Simpang and guiling gao

The super Simpang Bedok Fan is back again. I guess I don't have to advertise for them because business is so goood every single day!!!!!

Was with boy and we wanted to try something more than just prata and mee goreng. So we had their chinese food: Crispy Fried mee in claypot and Seafood hor fun.

Both the crispy mee and hor fun tasted rather similar. I should say Simpang is famous for their malay food. Perhaps those with opeh leaves taste better? Cos i've seen many people ordering.

Ingredients wise i think it is considered generous. There were about 5 pieces of Sotong and 1 big Prawn. But for the price of $5.50, it could have been better.

Had Guilinggao for the first time in my life at the shop. Usually i eat those from the shelves.

They are nice and sweet and tast. More like eating black jelly because you can't taste the herbs at all. But those in the shops? Bitter! I added loads of sugar syrup. :( Hui says she started out eating it with loads of sugar syrup too, and slowly lessen the amount.

Besides being bitter, it is actually quite tasty. The texture, smooth enough for you to swallow it without biting. (of cos not too big a piece la). Overall it was a good experience for me.

Some interesting facts before i leave.

According to a legend, the Tong Zhi Emperor nearly cured his small pox by taking guilinggao

Guilinggao is believed to help to improve complexion and is made of very expensive chinese herbs Cuora trifasciata.

Bedok Interchange

Bedok North Ave 1. Right opposite Watsons.

Old Town coffee

Went for Old Town coffee at ECP after a light dinner with Mister Fat Fingers.
We were deciding between old town, Killiney, and Wang Cafe.
In the end we chose Old Town because we dont know where is the nearest Wang Cafe, and we had Killiney not long ago.
But it proves to be a bad decision.


This is part of a set, a cup of teh tarik and fried fish fingers, approx $5. Superbly overpriced.
Teh was not bad, nice and milky. Tea fragrance wasn't too strong and it was soothing to the throat with no bitter after taste.


The super overpriced fish fingers were small and pathetic. When it was served we were both taken aback. Fries were overly salted. Fish fingers were oily and batter was so thick we hardly tasted any fish.

They claimed to serve Eggs that is omega rich. At more than a dollar each, i can buy a whole tray in supermarkets. Nothing special. Mr Fat finger's eggs were overcooked and not runny.

Auntie note: Too overpriced, bad service (under staff, grumpy aunties), and below average food. I will not go to old town again.

Asian kitchen

Out with the girls to have nom nom nom session.

Miss Vian wants to have Asian kitchen so here we go!

She has special liking for the Zhajiangmian (Meat Sauce noodles)

I tried hers and like it as well! Somehow it tastes a little like the canned spiced pork to me. You know 肉丁? Yep. The meat is well marinated, minced well enough to cling onto the noodles when you go slurp slurp. There were also other added ingredients like mushrooms that adds on to the flavourful sauce.

This is salted egg calamari. Basically it doesnt look a bit like the salted egg crabs we normally eat. This is the most exorbitant dish we ordered. $15 for a palm sized plate. It was quite good i should say. Tasted a bit like the moon cake kind of salted egg, not too salty but with a slight oily taste. The batter was evenly coated, each of them had a good coating of crispy and fragrant outer blanket.

This is my all time favourite! Hot and Sour noodles! Yummy yeah! I found this as compared to the ones served at Crystal Jade to be more spicy. They also had more ingredients which is a thumbs up! The soup is cooked with broth that is thick and is still smooth. You don't have to worry that it will choke you.

Last but not least is Miss Blackie's Crabby noodles! It is actually soft shell crab, I would have preferred it to be served separately. Luckily the sauce for the noodles is so succulent that the crabs tasted better if it had soaked up the sauce! I had a mouth of it and it tasted like chilli crab. I would have liked the taste but if i were to finish the whole bowl of noodles that tasted the same throughout i guess it would have been quite sick. There weren't much ingredients added too.

Auntie note: Overall the noodles were ok. The prices were under $10 for the mains. But the side dished were slightly pricy.

Visit them some day http://www.theasiankitchen.com.sg/

Ah Loy Thai

The girly outings again! This time in search of cheap thai food! ]
Miss Loong and i all excited to eat! But..... the queue was quite long so we decided to take more more more pictures!


Just a sneak peek at the dishes! They were all good and thus empty plates left!

First up: Tom Yam Soup.

The soup is not the clear broth but the milky kind. The milky soup minimised the sour taste which is the specialty of tomyam soup. I always prefer the clear broth kind but this is equally good because it was spicy and the milk neutralised it a little, makes it easier to drink as it slides down your throat. The ingredients as well was in abundance. Huge sotong, prawns and mushrooms. Just this pot alone was enough to feed the 3 hungry girls.

