Noor Jannah's Kitchen

I've read a lot about Noor Jannah's from IeatIshootIpost and Camemberu, who if you ask me are like the King and Queen of food bloggers here in Singapore. They post really great reviews and awesome pictures (DSLR cameras do wonders), and much of my inspiration to start a food blog came from them actually.


The one thing that everyone seems to be ordering around us is the bone steak hor fun, if not it's the oxtail hor fun. "Hor fun", if you're just heard about it, refers to flat rice noodles cooked in gravy. Oftentimes it reminds me of a corny punchline of a joke that I read long, long ago: What do you get in a Chinese brothel? Go figure. But, I digress. The hor fun is wrapped in "opeh" (from a type of palm tree) leaves, and is believed to add flavour to the food wrapped in it, otherwise it's also useful to keep the aroma intact. My parents mentioned that these leaves were a common form of food wrap many many years ago.


And there you see what an impact a food blooger has on the local food industry. Not only are his pictures on so many menus, he also had a hand in creating or improving on some of the restaurants' specialties like Vittles. Other dishes on offer here at Noor Jannah's include chilli crab, mee goreng, prawn paste chicken and cereal prawns.

Bone Steak Hor Fun: 7.9/10


The hor fun was really good, and I'm quite sure the bones added flavour to the gravy and noodles. Still, it was just bones, and this dish could do with some real meat. All of my family members agreed that this tasted good, yums.

Punggol Mee Goreng: 7.5/10


If you want tasty fried yellow noodles, Malay-style, this is it. Sorry for the blur shot, maybe all I wanted was to put my fork right in haha. I would prefer it with just a little bit more moisture though.

Chicken and Beef Satay: 7.7/10


I chuckled when I saw their Chinese staff gingerly turning the satay from time to time. Yes, it's kinda like a multi-racial picture at this shop - Malay, Chinese and Indians all working together in this humble little eatery. Of course, what matters is the meat and marinate, which was very good. The meat was tender and did not have the sort of "rubbery", tough feeling that poorly cooked satay has.

Butter Naan: 7/10


We kinda just shared this because I was curious how this would taste like. Somehow or another they did not serve me any curry or gravy to go along with this, but I went ahead and ate this plainly. It wasn't too bad, quite evenly cooked and adequately soft.

Milo Dinosaur


I was coughing actually, and should be staying away from drinks like these. Still, I wanted to show my dear readers what I mean by this drink that has no relation to the dinosaurs whatsoever, but features an iced chocolate drink (iced milo) topped, no, make that heaped, with spoonfuls of milo powder. It's a popular drink among youths, but it's really very sweet.

Service
Pretty alright, but their Indian waiter (I think he's new), can be quite slow and blur at times. Oh well, give him time to learn then!

Price
$8 for the bone steak hor fun
$4 for the punggol mee goreng
$12 for 20 sticks of satay
$1.50 for a butter naan

Place
2 Jalan Masjid
Near Kembangan MRT Station
Note: There's a basement carpark just opposite Noor Jannah's. Many people don't really see the small sign pointing in and choose instead to park along the double yellow lines, which could really make your meal more expensive than it should be.

Additional Comments
My sisters had a fried rice and another ginger chicken with rice ($4 each). The latter was found to be too salty, but the fried rice tasted quite good actually. It didn't have much ingredients though, so it would be good if it's accompanied by other side dishes.

Bedok Simpang

Many of my friends have mentioned this supper place before, but since it's in the east side of Singapore (even if Singapore isn't that big a country in the first place) I haven't got the chance to visit it. Well, not until I was at a friend's place in Tampines and managed to persuade him to take me there.


To be honest, it didn't exactly feel like Singapore when we stepped in the area. Don't ask me for similarities, even if I could name a few right now. True, there's quite a lot of people (mostly groups of at least six) having dinner here, but the overall environment seemed to be a little too... old and rundown.


And the problem (some may love the attention) is that once you're seated, you've got about five waiters from five different stalls putting the menu on the table and waiting for your order. They continued standing there with a nod even after I told them to "come back later" while we pour through the food on offer, and they did look irritated when I was trying to take pictures of the menus. At least the stalls do not offer the same thing, so you really do have a smorgasbord of Malay, Indian, Western, bit of Chinese and even Mediterranean (no idea if it really hits the authentic spot though) cuisines.

Nasi Goreng Ikan Bilis: 7.2/10


This was what I had for my dinner, and it was quite good actually. "Nasi goreng" is fried rice in Malay, while "ikan bilis" refers to anchovies. The ikan bilis were really crispy and went very well with the hot, peppery rice.

Mee Goreng Pattaya: 5/10


Looks good, but if you ask me, this was just... edible. It's fried egg noodles wrapped in an omelette, but they were too generous with the ketchup in the noodles that the dish turned out to be far too sweet for us.

Maggi Mee Goreng: 6/10


Whoops, another miss here. Siying had this, and she couldn't finish it because it was too spicy. Too much pepper! It tastes okay, just too overwhelmed with pepper, especially the smell.

