Fujian Cuisine - Beng Thin Hoon Kee Restaurant 茗珍奋记菜馆 @ OCBC Centre Chulia Street

After we had checked out from The Clan Hotel, it was time for lunch. We love to try older restaurants, and Beng Thin Hoon Kee seemed to fulfil this criteria plus, nearby the hotel. Founded in 1949, means since 72 years ago. Yup, excited to try!

So we walked, and to my surprise, the restaurant is located smack on a building's carpark, surrounded by neighbouring high rise.

restaurant's entrance

our table

a bit of history

As usual, Hence and Tracy had visited before, so we did asked which are the dishes that they liked. One of their recommendation was the Duck Salad. For our table of 4 pax, most of the dishes would be medium sized.

Beng Thin Duck Salad 鸭丝冷盘 @$32 (medium)

colourful

let's start

mix well and enjoy!

The Duck Salad was visually appealing for its colour and, those are really fruit slices and cucumber slices If not wrong, there's rock melon, honeydew and cucumber. The lucky ones will catch some duck skin, and that's a good part for its savoury roasted flavours, duck oil and sweet refreshing fruits. Loved the jelly fish for the contrast in texture. My first time experiencing such a Duck Salad!

Crabmeat Scrambled Eggs with Lettuce 炒桂花蟹 @$30.50 (medium)

closer view

The Crabmeat Scrambled Eggs with Lettuce was a good dish that encourages us to have more greens. Simply take a piece of lettuce and topped it with the scrambled eggs, lightly wrap and enjoy. So good!

is this too greedy?

We ate two dinners that were mainly meats, so I think we tried to compensate by having more vegetables here. Hahaa!

Spinach 波菜 @$18.50 (medium)

Is braised pork belly bun (扣肉花包), a staple in Fujian cuisine? We ordered this as a comparison to the other version that we had tried in another Hokkien-cuisine restaurant.

Braised Pork Bun - 6PC 扣肉花包 @$15.50

fatty enough

Usually, I'll try to limit the number of dishes that we order, should just be equal or less than the number of pax plus minus like one. This applies to regular sized plates (not tapas).

So, our last and fifth dish was a carb. The Fujian Noodles.

Fujian-styled Fried Noodles 福建炒面 @$24 (medium)

noodle lift

But, while the noodles were loaded with ingredients, I felt something was missing and not quite satisfied. No kick.

So, decided to break the 'rule' and ordered our final dish, the Oyster Omelette.

Oyster Omelette @$30.50

Wah, was glad that we ordered this. It was good! Thin, crispy layer that gave a satisfying crunch and plump oysters that had been glazed with sauce. It was sweet, with umami. Not spicy at all.

Thank you Hence, Tracy and Ivan for being such accommodating makan kakis and fellow staycationers!

Beng Thin Hoon Kee Restaurant 茗珍奋记菜馆

Address:  65 Chulia St, #05-02 OCBC Centre, Singapore 049513

Website: https://bengthin.com/

Contact: 6533 7708

Business Hours:

Daily: 11:30am–3pm, 6–10pm

[Tasting] Kakurega (The Lair ) 隠れ家 Japanese Sake Bar @ 12 Smith Street

"Ms, do you want to drop at Temple side or, which side? Smith Street, there's two sides." The Grab driver asked. My mind whirled for a few seconds before I answered, "I'm not sure. But I'd be going there to eat." He nodded knowingly.

Well, the street sign stated "Smith Street", so I was at the right drop-off. If walk towards my left, the unit numbers seemed to be getting bigger. Ok, let's turn on the Google map for directions. I was just one minute away from Kakurega. The restaurant is within the Food Street.

shopfront

yes, I'd be at Level 2

neighbouring shops

And so, Safe Entry and temperature checked, before guests were ushered to their table. There are tables at Level 1 to Level 3. The washrooms are at Level 1 and Level 2.

into the Lair

interior

online menu

As with any drinking places, let's start with some Zensai 前菜. There's Eihire (stingray fin), Kawahagi (dried leather jacket) and Kawaebi Karaage (deep fried shrimps).

(top to bottom) Kawahagi かわはぎ, Kawaebi かわえび and Eihire エイヒレ

かわえび @$7.80

かわはぎ @$6.80

エイヒレ @$7.80

My favourite snack was the Eihire as it had both savoury and sweet flavours. The Kawahagi came close at second place especially the tasty 'burnt' parts.

what would you like to drink today?

For our table, we tried the Issyou Koufuku Junmai Ginjo 一生幸福純米 sake @ $98/$168 for 720ml/1800ml. The sake is from Yamagata Prefecture and with polishing of 50%.

staff explaining more about the sake

let's choose a pretty cup

sake

The sake was nicely smooth and easy to drink. Sweet too. But be aware of its 15% ABV, so a few cups of it would already set one up for a good buzz. The Shime Saba Aburi (lightly torched cured mackerel), paired well with the sake.

