Al Ameen @ Hillview

Al-Ameen at Hillivew is one of the popular places for Pratas and other Muslim food located among the landed estate.

Al-Ameen

The friendly service staff and spacious environment are the perks of why we are making a return here always.

Environment

My Prata Meal can never go complete without a cup of Teh Tarik or Teh Halia.

Teh Tarik and Teh Halia

Tea Halia & Tea Tarik Ice

Ice Milo & Teh O Ice - $2 & $1.60

Teh O (Hot) & Teh O Ice with Lime - $1 & $2

The place is not too crowded and offers one of the better pratas among the estate. I ordered Egg Onion prata and it was served on a plate with a small cup of curry.

Telur Bawang 

Kosong Prata was crispy. 

Prata Kosong

Dipped the prata into the given curry and enjoy your meal.

Prata & Curry

What a good recommendation by the boss! Thosai was fluffy and fragrant. The boss even mentioned that this tastes best when eaten using bare hands. Do not worry about getting your hands dirty as there is a water basin at the back of the eatery.

Thosai

Our Thosai experience was also enhanced by dipping them into the different type of gravy.

Dipping Tosai into Curry

As we had been ordering their Egg Onion and Kosong Prata in our previous visits, we decided to order the Planta (Margarine) Prata for a tryout. The taste was quite decent without any strong Planta Margarine smell, nonetheless, the prata still remains crispy.

Planta (Margarine) Prata, Egg Onion, Egg  - $3, $2.50, $2

Mee Rebus's gravy was decadent and had a good hint of peanut aroma in the gravy.

Mee Rebus - $3.80

The flavourful and delightful mix of the texture of the dish with vegetables cooked to their softness together with Rice cakes and hard-boiled egg soaked in the creamy curry gravy topped with some fried crumbs. 

Lontong - $3.80

The meal was quite filling for my stomach with rice cakes. The curry gravy together with the plain rice cake was a good combination. Adding on their sambal chilli with fried anchovies definitely enhanced the taste of this dish.

Carrot & Rice Cake

Mee Siam was quite decent too with a generous amount of Bee Hoon. I still think that the main hit of their Malay Dishes lies in the Sambal Chilli which packs a good fragrance and sweetness.

Mee Siam - $3.80

We will be back for more items on their menu, perhaps the Dum Briyani as recommended by the friendly boss.

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Al Ameen @ Hillview
Location: 5 Chu Lin Rd, Singapore 669893

Hong Ji Mian Shi Jia

Have been wanting to head back here for their Wanton Noodles but did not get the chance over these 9 years. Despite the 9 years difference, the stall front of Hong Ji Mian Shi Jia looked similar as before just that the pricing of the food has been adjusted.

Hong Ji Mian Shi Jia

The "Bak Poh" lover screamed in joy when the serving was self-help. The standard of the Char Siew Wanton Mee tasted as good as our last visit about a decade ago.

Our Orders

 The noodles were fairly thinner than our usual Mee Pok and has a springy texture. Coupling in the mixture of sauce and lean pieces of Char Siew, they were absolutely satisfying. 

Char Siew Wanton Mee - $4 (Small)

Perhaps the noodle was so tasty that I had even forgotten about our bowl of wantons in soup. The soup was special to me and tasty with wantons. 

Wantons

We had a bowl of dumplings as a side order. Given a bowl of 5 dumplings in soup with some vegetables, I would say that they tasted above average!

Dumplings Soup - $4

Hong Ji Mian Shi Jia's Wanton Mee is still one of the few that has such traditional taste. I hope to be back quickly for other items on their menu and not another lapse of 9-10 years again!

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Posted on 6th September 2014

Many thanks to wonderful colleague who drive us all the way to Telok Blangah Food Centre to explore good food given a tight timing over our lunch hours. Even though we were slightly late abit for lunch time, we managed to join in the constant snaky queues and grab a table nearby.

Storefront of Hong Ji Mian Shi Jia

Recommended by Mr Seetoh of Makansunstra and with Mr Lesie Tay's writeup, it had already won my heart over for their Wantan Mee, not to mention even if their queue is long.
 

From the press

Presentation cant tell how good from these set of Wantan Mee. In fact, I was quite disappointed to the scattered Char Siew Meat on top of our plates as they were inconsistent but that was just mere first impression afterall.

Wantan Mee - $3 / $4

Uninteresting, it may seem but the noodles were good and the differences are distinctive. Thin and springy, a definite sign of authentic Hong Kong Noodles. Doused with sweet light soy sauce and chilli, it complemented well. It was good when the spiciness kicks in as I "chomp" them down with these lean pieces of BBQ pork. Yummy!

Close up on Wantan Mee

Not to mention that the wantans were different too, they had bites of chestnuts rolled up by the minced meat and wrapped by the smooth faint yellow wanton skin. The soup base was special too and pack with hints of prawn taste.

