Bún Chả Ta in Hanoi, Vietnam

I had enough time to squeeze in one more bún chả place before heading to the airport (21 Nguyễn Hữu Huân, 09-6684-8389). This one was a Bib Gourmand, and the meat was more tender than Đắc Kim yesterday. But I still didn't get the grilled aroma that I was looking for, perhaps because I yet again went during an off-peak hour. They weren't as generous with the herbs here either.

Chả Cá Thăng Long in Hanoi, Vietnam

So it seems that the original Chả cá Lã Vọng has seen better days, and there are other shops like this one (6B Đường Thành, 024-3828-6007) getting the attention now. Like the original, they only had one thing on the menu, and the service was super speedy as a result. The oil wasn't as rich as I had hoped, and the fish was a little sweet, but I still gobbled it all down quickly given that gigantic bowl of herbs that was used. Yay!

Tuệ An Bánh Cuốn Phở Bò in Hanoi, Vietnam

This friendly little family-run shop (14B Báo Khánh, 09-8334-2242) basically just sells bánh cuốn and phở bò, the former of which I liked much more, in part simply because I don't get it very often. Plus, that dipping sauce was very mild, and yet they provided a generous basket of cilantro for one to throw in into it, along with those earthy shallots adorning it. The phở, on the other hand, was northern-style with minimal herbs, although having some greasy quay sticks to dunk in it made it more fun.

Some Kind of Rolls at a Bia Hơi in Hanoi

I have no idea what these were called, and for that matter, I'm not even entirely sure what was in them. I think there were some strips of dried cuttlefish in there, and they seemed to be wrapped in rice paper, but they were definitely not the usual reconstituted skins, so it must have been something else.

Anyway, it was just something that we encountered while guzzling some watery yet slightly malty VND13k (US$0.55) beers on a street corner of the Old Quarter. The bia hơi itself also had some food, including a coarse water spinach stir fried in garlic. But these rolls were from some random person walking by.

Bún Chả Hàng Mành Đắc Kim in Hanoi

I haven't been back to Hanoi in ages, but there have been three things that I've been craving, and bún chả is one of them. Granted, I was a little concerned that this shop (1 Hàng Mành, 024-3828-7060) was really milking its Michelin listing with big signage everywhere, including their uniforms. And honestly, the pork itself wasn't that exciting today, although maybe that was because it was not the peak grilling hour when the air should be filled with its aroma. But I was still happy to gobble down those lovely fresh herbs, and those crispy spring rolls in the bottom right corner were full of rich-tasting crab, which kept things fun.

The Great Indian Food Festival 2023 in Singapore

I randomly spotted an outdoor food festival from the top of the bus while heading down Serangoon Road and decided to stop to take a look (27 Birch Road). There were a number of local vendors there, including Jaggi's, Fifth Season, Gayatri, Madras New Woodlands, Muthu's Curry, and Casuarina Curry, but I zoomed in on these stuffed bittergourd, especially since the Riverwalk Tandoor folks assured me that they are not serving these at their restaurant down the street. Yep, they were tender enough to be cut with the supplied plastic spoon, and the onion-centric stuffing inside was spicy enough. They were cash only though, and it's too bad that there weren't many overseas vendors there.

Singapore’s Teochew Cultural & Food Festival 2023

Time for another Teochew festival! This year, they apparently flew in a number of folks from Shantou, including chefs, particularly the ones making oyster omelettes, which drew some pretty long lines. Yes, it was light and savory, and the thick turnip cake on the left was good too. This stall was so popular that they were sold out by 6:30 PM.



Other stuff that was popular included that pork aspic above, as well as a sticky rice sausage that they sliced up like cured meat. The latter was a bit sweet though, so I was happier with the shacha noodles from the stall next to it. The shacha taste wasn't very strong since they blended in a peanut sauce or something, but at least the noodles were nice and firm.



And yay, there was someone doing properly pounded beef balls! They were delightfullly firm, and interestingly enough, this from a local business called Teoswa Food that has a retail stall at Lau Pa Sat. I'm going to have to make my way over there one day. I was quite happy that they didn't overcook their rice noodles either.

