Streats Cafe Restaurant

I've always thought that it was Streets Cafe, but just maybe perhaps the name of this particular restaurant has been tweaked a little to distinguish itself from its other non-Halal branches. Yes you read it right, Streats Cafe Restaurant located at Bukit Panjang Plaza is nowHalal-certified.

Macau Fried Rice with Chicken Chop


The Macau Fried Rice with Chicken Chop was an average dish that fills your tummy but doesn't exactly satisfy you much. I did away with the mixed vegetables because they are the worst and most boring creations in food history, thus explaining for the lack of colour to my dish. Nothing much to the rice, but at least the chicken chop was tender and the sauce was bearably sweet.

Nissin Noodle with Chicken Chop & Egg


My sister wasn't too impressed with her Nissin Noodles either, but then I'm always wondering what's the draw for anyone to order instant noodles at Hong Kong cafes.

Chicken Curry


Daddy had the Chicken Curry and I wished I had ordered that instead. I know the younger generations these days think twice about curries because of the oil and coconut milk, but then it's really a delicacy to me and I like all the different styles used to cook this dish - Malay, Chinese, Indian, and even Nonya. The curry here was fragrant and adequately thick, with tender chicken pieces and potatoes. I'll definitely order this on my return visit.

Chicken Siew Mai


Naturally, as a Halal-certified establishments, tweaks to the dishes have to be made. The Siew Mai at Streats here for instance uses chicken meat instead of the usual pork. I didn't like this all that much because I found its outer skin to be quite dry.

Deep-Fried Shanghai Dumpling


Likewise, the Shanghai Dumplings were made using chicken as well. I think these dumplings are really of an acquired taste, or maybe I'm just not used to it.

Deep-Fried Beancurd Skin with Prawns


The Deep-Fried Beancurd Skin with Prawns is a simple dish that pleases easily. Crisp on the outside, and lightly crunchy on the inside. Pity there's only three pieces to it.

Peanut Butter Thick Toast


Mummy and sister shared this and they liked it. I had a big forkful of it and I thought it was quite good, albeit terribly sinful what with all that butter, peanut butter, oil and grounded peanuts. Oh well, always good to indulge once in a while :)

Service
Good.

Price
$7.80 for the macau fried rice with chicken chop
$6.80 for the nissi noodle with chicken chop
$6.80 for the chicken curry with rice
$3.50 for the chicken siew mai
$4.50 for the deep-fried shanghai dumpling
$3.50 for the deep-fried beancurd skin with prawns
$3.80 for the peanut butter thick toast

* Prices subject to the usual 7% GST and 10% service charge.

Place
Bukit Panjang Plaza, #03-05 to 07.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.

JTown Cafe

I first learnt about JTown Cafe from CheapNGoodFood.com, who followed me on Twitter and told me about this new, humble little Indonesian eatery near 313 @ Somerset. To be precise, it's located at the basement of Midpoint Orchard, which actually is opposite 313 @ Somerset and where people would be more familiar with it as Orchard Emerald.

Black Pepper Chicken with Rice


Me and the best friend arrived here right at noon, and we were pleased to see that JTown had just opened for the day. I tried their lunch special (which changes everyday) and found it decent and simple enough. The black pepper sauce was quite addictive actually, with a good mix of sweet and spicy. I added on the side of a meatball soup for only a dollar, but alas I wished it was a bit more flavourful and not just doused in pepper.

Bakmie Ayam Bakso


A traditional Indonesian chicken noodle dish, the Bakmie Ayam Bakso was just about alright without drawing any animated reaction from the best friend, be it for better or for worse. She did like the texture of the noodles, inasmuch as it may appear to be like any other instant noodle.

Martabak: Peanut & Chocolate


I had little idea that the Indonesians have their own version of the Chinese "min jiang kueh", up till now that is, but having seen the favourable responses on JTown's Facebook (by fellow Indonesians too!) I thought I should give it a try. In comparison to the "min jiang kueh", the martabak here is slightly thicker with a crispier outer crust. And since you can't go wrong with the holy pairing of peanuts and chocolate, this turned out to be a pleasant sweet treat indeed.

Service
Very good, warm and friendly.