Close up on Wantan

If you still have room for dumplings, do try their prawn dumplings too. The Dumplings fillings were generous!

Prawn Dumplings Soup - $3

 Chicken Claw Mushroom Noodle as well as Oyster sauce vegetable noodles are available too.


Rating: 3.5 / 5

Hong Ji Mian Shi Jia
Location: Telok Blangah Market and Food Centre, Blk 79, Telok Blangah Road, #01-05 Singapore 100079

Seng Kitchen

The upline has been singing praises on Seng Kitchen's Cze Char Dishes for a long time and I decided to give it a try. However, during my time of visit, their menu was limited to 1 or 2 dishes. Despite having limited choices, we still stick to the original plan to have our meal here.

Seng Kitchen

I ordered the Egg Rice and it was a straightforward plate of rice with fried egg and cabbages, topped with fried crumbs from their Hakka Pork Chop. The meal looked simple but the egg was fluffy and delicious.

Egg Rice - $5

The Hakka Pork Chop Rice is a version upgrade from the Fried Egg Rice. On top of the Fried Egg and Vegetables, the rice was topped with fragrant pieces of Hakka Pork Chop. The red fermented beancurd pork was deep-fried and very crispy.

Hakka Pork Chop Rice - $5.50

You can even see some diners order solely a plate of Hakka Pork Chop as a side! Besides pairing these delicious fried pork with rice, grab some sambal belachan chilli from the stall too for an additional fiery kick to your tastebuds. 

Fried Pork Chop

While there were only limited dishes during rush hour, I'm still not very satisfied as I have yet to get a chance to enjoy the rest of their Cze Char Dishes on the menu. I will be back soon with my makan kakis!

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Seng Kitchen
Location: Quality Road Food Center, 45 Quality Rd, Singapore 618824

Toa Payoh 94 Laksa

 While the media has been showing this one-woman show Laksa Stall in Toa Payoh, I quickly brought the one who was talking about this almost daily to fix her Laksa carvings.

Toa Payoh 94 Laksa

While I'm thinking what's the rave about this bowl of laksa that made us travel all the way down to Toa Payoh for it, the queue is slowly piling up. The Laksa is slightly creamy in its gravy, bringing out the aroma and sweetness together with a tad spiciness. 

Laksa - $4.80 & $5.80 (Small & Big)

Prawns were deveined and halved. Together with other ingredients like blood cockles, Tau Pok, Fish Cakes, chilli paste, boiled egg and minced laksa leaves, I would say this beat any average bowl of laksa in the hawker stalls.

Ingredients

While getting my gravy mostly consumed, what makes this bowl of laksa so special is perhaps the generous use of dried shrimp.  Overall, we had well spent our calories here!

Dried Shrimp

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Toa Payoh 94 Laksa
Location: 94 Lor 4 Toa Payoh, #01-30, Singapore 310094

Mentai Sens (Sunset Way)

If you enjoy Mentaiko sauce, the savoury sweetness, creamy and tangy Mentaiko sauce on the bowl of don from Mentai Sens would probably hit the spot. Just on the menu, they have more than 20 rice bowls with torched mentaiko, salmon and cheesy pork katsu at a pocket-friendly pricing. With its original store being at Beauty World Center, it started to grow gradually with more outlets. 

Mentai Sens in Sunset Way

However, not to worry if you are not a fan of Mentaiko. They do offer another type of rice bowls with pork, beef, chicken. Unagi, ebi with other variations like salted egg sauce, cheese, and teriyaki.

Saw some additional sides on their menu and we decided to have the mixed flavours of Tamago with Mentaiko, Cheese and Salted Egg, all torched. What a savoury treat!

Mixed Flavours Tamago (Mentaiko / Cheese / Salted Egg）
混合口味玉子烧 (明太子/芝士/咸蛋）- $3.80

Next up, we had the Potato Croquette which had a crisp breaded texture on the outside, filled with mashed creamy potatoes as fillings. Dabbed onto the mayonise and sauce at the side to enjoy! 

Potato Croquette - $1.60 / Pcs

For every serving of Rice Bowl, it comes with a bowl of miso soup. We were lovers of sauces like cheese and salted egg, thus the Salted Egg Salmon Don was our top choice instead of their bowl of rice with Mentaiko.

Salted Egg Salmon Don 咸蛋酱三文鱼丼 - $6.90

The serving was relatively decent and the slab of Salmon was covered up by a generous amount of Salted Egg Sauce.

Salmon

We were so tempted by the Cheese Pork Katsu Don for we were cheese lovers. The deep-fried breaded pork was sliced into thin strips and added with cheese as well as egg mixture. 

Cheese Pork Katsu Don 芝士猪排丼 - $6.50

What do you like?

Take a look at the runny egg together with the savoury sauce. We are salivating!. 

Looks so yummy!