Srinanaporn and Mae E Pim Snacks from Thailand

Here are some packaged goods from Thailand, with those Bento-branded squid things on the left being better than I was expecting. They were spicy, salty, sweet, and savory without being too polarizing in any direction. The X-tra Long one on the left was better than the short ones in the center because it wasn't all stuck together.

The bigger surprise was the opened package on the right. The label says that they are a mix of chili peppers and crackling, but it was crumbly and powdery enough that I had to eat it with a spoon. It was so frighteningly addictive with its tom yum flavor that it took a lot of will power to force myself to stop eating it.

China’s Lameili (“Beautiful Lai”) Grilled Fish in Singapore

The parent company behind Tai Er has another brand that focuses on Chinese grilled fish at Suntec City (3 Temasek Boulevard #B1-111). Operationally speaking, it bore a huge resemblance to Tai Er, including not just its lack of single servings, but also a Roselle tea station as well as loudly scripted announcements.

Their signature dish above featured a catfish from China, which had a muddy freshwater taste to it but also a crispy and fatty skin that was smoky and aromatic. That was the best thing about this dish rather than those green chili peppers on top, which weren’t spicy at all. For that price, I’d rather go to Tai Er.

SODENG Korean Restaurant in Singapore

The Um Yong Baek folks opened a duck-focused restaurant earlier this year and I finally had a chance to go today (175 Telok Ayer Street). They do duck barbecue, but for lunch they also have limited quantities of duck-based gomtang. Yay!

It was quite different from the usual beef-based ones, not only in that the bowl was filled with things like a white fungus that they had to cut up tableside with scissors, but also in that the broth was very light. There wasn't any of the usual salt and pepper at one's disposal, but there were things like salted peppercorns, which they also cut up at the table.

As glad as I was to have tried it, I probably won't get it again. I would much rather go to Um Yong Baek instead, especially since the banchan there was better too. But I wouldn't mind coming back here one day to try their barbecue.

That Skewer Bar (Lage Chuanba) at Great World

I'm not sure of the background behind this place, but presumably it has no relation to the very similarly named THE Skewer Bar in Geylang and Tiong Bahru, seeing that those guys seem to be focused more on kushiyaki rather than the zachuan that this stall in the basement of Great World does (1 Kim Seng Promenade #B1-K106). Unfortunately, these guys put a thick and sweet sauce on those skewers. Sure, I think I tasted some sour plum in there, and their signage suggests that they take quite a bit of pride in the sauce too. But drowning them in that sauce defeated the point of deep frying them; I'd much rather go to Kuafu.

Namsan Mackerel Otah by Spice Village Catering

I randomly came across this nasi lemak stand today, and their selection of banana leaf otah caught my eye. I grabbed nearly one of each flavor. They were all fine, but the most notable thing to me was that some of them were sugary sweet, particularly the white fish one as well as a Nonya variety that they also featured. I didn't entirely mind it, especially since the latter was even a bit rich, but I prefer Lee Wee.

The Casa Vostra Pop-Up off Club Street

The dude behind La Bottega Enoteca has a home delivery service for his pizzas, and he also has a physical store where they can serve you those products on-site through the end of the year (8 Ann Siang Hill). Yep, it was good, thanks to the quality of the ingredients and that crispy crust. That sandwich in the back was a pleasant surprise too with the light crunch of not just the dough, but also the pistachio scattered in the gooey cheese. I'd like to come back for the pasta, but it's only open Friday to Sunday.

Homura by KAI at Orchard Plaza in Singapore

KAI Yakitori is a place at Orchard Plaza that I could never get into. So I was delighted to find that they had expanded to a new shop one floor down called Homura (150 Orchard Road #03-18), which was easy enough to get seats online. More importantly, the food was really good, with moist and tender cuts of chicken that were grilled and seasoned just right.

What was perhaps an even bigger surprise is that I liked the chawanmushi starter (it's normally something that I despise, but these guys made it deliciously savory) all the way through to their little bowls of thick-broth paitan ramen as a closer. There were some things about their service to nitpick on, but it didn't matter too much in the end when the quality of the food was so good.

