China's Shu Da Xia Hotpot in Singapore

I've been wanting to check out this chain from Chengdu for a while now, but its location at Tampines 1 made it difficult for me (10 Tampines Central 1 #03-16).I had a chance to go today though, especially since they offer an afternoon meat buffet set for S$18.80 (US$14.75), and they were fine with you being a solo diner at that. What a bargain!

Now, keep in mind that it only includes a selection of meat. If you want veggies or carbs, then you have to pay for that. And you have to pay for the broth and the condiment bar either way. So it wasn't quite as affordable as it sounded, but if you really wanted to be cheap, you could get your veggies and carbs from the condiment bar, if you don't mind it being limited to the cold bamboo shoot appetizer, plus some coriander for garnish, as well as blocks of instant noodles. It was nice that the broth didn't have to be a full-sized pot either; one could just get a three-compartment pot, filling two of the compartments with (free) plain water. My basic mala broth in the third chamber was sufficient.

Now, the meat was interesting in that one of them called Guifei Beef arrived with a white milky substance on top. It looked like coconut milk, but it was actually a protein mixture of some kind used to tenderize and moisten the freshly cut Chaoshan-style meat. The meat was indeed tender, even if it didn't have much taste, and it was unique enough that I opted for another plate while I could. I definitely got my protein today.

Hougang Traditional Famous Wanton Noodle

Stall number 35 at Old Airport Road Food Centre proudly displayed a badge for their Michelin listing, so I got a plate to find out why. It turns out these little bowls were pretty good thanks to the quality of the ingredients. Even if I prefer skinniner noodles, they were bouncy and were laced with an edgy chili sauce that wasn't sugary sweet. The wonton fillings were earthy, and they sat in a crisp and savory soup, unlike the dishwater that one commonly gets at other stalls.

Magpie in Tiong Bahru, Singapore

On the outside, this looks like exactly my kind of place (57 Eng Hoon Street #01-88). The emphasis is on the beverages and small plates of food to go with it. They play fun music...and they play it unapologetically loud. It's in a nice walkable neighborhood, and there is alfresco seating on a first-come first-serve basis. The vibes are all here.

But when I dug a little deeper, I wasn't so sure. The service was hit-or-miss, and the food tended to lean heavily on acidic flavors. The quality of the ingredients was good, but the kitchen's style reminded me of that old Moosehead place, which I had trouble liking for the same reason. Many of the dishes could have done with one or two less ingredients to let the rest of the items shine.

Still, these guys do it much better than Moosehead did. Despite the acidity, it kinda worked, not unlike how awesome Thai food is despite the heavy acidity. They like to use chili peppers here too, which kept it fun. The only disappointment was that overbattered zucchini flower on the left, but the grilled corn to the right was tasty with its curry leaf butter, and we liked their ceviche and taramasalata too.

Returning to rumeL in Singapore

I've gotta admit that I kinda like this place despite its weird name and forced Italian theme music. That was mainly because the dough has life in it, being nice and chewy.

This time I was about to follow up on my promise to get a large sized pizza, but I figured I might as well get two small ones in order try a couple varieties. The first one on the left was a shakshuka version; I'm not sure if they just used the normal pizza sauce or if there were some extra spices in here, but I still ate it thanks to the crust. The green one was their famous kaya butter version, and it was better than I thought it would be, as it made for a pleaseantly sweet dessert.

And even with that, they have a gelato case that I was happy to dip into after that. I never would have thought I'd say this, but I was quite happy with what I had.

More from Hakka Bond in Singapore

Those might look like limes or avocados above, but they're actually a mugwort-based dumpling with a sweet peanut mix inside. It was a dessert, even though the exterior carried a pronounced taste of leafy greens. It was good, just like pretty much everything else I've eaten at this restaurant.

Indeed, that pork dish behind it featured meat that was a bit dry, but the deliciously savory pickled vegetables underneath it made me forget all about it. There were actually two different types of pickles on that plate: a lighter yet saltier version and then a funkier dark one alongside it. This place really has some gems.

Menya Saku by Oh Some Bowls in Singapore

This place didn't look like much when I first arrived, as it looked a bit tacky and was tucked away in the dark corners of the nearly deserted Sim Lim Square (1 Rochor Canal Road #02-03). But that chicken-based broth was decently savory, even if it could have used more salt. I didn't care much for the noodles, but at least they weren't overcooked, and the chicken was tender sitting in that cute little bowl. This place is run by a former Kokoro and Buta Godo chef.

