Bugis Junction Food Trail 2013: Honguo (红锅)

Located at basement of Bugis Junction, with red and black as its predominant colours.

menu and order chit

drinks

They have quite a variety of drinks available. For thirst-quencher, the lychee with aloe and wolfberries was nice. The sour plum drink, will get conversations going with its unique taste that's reminiscent of those plum that one takes after drinking bitter medicine.

sour plum drink

Honguo's star item, the legendary "Cross Bridge Vermicelli". Basically a big bowl of hot soup, and all ingredients of the noodle dish served in small plates. Like a soup noodle, waiting to be constructed.

instructions

Zhuang Yuan Mi Xian (15Items) 状元过桥米线(@$8.80++)

start of 'cooking'

items that cook easily, are in last

final product

Surprisingly, the soup wasn't as oily as initially thought. The noodles is thick beehoon variant and the soup was comforting.

XO Fried Seafood Noodles (XO酱干炒海鲜面 ) @$8.80++

Lotus Leaf XO Seafood Fried Rice (荷叶XO酱海鲜炒饭 ) @$8.80++

Liked the seafood fried rice very much. Fragrant (from XO sauce), loaded with ingredients like squids and prawns and basically yums. A little spicy.

Here are some of the other side dishes that we sampled:

Sze Chuan Chicken in Basket四川辣子鸡 -(@$7.50++)

Minced Pork Lettuce Wrap生菜猪肉碎 (@$6.80++)

Pumpkin Fries with Salted Egg Yolk黄金万两 (@$6.80++)

Quite liked the Sze Chuan Chicken. Spice level was moderate. Definitely need a cold drink to cool off thereafter. Not sure why, but the pumpkin fries tasted like sweet potato though...

Honguo

Location: #B1-06, Bugis Junction

Tel : 6884 4717
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HONGUO

Bugis Junction Food Trail 2013: Fish & Co

During my uni days, Fish & Co. used to be the go-to-restaurant whenever we had occasion to celebrate. It's been quite a while, and boy, the menu has undergone some major revamp! (pardon if I sound suaku, but its been many years since I last visited Fish & Co.)

glossy magazine? no, it's da menu

Ok, stop the babbling and let's bring the food out! Starters first.

Clams with Curry Butter (@$11.95++)

(Blue) Mussels with Spicy Marinara Sauce (@$11.95++)

warm bread

Both the clams and mussels were served with warm bread. For light eaters like me, this alone will be enough to fill me up.

Soft Shell Crab Salad (@$11.95++)

Next, for first main course, we sampled a variation of Fish & Chips, the Bombay Fish & Chips. It's like a curried batter with dory fish. Just mild curried flavour. The fish was moist and soft.

Bombay Fish & Chips (@$16.95++)

For people who needs their carbs, here's an aglio olio. Quite liked the Shrimp & Clam Aglio Olio. Tasty and spicy. Probably a good idea to have some iced-cold water on standby. The prawns were firm and cooked just right. However, the amount of oil in this dish seemed a tad too liberal!

Shrimp & Clam Aglio Olio (@$14.95++)

If you must have rice, then how about a Black Pepper Chicken Baked Rice? It's served piping hot, so do be careful with the plates. Rice was fragrant, tasty and very peppery. *sips that iced water*

Black Pepper Chicken Baked Rice (@$13.95++)

black rice

Did I hear someone clamour for more seafood? Here you go:

Grilled Chicken Peri Peri with Scallops (@$18.95++)

Seafood Galore (king prawns, grilled white fish, curry butter clams, chips/rice @$22.95++)

Didn't get to taste any of the scallops as it was snapped up before I could do anything...Hahaa! The peri-peri sauce was nice, but the chicken was under-seasoned hence the flavour depended pretty much on the sauce. The Seafood Galore contained two good sized King Prawns. Impressive-looking.

By the time this post reaches you, Fish & Co. would've launched its new item, the Grilled Fish with Ebiko. Basically grilled white fish slathered generously with ebiko, served with coleslaw and chips. Soft fish, with tiny fish eggs that pops in your mouth? Sounds good. Can't show you the picture as it was already half-devoured by the time I got back to the table.

If you're planning to dine here, do check-out the promotions!

