Nanjya Monjya, Waterfront Plaza

This is one of the few places in Singapore that has multiple teppan grills for making your own yakisoba (stir-fried noodles) and okonomiyaki (a Japanese pizza of sorts - literally, "things you like to grill"). Unfortunately, we were stuck with an outside table as they were all full, so they had to make our food for us, and the okonomiyaki wasn't quite done as greasy as I would have liked. But this is probably one of the more authentic and down-to-earth Japanese places around town. They have a very extensive list of dishes too, ranging from simple hiyayakko and zaru soba to even nasu dengaku, which is basically half an eggplant baked with miso, creating a pretty uniquely warm and mildly sweet taste.

Anyway, the photos here don't really do it justice (sorry, we were sitting outside with poor lighting), but this place is worth coming to if you want some greasy Japanese food. It's at 392 Havelock Road #01-03 (6738-7177), with another location at the Allson Hotel, albeit without the do-it-yourself grills.

Silk Air Econ Class to Singapore

Yuck. The two choices tonight were "chicken with noodles" or "fishcake with rice." Neither sounded appetizing, but what do you know - by the time they get to me, all they have left is fishcake. And the stench that emanated from it when I took the foil wrapping off the top was nasty - ugh! I never really liked otak otak, and this is kinda like a huge block of it. Still, I took a bite. It wasn't very good, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I still ate it (as well as that weird coconut and canned pear jello thing), but I won't miss any of this, that's for sure.

One Last Thai Meal Before Leaving

In an effort to get one of these yummy meals again before heading off to the airport, we headed back out onto the streets for more food. We still got the tom yum soup, but it was a bit sweet for some reason. Similarly, I got a fried rice plate that was a bit sweet, and worse - it was a bit soggy. I was really hoping for more of a greasy spicy filler instead.



Finally, we got a glass noodle salad that wasn't bad, but I'd definitely prefer a beef salad (or papaya salad) instead. (I don't like how it's served a bit warm too - I wish it were cold.) Anyway, it's back to Singapore now - and another Silk Air meal.

The Sweet Restaurant off Patong Beach

Ha ha - what a funny name and even funnier tagline: "Excellent Thai Foods Cooked by Local People (Since 1991)." Now, when they actually say something like that, you've really gotta be a bit suspicious of their intentions, so I wasn't exactly expecting to get true "local" food here. In fact, the only reason why we came here is because I remembered eating here a few years ago (it was my first meal in Phuket), and it wasn't too bad. My, my, how memories can fade!



We explicitly asked them to give us a spicy local version of tom yum kai soup, but instead, we got a mild version that was clearly for tourists. We also ordered a plate of pad thai, which, although not bad, was not cooked enough for me (I want a little bit of burnt gristle on it). Still, this was just a snack since we knew we could get nibbles on the beach, so we weren't too worried.



And then onto the beach we went. Many complain that Patong Beach is too commercialized, and that you can't get 5 minutes of peace and quiet without somebody coming by to sell you something, be it drinks, local art/clothing, or even a paragliding ride. For me though, this is a great chance to try some local food. The first good find was what the lady called "Thailand peanuts." It was more like an almond actually (both in shape/size and taste), but it was much lighter while still being rich in taste. The shell was also so thin that it actually wasn't too bad eating it with the shell too. I found out later that this is from a big tree and is called bok (rhymes with "poke"). It was so good that I bought another little sack from another passer-by (it seemed a bit pricey at 40 Baht or US$1 for such a little bag though - it must have been the "Sucker the Patong Beach tourists" premium pricing that we had). I also found some Calpis soda at a convenience store nearby.



Unfortunately, it started to drizzle a bit later, so we didn't get much of a chance to try much else on the beach, but here is a photo of a barbequed chicken leg from my trip here a few years ago that I was meaning to put into a recent "Catchup Chronicle," but I never had the chance to. Well, they were selling them today too, so here it was from a few years ago, in all its glory. It wasn't bad - it tasted like barbequed chicken (at least, from what I can remember). Having an attached claw also made for some fun play-with-your-food pranks with your friends.

Kanohm Jin at Aroonsom, Phuket

I was told that kanohm jin is a local dish from Phuket that one must try, so I was on the lookout for it from Day 1. Unfortunately, not too many street stalls seemed to have it, so I checked around and found out that there is a night area called Aroonsom on the north end of Rat-u-thit 200 Pee Road that should have it. So we hopped in a tuk tuk taxi and made the journey over.

