Tunglok Teahouse @ Far East Square

I have been to Tunglok Teahouse at Novena before but this was the first time heading towards the outlet at Far East Square. And, it was so hard to find. A tip is to head towards the Evolve gym and head towards the yellow signage of the renovation walls and turn left.

A celebratory dinner occassion with the foodie gang, we chose to have ala-carte dinner buffet Chinese-style. Endless flow of dim sums, cooked food, fried fish and what not. Our table was filled to its edges in no time! Can you imagine that we ordered 38 dishes?! Am amazed.

full house and not all our food had arrived

The food arrives pretty quickly and this outlet seemed to have lesser patrons than it Novena counterpart. We had fish skin, fried prawn rolls, steamed pork ribs, char siew bao, chicken feet, siew mai, carrot cake and fried prawn dumplings for dim sum. All were pretty good. Then, we had two claypot items which were basically vegetables in soup. The one with nam yee soup was rather nice but nothing to shout about.

prawn rolls

carrot cake

The carrot cake flavour was nice but it was a tad too soft though. Some might feel that the radish flavour was not strong enough in Tunglok's version.

deep fried fish

A must order would be the deep fried fish.  Smallish but tasty. On the other hand, the steamed tilapia was too muddy though. It was the least liked item. We also had jelly fish, oats prawns and soya prawns. Decent but can be better. The stir fried french beans was enjoyable.

蒜泥白肉 - garlic pork

cabbage  nam yee claypot

stir fried french beans

The braised pork belly and beef brisket were good too. The portion was pretty generous. The meat was temder but still retained a bite.

braised beef brisket and pork belly

soy sauce prawns

There's a smoke duck with crepe wrap. Something like Peking duck but this one uses the smoked meat instead.

smoked duck pancake

There were also special items where it can only be ordered once. The shark fin soup and the chili crab.

shark fin soup (one time order)

chili crab (one time order)

The only item that we ordered again, was the fried fish skin. Was too full from barely finishing all the food that we ordered.

Thank you Kris, Justin, Ivan, Elle, Jennifer, Hence, Tracy and Tiara for the wonderful company and the dinner treat! Love you guys!

[Media Invite] Founder Bak Kut Teh 发起人肉骨茶餐馆 @ Hotel Boss Jalan Sultan

Am a fan of Founder Bak Kut Teh pork ribs and had it occassionally with a friend who loves this when craving strikes. Our usual haunt was the one at Rangoon Road. Can read about the previous visit here. The usual order would comprise of a bowl of Founder Bak Kut Teh, a plate of poached vege with oyster sauce, a small bowl of dough fritters and a bowl of kidney. Was invited to try Founder Bak Kut Teh at Hotel Boss at Jalan Sultan along with Ivan, Vince, Doriz, Kat and Rachel. If you are driving, the hotel offers free parking during lunch hour from 12 to 2pm.

shopfront

The interior of the restaurant is spacious and has no issue accommodating larger groups of diners. For the night owls, good news as this outlet opens till 5am. Comforting to know that, that hot steaming bowl of peppery bak kut teh can be enjoyed at almost any time in the day and night!

wall of fame

table for four

We sampled the Premium, Premium Short Ribs, Founder Bak Kut Teh and Popularity (Ninki) Bak Ku Teh. The difference is in the quality of the fresh pork ribs used hence, the difference in price points as well. The Premium cut will give you a beautiful long length of the ribs. I will recommend the Premium Short Ribs for its fall-off-the-bones tender meat and fats that dissolves as soon as its chewed. Otherwise, one could opt for the Founder Bak Kut Teh for a mix of Premium, Premium Short Ribs and the bak kut used in Ninki.

(center front) Premium Short Ribs , Premium Ribs, Founder Bak Kut Teh

beautiful Premium Ribs @$11.80++

The Premium Ribs is huge. A good mix of lean and fatty. But personally, I was amazed by the Premium Short Ribs. Unbelievably good! The way the meat slid off the bone so easily and that succulent feeling when the fats just melted off on the tongue. Wow.

