Nice Rice Has Moved to Moonstone Bar

I only realized the other day that China Square Food Centre has shut down, so tenants have had to find new homes. Nice Rice went across the street to Moonstone Bar (103 Amoy Street). The good thing is that the menu is still similar, like my Bird Bowl above. But it is a little more upscale, with the salad now being done as "lollies" in reference to the cut stalks that they presented. The dressing seemed a little sweeter than before, but fortunately he kept the dill weed that I liked so much.

Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee

This Michelin Bib Gourmand stall at Hong Lim Food Centre apparently commands some long lines (531A Upper Cross Street #02-17). Fortunately, I got here early enough today where there wasn't too much of a wait, and my small char kway teow above came out pretty quickly.

Now, at first it just seemed like a disappointingly mushy clump of noodles. But the cockles made all of the difference, as they were super fresh with a delicate brininess to them, making it worth the extra two bucks that I paid to add more. It was also nice that none of this was excessively salty, greasy, nor sweet.

Korea's Jiho Hanbang Samgyetang in Singapore

Samgyetang has never really been my thing, but I emerged from this place with a better opinion of the dish (18 Cross Street #B1-01). See, the SBCD folks brought in this big chain from Korea, presumably after seeing the huge lines Modu draws. But I liked this better in that they use a thick goryeo-style broth.

It was also only now that I finally figured out that one was supposed to eat the chicken with a salt and pepper dip as well as cloves of pickled garlic. That made those frail pieces of chicken much more interesting. But people aren't going to want to be near me after eating all of that garlic.

Simply G. Ken at Amoy Street Food Centre

I was drawn to this place by its cute name (think: the way that chicken is pronounced locally). They serve simple plates of fried chicken with lemongrass rice and a choice of sides like potato salad (7 Maxwell Road #02-106). The chicken was respectably moist and came out quickly, but the batter was very thick while the coriander sauce that I selected was sweet. Presumably it was intended to be thick and sweet, but it was too thick and sweet for my tastes; I had to scrape it all off in order to finish the rest of the chicken.

Sushiro Singapore is Doing Chakinzushi Now

Sushiro has these chakin-sushi on their list of specials now. I had no idea what they were, but apparently they are a Kansai-style sushi with chopped veggies mixed into the rice wrapped up in egg. It thus provided a mildly tangy yet savory taste but wasn't anything to get excited about either aside from the bargain S$2.90 (US$2.30) price.

Chef Hong HoChiak Bar in Tiong Bahru

Yay, another steamed seafood stall has opened! This one is at the FoodHub kopitiam next to Tiong Bahru Plaza (11B Boon Tiong Road #01-15). I grabbed their platter above, which included fish, shrimp, shrimp paste balls, and clams, all for a bargain price of just S$10.80 (US$8.50) inclusive of the rice and steamed egg.

At that price, one isn't exactly getting very high-quality ingredients, but I got value out of it. They had an option for a simple Hong Kong-style preparation, which kept everything pure and healthy. I'd still go to Hee Hee Hee if they had a location closer to me, but in the meantime I'm happy to come here for this.

Finally Trying Out Fatty Bom Bom

It's hard to forget a name like Fatty Bom Bom. I saw an outlet a few years ago and was curious but never had a chance to try one until today. They serve kopitiam Western food like aglio olio and that black pepper chicken chop above, and really seem to like using cajun seasoning on everything. I was just happy to find that the portions were tame, contrary to what the name suggested. But it wasn't anything super exciting either, especially since that chicken was nearly room temperature. At least it was cheap.

Revisiting Go-Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice

I've kinda forgotten about these guys. But their (shockingly affordable) lunch set made for a convenient refueling today, so I grabbed a plate. I was a bit surprised to find that the rice had a rather heavy Maggi sauce-like taste to it. Did they change their recipe or is my memory messed up? It wasn't necessarily a bad thing (I still ate it all), but was just surprised at how pronounced it was.

Ah Gong Teochew Noodle in Singapore

This is a small Teochew noodle chain that seems to have a lot of similarities to 85 Redhill in the sense that they started as a stall and then commercialized outwards. But these guys are more conservative and don't have as big of a footprint. I've gotta admit that I didn't like the food as much either, as it was a little sweet, a little mild, and a little boring. Granted, I only realized afterwards I should've spiked the bowl with the bottle of vinegar that they had available. And apparently they are known for a smoky soup version that I should try to get next time.

Macau Fong Cheng Cuisine in Chinatown

There was a discussion the other day around meicai, and this place came up (335 Smith Street #02-211). It spans a couple of stalls, doing a range of cze char items. But I was after the meicai kourou above. The nice thing was that the meat was pleasantly fatty and moist, but the meicai was sweet and watery rather than salty and oily.

The thing that love about meicai is how punchy and savory it can be, so I won't be getting this from them again. But I do appreciate the tip, especially since there were other things at their stall that look promising. Plus, it was run by a very sweet elderly couple who were so endearing that I just couldn't say no to their effort to upsell me a bowl of their soup.

The Two Chiew Kee Noodle Houses in Singapore

This wasn't intended to be a shootout. I merely wanted some noodles for breakfast, and I knew that there were a couple of soya sauce chicken shops along this street that were open in the morning. But when went to check them out, I realized that they had the same name...almost, at least. The one at 30 Cross Street was called Chiew Kee, while the one at 8 Cross Street was Original Chiew Kee.



It seems that the former is a spinoff by a family member. The spinoff's plate is in the top photo, and what struck me was that the chicken was a bit sweet. It was moist with firm noodles, but sweet. The original shop's was not as sweet, but also a bit tougher and with less interesting noodles. Admittedly I wasn't that excited about either one. If I go back, then I need to dress down given that the splatter risk is quite high at both shops.

PÖONSTI at Old Hen Kitchen in Singapore

It was only when I arrived here did I realize that this local Rösti shop is yet another brand from the folks behind Old Hen Coffee (127 Owen Road). See, I tried their Chooby Pizza brand during the pandemic, but at that time, one had to bring the food home. Only after sitting inside for a few minutes did I realize that these guys are into the same things that I like: pour-over coffee and draft beer, along with Rösti in the morning and Neapolitan pizza at night.

Yeah, the food was fine, even if the kitchen was a bit on the conservative side. By that, I mean that the Rösti above is not a sinfully greasy as Marché, but was still done with care and was better than some of those other places that have popped up recently that bake their Rösti instead of pan-frying them. And being conservative was also a good thing in terms of their moderate portions. The number of wine bottles that they have sitting around makes me suspect that this place would be pretty fun at night.