Tiew Mai Thai Boat Noodles

The Midtown has relatively lower foot traffic although it is a short distance away from Hougang MRT. This is a pity because the food we have tried there so far have been pretty good and affordable. 

As it was raining on the day we visited Tiew Mai Thai Boat Noodles, it was a lot emptier than the previous time we visited. You order your food at the first floor and then go up to the second floor to eat. The second floor is basic and can get a little cramped when it is full house.

To satisfy our hunger before the noodles arrived, we ordered the Fried Wanton with Pork ($3). The crunch with every bite was satisfying and did not have the taste of overused oil.

If you want to order Thai Boat Noodles, you can choose between beef, pork and tom yum. You then choose the type of noodles you want, and finally the size of the bowl.  As we were not small eaters by any measure, we ordered a big bowl of Thai Pork Noodles ($6) each. The broth was rich and came with pork slices, pork balls and pork liver. They were generous with the ingredients and the bowl of noodles was a true delight on a rainy day. I also tried the Tom Yam Noodles on a previous occasion and it was executed well.

Value for money.

Tiew Mai Thai Boat Noodle 
The Midtown
1187 Upper Serangoon Road
#01-22
Tel No: 6238 0184 

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AM Bakery

I seldom gush about bakeries. There aren't many categories for bakeries- (1) cheap and good enough to fill your stomach (e.g. BreadTalk, Four Leaves), (2) not cheap and better than the first category (e.g. Cedele, Duke Bakery) and (3) slightly expensive and very delicious (e.g. East Manhattan, Bread Table). In life, you can't have everything, so quality is usually proportionate to price.

But at AM Bakery, no. You can have your bread and eat it too. It is cheap and really good. I have gone down a few times despite it being a 40 minute bus journey away, just to get my hands on these fresh bakes.

All the pictures are from their facebook page. The moment I step out of their shop, I sink my teeth into one of these goodies. Here are some of their bakes I have tried so far:

(1) Signature Banana & Pecan Bread ($3.80)

I like how healthy this bread tastes- a light banana flavour with crunchy pecans. It is not dry at all and with every bite, you get a whiff of banana.

(2) Tomato & Olive Focaccia ($1.80)

We are fans of focaccia because of the herby taste. The dried tomatoes adds a slightly sour edge to the bread.

(3) Almond Croissant ($2.50)

Hands down, my favourite from AM Bakery. If there is only one thing that you can buy from the bakery, make this your choice. There was once I entered the shop and bought one almond croissant. I finished one within 3 minutes from the time I left the shop. Before I knew it, I was walking back and getting myself another. At $2.50, this is incredible bang for the buck.

The buttery aroma, crispy and lightly sugar-coated on the exterior, containing beautifully light layers of almond-flavoured pastry. It feels like ... falling in love! Last week, I tried an almond croissant from a place that starts with D and ends with France, and knew that there was no way I could return to pre-AM Bakery-almond-croissant days.

(4) Orange & Lemon Brioche ($1.90)

This was one of the first pastries we bought from AM Bakery. Again, the citrus taste on a fluffy piece of bread with hidden bits of dried orange was simply refreshing.

(5) Signature Banana Cake ($8.80)

One of the items that customers regularly ask them to bake is their Signature Banana Cake. It is moist and dense, topped off with crumble. However, some might find this a little too sweet.

(6) Mango Cake ($33)

As I liked AM Bakery's bread so much, I decided to take a chance with them for my birthday cake. I have had more misses than hits with mango cake but wanted to see if they had equally high standards for their cakes.

I was impressed. Generous cubes of very sweet mangoes covered a sponge cake which had a light layer of cream spread over it. I do not like cream and always make an effort to remove all traces of it from cakes, but this cream was really light and easy on the palate. The sponge fingers also added some texture to the cake.

My favourite bakery in Singapore. It is a bonus that the people at the bakery are really friendly!

AM Bakery 
The Midtown
1187 Upper Serangoon Road
Tel: 6702 1163

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Otoko

I have been going to Hougang Midtown more frequently ever since I discovered AM Bakery. Before getting my bread fix, we dropped by Otoko as we heard about their curry rice. 

The lower floor is where they have the cashier and the kitchen. The upper floor is where they have the seating space. Seating space is quite limited- basically, what you see in the picture. You can choose whether to customise your meal or to go for Otoko's Donburi. I chose to build my own curry.

The first step is to choose whether you want curry rice or udon and the second is where you choose from a variety of sides. The lady at the counter told us that it is usual for people to choose around 3 sides. There is a range of mostly deep fried sides, such as pork cutlet, chicken cutlet, salmon fillet, bacon tomato, onion rings etc. 

I first got a Curry Rice ($2.80), added on a Chicken Cutlet ($2.80), a Shitake Mushroom ($1.80) and a Bacon Tomato ($1.80). That worked out to be a dish slightly under $10. If you were to compare to it to Udon Goen, I think Udon Goen is more value for money as you get a huge slab of cutlet for around $10 - $11. That said, the food here is more than decent- they were generous with the curry sauce which was spicier than normal Japanese curry, the deep fried items did not taste oily, and there were interesting items such as the Bacon Tomato which was both salty and sour at the same time (in a good way) and gave a fresh take on the usual deep fried items. Although each portion can be quite small, these can be quite substantial when added together- 3 servings should therefore be just nice or slightly more than enough.

Otoko
The Midtown
1187 Upper Serangoon Road
#01-20
Tel No: 9274 6542 

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