8889 Ji Gong Bao at Northstar@AMK

This jigongbao place in a distant industrial park was commanding hourlong waits on a Saturday night (7030 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 #01-30). After duking it out by nibbling on some fried lok lok from a stall nearby, our pot finally arrived. And it was good to see that it wasn't too sweet, with the thick soy sauce providing a nice amount of savoriness that helped carry the firm bone-in parts of chicken.

The small pot above was only S$16.90 (US$13.20), and it became clear later that they made their money from the optional plates in the fridge. Sure, they were priced at just S$3 each, but one grabs multiple plates in one go, so that quickly surged past the cost of the base pot. Next time I should remember to grab a pot of that claypot lala soup when we select our lok lok from that Fei Zhu stall.

Korea's Standard Bread in Singapore

I needed a bit more food after that ramen, so I stepped into that wood-laden Standard Bread place given that there was no line tonight (26 Sentosa Gateway #01-229). They only had a few loaves of brioche remaining, so I grabbed one of those with a coffee.

The bread was reasonably fluffy and buttery as you might expect, but I realized a few minutes into it that I should have opted for some butter. At least I had some of that iced Korean "Spanner" coffee to help wash things down. I'll admit that I rather liked the velvety dessert-like beverage.

Perhaps the more (not so) memorable thing was the price: the bread was a whopping S$14 (US$11), which is apparently double the price of how much they charge in Korea. This place was started by some design firm that is charging for the themed decor and Sentosa rent on top of the food.

Mensho X Sentosa's Wagyu Tantan Mochimen

I finally got around to trying the mochimen at Mensho X Sentosa. At first I tried eating from each section of that plate before I realized that one needed to toss it all first, as only certain parts of it were seasoned. Granted, that ended up covering up the taste of the beef too, but nonetheless it all came together well with those thick and chewy noodles. Now it's making me think of that 175° DENO place.

People People Brewing Co in Sentosa

That quarter rotisserie chicken portion on the right might look a little paltry, but it was surprisingly affordable considering that it was from the Burnt Ends team. And yes, that meant that the quality was good too, featuring very moist and savory pieces of chicken accompanied by crispy and nicely seasoned skin.

This wasn't from Burnt Ends itself though; it's from a new microbrewery at the RWS WEAVE mall (26 Sentosa Gateway #B1-209). The menu looked rather uninspiring at first, featuring things like burgers and pizza that looked like food that you'd find at touristy resorts. Fortunately, the quality was good, and the beers were too.

Katong Mei Wei Chicken Rice in Singapore

I'd never heard of this chicken rice shop before, but it's originally from Katong, and they have an "express" outlet in the city that puts everything in single-use plastic takeout boxes, even if you're dining in (8 Club Street #B2-19). As much as this wasteful packaging irks me, I'm putting that aside for now since the food turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting.

I didn't think it would be very good given the big pile of achar pickles that they provided. But it wasn't too sweet, and fortunately there were lots of sliced chilis in there to make it fun. The portion of chicken was generous and generally moist despite me opting for breast meat, and the fried garlic bits on top weren't too distracting either. The soup on the side was nice and peppery too.

The Noodle Memories at Hong Lim Food Centre

I caught these guys just before they closed this afternoon (531A Upper Cross Street #02-28). It's a Malaysian team doing pan mee. Contrary to what I was expecting, it wasn't overly sweet, salty, nor heavy. I liked that it came with shredded wood ear mushrooms, while that giant fried tofu fish cake thing on the left was hot from the fryer and fun to eat too. The chili wasn't very spicy though.

Yakitori to Soba SHIN near Boat Quay

This place was a little confusing at first (36 Circular Road). It looked like one of those high end sushi counters when you walk in. But they serve yakitori, presumably using a grill in the back of the house. And they also do soba, which they emphasize that you have to eat quickly because the taste changes after 60 seconds. They are just a few doors down from Lilian, BTW.

Anyway, it turns out this place is quite legit. That pile of hand cut noodles above was fragrant and textured, and I loved that olive oil and salt was provided as an option. It was actually just their cheapest mori soba selection, but it was also billed on another page in the menu as a tasting flight given the three sauces that it came with. I'll bet you that his yakitori and omakase are of high quality too.

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.