Even though it was after 2pm on a weekday, I still waited 10 minutes for my turn.

Chickenjoy with Spaghetti meal, S$6.60; and add-on regular-size Fries, S$1.50.

And this is what I got for my first Jollibee experience: Jollibee’s signature fried chicken Chickenjoy with Spaghetti set (comes with a soda), plus add-on regular-size fries. Total bill: S$8.10.

1-piece Chickenjoy with Spaghetti

The food tastes better than it looks. The fried chicken is really nice — the batter is crispy, and not too heavy or salty. The meat, compared to other fast food fried chicken, is relatively moist and tender.

The little tub of brown gravy is similar to KFC’s gravy for whipped potato, but it’s thinner. If you order the fried chicken with rice, you’re supposed to mix the gravy with the rice.

The spaghetti seems geared more towards kiddy tastebuds. The sauce — similar to those supermarket bottled variety — is a little too sweet for my liking. The hotdog and ham slices are pretty meh. But the noodles has good texture. It was al dente and didn’t turn soggy.

The fries are just average.

Prices are rather affordable. If you go for the one-piece Chickenjoy with rice set, it’s only S$3.80. Spaghetti (with drink) is S$4.00.

Other items include Yum Burger, burger steak with rice, hotdog, and chocolate sundae (similar to McDonald’s hot fudge sundae). It’s quite surreal to see rice being served with fried chicken and burgers. But Filipinos are big rice-eaters, so don’t be surprised that rice is a big part of the menu here.

Jollibee at Lucky Plaza

The restaurant is spacious, plenty of seats.

Jollibee entrance

Jollibee is on level 6 of Lucky Plaza (aka Little Philippines). Take the glass elevators on the ground floor atrium to level 6. Jollibee is just directly in front of the lift lobby.

Jollibee (Lucky Plaza)
304 Orchard Road
#06-48A Lucky Plaza
Singapore 238863
FB: https://www.facebook.com/JollibeeSG

Open daily: 9am to 9pm

The packaging for Yung Kee’s century eggs & pickled ginger

During our short Hong Kong trip, we didn’t have time to dine at the legendary Yung Kee Restaurant. No chance to try their famed roast goose, but we did manage to buy a box of their equally famous century eggs to bring back home.

Six century eggs and pickled ginger, HKD80

As of April 2013, a box of half dozen century eggs and pickled ginger cost HKD80, about S$12.90 (based on S$1:HKD6.2).

溏心皮蛋酸姜

Honestly, I’m not a century egg fan. With their pungent ammonia smell, century eggs are definitely an acquired taste.

So it was with some apprehension as I approached these eggs. But like what I was told, Yung Kee’s century eggs are a lot easier to eat than what we normally buy in supermarkets.

There’s only a slight hint of that characteristic pungency (phew!). And the texture is gorgeous! The white is wobbly smooth. And the yolk is deliciously creamy, with an oozy molten centre. *drool*

The pink pickled ginger is also very delish! Sweet, delightfully sour, and surprisingly juicy — the pickled ginger goes very well with century egg and is equally delectable on its own.

In Chinese, this classic Cantonese appetizer is called 溏心皮蛋. “溏心” (pinyin: tang2 xin1) is used to describe eggs with a molten centre.

Did some Googling, and found out that Yung Kee has a master chef who specializes in making these century eggs. Apparently, they are preserved for 28 days, shorter than usual, in order to produce this kind of texture.

I’m still not crazy about century eggs, but I can definitely understand why century egg lovers would go gaga over these.

Yung Kee Restaurant 香港鏞記酒家
32-40 Wellington Street, Central
中環威靈頓街32-40號
Tel: +852 2522 1624
URL: http://www.yungkee.com.hk

Open daily: 11am to 11pm

Note: Yung Kee Restaurant is on the same street as Mak’s Noodles and Tsim Chai Kee.

From left: Bong Bong grape drink; Sikhye

The weather’s been crazy hot these few weeks! I thought it’d be interesting to introduce these two Korean canned beverages that I’ve discovered. They are quite refreshing when chilled, especially the Bong Bong grape.

Bong Bong grape drink

Here’s what it looks like when poured into a glass. The clear liquid is sweet and sourish; it’s mild acidity makes it an ideal thirst-quencher.

Real grapes in a can!

But the highlight of Bong Bong is definitely the chewy grapes! Their flavor is similar to Korean Campbell (Kyoho) grapes. Can’t think of any other grape drink that lets you munch on grapes at the same time.

Sikhye

Sikhye (also “shikhye” or “sikhae”) is a traditional Korean malted rice beverage. Malt water is used to ferment rice grains. The mixture is then boiled and lightly sweetened with sugar.

