Riverside Indonesian BBQ

Since the chicken-egg problem has puzzled people over centuries, to decide which came first, just grab a heap of salt and randomly throw it to see whether it lands on the chicken or the egg!

I have a love-hate relationship with the Ayam Panggang ($5.50, takeaway) at Riverside Indonesian BBQ. Love it, because of the sweet black sauce. Hate it because of the inconsistencies. In the years I have eaten here, there are two things that keep changing- price and consistency of the food. The price seems to be hiking all the time. That's secondary, as long as the food remains good.

But the food quality here seems to be fluctuating all the time as well. I have eaten the Ayam Panggang close to 10 times and from my memories, the standards from the last two times and today's are different. While the egg the last two times was too salty and the chicken was fine, the chicken was salty today and the egg was fine.

Anyway, the chicken (disregarding the saltiness) is super yummy! The chicken is large (compared to those scrawny chickens you get in other places), with tender meat, but a little too charred for my liking (but don't take that as a bad point, because it's meant to be grilled). And I like the black sauce the most, goes great with both the chicken and the rice. The chilli with ikan billis is pretty good because of the sweetness, although it's not spicy at all.

The day both the chicken and egg cease to be salty, I'll head down to buy some 4D or Toto!


Riverside Indonesian BBQ
Plaza Singapura
68 Orchard Road Level 6
Kopitiam Food Court
Tel No: +65 6883 1440

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Nuggets

Since I haven't been eating out much, there is no food review to talk about. Instead, I will talk about food: the origins of food.

Caution: If you love nuggets and think you can't live without nuggets, I suggest you give this post a miss.

(photo credit: averagebro)

Disclaimer: In this post, I'm referring to the general process of making nuggets, and not to a particular kind of nugget sold in any store. The information below is obtained through internet research, and not meant to smear the reputation or name of any brand of nuggets. Parties who require the removal of this article for whatever reason, kindly inform me. Thank you.

I read an article online about a 17 year old girl who collapsed and was sent to hospital after eating nothing but nuggets since she was 2. Actually the headings were slightly misleading because she didn't eat nuggets occasionally.

That sparked off my research on nuggets. Actually, I have stopped eating nuggets for a period of time ever since I watched Jamie Oliver's video. To think there was once upon a time I would order nuggets thinking that they were comparatively healthier.

It's actually quite amusing when you read the controversies surrounding nuggets.  The best of all was a lawsuit against McDonald's of deceiving its consumers about the high levels of fat, sugar, salt and cholesterol in its products. The judge in that case held that the company had created some "McFrankenstein" foods that are altered during processing. Also, depending on what country you are in, it seems that McNuggets are not created equal. I wonder what kind of nuggets we get in Singapore. If you have watched Super Size Me (a very self-sacrificing experiment, I thought), they tell you what nuggets are made of.

The point of this whole thing is: Eat in moderation and where possible, try to find out what exactly you are eating! I know ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is power! 

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The Great Magician 大魔术师

What happens when highly acclaimed actors/actresses come together to make a Chinese New Year film? The Great Magician is precisely that, a movie which combines magic, action, philosophy, traditional and new elements and romance.

Is the film trying to accomplish too much? Perhaps. But did they pull it off? Yes. Although the transition between scenes wasn't smooth all the time, the characters of some actors weren't developed fully (making you think that their role in the movie was redundant), and the movie finished rather awkwardly, this movie fully plays on the potential on the heavyweight actors who have not lost their shine at all in so many decades.

(photo credit: onmovie)

This movie is about a magician who comes back for his fiance, who has been abducted by a warlord. His fiance is unwilling to be with the General, yet she continues to stick by his side, because her father has been thrown in prison. It later turns out to be a love triangle of sorts. For the rest of the plot with twists and turns, you have got to watch the movie itself. No spoilers here!

The movie has a few funny moments and I was actually misled by the thriller itself. The thriller of this show portrays this as a show which is very serious and leaks nothing about its comedic elements. Nonetheless, you can be assured that the movie theatre was roaring with laughter at some moments.

With the stellar cast of Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Lau Ching Wan and Zhou Xun in this movie, complete with the elaborate sets and comedy elements, there's every reason to watch this show! It's like paying for movie ticket to watch a movie and to catch a magic show at the same time! 