Mediterranean Chicken with Pita Bread


Gerald insisted this was quite good, though I didn't really try much of it, just a forkful.

Roti John: 7.5/10


Long story on how this "roti" (bread( got its name. As one of the versions go, a homesick Caucasian (colonial officials?) asked a Malay hawker if he could cook up something resembling a pizza with a baguette. No surprise what the name of the official was, heh.

On taste, it tasted good, but once again there was too much of something. This time, it wasn't ketchup or pepper, but mustard. Still Siying enjoyed this way more than her peppered noodles haha.

Egg Roti Prata: 6.8/10


So far, the food was nothing impressive, so it left me wondering how this could be so popular with supper foodies. I decided to try a common supper item, prata, only to find it pretty much the same as almost everywhere else. At least it came nice and hot, so it was good enough for me.

Service
As I mentioned, a few waiters of different stalls will swarm to your table and wait for you to place your orders. They're not the friendliest of people, but neither are they hostile too. Quite emotionless if you ask me.

Price
This blog post was pretty delayed and I can't give an accurate breakdown of the prices. The noodles and my fried rice averaged around $4, while Gerald's chicken was about $7. The Roti John should cost around $3.

Place
Bedok Simpang. Taxis know this place pretty well.

Newton Food Centre [Noodles]

It's coming to a year now since this humble blog was created and I'm glad to see that this little baby has passed 10,000 hits (it's 10573 when I'm blogging this), averaging close to 35 unique readers a day. Thank you to everyone, my friends and blog followers especially, for your support! =)


I'm also beginning to adore my Nokia N85 so much because of the quality pictures it's taking. I'm still trying to fiddle around with the settings, but the colours and sharpness thus far have been really good, especially for a camera phone. Initially I had intended to get the Samsung Innov8 that has an 8-megapixel camera but it seemed too bulky to me. The Carl Zeiss lens of the N85 meanwhile looks to make up for its 5-megapixels, which is an immense improvement from the first generation camera handphones of VGA or 1.3-megapixel cameras.

And, if you're wondering when I'm ever going to use my Canon Ixus 80, well soon, haha, to be honest I've not even charged it yet ;)

Indian Cuisine


John had a craving for some Indian food, and I found that there were only around three stalls scattered around the food centre that could satisfy that craving. This stall in particular (No.44) was along the Number 40+ row of stalls, of which I normally frequent Stall 49's seafood. I think every hawker in Newton has realised that the best way to make business now is not really through touting but really to make a great first impression and hope you return to them. Such a change is good for customers surely.

Mutton Murtabak: 7.7/10



I like this murtabak a lot actually, even if it may not necessarily be out of this world to others. It was served hot, gently crisp on the sides, and tasted good. The curry that came with the murtabak complemented it very well.

Indian Mee Goreng: 8/10


All three of us, me, Darren and John, felt that this fried noodles deserves a thumbs up. For $4, the portion was quite healthy, and it was adequately moist and not too spicy. There were bits of mutton as well that many other Indian stalls have begun to exclude from their noodles.

Mutton Soup: 9/10


Oh this was really good man. I like it hot and thick, and they were quite generous with the mutton as well. Flavourful and fragrant too, it does perk your senses up at every spoonful. For those who are down with flu, try this for a remedy, it has been my tried and tested cure for a long time haha.

Price
$6 for the mutton soup (can be shared by three)
$5 for the mutton murtabak
$4 for the mee goreng

Place
Din Muslim Food, Stall 44.

Chinese Cuisine


The boys were still hungry (of course) so the both of them were considering sharing something else. We had already decided to save some space for supper at Roti Prata House at Thomson, so we didn't want to fill ourselves up too much. Since Fiona Xie's (local media darling) pictures were plastered on the walls of this stall at the entrance of the food centre, John and Darren decided to try the minced pork noodles to see if it is worth the hype. The both of them were initially uncertain if they should have pork when I'm around, but I was urging them to go ahead because I wanted them to enjoy the dinner since they were just back (Darren more so) from overseas studies.

Minced Pork Noodles: 7.7/10



The both of them felt it was not too bad after all, Darren himself was busy slurping up the soup that came with it. The noodles were not too "springy" and they liked the gravy base.

Price
$4

Place
XO Minced Meat Noodle, found at entrance of the food centre.

Additional Comment
This stall in particular is open 24 hours!

And The Usual...


I usually avoid the mild touting by heading straight for my favourite stall. We didn't exactly feel like ordering dishes, so we got the one thing that we did want.

BBQ Sambal Stingray: 8.8/10


Is this really "Chinese" cuisine, or a hybridisation of a seafood grill with Malay sambal and "chincaluk" (brine shrimp sauce, which some believe originated from Malaysia)? Thanks to my enjoyable Sociology of Food module, I really think more about the food I eat these days!

Well, on taste, this stingray keeps getting better and better each time I return to this stall. It's sooooooo fresh, and the chilli is nicely spicy without having to burn anyone's tongue. Very well-grilled and not burnt at all. Great stuff.

Price
$10

Place
Denmark Seafood, Stall 49.

