Communal: Diner.Bar.New American Restaurant @ North Canal Road

Located at the short row of shophouses along North Canal Road. Nearest MRT station is Clarke Quay and North Canal Road is supposed to be opposite of the station. My non-sense of direction has been proven, once again. Was at Clarke Quay station, followed the signs inside the station to North Canal Road but couldn't find North Canal but saw South Bridge, Upper Pickering Street and somehow still ended up at China Square. Gosh!

There's a valet parking just outside of Communal. Otherwise, pretty hard to find a lot if you're there around 8+pm. We had prior reservations, so got a table for 7 pax with ease.

entrance to Communal

table, overlooking the streets outside

shall we have one of each main course?

Happy Hour offers one-for-one Stella. Why not?

beer

For starters, we had the Communal Chicken Wings (@$12+). Simple fried wings, crunchy batter and still juicy on the insides. Served piping hot.

Communal Chicken Wings with Bourbon BBQ sauce

Also ordered various sides to try. All sides are priced at $6+.

Cornbread with Honey Butter

cornbread

Liked the cornbread very much. Crescent shaped and its outsides has a bit of crunch, plus it was savoury sweet. Goes well with the honey butter. Think I ate most of it! But they're so tiny. So tiny.
 

Parmesan and Parsley French Fries

salted and ready to eat

Very strong parmesan cheese smell, and the fries are pretty heavily salted. Washed it down with beer.

Mac and Cheese

The macaronis looked good, with cheese sprinkled ontop but all these were sitting in a shallow pool of watery cream/milk/cheese. Scooped some using the fork, accidentally dropped a few of onto the plate and had tiny sploshes of white sauce on my shirt. Hahaa! Should request for a spoon to eat the mac & cheese with. I think it's a must-have utensil. Not a fork, definitely not a fork.

Had the Smoked Potato Puree, and it was smooth and easy to eat. Like baby food but much smoother.

Now for the mains. Read rave reviews for fried chicken, so we ordered two portions to share. Each portion has two pieces; drumstick and breast meat. This tasted similar to the batter as the chicken wings. The jus oozed out of the chicken as soon as the knife cuts into the it. But for drumsticks, the best way was to eat it by hand. Yums. Ratte potatoes were nicely flavoured and cooked just right.

Fried Chicken (@$18+) with crushed ratte potatoes

firm meat, not too dry

 Next, had the Boston Lobster Mac & Cheese (@$22+).

Boston Lobster Mac & Cheese

parmesan, gruyere, white cheddar cheese, toasted bread crumbs

The texture of the Boston lobster was incredible. How is it that the meat can be so firm, yet bouncy and tasty? Very nice. The toasted crumbs really gave this dish an added distinction. Enjoyable, overall.

Next up, Pan Seared Barramundi (@$25+). The fish here was done lightly, soft flesh with mild, pleasant taste. The skin was rather salty but bursting with flavours that I liked.

Pan Seared Barramundi, peas, carrots, swiss chard, saffron-mussel jus

loved the skin

My friend ordered a sandwich. But why have sandwich, when we have meat?

BBQ Chicken Sandwich (@$12+)

And now, presenting to you, one of the best dish for the night..*insert drum roll here* The Braised Beef Cheek! *insert confettis falling*

Braised Beef Cheek with smoked potato puree, asparagus

closer view

Strong flavours, well braised meaty beef cheeks and crunchy greens contrasted against soft potato puree enhanced by the sauce. Must try, if you're a beef cheek lover. Truth to be told, I wished there was more meat. But it's ok, we savoured and enjoyed each and every bite of this!

Chef seemed to be quite liberal with the salt that night, but hey, iced water is served freely. Or, have that one-for-one Stella if you're not driving.

eat, drink and be happy

Ended the night with chocolate cake. Thank you to Communal for allowing us to bring our own cake.

Thank You, my friends

simple joy, shared with friends

Uncle's Kitchen @ Bugis Junction

Located at basement of Bugis Junction. It was a weekday evening and was searching for a place to rest and have dinner when chanced upon this open-spaced shop. It's a no frills joint, but still employs friendly service staff to take your orders, serve the food and accept payment. Nice.

table and seats

menu

Does anyone remembers "Tea Shake Hut"? =)

To reminisce, ordered the Uncle's Kitchen Chicken Wing Fried Rice (@$6.90) and a green tea peach (@$3.90) drink.

green tea peach drink

chicken wings fried rice

mixed vege (peas, corn, carrots) and diced luncheon meat

The chicken wings tasted just like last time (probably around 8-9 years ago?) while the fried rice was alright. Spotty with the salt though.

Just so you know, there's really an uncle frying up the dishes!

Lek Lim Nonya Cake Confectionery @ Bedok North

Located at Blk 84, Bedok North Street 4. It's just right next to Blk 85 (Fengshan Market and Food Centre). If travelling from the far west, one option is to take the MRT till Bedok station. Then walk towards Bedok Central bus stop and take #222. Alight opposite of Blk 85.

