Rasa Istimewa

Tucked in the small Choa Chu Kang Park lies a small Halal eatery called Rasa Istimewa, and if you're driving past you should be able to identify it's hut-like strucutre facing the main road. Popular with Chinese and Malays alike, it's one of the better eateries in the neighbourhood for local-style dishes, and which therefore deserves some mention here.

Satay


Perhaps one of the most popular orders here at Rasa Istimewa is the satay, which patrons readily tuck in whilst waiting for their main dishes to arrive. It's pretty good and tasty satay on most days, where the meat is tender and evenly marinated. If East Coast Lagoon Food Village is too far for you westies like me, then this is the best you've got in the area.

Fish Head Curry


What me and my family particularly like most is the Fish Head Curry, which is wonderfully spicy and flavourful. The fish is fresh and tender, and it comes with fairly generous servings of vegetables and fried beancurd ("tau pok"). A regular order for us on most of our dinners here.

Deep Fried Chicken Wings in Prawn Paste


Delicious Deep-Fried Chicken Wings, this got my approval as well. Crunchy and crisp on the outside, but tender on the inside. Yums.

Hotplate Beancurd


Pretty typical too, the Hotplate Beancurd does fall into the usual suspect of having too much cornstarch in its gravy.

Kangkong Belacan


The Kangkong Belacan here is typical, nothing much to shout about.

Fried Rice with Seafood and Salted Fish


The Fried Rice is a disppointment however, as it was just too salty for my liking. It was the same case for other types of fried rice, so you can either ask for less oil or choose plain steamed rice to avoid any heart-clogging moments.

Service
Good.

Price
$20.00 for the fish head curry
$11.00 for the deep-fried chicken wings in prawn paste
$9.50 for the hotplate beancurd
$7.00 for the kangkong belacan
$4.80 for the fried rice with seafood and salted fish
$4.00 for fried rice with chicken

Place
Choa Chu Kang Park,
Walking distance from Lot 1 Shoppers' Mall / CCK MRT.

Pictures taken with the Canon Ixus 80 IS.

Red Ginger

There's a humble Halal-certified eatery tucked at a corner of IMM that I hear is a favourite amongst many heartlanders, and for good reason too. Simple, delicious food at affordable prices, with that hint of a home-cooked meal.


As you can see, there's quite a variety of dishes on offer, not to mention that there's also a nasi padang section beside it which serves a plethora of Malay dishes.

Tahu Goreng: 3.75/5


Not your usual tahu goreng with peanut or satay sauce. As you can probably tell this was served with Thai sweet chilli, which I thought was pretty good.

Nasi Goreng: 3.5/5


The fried rice that I had was really simple but I liked it nonetheless. Not too oily and had that "wok-fried taste" to it. Chicken wing was nice too.

Fried Bee Hoon: 3.5/5


This was delicious and came in a sizeable portion. For those familiar with mee siam, this seemed like a fried version to me.

Seafood Curry: 4/5


Red Ginger's "house favourite" is their fish head curry, but since it was out I got the seafood curry instead. It uses the same fish curry gravy, which is really good! Fair portions of seafood as well. Certainly one of the better fish curries (Malay-style) that I've tried so far.

Nasi Padang


As I mentioned earlier, they have a section where you can select dishes from, and these come in a mix of Malay and Chinese-styled cuisines. Not surprising seeing how the people managing the restaurant are Chinese.

Service
Friendly.

Price
$3.00 for the tahu goreng
$5.20 for the fried rice
$5.20 for the fried bee hoon
$6.50 for the seafood curry
$1.30 for hot beverages like coffee

Place
IMM Building, #01-46.