Exploring Chinatown Eats @ Hong Lim Market & Food Centre

As our hotel was just next door to Hong Lim Market, we braved the rain and went about looking for food. Bustling as always, the famous stalls like Ah Heng Curry Chicken, Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sar Hor Fun, Tai Wah Pork Noodle all sported long queues.

Lucky us managed to find a seat and excited, we went on our way to scout for food.

The Old Stall Hokkien Street Famous Hokkien Prawn Mee

Decided to try the prawn noodles and the queue looked manageable. The uncle was really friendly.

Hokkien Prawn Mee with Pig Tail @$7

halved prawns

Unfortunately, am more used to the stronger broth of prawn noodles. This version tasted too mild for me. The pig's tail was nicely collageny but porky.

There are interesting eats as well and Tracy introduced us to the world of pork trotter jelly. The one with shark meat was not available hence, we had the normal one. Interesting and the accompanying dips were mild as well.

Tracy's pick - Hwee Kee's Pork Trotter Jelly 

Then, Ivan came back with fishball noodles.

Hong Xing Handmade Fishball / Meatball Noodles

mixed fishballs and meatballs

Oooh, I do like the fishballs and meatballs. It was nice and comforting on rainy days. And for finale, we had the Tuck Kee Ipoh Sar Hor Fun.

Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sah Hor Fun

crayfish prawns hor fun @$10

Pacific clam prawns hor fun @$6

Wow, the hor fun are still as good. Smooth, slippery tasty goodness. The prawns, crayfish everything was cooked perfectly. Thank you to all the uncles and aunties at the hawker centre who are still making these good food for us!

coffee break

kopi

The coffee from Coffee Break was nice. Old school in a new school packaging.

Thank you Tracy, Hence and Ivan for all the queuings and spending!

Hong Xing Handmade Fishballs/Meatball Noddles 鸿兴

Address: 531A Upper Cross Street, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, #02-30, Singapore 051531

Hwee Kee 辉记

Address: 531A Upper Cross Street, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, #02-33, Singapore 051531

Coffee Break

Address: 531A Upper Cross St, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, #02-41, Singapore 051531

Tuck Kee Ipoh Sah Ho Fun 德记怡保沙河粉

Address: 531A Upper Cross Street, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, #02-40, Singapore 051531

The Old Stall Hokkien Street Famous Hokkien Prawn Mee (老檔著名福建街虾面) 

Address: 531A Upper Cross Street, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, #02-67, Singapore 051531

Hanashizuku Japanese Cuisine 花しずく @ Cuppage Plaza

Wanted to try at least once a Japanese restaurant located at Cuppage Plaza and Google search led to Hanashizuku. Menu seemed alright with izakaya food like hot/cold appetisers, fried food, sashimi, grilled food and carbs. 

A quick check with a friend and she's available for the date and hence, reservation was secured a week ahead. Booking was relatively easy via Chope. But note that there are two seatings for the dinner with the earlier one at 530pm and the next one is 8pm. Decided to have early dinner and to complete the reservation, will need to input the credit card details with $50 deducted to secure the reservation. This 'deposit' is refundable a few days after you have completed the reservation. 

There will be a confirmation SMS once they have received it and once again a reminder on the day of the reservation itself (about 2 hours before). 

We were there at 530pm but the signage was not turned on yet. There was a group of Japanese guests waiting outside as well.

shopfront

After checking our reservation, the staff ushered us in and brought us to the counter seats.

counter seat view

ready to eat

menu

For drinks, she's having green tea while I started with calpis sour.

hot green tea @$4++

Calpis Sour @$8++

Yes, we were served the mandatory otoshi. At least it was tasty.

otoshi @$4++ per pax

My friend loves oyster, so we ordered from the Today's Special menu, The Fresh Oysters with Ikura.

Fresh Oysters with Ikura  @$20++

spicy but nice

closer view

The oysters were plump and firm. A dash of spicy yuzu sauce gave the oysters a bit of a kick.

I thought that we ought to have some vegetables in our meal, hence ordered the kaisen sarada or otherwise known as seafood salad. We were both happy with this as there were adequate pieces of sashimi on it and the dressing was lovely too. There were maguro, sake and hamachi slices on the plate. Yums!

Kaisen Sarada @$18++

yakitori of momo (@$3.50++) and liver + hatsu @$3++ per skewer

The yakitori while I liked them, its price was rather steep so we stopped at 2. Hahaa! What's dining at an izakaya without fried food? Guess what I ordered?

Tori Karaage @$12++

My next drink was the Peach Sparkling Sake which came right out of the can. Hmm, that's the downside when seated at the counter. I can see how the drinks are prepared.

Peach Sparkling Sake @$12++

For the finale, we had Mentaiko Pasta to seal the deal (or in other words, to make sure we leave the restaurant feeling full!).