Lek Lim is a traditional nonya kueh shop that was founded in the late '80s and has been in its current location for 32 years. It is also halal certified.

32 years, same location

humble family business that believes delicious kueh can bring joy to anyone who tastes them

Fast forward to current; the baton has now been passed to the third-generation of the family, Gavan.

Gavan, sharing the history of Lek Lim

Gavan has shared that throughout the years, the recipe for the kuehs had seen some tweaking, in particularly to cater to the healthier crowd. Which means that currently they're using less coconut, and no eggs.

delectable ang ku kuehs

pulut inti, lovely ambons

popiah, curry puffs

fried yam cake

However, in a surprising twist, it is the fried items that's the current crowd favourite (!?).

As this was an invited session, we got to try our hands on some kueh makings. Nothing too complicated. It's more like kueh assembling rather than kueh making. It's absolutely beginner-proofed!

Ang Ku Kueh Session

pre-prepped ingredients: kueh fillings (peanut, green bean and coconut) and ang ku kueh skins

The only tools that one need for this; a plastic mould and deft hands. Ok, maybe the deft hands belonged to Gavan and the other masters in the shop. But we had fun, and the steps are really simple.


Steps:

1. Wash hands and wipe dry
2. Pinch a good amount of skin flour. The amount to pinch depends on the size of the filling
3. Roll gently to form a ball, before flattening it out
4. Make a gentle depression in the middle of the flattened skin
5. Place the filling into the depressed area
6. Roll up the skin and form a ball
7. Dip it into dry flour and roll abit
8. Dip it a second time and place the flour-ed surface into the mould
9. Press down gently (not too much, otherwise the flour ball might get stuck in the mould)
10. Knock the kueh out of the mould

rolling and rolling

red (sifu's version), black and green are the novices' version

off to the steamer, to sauna for about 25 minutes~

ready-to-sell version looks like this

If you think ang ku kueh session was simple, then the how to wrap pulut inti session would be a piece of...err.. kueh? =P


Pulut Inti Session

banana leaves, the inti (coconut filling) and the pulut

Steps:

1. Take one piece of banana leaf
2. Place one square piece of pulut onto the leaf
3. Pinch some coconut fillings
4. Wrap: Fold the leaf into half (vertical half), then tuck in one end downwards. For the other end, cross the leaf edge and tuck in downwards

tucking in progress

ta-dah~

Amah was the one that showed us how to fold the pulut inti, so I asked her how did I fare. She said, "Passed. 100%." Keke.

To appreciate the handmade tradition of Lek Lim Nonya Cake Confectionary, let's take a glimpse at how the experts do it.

lots and lots of ku chai

busy chopping, fillings for ku chai kueh

delicious savoury fillings (imagine the amount of work that had gone into this)

experts making soon kuehs

waiting to enter the steamer

moulding the peng kueh

almost ready

handmade kueh

Here's a look at completed products (sans packaging):

ang ku kuehs (boys and girls version)

 

ondeh-ondeh sans coconut coating

kueh bengka (tapioca kueh)

customers mulling over which kuehs to buy

One can't help but to feel a little more appreciative of the work that has gone through for these handmade goodies.

at home with colourful kuehs

just needa re-steam prior to eating

yummy soon kueh

fragrantly light ku chai kueh

peng kueh

For the savoury types, Lek Lim's Ku Chai (菇菜) kueh (@$0.70 per piece), has become my personal favourite. Had it right off the steamer, and its skin was super thin. In fact, I think it has the best skin! If you like the fragrance of ku chai, then this kueh will not disappoint. It gave an overall light taste. If you want this, better be there before 4pm as the kueh may be sold out by then!

In terms of stronger flavour and texture, the Soon (筍) kueh's (@$0.70 per piece) filling was the best amongst the three savouries. A multitude of ingredients including mushrooms, turnip, bamboo shoots and dried shrimps. Also liked that it wasn't overly peppery!

Lek Lim has an online presence, and one can order and have it delivered right up to the doorstep (delivery charges applies). How convenient is that!

Special thanks to Gavan and family (especially the elders!), for giving us a chance to take a peek into the traditional nonya kueh making processes. While I have not eaten enough kuehs to be able to compare between handmade and factory-made versions, I do know that I've enjoyed most of Lek Lim Nonya Cake Confectionery's especially the ku chai kueh, ambon and the green and black ku kueh (with coconut and green bean fillings respectively).

Do remember to drop by and try some of these delectable kuehs when you're around the neighbourhood.

Lek Lim Nonya Cake Confectionery

Location: Blk 84, Bedok North Street 4, #01-21, Singapore 460084
Tel: 64490815     Fax: 64424958
Email: enquiry@kuehkueh.com.sg
Website: www.kuehkueh.com.sg
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LekLimNonyaCake