Wee's Family Coffee Shop 黄家咖啡店 @ 117 Bedok Reservoir Road

When you think of a zhichar (煮炒) stall, what comes to mind? Would it be a plate of delicious silky 滑蛋何 (flat noodles) that has been infused with the fiery hot wok's breath topped with savoury smooth eggy sauce? Or, a simple tasty yangzhou fried rice (扬州炒饭)? How about the Singapore noodles ( 新洲米粉) that's popular in neighbouring country?

A zhichar place to me, is about communal dining. When parents are too tired to cook, then zhichar would be a good choice to feed the family. My family of 5 would usually order steamed assam fish, another meat (either chicken or pork), vegetables and claypot tofu.

Went cafe hopping around Bedok area, and when it was time for dinner, we trooped over to Wee's Family Coffee Shop. The uncle and aunty at the shop were friendly and got us seated at a table that was reserved but the guests won't be here for another hour or so.

signboard at the coffeeshop

chalkboard specials

We ordered handmade hae zhor 虾枣, prawn paste chicken wings 虾酱鸡, salted egg prawns 咸蛋虾 (de-shelled), stir-fried sweet potato leaves 番薯叶 with belachan and the shop specialty of mushroom tofu. Heehee, five dishes for the five of us. That's akin to one person eating up the whole plate of sweet potato leaves. Wahaha! Ordered all small portions, but still quite substantial for us to finish.

虾枣 hae zhor, served with sweet sauce @$8

mushroom beancurd 松菇豆腐 @$12

salted egg yolk prawns @$16

stir fried sweet potato leaves with belachan @$6

har jiong gai aka prawn paste chicken wings 虾酱鸡 @$8

The deep fried dishes, were all done very well. Crisp skin, golden brown and moist inside. Loved the tangy pickles that came with the deep fried dishes. The hae zhor was about two bites size, and tasted more of the minced pork. Homely dish. 

The mushroom beancurd was delightful and the taste was well balanced. Loved the deep fried enoki and the sauce that went so well with the rice. Was impressed by the size of the salted egg yolk prawns. Evenly coated, well fried and it was simply a joy to bite into them.  

Prawn paste chicken was good as its inside was still juicy. The prawn paste taste was rather mild though. Pair it with the fiery sambal sauce, equates to yums!

must-have for the prawn paste chicken

 
Lovely dinner, reasonably priced. Best to make reservations or turn up early before 630pm for a table on a weekend.

Hokkaido Fish Market @ Novena Square 2

Prices have gone up. Still, this place is popular with lunch crowds. Here was what I ate way back in 2011 (subsequent revisit was not documented lah...). Fast forward 4 years later, am still ordering the same. Heh heh.

 Hokkaido Fish Market is a place with nett prices. This place is at Level 2 and near the Koufu food court.

sashimi 3 kinds (三色) @$18

mekajiki, maguro and sake

At times, it might not be served on ice. That day, the mekajiki was really good. The salmon slices could be slightly thicker though.

The bento set @$12 and available in limited quantities, are so popular that usually they'd be sold out before 1pm.

saba fish set @$14

The new wagyu beef bento set looked pretty good. My colleague who had it, said it was nice.

wagyu bento @$18

Skyve Wine Bistro @ 10 Winstedt Road

This time round, managed to do dinner. Usually, we'd just have drinks and some snacks like chicken wings and fries. Was in the mood for some mains, but discovered that its delicious beef kalbi is no longer in its menu. Sads...

chardonnay to start the night @$14++

For mains, we tried the Parmesan Beef Burger and the Ancho Cod.

Parmesan Beef Burger @$34++

The beef burger parmesan infused patty, red onion confit, bacon jam, foie gras butter, spinach, kaiser brioche bun and a small bucket of truffle fries. Didn't recall the taste of foie gras butter though. Bun was nice since its a brioche. Hmm, the beef patty was a tad tougher than expected.

lovely truffle fries

The Ancho Cod was a surprise though. It was sitting atop of some white sauce but was packed with some lovely heat. Yums. The seasoning for the fish was good. Flavourful and with some kick. The yam and potato chips were good.

Ancho Cod @$38++

A dinner with two mains and two alcoholic drinks, would cost around $75 per pax. Thanks to the Entertainer App, we saved $34 off our meal here.