 Fish & Co

Location: #01-90
Tel: 6338 2836
Website: http://www.fish-co.com

Bugis Junction Food Trail 2013: nydc

nydc (or New York Dessert Cafe), was where my friends made me feed mudpie to a stranger, a random guy. That was for a birthday dare. Hahaa, those memories...

Fast forward to April 2013, nydc was our sixth stop of the Bugis Junction Food Trail.  Located at Level 2, we were ushered into the insides of the cafe which was rather cosy.

board menu and red menu

cosy corner

interior decor

Let's start off with some cakes.

Goldmine cheesecake (full size @$68)

Goldmine Cheesecake (@$7.20 per slice)

Boo Boo (@$6.80 per slice / $62 whole)

The Goldmine Cheesecake (New York cheesecake) was compact and dense and loved the choco fudge ontop, while the Boo Boo (chocolate cake) was airy with lots of cream. Good thing all the cakes were not overly sweet. Very nice with a cup of coffee.

Next up, how about having a ménage à trois? What's this proposition! Hahaha, relax. Have a 3-some, a strawberry mudpie where 3 layers of choco chip cookie dough are sandwiched between strawberry, strawberry cheesecake icecream and graham crackers.

3-some (@$11.80 per slice)

Or, may the sweets be with you via the Jedi Mudster, a double choc chip macadamia nut ice-cream on oreo base with homemade cookie chunks, topped with choc fudge and whiped cream.

Jedi Mudster (@$11.80 per slice)

All mudpies should be savoured last! Loved the cold ice, and the sweet sensations that attacks all at once. The bliss.

To further tempt you, scan the QR code below for e-voucher to get 50% off 2nd main course! Promo ends 20 April, so hurry!

NYDC

Location: #02-47/48, Bugis Junction
Website: www.nydc.com.sg
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nydcSG

Bugis Junction Food Trail 2013: Kazokutei

Kazokutei, originated from Osaka, and is well known for its udon. Now, there is no need for us to fly all the way there as we can sample Kazokutei's handmade noodles, right here in Singapore via any of its three outlets; at Bugis Junction, Plaza Singapura and Bishan Junction 8.

menu

from top: zaru soba, sushi and udon (tasting portions only)

cute sushi

Both the soba and udon, were served chilled.

soba

udon

The soba was refreshing and it slides up easily when slurped. Udon was chewier but in a good way. There's just something about the udon that makes you want to eat more.

Here are pictures (showing actual portion) of two items from its menu, courtesy of Kazokutei:

Mix Zaru and Mix Tempura set (@$12.90++)

Shokado Wazen (@$16.90++)

Kazokutei

Location: #02-49, Bugis Junction
Tel: 6338 0187
Website: http://www.kazokutei.com.sg

Bugis Junction Food Trail 2013: Siam Kitchen

Siam Kitchen is located at Level 2 of Bugis Junction and is halal-certified.

Started off with a small bowl of Tom Yum Talay (Tom Yum Seafood Soup). The soup has a tolerable spiciness level that was quite shiok to drink. It's sourness was just right to give it a tangy edge.

Tom Yum Talay

Besides tom yum soup, there were also the salads as appetisers; green papaya salad and mixed salad with beef.

green papaya salad with shrimp flakes (@$7.50++)

Thai mixed salad with NZ beef fillet (Yum Neau Song Kreung) @$8.50++

Both salads are strongly flavoured and I favoured the green papaya salad more for its appetite whetting abilities, while the beef fillets in the Thai mixed salad were tender with a beefy taste.

Also sampled the Deep Fried Whole Garoupa Fish (Pla Gao Tod Sam Road). The fish meat has been filleted out into smaller chunks, so that was quite convenient to eat, and the remaining whole fish bone (including head and tail) was also deep fried to a crisp and presented together on the same plate. Nice. It's quite addictive, popping those fish chunks into the mouth...

Deep Fried Whole Garoupa with chili dip (@$23.90++)

The Siam Siam Grilled Combo Platter comes with four types of meat; chicken, beef, squid and prawns, and grilled to a smokey flavour. Liked the tender chicken, while the beef was slightly dryer.

Siam Siam Grilled Combo Platter (@$22.90++)

Siam Kitchen

Location: #02-46, Bugis Junction
Tel: 6337 3777
Website: www.siamkitchen.com.sg