado coffee shake is strong yet the richness of the avocado remained.

Ice Salted Caramel Milk Tea - $6.50 & Avocado Coffee Shake - $8.90

If you love Avocado Shake with different varieties, they have a few for you to choose from. The shake was coated with unsparing about of Nutella on the side of the doubled wall glass, mixed with milk and gula Melaka. Nutella lovers sure do not want to give this a miss.

Avocado Nutella Chocolate Shake - $8.90

The avocado shake was a good deal. Its chocolate and creamy texture were addictive. With them being packaged in bottles, it’s ideal for taking away and sharing this shake with avocado lovers.

Avocado Shake - $8.90 Each

Wings were served in a steel basket. Each piece was well coated with Honey Mustard and the sweetness from the honey is delicious. Despite the sticky coating, the crispiness of fried chicken still retained.

Wings with Honey Mustard - $12

The Avocado Chicken Salad was appetizing. Simply loves its shredded chicken over the healthy greens creamy slices of Avocado and mixed salad. The cherry red tomatoes had given the salad dish a final touch with its striking red colour. I love the citrusy and refreshing dressing of the salad. The cheese also enhanced the taste too.

Avocado Chicken Salad - $16

Smoked Salmond Salad was as refreshing. The zesty hints of lemon juice and refreshing house-made orange vinegarette sauce with a light sour taste make it very appetising.

Smoked Salmon Salad - $13.90

My jaw almost dropped when I had their plate of Crispy Fish & Fries laid on the table. The portion was impressive with a big piece of Fish deep fried. While many cafes had made use of the economical type of fish to cut down their cost, Jovis's serving was of quality. This main dish is served with vinegar mixed salad and fries.

Crispy Fish & Fries - $18 (Upgraded Truffle Fries)

We upgraded the meal with truffle fries at an additional cost of $3. The aromatic truffle fragrant from the fries as well as the cheese toppings made my Fish & Fries meal complete.

Truffle Fries

Jovis Chicken Chop is served with mixed salad and fries with the choice of black pepper or mushroom sauce. We opted for the latter. The Chicken Chop was well marinated and the flavours were good even without the additional sauce.

Jovis Chicken Chop - $12.90

If you prefer the fried version of chicken, order their Chicken Cutlet. The chicken cutlet was well seasoned too with a crispy texture on the exterior. As we put the knife and cut it in half, we can see the meat's juiciness. 

Jovis Chicken Cutlet - $15.90

The Honey Glazed Fried Chicken was the upgraded version from Jovis Chicken Cutlet with an additional quarter waffle served with honey glazed.

Honey Glazed Fried Chicken - $18

Seafood Pasta was flavourful with a choice of linguine cooked to Al Dente Perfection. Prawns were big and topped with caviar. It might be a tad spicy with chilli in it.

Seafood Pasta - $18.90

The sauce is very flavourful and generous toppings of bacon were included. The texture of the spaghetti was perfect and the egg yolk together with cream made a perfect combination.

Carbonara (Bacon) - $12

The shredded chicken pasta comes with a number of choices to be served. It can be either served in Aglio Olio, cream base, tomato or pink tomato.

Shredded Chicken Pasta - $12

The 10-inch thin crust Canadian Sunset Pizza was served on a wooden pan. The pizza was filled with a generous amount of cheese with a tomato base, topped with crispy bacon and black olives.

Canadian Sunset Pizza - $18

Under the Cheeze-Baked section of the menu, we had the vegetarian-friendly Baked Mushroom Rice. Generous amount of baked cheese on top with mixed chopped mushrooms.

Baked Mushroom Rice - $18

Simply love the cheese-pulling effect while we sink our spoon into the baked rice and scoop it out. This hearty portion will definitely fill your stomach with satisfaction.

Cheese Pull

Order their Mummy's Curry Chicken if you are there. The dish gives you a choice of toasted baguette or white rice to pair with this local taste curry.

Mummy's Curry Chicken - $12.90

Feel the taste of a home cook dish in the cafe with big chunks of potatoes and 2 big drumsticks soaked in the thick curry gravy. 

Mummy's Curry Chicken with white rice

There are hints of fragrant lemon grass and the spicy level was mild. 

yummy!

Like other dishes, their portion was generous and this dish is well liked by both children and adults. 

Fork Tender Meat

Cheese lovers will enjoy the abundance of melted cheese spread over the bacon and beef patty with a basket of fries and garden salad. This is indeed a stomach-filling dish!

Melted Cheese Patty Burger - $25

The Churros were served in a transparent cup with a saucer of chocolate dip. These sticks were freshly deep fried and sprinkled with some sugar.

Churros

If you are looking for some snacks in the cafe, do try these. 