The rice grains in sikhye

Taste-wise, it is quite similar to our local barley water. But sikhye has its own distinctive taste. Traditionally, Korean families would make their own sikhye. But now it’s conveniently available canned or bottled. Some Korean restaurants would also serve sikhye at the end of the meal, as sikhye is supposed to aid digestion.

I usually get Bong Bong and sikhye from Korean supermarkets. They are quite small, about 240ml cans. Most places sell them around S$1.20.

Tong Heng egg tart, S$1.50

Price hike alert! Tong Heng’s signature egg tart as of today is retailing at S$1.50 per piece. I remember it was S$1.40 last year.

This must be one of the more expensive egg tarts in Singapore. But then, it’s also one of a kind.

Silky smooth, wobbly custard in thin, flaky pastry shell — this seemingly simple old-school snack is deceptively hard to master. And that’s why despite its relatively steep price tag, Tong Heng’s egg tarts are still as popular as ever.

285 South Bridge Road
Singapore 058833
Tel: +65 6223 3649
URL: http://www.tongheng.info/

Open: 9am – 10pm daily

Images in this post were captured with Sony Alpha SLT-A58 with 1855 lens (review unit from Sony Singapore).

On Sunday, we celebrated Mother’s Day with the extended family. As we haven’t had dimsum for some time, we opted to brunch at Imperial Treasure Noodle & Congee House at 100AM (the former Amara Shopping Centre).

Baked BBQ Pork Pastry (char siew puff), S$4.20++

Baked Egg Tart, S$3.30++

Beancurd Skin Roll with Shrimp, S$4.80++

Pan Fried Chive Dumpling, S$4.20++

Deep-fried Prawn Dumpling, S$4.80++

Deep-fried Glutinous Dumpling (hum soi gok), S$4.20++

Pan Fried Radish Cake, S$4.20++

Deep Fried Yam Puff, S$4.20++

Steamed Teochew Dumpling, S$3.60++

Steamed “Malay” Soft Cake, S$3.50++

Prawn Rice Roll with Shrimp. S$5.50++

Steamed Rice Roll with BBQ Pork. S$5.50++

Siew mai,  S$4.80++

Har gau, S$5.00++

Fried yee-fu noodles

Fish & pork liver congee

Sorry about the hastily composed and shot photos. These were all one-hand shots taken in between feeding baby Meredith and myself.

To summarize: The dimsum were mostly of above average quality. No need to go queue 2 hours for Tim Ho Wan; the quality here is similar. Prices listed are for one serving (some of the items pictured are double servings).

Especially outstanding were steamed Malay cake (so delicate, fluffy and melt-in-the-mouth!) and baked egg tarts. Staples like har gau and siew mai were fresh and tasty. Can skip the Teochew dumpling and chive dumpling. The congee was smooth and creamy, with thick and fresh slices of pork liver.

One let-down was the horribly oily yee-fu noodles; definitely won’t be ordering it again.

Imperial Treasure Noodle & Congee House
100 Tras Street, Singapore 079027
#02-10/11, 100AM
Tel: +65 6543 6668
URL: http://www.imperialtreasure.com/

Open daily:
All-day – 11.00am to 10.00pm
Dimsum – 11.00am to 4.30pm
Hi-Tea – 2.30pm to 5.30pm

Images in this post were captured with Sony Alpha SLT-A58 with 1855 lens (review unit from Sony Singapore).

Chief Baker Eric Tan has over two decades of experience as pastry chef in 5-star hotels. The Baker’s Story has a range of cheesecakes, tarts, mousse cakes, and fresh cream cakes, but their bestselling item has to be their signature cream cheese brownies.

Assorted brownies from The Baker’s Story

Clockwise from top left:

1. Mint Cheese (S$2.30)
2. Cream Cheese  (S$2.20)
3. Banana(S$2.20)
4. Orange Cheese ($2.80)
5. Walnut Chocolate ($2.30)
6. Crunchy Cheese (S$2.80)

Banana brownie

My family couldn’t wait to pounce on these delectable-looking brownies! Our favorite flavors are Walnut Chocolate, Banana, and Crunchy Cheese. Hubby said the Mint is quite refreshing; but I’m not a fan of anything mint.

One thing we were particularly impressed is that despite being chocolatey-rich, they didn’t leave a cloyingly rich or sweet after-taste. In fact, the brownies were moist, velvety smooth, with just the right amount of sweetness.

Hubby said he would have preferred the chocolate to have a stronger bitter flavor. Me? I prefer my chocolate less bitter, so this was fine with me.