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Chinese New Year Eve (Singapore)

Chinatown's the most happening place to be on Chinese New Year Eve. If you are in Singapore, you wouldn't want to miss it, even if it's just to get squashed like sardines, to swear at people who step on your feet and most importantly, to bask in this very important occasion in Singapore.

Chinatown, when it's not Chinese New Year, is your normal souvenir street. But come Chinese New Year, it's dressed in festive colours and sells all kinds of knick knacks that will appeal to both locals and foreigners alike.

A wide range of stuff to do- watching performances, buying Chinese New Year goodies, getting your names carved on traditional Chinese stamps, looking at balloon twisting, bargaining with stall owners, taking loads of photographs etc.

And you are wondering, "Wow, Chinese New Year is so special, you can win a free.. what? Ride in a police car?"

Tips for non-locals:
1) Keep your belongings safe. (although it's generally very safe in Singapore with police observing the crowds from the shop houses above. But it's better to be safe than sorry.)
2) Forget about being polite. You get pushed, just push back.
3) Dress comfortably. I'm used to wearing slippers, but if you can help it, maybe wear shoes to prevent a broken toe nail from somebody stepping on your feet.
4) Be above 1.70m tall. I know you can't control your height, but if you are more than 1.70m tall, congratulations. You now can breathe 1/2 the air more than that breathed by others.
5) If possible, go later so that they start slashing the prices and you enjoy a better deal. 

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Happy Chinese New Year

It's Chinese New Year again! Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate it and Happy Holidays to those who do not celebrate it! It's a nice time to visit relatives and friends, collect some angbao (sorry to those who are already married), and to eat a lot! But keep in mind, moderation is the key! 

May the Dragon Year be a prosperous, peaceful and lucky year for all! 

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Singapore Hawker Stalls Move Indoors (NY Times)

Click on article to read about how Singapore Hawker Stalls are apparently moving indoors. And hawker centres recently came into the limelight because of an analogy by Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing. 

"(For example,) you go to Peach Garden, you eat the S$10 XO Sauce chye tow kuay (fried carrot cake), you can be quite happy, right? Because you're satisfied with the service and so on.

On the other hand, you can go to a hawker centre, even if they charge you S$1.50, you might not want to eat it if the quality isn't good."

And here's a facebook note In Defence of Hawkers.

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Lao Ban Dou Hua (老伴豆花）

Singaporeans love queuing. Singaporeans love queuing for good food. Singaporeans love queuing for good food that is cheap.

This is the beancurd ($1.50) from Lao Ban Dou Hua (老伴豆花) from Old Airport. Unless you have been living under a hole, you would have heard of this new food phenomenon. Queues snake around like nobody's business and everybody snaps at least 20 bowls of beancurd at one go.

And there is actually an uncanny resemblance between the man on the plastic bag and the real man behind this stall (Mr Li Hui Shing). His wife (Mdm Hui Ywai Kwai) doesn't look that similar though.

So how's this different from other soya beancurd? Makansutra tells us that they use fresh soy bean milk, tame it with coffee-mate like milk and malt mixture with some gelatin. Then it's steamed, cooled and chilled for a few hours. Some even claim that they have found the recipe to this stall that attracts insane queues.

(photo credit: Lao Ban Soya Beancurd)

Maybe because expectations were too high, or maybe because yesterday I had tried something like this at Amoy Street Food Centre already. But my first response does not match the hype that it deserves. Yes, it's incredibly smooth, push it through your teeth and your teeth becomes an instant soya bean machine making beancurd into soya bean milk (new function for teeth). Unfortunately, it was a tad too sweet for me. Unlike the normal beancurd where you can adjust the sweetness level by telling them how much syrup to put, you can't tell them to adjust it here simply because there's no syrup!

It's lovely to try the beancurd form of soya bean and to participate in the national activity of queuing. Here's just an idea, but maybe they could sell different sugar levels (thereby adjusting the sugar level before refrigerating it) so that it can cater to different tastes, just like bubble tea. That said, here are just my two cents worth and in any case, you should give this new food phenomena a try!