Drizzle some chocolate sauce over my Churros

The milk tea thick toast was topped with chewy pearls and drizzled with yummy chocolate sauce. It's a perfect treat for after meals or tea.

Milk Tea Toast

Cakes were daily ordered from their supplier. We have the Ondeh Ondeh Cake with alternating gula Melaka layers with sponge cake. It was good as it was not cloying.

Ondeh Ondeh Cake - $7.80

Service was better than average. From the look at the dishes served, you can sense that every dish that doles out in the kitchen is made of love.

Besides that, there are free Wi-Fi and power plugs for work/study or socialising needs. What's more, they have board games, toys, books and magazines. The place is cosy and relaxing. It is a suitable place to perfect your date too. Not only that, the place is children-friendly too.

Rating: 4.5 / 5 

Jovis Cafe
Location:
  Faber Hills Apartments, 104 Faber Dr, Singapore 129412
Website

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Na Na Homemade Curry

Na Na Homemade Curry is located at the same coffee shop as the popular Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hun. Our initial plan was to have the Braised Duck Rice but that was not opened for the day, thus we ended up having Na Na Homemade Curry instead.

Na Na Homemade Curry 

I opted for the Fish Meat Curry and added $0.70 for the Bread. The curry was on the spicy and sour side with Tau Pok and Lady's Finger added. This preparation is more towards the Assam Fish Style.

Fish Meat Curry 鱼肉咖喱 - $6

The Curry was thick as well as the fish. Though the sour style of this dish suppose to enhance its taste and gave us an appetizing treat, I find that the burn on my lips and stomach was deterring me to enjoy the dish.
Fish

The Chicken Curry portion was generous with its huge soft potato. We were not spared from the spiciness of this dish too. Pairing the Chicken Curry with our white rice for $0.50.

Chicken Curry 咖喱鸡 - $4.50

Though the portion was value for money, the level of spiciness was not to my liking as I prefer savoury types of curry without burning my lips. 

Rating: 3 / 5

Na Na Homemade Curry
Location: 19A Dover Cres, Singapore 131019

Monday, August 28, 2023

Tiram Satay

Finally, visit this place, Cedar Point Food Centre 食得福美食中心, after covid period and I'm glad to know that many of my favourite stalls are still around. 

 While not many places in Johor Bahru sells Pork Satay, we often patronized this stall in the evenings.

Tiram Satay
Tiram Satay

They are located far end at the back of the hawker.

BBQ Satay
BBQ Satay

The Satay was deliciously prepared and barbeque with some slight charred. In between the sections of meat, we get to see some pork lards pierced through the skewers too. The peanut gravy paired with our satay was yummy with the texture of peanuts in it. 

A plate of 15 Pork Satay
A plate of 15 Pork Satay

Each stick of Satay was evenly barbeque and glistering. 

Pork Satay
Pork Satay

Its a routine to order Satay from this stall every time during our visit and if you love Pork Satay, this is definitely recommended.

Rating: 4 / 5

Tiram Satay
Location:
 Cedar Point Food Centre 食得福美食中心, 10, Jalan Musang Bulan, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Lee Fun Nam Kee

Another piece of news broke out recently that the popular Lee Fun Nam Kee had decided to close its doors permanently on 13 September 2023 which is within a short span of notice. While many had been asking why the short notice, there had been careful consideration, numerous family discussions and evaluation of various factors that they came to the conclusion that it was time to bid farewell to this chapter.

The Scene when we left the place

The restaurant is open air and diners can usually walk. However, due to the breakout of news about their closure, it had drawn lots of attention and now crowd control has to be done to the place.

Before the opening hours

Their Brand Story will be a history.  Here's another local food business going into history in Singapore. What a pity.

A history soon

Like what we often seen in Hong Kong Roasted Meat Stall, we get to observed the staff cutting the meat and preparing our orders through this open concept kitchen.

Where our food are prepared

We had the meat platter served with char siew and roast pork. The Char Siew is lean and has a unique aroma that reminds me of Chinese sausage. The Roast Pork aka Sio Bak was absolutely yummy with its crispy skin and was not salty. This meat platter was not greasy too.

Roast Pork & Char Siew - $10

While the origin of soya sauce chicken in Singapore has been hotly debated for decades, they have proclaimed itself as the first original brand adapted for local palates since 1968. Let's have a try. The chicken was poached and well-infused with the rich flavours of the marinade. The meat was tender and we had this Soy Sauce Chicken served with their fragrant steamed rice. The gravy that was served along on the plate of Soy Sauce Chicken was delicious and good to drench them onto our plate of rice too.

Soy Sauce Chicken - $15

A simple yet flavourful dish with vegetables coated in savoury oyster sauce and topped with crispy fried pork lard. The sauce added a rich umami flavour that complements the natural sweetness of the vegetables.