We ordered some greens to have a healthier meal. The rest of the vegetables aren't very common so we decided to order Kangkong. If you are think of sambal Kangkong this will be a healthier version. The KangKong is fried with chilli and garlic instead. My mom does it this way as well but theirs were better. Crispier, slightly sweet and very moist.

The fish is worth ordering too! It was of considerable size for the price we paid. It is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I am not boasting. It truely was soft till we had quite a hard time picking up the pieces. Speaking from experience, most likely the fish was first steamed, then quickly deep fried in oil for a few seconds before it was served with the special chilli sauce. The chilli sauce is not the usual thai sweet chilli, its not sweet at all and tasted a great deal of lemon grass and some ginger. I'm not a fan for lemon grass but felt this was still acceptable.

This is the favourite dish for the day. Fried calamari in Butter sauce. The calamari was coated with a thin layer of batter and it soaked up the fragrance of the butter making it soft smooth and chewy yet not losing its crispiness. The butter was lightly salted and had a tinge of salted egg aroma.

Phad thai was ok, more on the sweet side. The noodles were al dente, very QQ and smooth. However, it was quite oily when we were finishing it. The prawns were huge though. They put in the extra effort to provide us with peanut powder and a small slice of lime. Good Job!

Pandan chicken was great! I always had the impression that pandan chicken is dry and quite tasteless. AhLoy Thai did a great job by serving flavourful, tender, juicy chicken that is well marinated. Together with the chilli sauce provided it was a match made in heaven!

The chilli on the left is the best chilli! Hot spicy to the max!

They even provided other sauces to let customers have the best for their taste buds!

We had the superb thai iced tea! I super love Thai iced tea because it had a weaker tea leaves taste and the milk is much richer than the normal big breakfast. I'm such a 挑 person.


The interior is slightly dark, but it is a good place for a great catch up. Many groups of OLs came for that night. Girl watching guys.

Reasonable pricing and good service (without service charge). It will be on my top must eat list.

Auntie note: Try to come early as the last order is at 8pm and there is a constant never ending queue. The aunties may look grumpy but they are nice ppl.

Ah Loy Thai

100 Beach Road #01-39/40 Shaw Tower Singapore

Another eat-in because of world cup

As the title suggests....
2 things: overdue post plus not so good food.

We ordered Sakae sushi delivery party tray so that we can indulge in Japanese cuisin while watching the exciting match. Turns out, the match was disappointing and the food was doubly disappointing.

For $50 this is what you get.



Everthing was rather squashed when it was delivered, tilt to one side. Plus, delivery was slow. Took at least an hour. I begin to wonder if these were taken from the conveyer belts and packed for us.

Kappa Maki.........................................6pcs
Lobster Salad with Ikura...................1pc
Kani Maki.............................................6pcs
Ebi Sushi.............................................2pcs
Tamago Maki......................................6pcs
Tako Sushi..........................................2pcs
Sun Maki..............................................3pcs
Kanikama Sushi................................3pcs
Golden Maki....................................... 6pcs
Ebiko Gunkan.....................................2pcs
Ebi with Kanifumi Inari......................2pcs
Kani Salad Gunkan...........................2pcs
Lobster Salad with Tobiko...............1pc
Idako Gunkan.....................................2pcs
Mango Mini..........................................4pcs

The few more excuisite sushi were the mango mini but it was rather too soft and mushy. Mango on sushi feels like it was made the day before and left in the open. Overly ripe.


The best in the whole tray was the Idako Gunkun? With loads of ingredients all in 1 sushi. There are even lettuce and cucumber in the sushi for that extra cruch.



This is a rather short review because everything tasted almost the same. Even those that i like such as the seasoned baby octopus, salmon sushi all weren't up to standard. Nothing nice. The price on the website is not inclusive of delivery.

Auntie note: Gave a noticeable amount of wasabi, with wet tissue and chopsticks. :)

Tonkichi

Towning with the boys to get my bag and also for dinner treat for Mr Koh!
With all the over priced food in town we decided to head to our favourite TONKICHI!
Tonkichi just revamped their menu and now there are more selection of food with more pork added!
Our orders for the night!


We did ask the waitress what's the difference between the two kinds of meat, she mentioned that one is more chewy and the other more tender. Mr koh ordered this and our final verdict- both had similar texture and its hard to make distinction.

Boy had this. he doesn't like the porky smell and is a big big fan of prawns!

I had this. Different from all the rest of them! The set includes : Pork, 2 Prawns, Crab cakes, Oyster. Ordered this because it has everything! plus my sis's bf kept on saying that japanese fried oysters rock!

Boy ordered the chawanmushi. Commented that it was kind of thick, not the runny kind. But loaded with ingredients. BUT! The ones that i cooked tasted better. :)

Before the meal was served, they gave us this. White sesame for you to grind on the spot to be added to your meal. I had similar experience in another restaurant (Naive) and the waitress actually told me its for peace and harmony. Perhaps different people have different interpretations. But during the grinding, the aroma was released and even for an anti-sesame fan, I took an extra sniff and the smell whiffed into my nose and lingered.