Price
$4.50 for the black pepper chicken with rice
+$1.00 for a bowl of beefball soup
$4.80 for the bakmie ayam bakso (comes with beefball soup)
$2.90 for the chocolate & peanut martabak
$1.20 for a cup of homemade green tea

* Say "CheapNGoodFood" and get 10% off!

Place
#B1-04/05 Midpoint Orchard
Opposite 313 @ Somerset.

Additional Comments
Opening Hours: Daily 12 – 9pm

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.

Thai Noodle House

I hear this is one of the places for "unadulterated Thai fare", and when you step in you would probably be convinced so, with the walls adorned with pictures and posters of Thai kings and other elements of Thai history. It's a pity that I didn't get to try the usual tom yum and green curry because everyone else was tucking into their soup-based noodles, so it just means that a second trip is on the cards in future :)

Crispy Fried Beancurd


The batter was very light, and so helped to retain the flavour and texture of the tofu inside. Tastes better with the spicy chilli dip served alongside it.

Phad Thai


The phad thai was alright but just a bit too much beansprouts for my liking. As you can see, they're quite generous with the seafood ingredients, which is always a good thing!

Beef Noodle Soup


I have to admit I didn't taste this, but everyone who had this said it was good because of the beef balls, beef slices and beef chunks - the picture tells it all. Good for those who love their beef.

Tanghoon Fishball Soup


Quite ordinary type of fishball soup. I think I must return soon for the tom yum and green curry! And maybe the fried rice too? Haha, I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Service
Very good.

Price
$7 for all the dishes, except tha tanghoon fishball soup, which costs $9.50.

Place
5 Coronation Road, #01-03 Coronation Arcade.

Additional Comment
Closed on Mondays.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.

Old Hong Kong Tea House II

I think Old Hong Kong Tea House still has some way to go when it comes to its food, but looking around I think the people are there more for the cosy ambience that sets in after midnight. No one rushing you to finish up your food and get out, people lounged around chatting, others fixated on their laptops or even on their PSPs. Air-conditioning helps too, because while 24-hour prata cafe aficionados might swear by their favourite Al-Ameens, Al-Azhars and Spize Cafes, the weather at night may not be as cooling and as bearable all the time. Service here is pretty alright too.

Chicken Chop Cheese-Baked Spaghetti in Curry Sauce: 3.25/5


The curry sauce tastes like the (diluted) Japanese curry sauce from Eighteen Chefs. Not that it's bad, I find it okay but I do wish it would be a tad thicker. The chicken chop was quite average and didn't impress much, while the spaghetti was "trimmed" to make it "shorter" when I would prefer it to be left alone as it is.

Macaroni with Luncheon Meat and Egg


Dilys, the company for the night, had this. It surely doesn't look that exciting or fascinating as a dish but I guess it would do as a slightly healtheir option for a late-night snack. She commented that 1) the carrots were not soft enough, 2) the soup was quite starchy and (even) 3) that the fried egg wasn't as evenly cooked as she would like it to be. Still, the addition of some chilli made this simple dish decent enough.

Service
Good.

Price
$9.80 for the chicken chop cheese-baked spaghetti in curry sauce
$5.80 for the macaroni with luncheon meat and egg
$2.80 for a cup of cold yuanyang
$2.50 for a cup of herbal cooling tea


Place
86 East Coast Road, Blk A Katong Village.

Additional Comments
Open 24-hours.

Food Republic @ Vivocity

Both me and Daphne were back at our favourite food court in Vivocity, which for a Friday evening was terribly crowded. We had fish soups very similar to the one at the Wisma Atria branch, and golly did we enjoy our dinner. The stalls come by a same name by the way: Ed's Fish Soup.

Mixed Fish Soup: 8.3/10



I had my usual mixed fish soup, which consists of both fried and sliced fish. The fish was very fresh, and the soup so tasty that I spent a lot of time just sipping it up even after I had finished my rice and the fish. It doesn't have the sort of "fishy" taste, and I believe this is musked by the vegetables, tomatoes and ginger that they add to the soup. Very good stuff.

Fried Fish Soup with Noodles: 8/10


Daphne always has hers with milk, though I could never imagine having milk in my soup. Still, from the look of satisfaction on her face, I can tell she likes her soup as well.