Additional Comments
1. No pork, no lard at this stall, they use vegetarian oil.
2. If you're more particular, there are plenty of stalls around here that have Halal certification.

Niqqi's The Cheese Prata Shop

The third stop of the camp's "A-Makan" Race was Niqqi's The Cheese Prata Shop, otherwise more affectionately known as Fong Seng Prata. If you realised, all three of the stops are relatively near NUS, and with a purpose too, since we wanted to get the freshmen accustomed to the places nearby. By this point, most of us were full enough not to order more than the stipulated dishes (the freshmen helped themselves to yummy bread at Petit Provence at Holland Village too) for the activity.

If you're thinking why is this place called Fong Seng Prata, it's because it's just a stall away from Fong Seng Nasi Lemak. Apparently, these two stalls have an agreement to allow customers to eat food from either places at their tables. This of course leaves out the stall in the middle, which coincidentally has kept changing hands and has been faced with poor business for as long as I could remember.

Cheese Prata


I hesitated on giving a rating on this because I personally don't fancy cheese with pratas, and it would probably come out looking bad when it isn't that horrid after all. In all fairness, it looked alright but I felt the flour/dough and overall flavour was missing somewhat. Very ordinary, and the tastes are like... Separated? It's like plain dough and then plain cheese, if you get what I mean.

Plaster Prata: 6.7/10


I wonder where this "plaster" prata came about, and how it caught on, because quite a good many places in Singapore are starting to sell this. It's a variation of the egg prata because instead of cooking the egg together with the prata, this one is kinda cooked on top (but still a little joined) of the prata, letting you have a fuller taste of the egg. So yes, it's stuck on the outside, just like a plaster. The plaster prata in this case was just alright, the egg did not have much taste other than being a tad burnt.

Maggi Goreng: 6.5/10


Seriously, if you ask me, I'm not really a huge fan of Niqqi's. It's just that it's the only place to go for supper if you're around school for camps and the like. I think the food is pretty much so-so, and it's not exactly cheap too. The maggi goreng is just cooked instant noodles Indian style, but there is little effort on ingredients. Portion is small too.

Service
Very dependent on their mood! I think good business from students have gotten into a lot of their heads. Waiting times can be terribly long too if it's crowded.

Price
Below $2 for the pratas each, I think a plaster goes for $1.40.
Maggi Goreng is about $2.50.

Place
Niqqi's The Cheese Prata Shop
16/18 Clementi Road

Food Junction @ Raffles City

Me and Daphne often go around the basement of Raffles City so spoilt for choice for food, but somehow or another, we decided not to burst our pockets just before clubbing, and settled for the Food Junction food court on the third level. We settled on this stall, "Local Taste" because one of my friends was eating the Punggol Mee Goreng (don't ask me what's the significance of Punggol, must have had one particular famous stall I suppose) and it sure did look good.

Punggol Mee Goreng: 7.5/10


This was quite the crowd favourite, and almost everyone who came here whilst we were waiting was ordering the Mee Goreng. It turned out not too bad, Daphne found it a bit dry but I think it was good enough for me.

Black Carrot Cake: 7.5/10


The both of us shared this as well, and it was good. Evenly fried and the black sauce was sweet and delicious.

Service
Good. My friend was joking how this stall was manned by "ah-bengs", indeed all three of them looked the part. But they were well-mannered and listened to your orders.

Price
$4.20 for the Punggol Mee Goreng
$3.80 for the Black Carrot Cake

Place
Local Taste
Food Junction
Raffles City Shopping Centre Level 3

Al-Ameen Eating House

One of the most popular place for Westies to satisfy their supper hunger pangs would definitely be along Cheong Chin Nam Road, and for many of us Al-Ameen needs little introduction.

Indian Mee Goreng: 3.25/5


I found this really good, although some may rightfully comment that it may be a little soggy. I like the mutton cubes and eggs fried so nicely together with the noodles.

Fried "Thai" Beef Kway Teow: 3.25/5


I put "Thai" in inverted commas because this is what Al-Ameen calls it to be but I have my reservations about thinking this dish is anywhere ethnically Thai. That aside, this is one of my usual orders here because I like the sweet dark sauce used to cook the noodles.

Do take note that although Fried and Goreng mean the same thing, essentially if you order, "Goreng" would get you something akin to the Indian style of noodles - orange and slightly more spicy. "Fried" on the other hand here would give you their style of "Thai" noodles, not really your Char Kway Teow or Phad Thai mind you, but more like Malay style fried noodles.

Mutton Murtabak: 3/5


The low point of this was that the portion should have been bigger, considering I got the $6 murtabak and here it looked more like a $4 portion. Tastes alright, though it would have been better if they could have been more generous with the mutton fillings.

Nasi Goreng Pattaya: 3/5


Pretty much okay, nothing to shout about. The fried rice was pretty sweet because of the tomato sauce used to cook it.

Service
Very brisk. Sometimes it could be frustrating trying to get their attention, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

Price
Around $5 for each dish.

Place
Cheong Chin Nam Road, Bukit Timah.

Additional Comments
Open 24 hours =)