Shime Saba Aburi (Flame-Seared Cured Mackerel) @ $10.80  

meaty

If you are in the mood for skewers (yakitori), here are some photos of what we had. Was surprised by the light tasting Tori Momo and was informed that this was intentional, due to past feedback from patrons. Healthier taste.

It was somewhat unfortunate that the Mozzarella Chizu Maki that I had, was overcooked (burnt) that night.

Aspara Bacon (Asparagus wrapped in Bacon) @ $3.80 - per skewer

Tori Momo (Chicken Thigh) and Buta Enoki (Enoki Mushroom wrapped in Pork) @ $3.80 per skewer

Mozzarella Chizu Maki (Creamy Mozzarella wrapped in Beef Short Plate) @$6.80 per skewer

Chashu Ringo Sauce (Pork Belly with Apple Sauce) - $6.80

I prefer the pork belly skewer with apple sauce as the flavours were stronger. However, the fats could be grilled a tad more.

Another popular item to order at Japanese Sake Bar, would be the tori karaage. True enough, the other tables on my day of visit, seemed to have ordered this as well.

Niwatori Karaage (Deep-Fried Chicken with Sesame Dressing) @ $6.80

My favourite charcoal grilled item that night, was the Hotate Mentai. Served aplenty with umami mentaiko sauce.

Hotate Mentai (Scallop with Mentai Sauce) @ $6.80

yummy

If you prefer beef, there's the Gyu Tataki plate. If not wrong, there's an on-going promo with UOB credit card holders with offer of 1-for-1. Do enquire from the restaurant on the terms and conditions.

Gyu Tataki (230g Meltique Beef with Garlic Chips) @ $18.80

Staff are friendly and accommodating. Be careful when you are exiting from the Level 1 washroom, as the door swings outwards.

The ambiance at Kakurega is cosy and I have enjoyed the sake, the zensai and items from the charcoal grill such as the hotate mentai.

Thank you Jennifer for the invitation and Kakurega for hosting the tasting.

***PROMO ALERT***

All-You-Can-Drink Liquid Buffet @ $59

• 2 Hours Free Flow of Selected Japanese Sake & Asahi Beer
• Yamagata Issyou Koufuku Junmai
• Yamagata Issyou Koufuku Junmai Ginjo
• Hakkaisan Honjozo
• Asahi Draft Beer

Available Monday to Saturday, 5pm -10.30pm

Reserve now on http://bit.ly/3faL52v

**************************

Kakurega (The Lair ) 隠れ家

Address: 12 Smith St, Singapore 058926

Website: https://www.kakurega.com.sg/

Contact:  6223 0102

Business Hours:

Sun: Closed

Mon - Sat: 5pm–10:30pm

Meatsmith @ Telok Ayer

It was deja vu, all over again. The thing about eating out at Telok Ayer on weekends at popular places like this one, could only mean one thing. One needa queue even when there is a reservation. Our 8pm reservation saw us queueing till an hour later and that was because we were lucky for the previous party had kindly vacated their table after an hour of dining. We know, because we were there when the food was served to their table, to the time that they left.

alfresco dining

Kona Big Wave Golden Ale @$12++

bacon wrapped cheese

Meat Platter for 2 @$90++

Our order was plenty. There's starters and meat platters plus additional ala-carte order of beef short ribs and hangar steak.  The meat platter consists of brisket, pork ribs, brisket springrolls, buffalo wings, pastrami burnt ends and pork belly burnt ends. Plus, it came with corn bread!

Pork Ribs

Pastrami Burnt Ends

Brisket

Whoa, the meat platter sure was strongly flavoured. Not that I wasn't expecting it but still, I was somewhat caught surprised by the pork ribs. Possibly due to the sauce, me thinks.

I liked the springroll brisket more than the brisket itself. The pastrami burnt ends was nice to nibble on. The corn bread was my favourite! The pickles were lovely too and it helped to take off some of the greasiness. Well, ice cold beer works too!

Corn Bread with smoked butter

Next, we enjoyed the Hangar Steak. Loved the salad that came along as well. This meat had an enjoyable chew to it and tasted of its natural flavours.

300g F1 Wagyu Hangar Steak @$38++

tender with a chew

Best meat of the night? The vote went to Beef Short Ribs, hands down. It was just wow. Right up my alley, this one.

Beef Short Rib @$48++

can't wait to get some

Fork tender, with some fats and tasted so good with that sauce. What was that sauce again? 

big bites, big love

The staff are friendly and ice water was topped up whenever we needed a refill.

MeatSmith Telok Ayer

Address: 167-169 Telok Ayer St, Singapore 068620

Website: https://www.meatsmith.com.sg/

Contact: 6221 2262

Business Hours:

Daily 11:30am–11:45pm