Mentaiko Pasta @$19++

To our surprise, it was a rather creamy (creamiest, even!) version of mentaiko pasta. As we ate, it tasted more and more like carbonara (Japanese version, of course) and thus, it remained a mystery as the mentaiko pasta that I've had at other places doesn't look nor taste like this. But the bill stated that it was mentaiko pasta.

Overall, it was a nice experience at Hanashizuku right from reservation to the actual dinner. Although we were seated at the counter, Chef didn't interact with us. However, he smiled when we told him that the seafood salad was nice. 

Hanashizuku Japanese Cuisine 花しずく

Address: 5 Koek Road #02-01 Cuppage Plaza Singapore 228796

Website: http://www.hanashizukurestaurant.com/

Contact: +65 6733 7498

Business Hours:

Mon-Fri: 11:45am–2:30pm, 5:30–10:30pm

Sat - Sun: 5:30–10:30pm

One Night Staycation at Hotel G and Dinner & Breakfast at 25 Degrees Burger, Wine and Liqour Bar

What was the experience staying at Hotel G? Read on to find out! The stay was in late Nov 2020 and before the mad rush using the voucher. Managed to get a good deal from Agoda where the stay was for about $110 per night with breakfast in a Good Queen Room.

Booking was a breeze and the hotel will send a reminder via Agoda/email for the slot to check-in. Mine was allocated for 2pm to 3pm.

Lobby was small and there was a queue (still manageable) for guests checking in as well as checking out.

Liked that there are adequate staff on hand to guide the guests. I was handed the Health Declaration Checklist form to fill-up but it was kind of a challenge due to the dim lightings and small fonts on the hardcopy. Age has certainly caught up!

The check-in process took about half hour and was allocated a room at Level 15. Not bad.

hotel G

lift up to the room

room to the right

here we go

Good Queen Room 11 m²/118 ft²

Hotel G room are known to be small and compact, so it was not surprisingly. The room felt cosy and the music had already started immediately when guest enters the room. The workdesk is smallish and it was crowded once I placed my laptop on it. 

Queen bed was on an elevated platform and for vertically-challenged ones like me, have to be careful not to bump my knees most of the time.

nice view of MBS

mugs and kettle

yes, it was dusty

boxed water 

Overall, there are dust spots in the room but other areas cleanliness are ok. 

thank you for providing the Care Pack!

toiletries from Australian brand Metis

bathroom

I see what you did

The bathing area and the toilet bowl is separated by a shower curtain. I think this is my first time seeing a shower curtain in a hotel in Singapore. Have to try my best to avoid the shower curtain from sticking to my skin because the space is really really tight! Alas, the water will still splatter onto the toilet bowl area so best to push the floor mat abit further away from the outside of the shower area. I didn't so ended up with a very wet floor mat.

There is no fridge in the room, so get your cold drinks downstairs from Ginett or 25 Degrees, or the 7-eleven from across the street.

Dinner that night was at 25 Degrees Burger, Wine and Liquor Bar as Ginett was fully booked. If you're there before 7pm, there's a 1-for-1 Beer and Bites promo. Hence, we had beer and some bar bites as appetiser. Beer fills us up pretty quickly.

Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc (front) Asahi Black (back) @$19 (1 pint)

Tater Tots Nachos @$8

Onion Rings @$5

But of course, we can't leave without having the famed burgers. Friend ordered #4 while I had the #1. Okay, Number Four is yellowfin tuna, with spicy aioli. But, we were surprised when it arrived. The colour of the patty was unexpectedly greenish! It tasted of crisp outer and dense patty. Unable to discern if it tasted like fish (because am conditioned to think that fish burger ought to taste like fillet-o-fish). It tasted abit like those meatless patty.

Number Four @$14

good 'ol Number One @$14

looking delicious

Number One has beef patty, gorgonzola, bacon and thousand island. Ordered it medium rare and its center came out a bit more rare than expected but didn't mind it because the burger was shared by two.

medium rare

My jeans seams were straining after the meal, so a walk outside to digest is a necessity. 

night view

Didnt stay too long outside since there was work to be done that night.

Morning came by rather quickly the next day.

good morning

witty

As breakfast was provided, we headed down to 25 Degrees again. Better be there by 830am if you'd like a seat indoors.

breakfast menu

I had the American Breakfast while friend opted for the Eggs Special. Loved it that the staff brings you the fruits bowl and croissant the moment you sat down.

breakfast view

nibble on these while you wait for the mains to come

I must say, the croissant was very good. Two croissants were about just right per person! Lovely.

airy and super buttery

look at these

Best croissant from a hotel, by far. Next, was the breakfast eggs. Not the best tasting but I liked everything on my plate. 

Eggs Special

American Breakfast

And, yes... the jeans were straining once more after breakfast. Hahaa!

Overall, while I didn't have the best sleep at Hotel G, I enjoyed the cosy feels in the room and the breakfast was good. Value for money.

Hotel G

Address: 200 Middle Rd, Hotel G, Singapore 188980

Website: https://www.hotels-g.com/singapore/