Lao Ban Dou Hua (老伴豆花）

Old Airport Road Food Centre
51 Old Airport Road
#01-127
Tel: +65 8181 2201

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Koo Kee Yong Tau Foo

Koo Kee Yong Tau Foo remains my favourite Yong Tau Foo of all time. There are a few branches located around the island but if I'm in the area, I will drop by Lau Pat Sat and have the yong tau foo.

This is a set, which comes with the noodles and the yong tau fu. And please get the sauces as well because they are really good- one sweet and one spicy.The noodles are chewy, minced meat not too mashy, yong tau fu that comes with a variety, and a clear soup that goes well with the noodles! 

I loved this stall when I was 10, love this stall now. (so you thought I was going to reveal my age) So simple, yet so delicious.

Koo Kee Yong Tau Foo 
Lau Pa Sat Festival Market
18 Raffles Quay
Stall 112 

Tel: +65 6226 0117

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Ah Ter Teochew Fishball Noodle

I think the reason Ah Ter Teochew Fishball Noodle has so many accolades and many people queuing up for their fishball noodles/bak chor mee is not because of their food, but because of the person cooking the food. According to some Google search, the person cooking it is Gilbert. Don't ask me how they know, they just somehow know his name.

But anyway, I eat to eat, and not to gawk at the person cooking my food. This place made me wonder what exactly made their stall so popular. Is it the fishball? In the small portion I ordered ($3.50), there were 2 fishballs. They were bouncy, but nothing spectacular. One piece of mushroom. Two or three pieces of fishcake. Lots of minced meat. One dumpling looking thing. And some veggies.

Sure, there was plenty of sauce to mix my noodles in, and lots of noodles for a $3.50 portion. But the fishball noodles completely fails to live up to its hype. I know it sounds like I'm over-simplifying this bowl of fishball noodle and not giving it due credit. But there's seriously nothing I would rave about. I'd rather look for a shorter queue and maybe get better food!


Ah Ter Teochew Fishball Noodle
Amoy Street Food Centre

7 Maxwell Road
#01-47

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Free entry to National Museum of Singapore

Don't feel like visiting relatives or friends this Chinese New Year? Or just looking for something to do instead of bumming your holiday away? Go down to the National Museum of Singapore to view the exhibition: Dreams and Reality. Free entry for Monday and Tuesday (23 and 24 January 2011), so do not miss the chance!

On a separate note, I read an article about David Hockney today and it's truly fascinating how he churns out beautiful art works on the iPad!

(photo credit: ipadshouse)

(photo credit: Telegraph)

And this is totally irrelevant, but the Wikipedia 24 hour shut down made me realise what the world is missing out without Wikipedia. Once upon a time, I lived in the age of Encarta. The world has moved on. 

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Xiao La Jiao

School has barely started but it already has me up to my neck. Amazing how I increasingly feel that I don't have a life. But it's okay, nothing matters in life except eating. On a second exploration for food at 112 Katong, we decided to have dinner at Xiao La Jiao because the last time we passed by, it was crowded although it was already 3 pm. 

You can either sit here or further in and get a window view. Most people took the window view but we settled for here because, what's new, we were too lazy to walk in further. 

This place sells Sichuan food, and when I think about Sichuan food, I think about mouthwatering, spicy-till-you-want-to-cry food. And this is what you get here!

I ordered Chicken Noodles 鸡丝凉面 ($8). (I googled 鸡丝凉面. Click here if you are interested and can read Chinese.)  I suppose the English name given to it doesn't do it justice. But anyway, there was plenty of chicken- no scrimping at all! And the chicken's not dry, but not moist either. The noodles are also very springy! The chilli which was in abundance was spicy enough to make my tongue numb.

This is a great place to eat at. The servers are attentive and constantly refill your drinks (probably to douse the fire in your mouth). Price is very decent, food portions are good. Drop by 112 Katong Mall for the food surprises that await!


Xiao La Jiao

112 Katong
112 East Coast Road
#03-05
Tel No: +65 6636 3736

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Noo Cheng Adam Road Prawn Noodle

I went to Adam Road for lunch because I was in the vicinity. Seeing that the queue for nasi lemak was ridiculously long, I settled for the prawn noodles, which I haven't eaten in two years.