The Oyakodon don is always my kind of basic order as it has been giving me a homely feel. Love its savoury taste with egg, chicken and yellow onions topping up the bowl of white rice.

Oyakodon 亲子丼 - $5.50

The amount of sauce was adequate, accompanying the bowl of white rice I had.

Do you love Oyako Don too?

A good separation between the pearl white rice decked with Chicken Katsu and the pool of Curry Tamago. Like any typical Japanese Curry, it was sweet and non-spicy. The egg was soft and smooth, soaked into the pool of curry gravy topped with shredded seaweed. Chicken Katsu was decent however I felt that it was dry and could have done better with a burst of fragrant or even juiciness from the slab of meat.

Chicken Katsu Curry Tamago Don 炸鸡排滑蛋咖喱丼 - $5.90 

The Pork Katsu Don's style of something quite similar to the Oyako Don. Instead of having egg, and onion with chicken cubes, these ingredients were spread onto the fried pork.

Pork Katsu Don 猪排丼 - $5.50

Not going for Chicken & Pork? Perhaps let's try their Beef Don with Mentaiko? 

Mentaiko Gyuniku Don (Beef) 明太子牛肉丼 - $6.90

Rating: 3 / 5

Mentai Sens
Location: 107 Clementi Street 12, #01-K1, Singapore 120107

Ah Hua Teochew Fishball Noodles

I ordered my favourite combination of Chilli with Ketchip. This time round my Bee Tai Mak tasted overdosed with vinegar and was sour.

Bee Tai Mak Chilli Ketchup

The Mee Kia portion had a good balance of sauce and condiments, so no complaints about it.

Mee Pok Chilli

Beside having the Bee Tai Mak, my next favourite choice of noodles will be the Mee Pok in combination with Tomato Ketchup & Chilli.

Mee Pok

Back to my favourite bowl of Teochew Fishball Soup! The Ingredients are mostly handmade and taste fresh.

Fishball & Fish Cake

I love nostalgic food and this is one of the vegetable roll with fish paste that I love.

Vegetable Roll

Check this out from their Ala Carte Menu. Here comes the Deep Fried Prawn Roll wrapped up the a layer of crispy bean curd skin filled with springy prawns within.

Deep Fried Prawn Roll 炸虾卷

The Prawn Rolls are served piping hot and if you enjoy having Tiger Prawns from Old Chang Kee, they taste similar but of a bigger size.

Springy Prawn

Their Prawn Balls in Soup is something that I would prefer as a side dish. These balls are springy and coupled with the popping effect of the Ebiko in it.

Prawn Balls

Besides this Deep Fried Prawn Roll on their menu, there are many other sides like Fu Zhou Fishballs and Teochew Kiao that is noteworthy. Let's revisit when there is a chance!

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@umakemehungry One of the Better Teochew Fishball Noodles out there. Their fish balls are fresh and bouncy #umakemehungry #teochew #foodiesg #sgfoodblogger ♬ Beautiful - JJ Lin & G.E.M.

Ah Hua Teochew Fishball Noodle is located among the Pandan Gardens Estate and they are known for their freshly handmade fish balls & meat balls from scratch. Not only that, even their chili paste is done by their own recipe, thus you will not find anywhere with exact taste.

The nondescript looking bowl of Mee Tai Mak packs full of flavour. Simply love the quality made items that comprises of more of fish meat than flour. The fish balls are indeed bouncy and fresh without any fishy smell.

Mee Tai Mak

The chili is simply awesome and tasty, blending in well with the noodles.  Sometimes, the order can be quite confusing for some as some of the menu item do not allow chilli / tomato but only vinegar. 

Mee Pok - $5

Nevertheless, our favourite order is still the combination of chili with tomato ketchup. Noodles like Mee Kia / Mee Pok is skillfully cooked to Al Dente texture. Even so that these were packed food, the noodle still tastes as good after sometime. It really make me drools upon looking at these bowls of noodles again.

Our Takeaway orders when dining in was restricted

Finally get to dine in after the P2HA period as we always do take away and did not get to taste their soup. The soup is sweet and has a distinctive "Cai Poh" (Preserved Radish) taste. The noodles are simple topped with spring onions, bean sprouts and some minced meat.

Noodle - $5

If you are looking traditionally homemade Teochew Fishball and meatballs with self made chilli paste. Ah Hua Teochew Fishabll Noodles is not to be missed.

Mee Kia - $5

When we get to dine in, we get to order some special drinks like these refreshing Ice Jelly too.

Ice Jelly

To be honest, I'm not a fan of Fish balls noodle and often I will choose other meals instead of fishball noodles if I'm in Hawker or Coffeeshops but Ah Hua Teochew Fishball Noodles is an exception to me.

Rating: 4 / 5

Ah Hua Teochew Fishball Noodles
Location: 415 Pandan Gardens #01-117 Singapore 600415