Barbecued Chicken Wings: 8/10


Got these from a stall called, "Huat Huat Chicken Wings". Better than the ones sold at Wisma Atria, though the place to go for tender, juicy barbecued chicken wings will always be at East Coast.

Service
Brisk.

Price
$4.50 for the mixed fish soup
$4.00 for the fried fish soup
$0.50 for a bowl of rice
$1.20 for a chicken wing (minimum order 3 pieces)

Place
VivoCity #03-01

Fork & Spoon Ban Mien

Me and Daphne have been pretty tied up with work, and me especially with school events. We have not had much time to eat together, and when we do, somehow it's just a quick one at one of the foodcourts near her place. Toa Payoh's Fork & Spoon foodcourt happens to be our fav in the area. It's situated next to Toa Payoh Entertainment Centre.


More precisely, our fav stall has to be the "Ban Mien" one. The two pictures above aren't mine, they were lifted off another site, and if I'm not wrong they're currently doing slight display changes to the stalls.

Seafood Soup: 6.5/10


This used to be very good, consisting of prawns, crabsticks, fried fish, sliced fish, tofu and sotong, yet somehow with slightly higher prices it did not correlate to an increase or maintenance of the standard. The soup was pretty bland, and I did not find the fried fish added this time round (cost-cutting measure?). Why like that...?

Fried Fish Soup: 6.3/10


The girlfriend likes to add milk to her soup, which explains why there isn't much to see now. The anchovies, or ikan bilis as locals like to call them, weren't as crispy or fresh as in the past.

We used to easily give 7.5 to both dishes, but this time round after a change of displays (to reflect price changes I suppose) and probably a change of staff, the food isn't as good as it was in the past. There used to be a malay girl serving us but she wasn't around. We'll probably give this stall another chance when we return next time.

Service
Friendly, though this depends on who serves you. Sometimes I ask politely for slighly more anchovies, and they would smilingly add, like this time round, though there were a couple of instances where they insisted I had to pay for a spoonful extra of those tiny things.

Price
$4.80 for the seafood soup and rice,
$4.30 for the fried fish soup

Place
Block 470, Toa Payoh Lorong 6,
Level 2
(Next to Toa Payoh Entertainment Centre and/or Courts)

Additional Comments
1. Fork & Spoon is a foodcourt that is similar to the Banquet 'Halal' foodcourt concept.
2. Here at the Toa Payoh branch, the stewed beef (stewed beef stall) and laksa yong tau foo ("bagus ytf") is pretty yummy too!

Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe

Xin Wang Hong Kong cafe is probably one of the most popular HK-themed cafes with the youths in Singapore. The one me and Daphne visited this time round is the one located at Orchard Cineleisure, and even at an odd time like 2.30pm the place was packed with people.

Chicken Curry with Rice: 8.3/10


Perhaps I haven't been trying that many a range of chinese curries, but this one is one of the better ones really, and I almost always stick to this when I visit XinWang for a meal. The gravy is nicely aromatic and thick, and the chicken slices are very tender. I normally leave the gravy till the end to just lap it up with my spoon! Yummy.

Ham and Egg Mee Sua: 7/10


I couldn't taste this because of the ham in it, but Daphne felt the dish was pretty much ordinary. The ham, or luncheon meat rather, was too deep-fried for her liking and she found it quite salty.

Fried Radish Cake: 8/10


This really turned out better than expected because of the crispy exterior and yet very soft and smooth inside. Also has a pretty sweet taste that we couldn't actually point to, but really is worth the try.

Peach Tea Cooler


Daphne's usual. Real peach slices in it.

Service
Satisfactory. While the cooking of the food was pretty quick, ordering could have been made quicker with more attentive staff, half of whom spent their time chatting at a corner and the rest were left to scurry around the lil restaurant.

Price
Around $12 per person.

Place
Orchard Cineleisure.
Also: Marina Square
Website: http://xinwang.com.sg/index.htm

Additional Comment
Operating Hours:
Monday to Wednesday – 11am to 2am
Thursday and Sunday – 11am to 3am
Friday, Saturday and Eve of PH – 24hrs