Premium Short Ribs @$10.80++

Besides the pork ribs, one could order a variety of the familiar side-dishes such as peanuts, salted vegetable, poached vegetables in oyster sauce, you tiao (dough fritters) and many others. Here's what we had:

Crispy Prawn Roll (@$5.80++/$10.80++)

Pig's Trotter (@$9.80++/$12.80++)

Braised Pig's Intestines (@$8.80++/$11.80++)

Trio Steamed Egg (@$5.80++)

Steamed Minced Meat (@$6.80++)

Pig's Liver or Pig's Kidney Soup $7.90++ each)

For the amount of food on our table, it was enough to feed about 10 pax comfortably. The braised pig's trotter was well cooked and retained the collageny bounciness of the skin without being too soft. The meat itself was pretty lean and tender.

One thing to note is that the soup at this outlet has a stronger peppery taste without being too overpowering. Lovely. I drank a whole bowl of the soup.

Also, this is the only outlet that has steamed cod fish on its menu. The cod fish was well-liked and enjoyed by all of us. Its meat was so soft and could be eaten even without much chewing. The soy sauce added a touch of savoury sweetness to the mild flavours of cod.

Steamed Cod Fish (@$18.80++)

Thank you Justin for the invite and Lem and Founder Bak Kut Teh for hosting us. Also thank you to the staff who took care of us that night.

Joo Bar @ Tan Quee Lan Street

It was a ladies meet-up session and the place of choice was Joo Bar. Conveniently located at Tan Quee Lan Street and accessible via the Downtown line. Reservation was made and we made our way there separately. This place serves Korean-styled dishes and brews. Expect tapas sized servings though.

Joo Bar signage

The place was rather busy and our reserved place was at Level 2. Joo Bar is a cosy place with rather dim lightings.

seats at Level 2

As it was still happy hour, we ordered a Joo Beer and Joo Brew for $10++ each. The makgeolli was very nice. The beer was refreshing on the warm night.

Brew and Beer - happy hour

 For food, we ordered some anju (안주) or drinking snacks such as the Kimcheese pancake, Honey Butter Chicken, pork belly and the army stew.

Kimcheese Bacon Pancake @$22++

Honey Butter Chicken @$16++

The honey butter chicken was a wrong order as the Korean waiter had ordered his favourite instead of what we wanted, which was the dak gan jung or spicy chicken.

We were rather surprised by the Army Stew as it was of the smallest size that we've ever seen. Think it was meant for one or two pax. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the rich broth that's robust and spicy.

Army Stew @$24++

Also ordered some meat to share. The Slow Roasted Mangalitsa Pork Belly was nice and tender but nothing to shout about. The side salad was rather enjoyable though. Maybe order the chicken wings next time? Saw the table next to us had it and it looked delicious.

Slow Roasted Mangalitsa Pork Belly @$25++

Overall, we had fun at Joo Bar. The drinks made us happy and the food was decent.

[Media Invite] Yoogane @ Serangoon NEX

Yoogane originated from Busan and I first had a taste of it at its Myeongdong branch. It's a simple shop where one walks in, get a table, order the combination of choice and the staff will bring the necessary and cooks it at your table. The side dishes (banchan) are self-service and the staff usually brings water in the form of a steel water container bottle to the table. Utensils are in the drawer that one slides out at the end of the table.

store front

Similarly, one expects the same at Yoogane Singapore. Personally, I found that the side dishes in Yoogane Singapore tasted better than the version I had in Myeongdong some years ago. There's strawberry sauce or sesame sauce for the salads, the kimchi was nicely marinated and the yellow radish was tasty. Unlimited refills, so take as much as you need.

