The Yong Tau Foo from Bai Jia Le

One thing that I failed to get on my first visit to Bai Jia Le was the yong tau foo add-on, and it was only after returning this week did I realize how absolutely ginormous these pieces were. It wasn't just the cut of the vegetables, but the huge amount of meat filling inside. That photo isn't doing it justice because you can't see the vertical height of how thick those things were. They also did a shiitake mushroom that was super plump, both from the meat as well as the mushroom itself. This place is awesome.

Chef Lai's Cafe at the Adelphi in Singapore

This is a tiny basement spot from a former Chatterbox chef (1 Coleman Street #B1-16). And the Chatterbox genes showed, with not just that tray-and-dish layout above, but also in the moist boneless meat with a bit of sesame oil. It was nice that the rice wasn't overcooked and the chili oil wasn't too garlicky. If I am here again, then I should give the curry chicken a try, as it looked promising.

Nekobushi at Orchard Plaza in Singapore

The Yet To Name Ramen shop has hit the reset button and is now called Nekobushi, doing udon in collaboration with the dude from Hearth Irori & Oden. That tofu bowl above featured a crispy garnish on top that I rather enjoyed, in part because it was fried and seasoned just right. The noodles were slippery and almost like local kway teow, but with the added surprise of a super wide cut hidden in there too.

The thing that they emphasized though was the broth, which was savory and of good quality, but it was also a little sweet. There were a bazillion condiments on the counter to adjust it with, but I couldn't quite get it right. It was high-caliber cooking, but it just didn't resonate with me emotionally. I would nonetheless like to come back to try the beef version, as he does it with aburakasu.

Long John Silver's in Singapore

This is a place that I haven't eaten at in like 20 years. But a lot of their stores in Singapore have been closing recently, so I figured I'd try it again before they're completely gone. To my surprise, it was a little more sophisticated than I remembered to be. They now provide a choice of fishes, including dory, rockfish, and pollock, the latter two of which were my selections. The rockfish on top was the better of the two given that the much cheaper pollock was concerningly frail. The batter was surprisingly salty though, and they still provide those "Crumblies" bits of batter.

Berempah Bros in Singapore

This small chain of ayam berempah shops that is not halal given that pork features prominently on the menu. Nonetheless, it's from a MasterChef contestant, and the techniques used are pretty good. There was a bit of a wait because they cooked to order, but it meant that the chicken was incredibly moist inside yet crispy on the outside, as was the fried otak. That made it better than the average hawker stall, but the seasoning was a bit excessive, with that typhoon shelter topping being candy-like sweet. Granted, I can see why people like it, and perhaps that's the selling point, but that's the thing that would keep me from getting it again.

Crawford's Genuine at Raleigh-Durham Airport

RDU has a surprising number of local restaurants in Terminal 2, many of which are from acclaimed chefs. This is one of those restaurants, which I picked because they did this North Carolina style of flounder. It might look oddly processed above, but these pieces were lightly breaded and delicate, which I rather enjoyed with that watercress salad on the side. It was nice to get some local seafood rather than just barbecue.

The North Carolina State Fair 2026

I'm back in Raleigh today. It happens to be the last day of the NC State Fair, so I hopped on over. It was pretty big, with not just endless food stalls and amusement park rides, but also exhibits showing off local agriculture and livestock. That included gigantic pumpkins and watermelons as well as huge turkeys and cows, and even award-winning bales of hay.



There were a dizzying amount of stalls selling fried food like Oreos and funnel cakes. But then I saw this local barbecue stall called Lawwrence & Perry that did deep fried ribs. Yep, that meant smoked ribs that got battered and fried...and in my case above, also slathered in a Carolina Gold mustard-based sauce. In retrospect, I should have skipped the sauce, as it was a bit too much. But it was interesting to try.



There was another stall called Fat Boys that has won a lot of awards at the state fair too. That "Boss Hog" platter above was a new dish for this year, featuring pork belly on top of beef tallow fries with sauce on top. The individual components were OK, but putting them together overdid it. Then again, I suppose that state fair food is supposed to be outrageous; I was a bit bummed that I couldn't find any deep fried butter.

Taqueria Milagro in San Jose, California

This is a nice family-run Jaliscan place in Willow Glen that I was quite happy with (2222 Lincoln Avenue, 408-978-3665). That's their molcajete above, featuring a bunch of proteins and beans sitting in a piping hot volcanic stone mortar. It was salty and was a ton of food (two people could have shared that single portion), but I liked it, and they have good quality chips here too. I can see myself coming back here.

Johor's Bai Jia Le in Singapore

When I realized that this leichafan stall in the basement of CIMB Plaza was actually a Malaysian chain, I made sure to head over (30 Raffles Place #B1-28). The ingredients themselves were fine, but what was more interesting was the green leicha itself. It wasn't a cold paste, but also wasn't the typically diluted broth either unless you asked them to add hot water. Instead, it was a warm sauce that was generously portioned enough that it could still coat most of the items in the bowl. It was savory and fragrant with aromatic basil, and I was happy with it.

Jamaica Jerk Chicken Co. in Singapore

The folks behind Gourmet Park are running food trucks at Ocean Financial Centre now, and one of them is serving Jamaican food from the former chef at Lime (10 Collyer Quay). The jerk chicken above was tender, smoky, and served on a very generous bed of rice. But it was also a bit sweet, which was odd. The hot sauce in front was potent, but also a bit sweet.