(photo credit: The Hungry Cow)

While excitedly waiting for my prawn noodles, I made a horrible mistake- I read reviews on my phone. Tonnes of negative reviews with a odd positive review sticking out like a sore thumb. But since my memory of it wasn't too bad the last time round, I persisted in eating the prawn mee.

Luckily it didn't disappoint, even after 2 years. Indeed, $5 for a bowl of prawn mee is pretty expensive, considering that it's hawker fare. But think of the number of prawns you get, the slurp-worthy soup, and maybe you would willingly fish that $5 out of your pocket.

The thing I hate most about eating prawn noodles is that it's very troublesome to remove the prawn head. Here they remove it for you leaving the tail. Oh, but I would love it even better if they could clear the intestines of the prawn instead of leaving it there- nothing harmful, just unsightly. Prawns weren't wonderfully fresh but it's fine. The soup is sweet, albeit too little. The pork rib in the soup was so tender then it almost snatched the limelight from the prawns and the soup. The kway teow (I don't really like the usual yellow noodles) was fine too. And for the healthy, you get added vegetables as bonus for visiting their store!

Yes, $5 might be a little steep for prawn mee although I found that it was worth every dollar. However, don't take my words for real because I eat prawn mee only occasionally so I don't know whether this stall is better than the rest. Prawn mee experts, please give your take!

Noo Cheng Adam Road Prawn Noodle 
2 Adam Road Stall 27
Adam Road Food Centre
Singapore
Tel: +65 9693 7961

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Dapur Penyet

My friend chanced upon the newly opened Dapur Penyet when he was roaming the roads of East Coast. So we decided to try it today. I went googling and it didn't return much search results of this place. Based on what I saw, this seems to be a franchise of a restaurant in Malaysia. 

The place is small but the seats outside were almost full. This photo does injustice to the small crowd that formed shortly after.

I ordered Ayam Bakar (Grilled Chicken) ($6 with rice, otherwise $5.50) because I wanted to fool myself into thinking that it's healthier than Ayam Penyet. After my experience at Ayam Penyet Ria, I ordered a lime juice to get ready for the balacan chilli war, which I ended up losing yet again. Seriously, what's up with the killer chilli? I can only say it's a love-hate relationship between the chilli and me.

The chicken was lean and slightly charred. Accompanied by a delicious marinate. Only pity was that the chicken was too scrawny to satisfy my hearty appetite. Also, although I was never a fan of tempeh to begin with, but the tempeh was too salty. However, the meal was balanced out with a bowl of soup which was light and not greasy at all.

For people who work or stay in the East, this is located on the East Coast stretch with lots of food. It's newly opened but already attracting a decent crowd. The people in the shop are friendly as well. How often do you get people telling you, "Enjoy your meal!" Oh and for those who sweat buckets even in air-con rooms, this is not the place for you. While they have air-con units, it's basically open air so just get ready to sweat it out, especially after eating the chilli!

Dapur Penyet
39 East Coast Road
Singapore 

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Yomenya Goemon

I couldn't quite decide whether to label this as Japanese or Italian. Because it's essentially pasta but served and eaten Japanese style. While the focus of the menu seems to be on Italian food, they have some pasta comprising Japanese ingredients.

Yomenya Goemon has been serving Japanese pasta for the last 36 years. I know there are restaurants that have been surviving since 100 years ago, or since dinosaurs roamed the earth (i'm kidding), but 36 years is seriously quite a feat.

Anyway, we ordered Lunch Set A ($14.80++). It comes with salad, miso soup and spaghetti. I asked the waitress for recommendation and she recommended a few items. I decided to get the Mediterranean Tomato Cream Soup, Spaghetti with Fresh Seafood.

Here's the salad bar where you can get one serving of salad. They give you a bowl, and you take whatever you want (as long as it's one serving). It makes sense because then, you don't need to waste food which you don't like. I liked that there was a range of ingredients and also the fact that they were all very appetising- sweet, sour and healthy! As you can see, there was lettuce, orange, eggplant, tomatoes, lychee, alfalfa sprouts etc, along with your favourite dressing!

The tomato cream soup was rich but not too thick. There were a lot of noodles and they were cooked al dente. The seafood is fresh. The only gripe I have is that the amount of seafood is quite little.