Japan’s inEZO Ramen at the Hokkaido Food Fair

This was the other shop from Japan that was garnering long lines at the Hokkaido Food Fair. The broth above had a lot going on, and the chashu was tender and fatty. But the meat wasn't anywhere as scorched as what was shown on the signage, and frankly I preferred the skinnier noodles (and cleaner broth) from the stall next to it, which seemed to be run by a collective of ramen stalls from Asahikawa.

Sapporo’s Rakkyo at Takashimaya’s Hokkaido Food Fair

It's been a while since I've had Hokkaido Soup Curry, so I made a beeline for this small chain at the Hokkaido Food Fair at Takashimaya this week. I went for the highest "burning hot" level 4 degree of spiciness, which was fun, but also so dominant that I had trouble tasting the rest of the broth to make a proper comparison to places like Suage or SAMA. Everything inside was tender nonetheless.

Eat Hum in Punggol, Singapore

This is a cool home-based business, with those marinated cockles above being their speciality. I was quite happy to find that they weren't heavily garlicked despite drowning in that brown fluid in the background. Instead, these were wonderfully fresh and firm morsels of savory goodness with that thin light marinade only helping to accentuate rather than dominate it.

They do a lot of other shellfish too, including that crab in the background with a good amount of creamy yellow tomalley inside. Admittedly I only got the crab to get ahead on the same-day waitlist, but next time I'll try to order in advance so that I can spare my wallet from the high cost of the crab. Oh, and get the 400% spicy level since the 300% wasn't actually that spicy.

My Cosy Corner at Coronation Shopping Plaza

I've always wondered about this tiny place tucked away in the corner of this old building (587 Bukit Timah Road #02-02, 6463-8286). It was very low-profile, and the menu had an odd mix of things on it, but its worn-down appearance suggested that they'd been doing something right to stand the test of time. So I focused on the Peranakan side of the menu and grabbed this laksa, which turned out to be respectably rich, not to mention spicier than most offerings out there. Too bad that they don't have any otah though, and I'll pass on the extra S$1.50 to add those two shrimp next time.

The Baoyu Lajiao Chao Rou from Nonggenji

Here’s the third signature dish from Nonggenji, which I only realize now is xiaochaorou but with little almond-sized abalone in there. Those little savory things kept things fun, but the pork was dry and it lacked the aroma that Xiang Xiang's had. The beef is definitely the best of the three signature dishes here, especially since you can squeeze out multiple servings out of that gigantic bowl.

Nice Rice Has Moved to China Square Food Centre

Yay, Nice Rice is much easier for me to get to now that it isn't all the way up in Ang Mo Kio anymore (51 Telok Ayer Street #01-10). And I’ve been able to try a few more of his bowls as a result, particularly the Bird Bowl, Shroom Bowl, and the Duck Bowl. I was happy with them all, but his week old dry aged duck breast above was the best given that he was able to get a crispy exterior on the meat and yet still be very tender inside. The grilled chicken was done just as nicely, and was less than half of the price of the duck too. I won't bother with the onion rings again though; sure, they were light, crispy, and piping hot, but I'd rather just get his dill-accented salad.

Kuro Kare at Singapore Management University

This curry shop opened on the SMU campus a number of months ago (80 Stamford Road #B1-65) with a former Meta alum at the helm. The curry was respectably savory and even a little spicy, complete with two amusingly labeled bottles of chili sauce at each table to spike it with. But both the curry and chili sauce were rather acidic, and everything on that plate above was disppointingly served at room temperature. It was still good enough to eat, but I like Jiakali better for its uniquely gritty curry, not to mention food that's cooked to order.

Revisiting the Hae Mee Stall at Peck Hoon Teng

If you compare this photo to the one from last week, there are a few notable differences aside from the noodle selection. Most notably, the condition of the prawns have improved dramatically...and I didn't even pay the extra one dollar option. But the chili powder has changed to the industry standard fine red powder, which was more boring than the smoky flakes and seeds that they had before. You win some, you lose some.