Surely enough, one of the first places on the street that we hit said that they had kanohm jin. Interestingly, it didn't seem to be a very well-defined dish. The guy said they could do one with bee hoon or with ho fun noodles (and I think there can be a soup version too). So that being the case, it didn't seem like much more than just a stir-fried plate of noodles that one could get anywhere across Asia (and the decorative slices of carrots inside only reminded me of Chinese take-out back in the US). I was a bit bummed at this point, but we still went ahead and got the bee hoon version. It was available with seafood, vegetarian, chicken, pork, etc (in the proprietor's words, "all same price"), so we asked for beef with ours.

It turned out to be pretty darned good. It was extra tasty thanks to the grease (and I suspect that there was some egg involved?), and the squeeze of lime was also a nice touch. Even though it still seemed a bit like Chinese take-out, I could definitely eat this for a few days in a row (my mouth is watering from just writing this).



We also grabbed a bowl of tom yum soup, which they offered in just a plain "mushroom" version (i.e., none of those chicken slices nor shrimp to get in the way of your enjoyment). We asked for an extra spicy version, and indeed, it was loaded with extra heat, no doubt thanks to all the extra mouse dropping chilis sitting inside. It may not seem like much in the photo, but this was definitely one of the spiciest versions of tom yum soup that I've had.

Post-mortem note: I discovered later that what we ate was not really Kanohm Jin, at least, according to some text I found: "Kanohm Jin Phuket Noodles often compared to spaghetti usually served with a spicy curry sauce, the most common made from fish. It is usually eaten as a breakfast food and is, if you can stand its fiery character, delicious. It comes with an array of fresh vegetables and boiled eggs that are mixed with the dish by diners at their table." That was definitely not what we ate! I guess we got suckered in by this guy.

A few random dishes from Phuket

Here's just a few random things from Phuket. First off: a rice soup breakfast. Note that this is not porridge or congee in the Chinese style where the rice is used from the start to create a sludge-like consistency; this seems more like rice cooked separately and then thrown into soup so that each grain is still distinct and separate from the others - a bit like some Korean dishes (without the kimchi flavor of course). It's a pretty cool way to start the day with a nice savory bowl (this one has fish slices and ginger in it). You've gotta love being able to throw in some dry chili flakes and other condiments to season while you're at it.



In the afternoon, we hit up some of the requisite tom yum soup, followed by a beef salad. This streetside stall made one with celery stalk leaves and a crapload of chili (this definitely had a lot of heat), which was nice. I wish some of these guys would grill their beef instead, and then sprinkle some of that ground-up rice powder on it for a bit of texture. Nonetheless, this was still good.



Finally, we had some deep fried bananas and pineapple. The batter was almost like fish-and-chips batter (and interestingly enough, there was an English Fish & Chips shop next door), but hey - who can complain about deep fried stuff?? (evil grin)

Eating with the Phuket locals

Patong Beach is obviously filled with tourists, and hence, tourist traps. Many of the places we passed by were filled with foreigners, which to me is not a good sign. So we went on the hunt for real local haunts. It was pretty tough (I had to stop by a roadside vendor selling BBQ corn to temporarily satiate hunger pangs, and it was a bit soggy and cold despite its great looks on the grill, unfortunately). We had even asked our driver from the airport earlier today where he eats, but the place he suggested was also filled with tourists.

Eventually though, we found this really shoddy narrow alley off the big Bangla Road. Even in this alley, there were quite a few foreigners, but there were one or two shops that were only patronized by locals. It was there that we made our stand (I don't know the name of the alley, but the sign on the stall was #7).



What did we get? To start, they gave what appeared to be the Thai version of chips and salsa: assorted raw vegetables, meant to be eaten with that kapi paste and chili peppers. It gave quite a bit of heat, that's for sure (it also made you wonder about how many people double-dipped into that little yellow kapi can before you, but I figured it was just giving my stomach and immune system some practice). Next there was a basic bowl of beef noodles - it was a bit sweeter than I like, but the beef balls were good.

Finally, there was a fresh fish, filleted and deep fried. I was originally expecting a whole fish, but filleting it made it very light and savory too. Anyway, I remember another local food area near here when I was here a few years ago, which I hope to find tomorrow night, although I worry that maybe things have shifted around a bit since the tsunami.