Oyster Sauce Vegetable - $7

The bowl of soup contained 6 dumplings. Dumplings were plump and quite springy. The soup was a tad on the salty side for me.

Shrimp Dumpling Soup - $6

To be honest, since it will be closing down in 2 weeks' time, this will be my first and also my last trip to Lee Fun Nam Kee.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Lee Fun Nam Kee
Location:
 94 Lorong 4 Toa Payoh, #01-04, Singapore 310094
Website

Saturday, August 26, 2023

Makko Teck Neo

A revist to Makko Teck Neo for Pernakan Cuisine. The facade and decorations of the shop look as untouched over the years.

Makko Teck Neo

The seatings outdoor still looks as traditional to me.

Outdoor Seating 

The price of this dish seems to remain the same throughout the years. This Nyonya-style vegetable stew dish may look simple but it actually takes quite some effort to cook them well. 

Nyonya Chap Chye - $14.90

The deep-fried "pork with prawn" roll is one of the recommended dishes on the menu. It is served with Teck Neo chilli chukar. The beancurd skin encasing the mixture of pork with prawns was very crispy indeed.

Nyonya Great Bites - $14.90

We had this fragrant fried chicken with the special sambal chilli. The Chicken was crispy in its skin and totally yummy with an additional fiery kick with chilli added,

Rempah Ayam Goreng - $14.90




Posted 23 March 2019

I spotted Makko Teck Neo when I was walking towards the end of the row of shop houses in the old neighbourhood and was dumbfounded by the number of patrons that crowd around this eatery. Compared to the surrounding quiet estate, this place was bustling and I make note that I will be back for their Peranakan Food but that is a few years later - now.

Humble as it seems, visitors will be greeted by the traditional decorations and cosy settings. There were plants, hanging lamps and seating that reminds you of the 90s.

Makko Teck Neo

Classified under the Nyona Street Food in the Menu, this "Dry" Mee Siam is one of the recommended dishes that you may not want to skip. We don't often get to see Dry Mee Siam in most places here and this is consider a rare dish. Vermicelli was real spicy with serving of spicy tamarind and coconut sauce.

Dry Mee Siam - $5.80
Taste of  Nyonya Style Vegetables stew did not disappoint. However for a bowl of vegetables, the cost is relatively steep no doubt that it has mushrooms, vermicelli, cabbages, black fungus and prawns.

Nyona Chap Chye - $14.90

To my suprise, Nyonya Laksa was not spicy. In fact the dry Mee Siam Dish was much more spicier than this. Dish was tasty but it still lack some usual taste. Ingredients like fishcake, taupok, noodles and prawns were included. If you are looking for "hum" aka cockles, they are no where to be found.

Nyonya Laksa - $5.80
I guess anyone will agree that this is a quintessential dish when we visit a Nyonya Eatery. Gravy was rich and savory with a hints of lemongrass fragrance. Chicken was braised with pork rib and the popular black nut, Buah Keluak. Special utensils was given to dig out the flesh from the nut. If you will like to have more black nut, they can be bought at additional cost of $2.50 each.

Ayam Buah Keluak - $16.90

Chendol was not too bad with plump coconut jelly topping the small mountain of ice, drenched with the sweet gula melaka sauce. To my surprise, I found 4 attap seeds underneath.

Chendol - $4.90
Although we finally get to it here, we did not have enough stomach for other items on the menu. I will like to try out more of their recommended dishes on the menu. Let's make a return trip soon!

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Makko Teck Neo
Location: Blk 35 Telok Blangah Rise #01-303 Singapore 090035
Operating Hours: Monday to Friday 10.30am to 9.00pm
                                Saturday & Sunday / Public Holidays 9.00am to 9.00pm


Friday, August 25, 2023

Bedok 69 Traditional Wanton Noodle

There was not much choice during our visit to Jalan Kukoh Food Centre and after glancing around, we decided on having something traditional.

Stall of Bedok 69 Traditional Wanton Noodle

The stall has its pots with braised items extended out from its kitchen and the stall owner has to step out from the stall to pick the items and placed in the bowl during the preparation of our orders.

Braised Items in Pork

The Chicken Feet is big but lacklustre in taste. If you are looking for some savoury noodles like me, you may want to skip this. 

Chicken Feet Noodle - $4 (Small)

No doubt that Char Siew was self-made, the taste was lacking too.  It was bland and noodles texture was ordinary. 

Wanton Mee - $5 (Big)

We ordered a bowl of Wanton Soup and it was mediocre. The skin was thick and fillings were ordinary with bland soup.

Wanton Soup - $4

If I were to visit Jalan Kukoh Food Centre again, I will definitely like to try the other stalls.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

Bedok 69 Traditional Wanton Noodle
Location:
Jalan Kukoh Food Centre, 1 Jln Kukoh, #01-14, Singapore 161001