The Goma Yuzu Ponzu Hamburg from Yamamoto

I tried chasing down a more purist option at Yamamoto's Hamburg and landed on this one, as it was basically one of the three cheapest versions aside from a oroshi ponzu and tomato sauce version. I was rather surprised to find that huge stack of julienned scallions on top of it, fearing for my co-workers that I'd have to engage with later in the afternoon. Fortunately there was some shiso leaf in there too, and it was much more muted than it looked. The sesame yuzu dip that it came with wasn't bad, but I definitely prefer just salt and pepper if it came down to it.

Kim Hua Guan Bak Kua at People's Park Food Centre

I only now realize how much I've been under-appreciating bak kwa all this time. I mean, I like bak kwa, but I never really took the time to explore small-batch purveyors given the ubiquity of big name chains like Bee Cheng Hiang or Fragrance. This one, on the other hand, is just a hawker stall (32 New Market Road #01-1022). But they still package everything very nicely and even let you buy a small 100g quantity if you'd like, which is about three slices.

And those three slices were awesome, as they were not just smoky and caramelized on the edges, but the meat had texture and was even laced with a distinctively stanky fish sauce. Awesome! To be sure, Sang Hock Guan is another example of one of these micro-scale vendors that is pretty darned good too. Either way, this is hardly the kind of thing that you find at a hawker center. There was another one just a few stalls down, but this one was actively grilling away on a Sunday afternoon.

Minwei Quanzhou Cuisine at Tiong Bahru Plaza

A Minnan restaurant has taken the place of Lead General Hot Pot (302 Tiong Bahru Road #02-117). The decor is rather uninspiring and the service is slow, but I kinda liked the food, like those prawns and glass noodles above, as well as a particularly fatty and stanky plate of chopped up cumin lamb ribs. One has to be able to tolerate the bones and fat though. I'm intrigued enough by other items on their menu; it reminds me a bit of Putien, but these guys lean into that Intangible Cultural Heritage narrative quite a bit.

The Ceylonese Affair in Queenstown, Singapore

It's not often that one finds Sri Lankan food in a hawker center (159 Mei Chin Road #02-17). This stall at Mei Ling Market is only open until 2:30 PM, and they do those appam above for breakfast. Mine came with egg, black pepper, and a thick and chunky relish called cheeni sambal that tugged in savory, salty, and sweet directions, going nicely with the rice and coconut batter. I also had his briyani, which was surprisingly salty and oily despite them allegedly localizing it. But that salt and grease (and loads of fried shallots) were precisely what made it fun to eat, not to mention setting it apart from a typical briyani. There was quite a line forming this morning for this place too.

The Pan-Seared Seabass from rumeL

I tried the seabass from rumeL today, and I realized that I appreciate it in the same way that I do Saizeriya's pepper chicken: despite how unglamorous it may be (and even downright odd with alfalfa for garnish), it's ultimately a nicely grilled piece of protein that's moist yet crisp, tasty yet healthy, and all at a very affordable price of just S$13.80 (US$10.80). It even came with a bit of kale on the side, which gets a thumbs up from me.

That said, it took a very painful 20 minutes to come out of the kitchen, during off-peak hours at that. So if I am patient enough to get this again, then I'll need to occupy myself with a small margherita pizza first while waiting for the fish. Their chewy dough fortunately hasn't changed despite what otherwise has been a mostly disappointing format change.

Korea's OJEJE at Raffles City Shopping Centre

Another tonkatsu restaurant has opened in Singapore (252 North Bridge Road #B1-12). Like Tonshou, this one's from Korea. Unlike Tonshou, these guys don't use a charcoal grill. But they do claim to be the creator of kadaif-wrapped prawn, which Katsu by Kyu also does. In that sense, I assume that Katsu by Kyu was inspired by both Tonshou and OJEJE.

Anyway, the good thing about OJEJE is that it has the most tender and moist meat of the three shops. And their sauce had a molasses-fruit tang that was surprisingly nice and unique. But the batter used here was a bit too light, and the white truffle sauce for the prawn felt rather cliched. In that sense, I'd rather go to Tonshou, but I would like to come back here to try their udon, as it's made in-house daily.

KL’s Omega Pork Noodle in Singapore

This Malaysian pork noodle chain from Kuala Lumpur has opened up a few outlets down here in Singapore. It's pretty good; the meat was super tender, and even came in a small minced roubing version. The soup was a little garlicky, but was borderline tolerable and at least gave it a bit of an edge. The noodles were a letdown though as it ended up being just a big clump of lifeless gluten. I'll pick different noodles next time, perhaps going for a soup version instead.

The Black Pepper Karaage from Sio Pasta

I was able to walk into Sio Pasta again today, so I grabbed their pork belly pasta along with their karaage again for extra protein. The good thing was that the batter wasn't as hard as I recall from last time; if anything, these things were quite airy, if also rather fatty. In that sense, I still prefer Rang Mang Shokudo, but they aren't around anymore. The pasta was very fragrant at least with all of the yuzu and sesame seed aromas.

A Beef Roti Shootout at VivoCity

Geez, these niuroubing "beef roti" stalls are really spreading, eh? I came across two stalls in passing at VivoCity, one of which was at the Food Republic upstairs. It's a chain from China that goes by a few names like Mon Chinese Beef Roti, Monti Bread, and Xiaomeng Fanfangsu. The pastry was more chewy than Ameen's flaky version, but it was still good.

Then downstairs in the basement near FairPrice Xtra was another stall called Imperial Kungfu Roti (1 Harbourfront Walk #B2-K14), which I believe is local. Theirs had a super crunchy pastry, and came with generous amounts of moist and greasy meat. But it wasn't as nicely spiced up as Ameen, which remains my favorite. Mon Chinese Beef Roti above follows behind in second.

Japan's Yamamoto no Hamburg in Singapore

Taking the place of Urban Roti's former location at Lau Pa Sat (18 Raffles Quay) is this chain from Japan that happens to be the precursor to Hikiniku to Come at VivoCity.

This one is the more elaborate of the two, featuring things like beef-and-pork-blended patties stuffed with gorgonzola cheese and a mushroom cream sauce, and even a few strands of noodles in that bowl. They even give you a vegetable smoothie thing to go with it, all while presenting the individual veggies to you so that you know what it's composed of.

The food was all fine enough for me to eat quickly, but the minimalist in me prefers Hikiniku to Come instead. I suppose that one can request a relatively minimalist version here too.

Dinner at Song Gye Ok Singapore

I finally went to Song Gye Ok for dinner tonight; unlike their samgyetang-centric lunch menu, the dinner menu serves barbecue, and specifically chicken, which is kinda neat, especialy since the basic "special grill platter" gives you an assortment of chicken parts.

That naturally included some basic thigh and breast meat (the latter was moist, albeit the most boring), but also things like cartilage, which to my surprise was my favorite. See, they grilled it in front of you and got it to just the right crunchy texture yet still with some smoky meat attached. They even threw in some fun veggies.

The items were all seasoned without being excessive, be it some coarsely ground black pepper or even a mild red sauce. That garlic fried rice above though was the only thing that went a bit too far, as I'm going to stink when I get home tonight.

The New rumeL with Booze and Pasta

I was intrigued that rumeL redid its menu with expansions into not just pastas and salads, but also wine and even canapes. It's like it was trying to go head-on with Saizeriya; and delivering a similar quality level too. The pasta that I had was underseasoned, while that burrata salad above tasted very flat. Fortunately, they kept the pizza menu; their chewy dough is still the best thing here.