Mr Koh's porky set.
The pork was tender and juicy, the batter was fried to the exact goodness and it did not get detached from the meat at all. Unlike some batter with rough texture, cuts your gums and mouth. Tonkichi's batter is good and smooth fragrant but not easily sick of the taste.

Boy's set was great too! Chicken originally has got a softer texture than pork thus it was even more tender and more juicy. The batter come how blends with any kind of meat and even though they used the same batter for all, you won't get sick of the taste! Plus, the original taste of the main ingredient remains very fresh and not oily. Prawns were crispy and definitely the crunchy kind. The super size prawns also made your money worth while.

With any seafood in your dish, you will be given the tartar sauce that is so extra refreshing!
I am not a fan of tartar, not even those from fish and co or macdonald's but tonkichi's is simply the best i've eaten. Not too thick and too sour. The pickles are well minced and mixed into the sauce to create a concoction of sweet and sour taste together with creamy mayo.

All the sets come with miso as well. Don't look down on this miso because unlike those from the famous japanese restuarants their is quality well ahead of others. With japanese seaweeds and some natou.

Finally my set. So much of a variety I'm spoilt for choices.

First up is the special crab cake. The batter was thoroughly coated and was crispy yet well shaped. The centre of the cake is soft and oozing with the creamy crab meat. Even though not much crabby taste is infused it can make do as a good snack comparable to old chang kee.

Fried oyster was something so new to me i had to take a deep breath before biting it. It was pleasant i should say. The aroama of oysters was well protected by the batter and it somehow burst into your mouth once u sink your teeth into this piece of fried shell. It doesn't taste raw (dont match my prior impression).

Pork was well done. Only thing is why is it pink in colour?

Even though the menu may look pricey but the food is value for money. I haven't once walked out of Tonkichi feeling empty, and never once strike it out from my list of "MUST EAT".

Auntie note: Vegetables for salad is free flow. With more fibre added in your meal for free eat to your hearts content! Remember to use their salad dressing by the table. Its yummy delicious! Slightly sour-wets your appetite and sesame oil fragrance for the extra oomph! Try it!

Tonkichi
391 Orchard Road, #04-24 Ngee Ann City -

6735 7522

The coooking show

Time for some cooking before school starts. This meal isn't the cheap kind and requires some sourcing of ingredients. But fret not because its not too difficult. There will be 2 parts to the cooking procedures as there are 2 dishes.

Cold soba with Japanese vegetables soup
Soba noodles
2 cups Soba concentrated sauce
Soba noodles
Soup
1 Dashi stock in tea bag form
2 packets Mushrooms
5 bowls of water
1 Carrot
1 piece Tofu
1 plain Fish Cake
Japanese Seaweed
4 tablespoon of soya sauce
Chawanmushi
4 Eggs
2 cups of water

Half cup of Dashi stock
50g Chicken cubes
Half teaspoon of salt to taste

Soba noodles
Firstly, Boil a pot of water deep enough for you to cook the soba noodles.

After boiling till soft put it under cold water. After it cools, place it in the fridge covered.



Before serving, use the ratio of 1:7 of soba sauce to water and put them into the fridge.
Soba sauce is quite expensive, 1litre cost 27SGD
Noodles done.



Japanese Soup
While waiting for the water to boil, prepare all the ingredients. Sliced them into any cute shapes you like.

Boil the dashi stock tea bags.

You can find similar brands in Cold storage. They are really good and super seafoody fresh. For mums who don't have enough time to cook just add in a tea bag and let it boil while you bath and it'll be ready real soon.

Take out half a cup of stock for the chawanmushi and the rest works as your soup base. For 5 bowls worth of soup.

This is how my dashi stock lookes like.

I also used organic japanese seaweed for healthier choice. These are dried and will "bloom" once it touches water. This small little pack can cook for an army

Soak all the different mushrooms of your choice to get rid of the dirt.

Add in all the ingredients to the pot and boil. Simmer for 20 minutes to allow the flavours to be sweeter.
Add in 4 table spoons of soya sauce to taste.

Chawanmushi

Crack the eggs and add in 2 cups of water.
Add half a teaspoon of salt to taste


Cut the chicken fillet into cubes, chicken cubes should be small to place into the chawanmushi.

Marinate it with some soya sauce, pepper and corn flour.

Place the ingredients in the bowl.

Distribute the half cup of dashi stock evenly into 5 bowls. Make sure it is not too hot, or else eggs will be cooked once you pour it into the bowl.
Distribute the egg mixture and now it is ready to be steamed.

Steam it under big fire for 5 minutes then simmer for 5 minutes.
Ensure that the time is not exceeded or else your eggs will harden.

Good luck!

Auntie note: you can use ikan bilis stock cubes if you find the dashi stock tea bags too exp. :)