At Yoogane, the must order would be the dak galbi (닭갈비 - stir fried spicy chicken). For its 3rd Anniversary in May, Yoogane is launching new dishes. For chicken galbi, do order the one with cheese and the staff will bring over the grill with a side rim for the cheesy dips. We tried the cheesy corn and cheesy mushroom. The grill looks familiar to those that can be found at korean bbq stores.
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Cheesy Duet  of Cheesy Corn & Cheesy Mushroom Chicken Galbi @$59.90

Various toppings such as ramyeon, rice or dokbokki can be added. The toppings prices ranged from $3.90 to $6.90 per plate. I'd recommend the sweet potato dokbokki. Must try. Looked cute too! The sweet potato dokbokki has mung beans as it fillings so it was like eating spicy ang ku kueh.

sweet potato dokbokki (고구마 떡볶이 ) @$5.90

staff cooks

The cheese was enjoyable and liked that it was so stringy. Had fun trying to pull the longest cheese strings!

yummy cheesy corn

While staff cooks the dak galbi, one could order side dishes to munch on. The seafood pancake (hameul pajeon) is a popular choice, and we had egg roll and Taeyang (from Big Bang?!) salad too.

Korean Style Seafood Pancake @$18.90

Egg Roll @$10.90

Taeyang Salad - Chicken Galbi Salad with sesame dressing @$12.90

The chicken galbi was not very spicy and liked the cheese at the side. The egg rolls were good too, but do eat it while it is still warm. The taeyang (sun) salad is basically fresh lettuces, cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, cucumber slices and julienned carrots with chicken galbi and a poached egg.

let it flow

On a very hot day, one could also opt for naengmyeon which is basically the cold buckwheat noodles. Served with light and refreshing broth and one adds vinegar and mustard according to own's liking.

Naengmyeon (Cold Noodles) @$11.90

cutting the noodles

On 8 May, Yoogane will be launching the Dosirak (도시락) or lunch boxes, where it is prepared in a metal tin box, just like how it's being done in Korea. One could try these dosiraks in May; Chicken Galbi, Chicken Bulgogi and Beef Bulgogi. The items in the dosirak include the main meats (chicken galbi or chicken bulgogi or beef bulgogi), crispy chicken luncheon meat, kimchi, seaweed, korean fishcakes, anchovies and served with a sunny side up. The metal boxes are meant to be shaken before eating. Kind of getting an arm-workout prior to enjoying the carbs.

Dosirak (도시락) @$12.90

Next, we tried an existing item in the menu, which was the Octopus and Chicken Galbi. Last had this while I was at Myeongdong. The Yoogane taste is pretty consistent.

Octopus and Chicken Galbi @$59.90

almost ready

enjoy~

Expect to spend about $30 per pax for a meal here with drinks. The service staff are friendly and they will greet the diners upon entering and leaving their premise.

Special thanks to HGW for the invite and Yoogane Singapore for the hosting the dinner.

[Media Invite] The Peranakan Set Menu of Yesteryears (13 and 14 May 2017) @ Claymore Connect

Thinking of where to dine during Mother's Day this year? If mom likes peranakan food, then you may want to indulge her at The Peranakan, conveniently located at Claymore Connect near Orchard Hotel. For Mother's Day, Chef Raymond has lovingly put up a menu that consists of favourite dishes in a 9-course menu suitable for 4 pax. We took a sneak peak of what's in this menu. So let's eat!

The course started off with a soup. One could choose Sup Bakwan Kepiting or Itik Tim; both are common in peranakan cuisine. I got the Sup Bakwan Kepiting, a mince pork and crab meatballs soup. The broth is subtle, with a tinge of sweetness and the shredded bamboo shoots added a bit of crunch with each bite.

soup

Sup Bakwan Kepiting

Next up, for Mother's Day only, a heart-shaped nasi ulam will be making its presence known. The nasi ulam requires hours of preparations, resulting in a tasty nutritious dish. All of us enjoyed this.

