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.

Kopi Tiam 咖啡店 @ Swissôtel The Stamford

Nearest MRT would be City Hall, and from there head on towards Raffles City. Go up to Level 2 and follow the signs to Swissôtel. You will notice Cafe Swiss first, and Kopi Tiam is just round the corner after that.


Kopi Tiam simply means coffee shop. Here it offers comfortable environment and convenience, where one could taste local fares of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian flavours, all under one roof.

entrance

The ambiance was a bit of ecletic and some bits nostalgic.

local brand

It has been ages since the last visit to this place but I do remember what I ate then. That was before the food blogs era. Hence, for this tasting, I must taste its satay, once more. For old times sake.

menu

table for large group

For starters, we had the satay and rojak. The satay consist of a choice between chicken, beef or lamb. With a mixed plate, one gets to try all three meats all at once. Flavour was good, with the meats well marinated and most importantly, it was deliciously tender. Only lament? The meat skewers were skinny. Could have eaten two plates of these babies. Eh, we did...

beef, lamb and chicken satay @$16++

Now, the rojak. Menu states it as local Chinese salad. It has cucumber, beansprouts, turnip, water spinach, prawn paste, peanut and chili. I liked it. Well balanced and well mixed. The addition of those crispy fritters that remained crispy throughout, was a winner. This was good for sharing between 4-6 pax as appetiser.

Local Chinese Salad - Rojak @$16++

Craving for fried carrot cake and fried oyster omelette? No worries, Kopi Tiam has it. Good for sharing. If you asked, what's the difference between these and those found at the hawker centres? For one thing, the version at Kopi Tiam was less oily. The prawns used in the carrot cake was of a good size and one plate could have feed two as main course, or feed 4 as appetiser.

The oyster omelette had a good flavour going for it, loved the crispy starchy bits but I was let down by the tiniest of oysters. For this price, the expectation would be of plump juicy oysters.

(white) Fried Carrot Cake @$17++

Fried Oyster Omelette @$22++

Moving on to main courses. For noodles, one could opt for laksa or hokkien mee. Bearing the name of Signature "Kopi Tiam" Laksa, the expectation mounts. The colour was good, noodles cooked till just right and the spicy broth was rich but mild in the spice factor. The accompanying ingredients included the usual suspects of fish cake slices, tau pok (beancurd), prawns and shredded chicken. To amped up on the spice, one could request for the sambal. This versatile sambal could be enjoyed with the radish cake as well.

Signature "Kopi Tiam" Laksa @$20++

Braised Hokkien Mee “Singapore Style” @$18++

The Braised Hokkien Mee "Singapore Style" could have been great. The noodles were likeable. Its smooth  texture that glides down the throat and served hot but not burning. The serving size for this plate was rather generous and it can feed two small eaters comfortably. If the broth was infused more with those yummy seafood umami'ness, it would have been better.

If you are dining in a group, then perhaps, you might want to try the Fish Head Curry and some other small dishes to share. The fish head curry is served with pappadum and steamed rice. Its curry spiciness was of a comfortable level and perhaps might come across as mild for locals. Huge fish head with enough meat to go around for a group of 6 pax. Quite shioks to douse the rice with the curry.

Fish Head Curry @$55++

For beef eaters, try there's two styles to choose from with its own distinctive flavours.  Wok-Fried Beef with Shaoxing Wine and Soya Sauce or the Beef Rendang. The wok fried beef was of a smaller bite-sized and cubed. Surprisingly tender. Simple ingredients of New Zealand beef, rice wine and soy sauce. Yums. Give me this, a bowl of rice and I'm happy.

Wok-Fried Beef with Shaoxing Wine and Soya Sauce @$22++

For more robust flavours and beefy chunks of meat, try the beef rendang. Tasted of kaffir leaves, lemakness from coconut milk and macho beef with a bite. Wonder if they sell those yummy spicy rendang sauce in a jar.

Beef Rendang @$20++

To complete the experience, we went loco with the desserts as well. Memories of childhood surfaced with an order of hot bubur cha cha. Cubes of sweet potato, yam and tapioca jelly swimming in a bowl of milky white sweetened coconut milk. Ahhh....those were the days.

Bubur Cha Cha (hot) @$8++

For the modern Singaporean, orh nee (yam paste) seemed like a favourite. Many years ago, one of the ways to enjoy this dessert (short of making it yourself) was to wait for someone's wedding dinner and it might appear as the preferred dessert.

yam paste with gingko nuts (orh nee)

How about something that is slightly modern? The Pisang Goreng, or also known as fried banana fritters. Using pisang emas, and deep fried till golden brown. Served with a drizzle of maple syrup and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Simply lovely.

Pisang Goreng @$9++

hi there, sweetie~

Enjoyable local fares in a comfortable air-conditioned environment. If you are around that area and gotten tired from shopping, why not have a break at Kopi Tiam and try its yummy smooth (and strong) teh-tarik and sweet pisang goreng as tea-break snacks?

Special thanks to Adora, Medwin and Wendy for hosting the session and HGW for the invite.

Kopi Tiam @ Swissôtel The Stamford

Address: Level 2, Swissôtel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Road, Singapore 178882
Website: http://www.swissotel.com/hotels/singapore-stamford/dining/kopi-tiam/
Contact: +65 6431 6156
Reservations: http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/kopi_tiam_swissotel/

Marché Mövenpick @ Suntec City

It's been ages, Marché. Visited the one at Suntec City Tower 3 on a weekend, for a lunch gathering with university friends. The place is kids friendly, with a small play area where children can climb up and down the treehouse, except that it was not really a treehouse. The queue was quite daunting at about 1230pm.

If you have small children, then it will quite worth it to get the kids meal. For just $10.90, there's a main course and one glass of juice. There's also a free paper mask that the kid can colour. Nice.

kids meal

free mask with color pencils

The place is not very big but it does offer quite a good selection. For example, plenty of greens for healthy eaters, pizza made upon order, paella, the all-time-favourite rosti counter, savoury and sweet crepes, grilled meats and seafood, soups, oysters, cakes, drinks etc.

Being market style concept, just bring the Marché card issued upon entrance to the food stall that you are interested in. Make your order and pass them to card to swipe. Collect food, cutleries and enjoy.

vegetable counter

salads

savoury crepe

Finally decided on roast beef for lunch. The beef is sliced upon order. The staff was pretty generous with the meat, but the table was aghast when the plate was brought back. "It's raw!" Everyone protested. Hmm, actually quite true. Hence, to be safe, decided to bring it back to the grill station.

roast beef @ $24+

The beef was then grilled for about or minute or two on each sides. Was a tad worried that it might become too tough. Fortunately, the meat was still good! Meat was still tender and the slightly charred area was really flavourful. Liked the portion of the meat. Carnivorous cravings, satisfied. The meat was served with salad leaves, a dollop of mash potato and brown sauce. Liked mine with mustard.

grilled beef

thankfully pink

As the children were busy at the play area, the adults chit-chatted. Was considering desserts and coffee. The coffee counter do have a limited selection of cakes, pastries and bread. The staff recommended to get a set for just $4.90. The set has coffee/tea and a cake. For more pricey cakes, a top-up is required. For this coffee counter, one need to pay in cash instead. I think that's fine as one cup of coffee is already $3.50.

cake and coffee set @$4.90

insides

Actually, the cake tasted quite good. Dark and rich, yums. Good value.