The set lunch is ordinarily priced, but the food and service is good. Thumbs up for salad bar, piping hot food, fast serving of food and delicious pasta!


Yomenya Goemon 
112 Katong
 #02-12
Singapore
Tel: 6636 3692

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Straits Cafe @ Hotel Rendezvous (Part II)

Like a dutiful blogger, I have been posting frequently for the last month. However, school work has kicked in, like an atomic bomb or like a tsunami- ruthless and swift. I know my analogies are really bad but that's about as good as I can manage. So, I'm just going to do this post really quickly since people love going to buffets around Chinese New Year! (p.s. I know the pictures look kind of weird coloured. That's because I took them with my phone.)

Anyway, I went to Hotel Rendezvous for their buffet again. Please click here for review of my first trip there. Things have changed since then. The renovations are now over and you no longer need to pass through a maze in order to get to the restaurant.

Evidently, Chinese New Year is now the restaurant's focal concern. Look at the roast chicken, BBQ pork ribs basking in the sun- okay fine, basking under artificial light. The BBQ pork ribs were sweet and juicy.

Even their decorations reflect Chinese New Year- addition of spring rolls, jellyfish etc at the salad station. Pretty ordinary food. Wished they had yusheng or something along those lines.

There are Chinese New Year goodies at the dessert station. There's nian gao, peanut cookie etc. Just wondering why there weren't pineapple tarts.

Oh here's just an obligatory picture of the dessert station, just because it looks good.

Like the first time I had buffet here, the food in general is pretty good. But here are the misses- sushi rice was too hard, durian cake didn't have rich durian taste and grass jelly was too hard. There are some stuff you can't miss though- the prata, famous laksa, chocolate cake (according to my friend, "omg, you have to try this. it's so so rich!" At $43 per person after taxes and service charge, this place, even with its misses, is still a pretty good place for buffet.

Straits Cafe @ Hotel Rendezvous 
9 Bras Basah Road
1F Rendezvous Hotel
Singapore
Tel No: +65 6336 0220

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Olive Tree Restaurant

After a very short break from this buffet-eating business, here I am again, just because my mum wanted to clear some vouchers. Olive Tree gave me a pleasant surprise! 

Lots of natural light entering the restaurant. The stations are pretty far away from each other but I will climb mountains and swim across oceans just to get to my food. (Figuratively, obviously. I wouldn't have that kind of strength after gorging my face with good food.) 

Here's just a glimpse of some of the food you will see at the buffet. It includes Indian food (roti prata with curry), Western food (sausages, spaghetti, fish fillet fingers, deep fried chicken wing), salad, Chinese food (porridge with assorted condiments, dim sum, kueh pie tee) etc. 

There was also a selection of sushi to choose from, along with all the sauces and wasabi. 

The seafood section has scallops, crab claws and prawns. The first scallop I took was fresh. However, the second one wasn't that fresh. The prawns were very fresh, across the board, including those from other dishes.

There were stations manned by chefs, such as the laksa section, teh tarik, waffle and roti prata section.

The dessert section is placed right at the entrance, probably to entice customers into the restaurant by the dainty looking desserts. There is the kueh that we are familiar with, cakes, fondue, ice cream, pudding etc. However, I bemoan the fact that there is no durian related dessert and that the dessert selection is still considered quite small. The ang ku kueh skin was too thick but that's hardly consequential and doesn't  make this buffet any less delightful.

Overall, the quality and quantity of the food made it a very satisfying lunch. I love that the food is fresh, piping hot and that a great variety was offered. There was so much food that I didn't even get to try some of the food. It's also great that the chefs diligently refilled the food as well.

This is the weekend international high tea (12.30 pm to 4 pm) ($38++) which is cheaper than the weekday buffet. ($45++) I don't know where the logic lies but I'm not complaining that it's cheaper even though it's weekend lunch.

Olive Tree Restaurant 
InterContinental Singapore
80 Middle Road
Singapore 188966
Tel No: 6825 1061

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Golden Prawn 933 (Batam)

I know I've been spamming reviews about Batam. Food reviews (in Singapore) will be back very soon, after I'm done with reviews on Batam! 

I think here's the place where everybody goes if they sign up for a tour package: Golden Prawn 933. I was reading a few reviews online just now and saw that some reviews stated that this is one of the best seafood places in Batam. I beg to differ, but for what we paid as part of the package, I think the quality of the food is proportionate to what we paid. 

