Yi Zun Noodle 伊尊老字号拉面 @ Joo Chiat

Was doing a staycation nearby, so suggested to the Easties to try Yi Zun for lunch. It's about 12 to 15 minutes walk from the hotel. With weather soaring, it was nice to have a meal in an airconditioned place. The interior of the restaurant was lovely. It wasn't busy yet on a Saturday afternoon as people seemed to be congregating more towards cafes and the newly opened Banh Mi places.

interior

we were seated at the round table

nice decoration

Staff was super casual and friendly. He informed us that we could order via the QR code on the table or just call him over when we are ready.

First things first, we ordered a jug of the sour prune juice (酸梅汤) to quench our thirst.

Sour Prune Juice @$5++

refreshing!

We ordered appetisers, a bowl of signature beef noodles and some skewers to try. Staff informed that the skewers need longer time to prepare hence, it is better to order it early.

Pickled Cucumber 酱黄瓜 @$4.80++

Chilled Shredded Beancurd Skin 凉拌干张丝 @$3.80++

Chilled Pickled Black Fungus 凉拌木耳 @$3.80++

Spicy Beef Tripe 香辣凉拌牛肚 @$7.80++

My favourite appetisers would be the pickled cucumber and the spicy beef tripe. Both are so yums! Black fungus was good too but the cucumber was best.

Signature Beef Noodles 伊尊牛肉面 @$10.80++

thin lean beef slices

scissors to cut the noodles

We chose the thick noodles as the wide noodles either sold out or not available. It was a good choice. The beef broth was clear and flavourful. Mild and not overly seasoned. The noodles were QQ and lovely to eat. If you're used to fattier cuts of meat, then the slices here will be overly lean. However, it provides a good mild taste to the overall dish. 

Can add some chili oil provided on the table, to elevate the flavours up a notch.

chili oil

I was impressed when the skewers were served to the table. Such big skewers! We ordered a variety of skewers; chicken, beef, mutton and lamb chop.

assorted skewers

The best skewer was the mutton skewer. Well grilled, juicy meat and adequate seasoning on the meat. Very good! Must order. 

Mutton Skewer 红柳羊肉串 @$3.50++ (per skewer)

If you prefer something fattier, then go for the lamb chop.

Lamb Chop 羊排串 @$6++

Overall, the signature noodle was a comforting flavourful bowl if you prefer something soupy. The chilled appetisers were good too, especially the pickled stuffs. For skewers, my must eat would be the mutton skewer. So good.

Price is rather reasonable too. 

Yi Zun Noodle 伊尊老字号拉面

Address: 60 Joo Chiat Rd, #01-08/09, Singapore 427726

Website: https://www.yizunnoodle.com/menu/joo-chiat

Contact: 6909 9287

Business Hours: 

Daily: 11 am–9:30 pm

[Taipei] 独立牛肉面 Du Li Beef

In 2019, I was determined to try at least one meal of beef noodles, which Taipei is famed for. Wanted somewhere that's not too far off from the hotel, and I was staying at 璞漣商旅西門館 Hotel Puri Ximen Branch. According to Google Map, it takes only about 7 minutes from the hotel to the beef noodles shop. Great! If Google estimated 7 minutes, that's probably 15 minutes for me. My sense of direction is not that great... hahahaa, but eventually found it. Across the street, there was a dumpling shop and I was tempted...

shop front

But I didn't waiver because beef noodles was what I came for, and I shall be eating that!

The interior of the shop feels like a cafe. Mostly young adults were seen in there. Was greeted by the staff once the sliding door is opened. Awkward as that will also cause the patrons in the shop to look at who's walking-in. Lone diner will be directed to the window seats.

nice sunny day

The shop is manned by just the staff and the Chef in the kitchen. Pretty efficient. I liked the shop decor. Cosy and plenty of natural light.

shop decor

write down your order

The place is semi self-service, and one orders by ticking the desired items in the order chit. It's in Mandarin though. Heng, I can agak-agak (guess) a bit.

Once you have decided and indicated on the paper, pass it to the staff. She was kind of taken aback when I asked if I need to pay first when submitting the order. Hahaa! She patiently informed that customers will pay after they're done with the meal. Oh, and I was happy that she asked how I'd like the tendon to be, as she mentioned that most customers liked it chewy. For me, I wanted mine to be soft.

As it was past typical meal time, Chef started to prepare my bowl almost immediately. The staff will bring the noodles to your table. For utensils, napkin and chili oil, one can take from the common area.