Keisuke’s Mapo Tofu Don Set

All of that talk about dumplings recently must've planted an idea in my head to go to Ramen Keisuke Gyoza King today. It's been so long since I was last here that he's gone from being cash only to now having a "no cash payment" sign. He also now offers a limited number of servings of this mapo tofu don each day.

It was better than I thought it would be given the hefty amount of huajiao in there; it wasn't the sweet and mild thing that I had figured it to be. I am not sure if he was inspired by Shisen Hanten, but it had a similar punch, even if Chen's is still better. One still gets a few gyoza in that set above by the way.

Hup Lok on Havelock Road in Singapore

These guys are kinda interesting in that they are a restaurant and seafood wholesaler that has gone through a few twists and turns, and have now finally landed on a shop doing hae mee featuring Japanese prawns imported from Ecuador (725 Havelock Road).

That bowl above is their signature item, which arrived with three of those gigantic plump prawns along with quite a bit of other protein, like pork slices and prawn balls that were of pretty decent quality. More importantly, the broth was thick and savory, reminding me a bit of that lobster broth that Keisuke used to do.

No, the prawns aren't as good as say, live ones in Spain, but it is quite a steal at just S$12.80 (US$10.10). They have other things on the menu that looked interesting, including a Teochew braised foie gras. Or just pay two bucks more to get that bowl above to get prawns that have already been peeled for you.

Kapitan Restaurant at Maxwell Chambers in Singapore

I'm not sure when this happened, but the Ang Moh Dumplings folks have migrated over to a proper restaurant with a tacky nautical theme (32 Maxwell Road, #01-05). And being in a restaurant setting meant that they offered a full menu now, where they really pushed the concept with things like an Uzbek pilaf labeled as "Angmoh Briyani" as well as a Crimean Tata chebureki turnover labeled as "Angmoh Curry Puff (but no curry)." Ha!

I stuck to dumplings though, with those Ukrainian vareniki above featuring a thick and borderline uncooked wrapper. But they were filled with homemade cottage cheese that was pleasantly acidic. I was happy to gobble them up with sour cream and consume them with a Georgian soup called kharcho, which was thinner and spicier than I was expecting but was still satisfyingly salty. I want to try their potato pancakes and salted herring next.

Finally Trying rumeL in Singapore

That name may look a bit weird, but apparently it's lemur spelled backwards for some reason. Anyway, this chain of casual pizza shops opened to some fanfare a while back, as they had some famous Australian pizza chef make the dough, all while offering the pies at a low price, complete with toppings like kaya butter and drinks like local Nanyang kopi. I finally got to try it today, and the dough was better than I thought it would be, being decently chewy and light. I kinda liked the tomato sauce on my eggplant parmigiana above too.

I should've read the menu a little more carefully though given how tiny these pizzas turned out. They clearly stated it as a 6-incher, but that didn't click in my head, as I naturally default to the smallest portion possible. This was so small though that it was basically the size of one slice at Roberta's. I'll upgrade to the 10-incher next time. And yes, that means that there will be a next time, not so much for the pizza itself but just that it happens to be convenient, cheap, and with a crust that is good enough.

Nagercoil's Arya Bhavan in Singapore

This chain from Tamil Nadu has a shop outside Mustafa, and there is oftentimes a line to get in (18 Verdun Road #01-01, 6293-6835). Fortunately, I was able to get seated today, and tried to find something different from the many other South Indian vegetarian places nearby. For one, so many sections of their menu are time-dependent. I wanted to try some kind of chili and banana fritters called bajji, but they weren't available until later in the evening.

So I settled on that kuthiravali dosai above, not only since these guys were apparently known for making big dosai, but also since this one was made from a barnyard millet rather than rice and was only available on weekends. It was grittier than a regular dosai, kinda like an uttappam, but thinner and crisper. I was happy with it. Next time I want to get the timing right for those chili and banana bajji, and also maybe try the ragi dosai for an even coarser texture.

My First Taste of Mỳ Quảng Ếch

It turns out that Ăn Là Ghiền has a couple of outlets in Chinatown next to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. This dish was featured prominently on the first few pages of the menu, and it sounded interesting enough. It was described as a noodle dish from central Vietnam that only came with a small amount of broth. It arrived in three separate parts, so it took me a few minutes to figure out how to assemble it.

It turns out that one isn't supposed to put the noodles in the claypot with the broth. It's the other way around: one scoops some of the hot turmeric (and slightly sweet) broth onto the noodles. That then gets tossed with shredded banana blossoms, peanuts, chili, and lime. One also gets a crispy rice cracker to go with it, as well as frog legs inside that pot to nibble on. It was pretty cool and I'm glad I tried it.