Many thanks to The Baker’s Story for the brownie samples.

The Baker’s Story
URL: http://thebakerstory.com/

Currently two outlets at:

No. 8 Sin Ming Road,
#01-05, Sin Ming Centre,
Singapore 575628
Tel: +65 6452 0265

Tuesday to Fridays: 12pm to 9pm
Saturday: 11am to 9pm
Sunday & public holidays: 11am to 8pm
Closed on Monday

No. 1 Tras Link.
#01-09, Orchid Hotel,
Singapore 078867
(3 minutes walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT)
Tel: +65 6604 9929

Monday to Friday: 1030am to 630pm
Closed on weekends & public holidays

My choice of dishes came up to S$4.80.

Clockwise from 11 o’clock: Potato bergedil (croquette); stir-fried okra/lady’s fingers; beef rendang; and sotong hitam (squid in black ink). Total cost: S$4.80

If you’re expecting totally soft and tender beef, you’ll be disappointed. But I liked the beef rendang, precisely because the meat was chewy with some bite (in a good way). The meat was thoroughly infused with fragrant rendang spices, hence every bite was full of aroma and and flavor.

The rest of the dishes were decently executed.

This stall has been here for some years now, and it gets very crowded at peak lunch hours. I heard that their ayam penyet is also pretty good. Will have to try that another time.

Not sure of their opening times, but they should be open for lunch on weekdays.

The stall

Selera Kampung Malay-Indo Cuisine
7 Maxwell Road
#01-74 Amoy Street Food Centre
Singapore 069111

Images in this post were captured with Sony Alpha SLT-A58 with 1855 lens (review unit from Sony Singapore).

Chocolate Hazelnut cake (S$27.80 for 0.5kg)

Adorned with just berries, pistachio, and gold dust, the cake looks simple but classy.

Cake, cross-sectioned.

Inside: Three layers of chocolate sponge, sandwiched with fresh cream and covered with chocolate ganache.

The chocolate sponge was soft, moist, and fine-crumbed. And we liked that there wasn’t too much cream (we’re not fans of heavy cream frosting).

Thank you for the gorgeous cake, honey!

Nasi briyani ayam goreng, S$4.00

This is one of hubby’s favorite lunches at Amoy Street Food Centre. Briyani + fried chicken — what’s not to like? Especially if it’s done well!

Although this isn’t the best briyani rice I’ve tasted, it’s definitely notches above than average. The rice is fluffy and fragrant. The fried chicken (hubby requested for thigh, smart choice!) is subtly tasty, tender, and not too dry, while the skin is delicately crisp. Sedap! (Malay for “delicious”)

The stall

I’m not sure of their opening hours as this was a quick lunch, but they are most likely open for lunch on weekdays.

Sedaaap Nasi Briyani Special
7 Maxwell Road
#01-70 Amoy Street Food Centre
Singapore 069111

Images in this post were captured with Sony Alpha SLT-A58 with 1855 lens (review unit from Sony Singapore).

Ham & cheese jaffles, S$8.00++

Nice to see that Kith Cafe has come a long way since their humble beginnings at Robertson Quay. Kith at Sentosa Cove is their 3rd outlet after outlet number 2 in Park Mall.

Fruit salad with yogurt, S$8.00++; scrambled eggs, S$4.00++; bread basket, S$7.00++

Their friendly, down-to-earth vibe is still here. While the food was decent, there were some minor flaws.

The ham & cheese jaffles (fancy term for toasted sandwiches) was nothing special, something I could easily make at home. The scrambled eggs was a bit too mushy in some parts. The breads from the bread basket were a tad dry, perhaps over-toasted. Our flat white and latte were lukewarm.

The best-tasting dish was the fruit salad — a delicious assembly of watermelon, mango, green apple, grapes, mixed berries, and creamy vanilla yogurt.

Flat white, S$4.50++; Latte (partially hidden), S$4.50++

I think the kitchen must have been swamped, trying to cope with the numerous orders that morning.

Looking out at the sea with yachts bobbing in the marina, dining by Quayside Isle is quite the surreal and idyllic experience. It’s a beautiful place to chill out on a leisurely weekend.

Coming here by public transport is quite a pain. As we had to struggle with a toddler, baby, pram, and huge baby bag, we took a taxi in (admission charge of S$6 on weekends in addition to taxi fare). Click here for directions by public transport to Quayside Isle.

Kith
31 Ocean Way
Quayside isle
#01-08
Singapore 098375
Tel: +65 6734 9007
URL: http://kith.com.sg

Open: 8am – 10pm. Closed on Tuesdays.

Images from my Instagram feed (taken with iPhone 4s).