Took Lae Dee is Still in Singapore

Do you remember these guys? I had such high hopes for them, but they closed their original location and I thought they had left the country. It turns out that they have one outlet remaining here in Singapore, and it's at Gardens by the Bay, of all places (18 Marina Gardens Drive).

It seems that its local operator runs this entire Jurassic Nest FoodHall and filled it with some of their other brands like Tsuta and Hawker Chan, and even pulled Bismillah and Ayam Taliwan to the mix.

It's also interesting that they offer boat noodles here, as apparently it is not something that they offer in Thailand. Actually, it wasn't very good. But I'm happy to have found this place again. It may be in a tacky dinosaur-themed food hall filled with tourists, but at least I know I can come here to get it.

Fifth Season's DIPU in Singapore

I didn't realize this until after I sat down, but this place (8 Club Street #B2-37) is from the people behind Fifth Season. I'd otherwise would have thought that it was just some random no-name shop featuring odd menu items like burgers and wraps. But this chelow kebab bowl was better than I thought it would be; the meat was piping hot yet moist, while the rice was decently fluffy. The gravy and yogurt were a bit sweet, and it's not something that I'd go running back for, but it was all only S$10 (US$8) and it was fast.

FLNT @ 1-ATICO at ION Orchard

I hate it when places come up with ridiculous names like this. I was also quite worried that their fancy 55th floor penthouse location at ION Orchard meant that they prioritzed the venue over the food. Fortunately, the food was better than I thought it would be, with things like that unagi above being of decent quality, as was the Iberico pork and a seafood chawanmushi in our lunch sets. This place was supposed to be Peruvian Japanesse, but it seemed to lean more to the latter.

Hummus from North Miznon Singapore

This was the hummus from North Miznon today; it was unapologetically drowning in bright olive oil and I loved it. One could just sit there and mop it all up with bread. Perhaps also interesting was their fish kebabs, which I had initially expcted to be solid chunks of fish. It was only after it arrived did I remember that these guys like to make them into minced meatballs. It was deliciously firm and smoky either way.

LoveLei Food in Singapore

This is a small leichafan chain that commands some rather painfully long waits during the busy lunch hour. And to be honest, the bowl above wasn't anything that special; they were surprisingly stingy with the vegetables and portion sizes.

But the interesting thing was that they offer a leicha paste option, which basically means they don't add hot water to make a green broth. What you end up getting then is a thick and salty sludge that's cold, and it's actually kinda good in the sense that it acts like a dip or even a salad dressing (which in fact, they offer as an option on some of their protein plates).

Next time I'll get one of those plates with leicha fried beehoon and maybe order a side of yong tau foo or one of those caipoh omelettes. I won't bother with those Hakka fried pork strips above though, as they were pretty dry and boring.

Lobster King Pao Fan in Singapore

Not to be confused with Keisuke's defunct Lobster King, this is a small chain of paofan stalls that was better than I was expecting. Not only was the broth thick and rich, but they also shaped those prawn and fish balls to order; no frozen factory-made ones here! They gave a good amount of crispies on the side to throw in, although there was no cilantro, unfortunately. The food reminds me a lot of Chef Wai's, which makes me wonder if there is some connection.

Happy Noodles at 777 Famous Coffeeshop

Apparently the chef behind Ah Hoe Mee Pok is behind this small chain (55 Lengkok Bahru #01-387). The noodles were firm, and they definitely weren't holding back on the crackling and grease in here. Normally, that would be a welcome thing for me, but in this case it was honestly a bit too much grease. I ended up liking that smoky plate of Hokkien prawn mee behind it more. It's from a shop called Ah Huat, which originated up in Punggol.

Hong Lim Curry Puff in Singapore

This small chain is apparently a spinoff of one of the Tanglin Curry Puff stalls at Hong Lim Centre, but I'm not sure which one. They make some generously large ones, with this chicken one featuring a hard boiled egg in there. More notably, the pastry was impressively flaky. But it also wasn't as rich as places like J2 Crispy Curry Puff, which is still my preferred curry puff vendor.

China's Zhou Zhen Zhen Nanchang Fen Mian in Singapore

I had never heard of this until tonight, but Nanchang banfen is a rice noodle breakfast dish from Jiangxi. This chain from China specializes in it, and they have a stall in Singapore (34 Upper Cross Street). It was better than I thought it would be, as it was nicely salty and savory without being excessive nor sweet, all while being a bit crunchy and not overdone. The mild spicy level was just right for me too. It was garlicky enough that a dragon breath warning applies, but at least the garlic didn't dominate the taste. I might get the tofu skin topping next time instead of the beef.

Geylang Lor 9 Beef Kway Teow in Singapore

Somehow I never noticed this on previous visits, but these guys have a crispy shengmian noodle option beyond their usual rice noodles. I got that version today and I liked it. The noodles had a relatively firm texture despite the sauce covering it, and the noodles had that tinge of instant noodle-like guilty pleasure to it. I was a little disturbed by the slippery meat, but the tenderizer also made it easy to eat. The sauce was thinner than I expected; presumably it was both deliberate as well as a function of the starch thickening up the rice noodle version. It had a bit of spice in it too. I drank the sauce down to the last drop.

Kohaku Sabo at Chinatown Point in Singapore

So the Kokaku folks have a quaint wood paneled place at Chinatown Point that is exclusive to Singapore and meant to be more upscale (133 New Bridge Road #02-34). They meant that it had a number of non-tempura items like pasta, curry, and tonkatsu. But I went for that seasonal bowl above, which included some surprising things like a cherry tomato and shiso leaf. One nice thing is that they give the option to serve the sauce on the side, although one unfortunately still gets that thick batter.

Ramen Story by Jinggho Shokudo at Fortune Centre

This place is kinda wild (190 Middle Road #04-27). The chef used to work at Ajisen and Hototogisu and also ran a hawker stall, and now he's doing these localized bowls of chicken ramen. That meant that the broth wasn't particularly salty, which was a bit of a letdown, but there were also some nice surprises in there too, like some sautéed button mushrooms that were kinda fun. I won't get it again, but it was interesting to see, especially since he even did the Keisuke beansprout tub.