This was before the crowds started streaming in. We were given 6 dishes and 1 soup for 7 people.

Who doesn't love deep fried stuff? But the batter for this calamari or deep fried sotong (whichever you want to call it) was a little hard.

It was too messy to eat this crab, so I didn't eat it. But anyway, the crab was pretty small for 7 people, if everybody ate it.

This fish dish was fine because the pineapples helped to mask some of the fishy taste.

This crayfish was not fresh. You could taste the fishiness of the crayfish and I don't think they cleaned the crayfish well.

There was also some unidentified meatball soup, kang kong, fruits and a choice of drinks (chinese tea, soda or coconut juice). The coconut juice I had was sour and had no white meat- so bad, I decided not to drink it. Because lunch was so boring, we decided to take a walk around the restaurant and there were pretty good views around this place.

I wouldn't go to this place if I didn't go there on a tour because the seafood really isn't fresh. But if you are just going on a tour package which offers low rates, this place isn't that bad. At least it's edible and fills you up.

Golden Prawn 933 

Jalan Bengkong Laut
Batam, Kepulauan Riau
Tel No: 778 411 138 

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Harmoni One (Batam)

We purchased vouchers from deal and got a 2D1N ($78) plus one night extension ($40). This included a whole list of other stuff, like breakfast, half day tour etc. There was free breakfast on the two days we were there as well.

Harmoni One, according to our tour guide is quite new. In fact, in the three days we were there, we felt like it was just us staying in the hotel. We saw a few others but that was about it. There was one night when we had dinner in the hotel and we were the only ones, besides 4 other people. Not sure if this was because we were there on a weekday. Anyway, the exterior of Harmoni One looks really grand.

Check-in was fast and the lobby, as you can see, is very spacious. At night, there will be someone playing the piano and another person singing. As I said, because this place is so empty, it was just my friend and I listening to them at night. The staff at the counter are very friendly and can speak English.

If you are thinking of using the free wifi on your phone, the only possible areas are the lobby and the dining area. You can't access wifi in the room although there is a cable which you can connect to your laptop.

Room wise, we got the most basic of all, the Superior Room. A little small, but it's fine because we don't really need the extra space. However, if you want to upgrade to a bigger room, it does not come at a huge price tag. It's only $12 a night for more space!

From our room, we could look down to the lobby and because we stayed on the second floor, we had free music to listen to every night. TV programmes were rather comprehensive, with Singapore's channels as well as the usual ones like StarMovies, CNN etc. There was also a mini bar with free Coke and Sprite, and two bottles of mineral water.

Facilities wise, there is a gym, jacuzzi and swimming pool on the 6th floor (top floor). The architecture's  interesting as well. The pool's a little small and the gym is well equipped. As part of our package, we also got to enjoy a free massage at the adjoining building.

As for our meals, breakfast was a little meh although there was quite a spread. There were crossaints, cereal, danish pastries, dim sum, sushi, mee goreng etc. Quantity wise, it was fine although they did not really refill the food. Quality wise, it was either average or slightly below average although the malay food was pretty good. We had dinner for one of our meals there, and it was quite cheap (around $5 SGD). But the food was a little salty and left us feeling thirsty after the meal.

As for this place's location, the only place that you can go is Megamall. And it's not mega at all although there's good food in the mall and a cinema. That's a 10-15 minute walk away and you don't need a taxi if you don't mind getting there on foot because it honestly isn't that far anyway (although it's almost definite that you will get honked incessantly by taxi drivers on the road asking if you want a ride.)

If you are looking for beaches, Turi Beach or Nongsa is around a $14 taxi ride away. And unless you can camouflage yourselves as one of their guests, don't even bother venturing in because we were informed that it is a "private beach" and only for people who stayed there. A monopoly on beaches, seriously?

In all, Harmoni One is a decent and clean place to stay at although it's out of the way from everything else except Megamall which honestly doesn't have much as well. So, depending on your agenda in Batam, see if Harmoni One is a good fit for you!

Harmoni One
Jalan Engku Putri
Batam Center Batam Island 29400
Indonesia
Tel No: 778 464 111

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