红烧牛肉麵 (半筋半肉)

pretty bowl of piping hot beef noodles

a good bowl of beef noodles, 好吃

yellow noodles

Soup was lightly beefy and fragrant with herbs. Not too overpowering, clean tasting and served piping hot. Noodles were smooth and easily slurped. There were plenty of beef pieces in there and I was a tad worried if it would be tough. I was all smiles at first bite. Wow. Beef was well cooked and fork tender.

so yummy

Tendon was soft and gelatinous. So goood! Overall, happy with the place, the food and the service. It was a good choice!

hi there

One could have a meal here at a relaxed place as there are no long lines outside, pressurizing you to eat quickly. Although, the boy who sat next to me managed to finish his up-sized noodle bowl within 30 minutes. Can see that he too, was satisfied with his meal.

Once done eating, diners usually would collect their empty bowl, used utensils and return it to the staff.

Spent NT$190 (~ SGD9) for the beef noodles.

独立牛肉面

Address: No. 31, Section 2, Guiyang St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DuLiBeef/?fref=ts
Contact: +886 981 738 089
Business Hours:
Mon to Sat: 11.30am to 2.20pm, 5.00pm to 8.30pm
Closed on Sundays

Makan Makan Jalan Jalan (Part 2) @ Petaling Street 茨厂街 Malaysia

During the daytime, one could visit Hon Kee for a bowl of simple porridge, or Koon Kee for its famed wanton noodles. Koon Kee (冠记云吞面) has two outlets in Petaling Street. One at its original place where it has the whole entire coffeeshop for itself, and another stall at the Tang City Food Court. When we were at foodcourt, we shared a table with an uncle (stranger) who was having Koon Kee wanton mee. When we sat debating about whether we should be trying the noodles, the uncle shared that the taste of Koon Kee wanton is not as what it's used to be. Oooh.... He said the taste of food at Jalan Imbi is better but congested with tourist.

If you prefer to eat light, there's dim sum along the way.


Or, simply stroll into Fung Wong Bakery for its spongy kaya roll, baked fresh daily. It's a nostalgic taste and best paired with hot tea or coffee. I love their chashiu puff and my sis liked the egg tarts. My mom said the wife biscuit also pretty good.

puffs and tarts

young boss preparing the kaya rolls

bought for the family

kaya roll

For a better coffeeshop ambiance where it is of a lesser 'street' kind of experience, one could venture a little further to Lai Foong Coffeeshop for beef noodles. Read more about first visit here.

Lai Foong, seen from Petaling Street

The coffeeshop is huge and it takes the whole entire ground floor of the building. If the main dining area is full, just go to the next unit where it is separated but still operated by the same owners. The beef stall now has two helpers (foreign talent that knows a smattering of dialects inclusive Cantonese) and one could order through them although their regulars still prefer to talk to the chef.

Recently, there's IG posting of lala (clam) bee hoon from this coffeeshop but they weren't open for CNY, so couldn't try.

char kway teow

pork noodles soup

My sis had the char kway teow and it was pretty good with the plump bean sprouts. Mom's pork noodles soup had small intestines beside the usual meatball, minced meat, pig liver and slices of lean meat. But, Kajang's pork noodles broth still trumps!

Beef Noodles (mixed parts) - RM10

They do not have 'lai fun' (similar to laksa noodles) for the beef noodles but am not sure if they're not selling that noodles anymore or ran out of it or no stock for CNY. Either way, I had it with hor fun (flat noodles) and they gave a mountain of noodles in it.

close up view

As per last year, the parts were all good and nicely tender. Broth a little weak, still tasty nonetheless. Can be shared amongst two pax.

For dinner, one must eat the Claypot Chicken Rice with Grilled Fish. Just head towards the bookstore / Bee Cheng Hiang street around 6+ in the evening and let the staff know the number of pax in your group. They will allocate the seat or open up a new table where necessary. This is basically roadside stall eating along the five-foot walkway of other shops (which had closed for the day).

calamansi with sour plum

Expect to wait for about half hour at the least. Weekdays sees lesser people but still pretty busy.

claypot chicken rice (medium) - feed 4 adults

There is a a set meal that has a soup, vegetable, a claypot and a plate of vegetables. We did ala-carte so didn't have soup. Claypot comes in 3 sizes; small, medium or large. We got a medium and the four of us were full by the end of it. The vegetable plate is a simple bean sprouts stir-fried with siu bak choi. For grilled fish, we chose tilapia instead of the stingray. For sauce, we had spicy assam sauce.

look at that beauty

assam grilled fish

That's all for Petaling Street for Year 2018! Have fun and enjoy the food!

To get there, simply take the MRT to Pasar Seni. Upon alighting head towards Central Market but turn right towards Petaling Street. Happy Exploring!

If you enjoy cafe, there's Merchant Lane. For the hip and happening, you could visit ChoCha.