Random food off the streets of Phuket

Stumbling around the alleyways off Patong Beach, we of course picked up a number of snacks along the way. First up: some fresh pineapple and a coconut with its lightly sweet water and thin meat on the edges. Both of these went for 30 Baht, or US$0.75. A bottle of Chang beer was gave a bit of relief along the way too, and of course it was much cheaper than beer in Singapore - one bottle was 60 Baht, or US$1.50.



Then we stopped at a row of shops, where we started with a papaya salad, soup noodles, and tom yum soup. There was even a brown fermenting prawn-based paste in this little yellow can called kapi (or nam prik gupi?). It's a bit like Malaysian belacan. I used some cabbage as a vehicle with which to eat it, and it basically tasted like it sounds: salty and a little stanky (it was decent, and pretty much what I expected).



In fact, the condiments were all over the place, ranging from multiple types of chili (whole mouse dropping chilis, cut chilis in fish sauce, dry chilis, a sweet chili sauce, and a chili salsa-type thing), as well as fish sauce and something else that I couldn't identify (I think it was a pseudo-Maggi sauce). Most of the food of course was great - much better than some of the Thai restaurants back in Singapore. It's not that those are necessarily bad, but these are much better - and much cheaper. All of this went for only 150 Baht (US$3.75).

Silk Air Economy Class Meal

I was a bit put off by this when I took the foil wrapper off as I hate cooked carrots, but by simply staying away from those, this fish and pasta meal was bearable. Sure, the pasta was overcooked and mushy, and the deep fried fish was soggy, but hey - it's a peanut-class meal, and the taste was still decent, all things considered.

Al-Hamra Mediterranean Cuisine

After so many walks by this little stand at Changi Airport (Terminal 1 Departure Hall East opposite Row 14, 6542-4818), I finally got the chance to come by here today. Man, the kofta kebab was so much juicier than at Samar (and they didn't deep fry it like those guys did - it was done on the flat grill instead). The hummus also came in the more usual fashion: spread out with olive oil resting on top. They also had tamar hindi, some kind of tamarind-based drink that wasn’t bad.



Yet, the portions here were almost laughably small – it probably wasn’t even the size of a full children’s plate. There was hardly even any pita bread to eat the hummus with - I ended up using a spoon to scoop it straight into my mouth. I guess that the small portions make sense considering that people at the airport are usually in a rush (it looks like the main branch of this place is in Holland Village, and I'll bet you that you'll be able to get a more full-fledged meal there). I still wish they would give some roasted onions here though.

Interestingly, they also served pizza and pasta here. I guess Italy technically is on the Mediterranean.

Ah Mei Kaya Toast

Here's a local speciality: kaya, which is a light green colored jam made from coconuts and eggs. Spread it on toast with a chunk of butter, and you've got kaya toast, a popular breakfast here. There are famous shops around the island; here is a lesser known one at Paragon #B1-37/38.

It may not look like much in the photo, but it sure is good (then again, I guess anything with butter tastes good - and they are excessively gratuitous with the butter on these little bad boys). It's not terribly sweet, and yet it's rich in taste.

It's also common to eat soft boiled eggs and tea (with milk) at breakfast. I guess it's a carryover from the English colonial days (?), but note that it's not without localization: you are supposed to season it with soy sauce and white pepper. All in all it's a light meal though. Hey - what time does lunch start??

Izakaya Nijumaru

Nijumaru (Cuppage Plaza #02-10/12, 6235-6693) has been here for a while, and is just your typical izakaya, serving a variety of little Japanese dishes and drinks. I used to come here quite a bit in the past (it's a nice place for maguro natto and niku jyaga), but admittedly, I haven't been here in a while as nothing really stands out about it either.

For instance, the soba is still a far cry from Shimbashi Soba, while the yakitori, although nice and small, does not come close to Nanbantei. Still, one very impressive thing today was the hamachi sashimi, which was not only very fresh, but was also one of the thickest cuts that I had ever seen. (This was quite a relief considering that I originally came down to Cuppage Plaza to try to hit up a light meal of Azuma's sushi, only to discover that they are only open for dinner.) Anyway, Nijumaru still ranks well in my books as being a relatively dependable all-purpose spot to go to; I'd like to come back for that sashimi again.