Nasi Ulam

Next up, was an array of delicious and authentic peranakan dishes served together for communal dining. I was looking forward to the Sambal Pisang Jantung (though more commonly written as Sambal Jantung Pisang) which is actually a salad of banana flower.

Sambal Pisang Jantung

The Sambal Pisang Jantung was served on a plate lined with banana leave, where the salad sits in the middle with prawns adorning its crown and surrounded by crispy emping (crackers). Chef recommends us to pick up a piece of the cracker, scoop a generous amount of the salad onto it and pile it with a piece of prawn. I wasn't sure of what to expect as this was the first time I was having the banana heart salad. It was surprisingly sweet, a tad refreshing, a little piquantness and ended with a slight spicy note.

a bite of freshness

If you are looking to dishes with kuah (gravy), no worries. Coming right up!

Babi Asam

Udang Masak Nanas

Babi Asam, was a dish of no return. One bite, led to another and another. It was so flavourful! The sauce and white rice equated to yums. It had a little bit more spicy kick as compared to the rest of the dishes in this course. Liked the tender pork with a good fats to meat ratio. This ranks up there with the Trotters Babi Pongteh.

If you like it sweet, then the Udang Masak Nanas will tickle your tastebuds. The gravy was more like a soup and it was quite addictive. Just found it troublesome to have to peel off the shell off the prawns.

Bitergourd Asam Busuk

When Chef Raymond came round our table to talk about the Bittergourd Asam Busuk, we were like, "Uh? Say that again?" Yes, the name literally meant 'smelly' asam bittergourd. Even stranger, was the two fried dough fritters that sat at the both sides of the plate. For the life of me, I have never seen nor heard about this dish, have you?

Well, it turned out that the 'busuk' was implied from the salted fish. Alright, salted fish do have a distinct smell. Fortunately for us, this dish didn't smell funky at all. The salted fish was cooked down till its fragrance is extracted into the gravy which then paired well with the bitterness from the gourd and when mixed with asam, everything just harmonizes together. It had a good balance of sweet, salty, and savoury. The 'you tiao' (dough fritters) were good by the way, and we were to break it up and dip (or if you prefer, to soak up) into the gravy before popping it into the mouth. I liked it and, I think this was my favourite way of having the bittergourd asam busuk.

Telor Goreng Chinchalok

As part of the course meal, there was a lighter dish of Telor Goreng Chinchalok. Chinchalok originated from Malacca and is made of fermented shrimps. Chinchalok is one of those things that smells funky but taste so good. You could have it out of the bottle and mix it with chopped red onions with a squeeze of lime and pile some of it onto hot steamed rice. Here, at The Peranakan, chinchalok is mixed into the omelette and for extras, there is a small dish of it for you to add more. The chinchalok omelette makes a good side dish.

Of course, no one shall leave The Peranakan without ever trying its rendition of Ayam Buah Keluak. Again, this dish required steadfastness, as the preparations for the buah keluak is a tedious process. Thoroughly enjoyed the sauce and the chicken. For me, the buah keluak is an acquired taste. It's either you like it or you don't. But I do appreciate the effort that Chef Raymond and his team are putting in, in order to make this dish available at The Peranakan.

Ayam Buah Keluak

The Set Course ends with a dessert. However, the Apom Bokwa Pisang was not available during the tasting so we had kueh dadar instead. Ordered a pot of hot Malacca tea to go along with it.

kueh dadar

The above 9-Course Peranakan Set Menu of Yesteryears is priced at $200 (usual price $233) for 4 pax and is available during Mother's Day on 13 and 14 May 2017.

Thank you Hence for the invitation, Chef Raymond Khoo for hosting the dinner and The Peranakan team for taking care of us.

The Peranakan

Location: 442 Orchard Road, Level 2 Claymore Connect, 238879
Website: http://www.theperanakan.com/
Contact: +65 6262 4428
Business Hours: 
Monday-Sunday (11:00AM – 10:00PM)