Ji Zai Ji Golden Mile Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice

I've never been to their original Army Market location, but there's usually a huge line for these guys at their China Square outlet (51 Telok Ayer Street #01-7A). I wasn't sure if it was just because of the busy lunch hour or if it were honestly that good, but I went early today to give it a try. The main thing that struck me was that many of the items had a sweet finish to them, including not just the sauce that that chicken was doused with, but also chili sauce, beansprouts, and even the roselle drink that came with the set. But it wasn't excessively sweet, so I still ate it all, especially since the rice was extra firm while the ginger was potent and fresh.

The Lajiao Chao Niurou from Nonggengji

This stir-fried beef was one of the other three of the signature dishes from Nonggengji. It arrived in a gigantic porcelain bowl that was bigger than my head, and the portions were similarly perhaps twice the size of the fish that I had last week, despite being at almost the same price.

I liked this one even more though, not only given how the chili peppers were more finely tossed into the beef, but also given how boldly salty and greasy it was without being excessive. It also came with tons of fresh cilantro underneath, which is an easy way into my heart.

Margie the Market Bar at Margaret Market

It took me at least 20 minutes before I looked up at the curved ceiling of the new Margaret Market and realized that it was the old structure where Sin Kee was back in the day. And they've done an impressive job with all of the nicely decorated stalls there (38 Margaret Drive).

I zoomed in on the central bar, not only since they were serving beer from The 1925 Brewing Company, but also since they were doing local takes on tacos, including not just that Chomp Chomp chicken wing one above, but even one featuring Ramly patties. Cool!

Too bad that I didn't like them though. That was not only because of my huge dislike of flour tortillas, but also these honestly weren't that interesting (I'd rather just get the real McCoy). Next time I'm back here, I'll probably hit up WaWa or Bowen's instead.

Market Blue: Tasty Seoul at Tanglin Mall in Singapore

I finally made it to that Korean marketplace in the basement of Tanglin Mall (163 Tanglin Road #B1-122). The menu was all over the place, but they had gomtang buried at the end of one of the pages, and it came out in a jiffy. The broth was a bit of a bore though, and the meat was pretty tough. They didn't provide any salt and pepper either. Yes, Gagahoho is better, although I'm a big fan of the thick makgeolli that they generously pour here.

The Palawan Food Trucks in Sentosa

The new development at Palawan Beach in Sentosa is rather nicely done, and there is even a faux food truck park there featuring everything from burgers to fish & chips to Korean fried chicken. I landed on the Tacos de Playa truck because they had quesabirria, or rather, the "famous birria quesa tacos."

To be sure, this was like eating at a stadium; one isn't exactly there for quality of the food, as seen by that lousy garnish and oddly thick consome above. That said, these were still piping hot, crispy, and cheesy. And this place was so nicely furnished that it was a rather pleasant experience.

Bread, Beer & Brez'n (BB&B) in Singapore

I've been wanting to check out this small chain of Biergarten for a while now given its low prices and bench seating. But when this Wienerschnitzel (vom Schwein) was served, my eyes nearly popped out of my sockets. No wonder why the prices here were so low!! It reminded me of how I got duped at Braseiro a few years ago. I'm feeling rather miffed about this, but I'll admit that it was convenient enough that I might still stop by for a snack, now that I know what to expect.

Jiakali at Chinatown Complex in Singapore

Whoa, the curry at this hawker stall (335 Smith Street #02-051) is awesome, particularly in that it's both spicy and gritty, with a good dose of anise in there, if I tasted it correctly. It was hot enough that it didn't even need that chili powder on the side, but a big bucket of it was at your disposal if you needed it. And that chicken cutlet was tender and fried to order too. Big thumbs up; I'd rather come here than Nana Curry.

China’s Nong Geng Ji Has Opened in Singapore

Another Hunan chain from China has opened in Singapore (16 Collyer Quay #01-01). The menu greets you with three signature dishes upfront: a stir-fried beef, stir-fried pork, and that fish dish above, which was much spicier than I thought would be. I also liked that it was accentuated with a good dose of refreshing ginger, all while being coated in a silky oil without being greasy. I'm rather puzzled by the fish itself though, especially since it was oddly firm. A direct translation called it butterflyfish, but aren't those the colorful reef/aquarium fish that usually aren't eaten for food?