Tokyo Onigiri Singapore by Ichiryu Manpuku

An onigiri chain from Japan called Ichiryu Manpuku has opened a stand in the basement of One Raffles Place under the rather generic-sounding name Tokyo Onigiri (1 Raffles Place #B1-36). The food is fine, if aggressively seasoned. But there is no seating, so everything is packed up in a bunch of clear plastic. My preference is for Onigiri Gon for the seating and notch up in quality, including the miso soup.

The Wondersub from Subway Singapore

Subway in Singapore has started to do these protein keto sandwiches. Yes, that's two chicken patties in place of bread, which basically makes it their version of a KFC Double Down, except it's obviously much healthier. It tasted like you would imagine it to taste, as it was still composed of Subway's usual ingredients. Either way, it was cheap, fast, and guilt-free aside from the slices of processed cheese in there.

Yuki Duyên Chay by Ăn Là Ghiền in Singapore

The Ăn Là Ghiền folks have opened up a vegetarian place a few doors down from their location near the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown (12 Sago Street). It was surprisingly good.

They were running a promotion for that broken rice plate above at just S$3.90 (US$3.05). To reach such a price, you'd think that it was just a bunch of lukewarm stuff that had been sitting around all day after having being made in big batches, but this was done with enough care that the eggs and tofu were piping hot, while the little salad thing on the right was seasoned with some fragrant white pepper.

To be sure, that price was a promotional one, as most other dishes were multiple times that price, including my drink. But I liked the kitchen's output enough that I'll happily go back to pay regular prices.

The Cordyceps Steamed Chicken from Hup Lok

I grabbed this steamed chicken from Hup Lok today, which took a painfully long time to come out. But it was good, with super tender chicken bathing in a wonderfully light and savory broth along with cordyceps mushrooms (yep, I'm still thinking of Joel and Ellie). The chicken was bone-in, which made it a little harder to eat, and the broth was slightly sweet from the Chinese dates. But it was also heavily accentuated with ginger, which is a plus in my books. Shoveling down their firmly cooked rice with the remaining bits in the pan was the best part.

Hong Kong's Ging Sun Ho King of Bun in Singapore

That looks like a mouthful of a name above, but it's basically Ging Sun Ho, which does shengjianbao, and thus is a self-proclaimed "King of Buns." It's from Mongkok but has a small basement outlet at Tampines Mall (4 Tampines Central 5 #B1-K17).

The quality is pretty good, with each item cooked to order so that everything is piping hot and crispy, with decent skins and fillings to boot. They had not just the shengjianbao above, but also gyoza and even a big soup dumpling that comes complete with a straw.

That is also the biggest challenge with this place: it's so scaldingly hot that one can't rush it. One has to eat it very slowly and carefully nibble on the side of each dumpling so that all of the soup inside doesn't burn your lips nor squirt all over your clothes. I'll try to keep that in mind next time I'm here.

Hanoi Pho 89 at Sultan Plaza in Singapore

I exited from my usual Gate 1 after the F1 race again, and Hua Jie Dumplings at City Gate had a good number of customers this time. I thus charged forward to a little Vietnamese shop that was open until 2:30 AM in the corner in the next building over (100 Jalan Sultan #01-08). It was a tiny place, but they did that very clean and crisp North Vietnamese bowl above, which was not only soothing but also very affordable. The menu was quite extensive, including things like snails that would be worth exploring one day. One lady walking by tonight mentioned that they do good bánh mì too.

The Aburi Nodoguro from Sushiro

The nodoguro is back on the list of specials at Sushiro today, and it was deliciously fatty. They actually had quite a few other buttery cuts available today, including little silver mehikari as well as a bright red cut of kamatoro tuna jaw. It was a pretty good list of specials this time.

estiatorio Milos at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

I've been wanting to eat here for a very long time, as this Montreal-based restaurant flies in seafood from Greece and lays it all out on a glorious-looking ice display (10 Bayfront Avenue #B1-48). MBS was conveniently near me during F1 tonight, so I tried my luck and was able to get a walk-in at the bar.

That's their namesake special above, featuring thin and crisp slices of deep fried eggplant and zucchini with saganaki cheese, plus tzatziki underneath it all as a dip. I also had a small lithrini fish that was done with olive oil and capers. Being at Marina Bay Sands meant that it wasn't cheap, but I needed to pamper myself.

Palapa Indonesian Fast Food in Singapore

I like walking to City Gate for food during F1 if I'm near Gate 1, especially since it can be much faster than waiting in those long lines, all with air conditioned comfort at that.

This time, I went to this Indonesian place (371 Beach Road #02-28). I grabbed that plate above because it was supposed to be a coriander chicken along with lime rice, which I envisioned to be covered in green leaves (or at least a green sauce) along with a citrusy and mildly acidic rice. It was only after I got it that I realized that coriander was actually in reference to the seeds rather than the plant, so it was brown and earthy in that crunchy batter.

And the rice was not in reference to the fruit, but the strong taste of the leaves. It was fragrant, and that mild but clean red sambal helped. But next time I'll get the Indomie option instead.

Kim Hock Guan Traditional Bakkua in Singapore

Time for more small batch bak kwa shops, with this one being the oldest one in Singapore (180 Bencoolen Street #01-25). To my surprise, the meat was rather tough and dry, requiring a bit of effort to chew. But I think that was by design, as they used lean meat. I don't think I'll get it again, but I am kinda curious if the spicy version is a little more exciting.