Swee Choon Dim Sum @ Jalan Besar

Located at Jalan Besar Road, this establishment has been around for some time. Opened from 6pm till 10am, so don't come at the wrong timings, otherwise, you'll be in for a disappointment! We chose to sit at the open space area under large trees to enjoy the cool evening air.

view from its open-spaced area aka backlane

Once seated, we were immediately attended to by a friendly auntie.

menu

basic setup

We came for dim sum, so we ordered the basics like har gao, siew mai, beancurd roll, carrot cake, pork ribs, chicken claw, lor mai gai and fried banana fritters. Looks like we preferred the Hong Kong styled dim sum items rather than the Shanghai ones as this place serves up two styles of dim sum. For drinks, we had cold soya bean.

cold soya

The dim sum arrived in succession one after another.

chicken claw

lor mai gai

Chicken claw was not as tender as other places, so the enjoyment level as down one notch. Lor mai gai on the other hand, was good. Plump looking chicken pieces sitting on top of tasty glutinous rice that was cooked to just the right consistency.

carrot cake

As pre-warned by my friend, the carrot cake came in two large pieces that was cut into 3 bite size pieces each. Is there a saying that the side pieces were the best tasting ones and usually people will go for the sides? Not sure, but the guy in our group said so. Although the carrot cake looked like it had been fried a little too much, but the taste was good. Fragrant with bits of chinese sausages (lap cheong). Good to eat.

har gao

siew mai

A common attribute of har gao and siew mai; tightly wrapped. Only difference is the fillings and its skin. The har gao skin was not too thick and manages to hold its fillings of large chunks of prawns neatly. The pork filling in the siew mai was firm and not too dry, but not outstanding.

pork ribs

The pork ribs was tender and chewy. Not too salty and just right to be eaten as it is.

fried banana roll

beancurd skin roll

We enjoyed the deep fried items (beancurd skin roll and banana roll) very much. Clear winner of the night! The banana was crunchy and sweet. Like a dessert. While the beancurd skin was crisp and the filling of minced prawns were nice complements to the skin.

There were 12 dishes in total and we paid about $30++ for 3 pax.

Su Korean Cuisine @ Far East Plaza

Located at Level 1 of Far East Plaza, this restaurant is located at one remote corner. Last visited in 2007 (wow, that many years ago!) and hence, it was about time for a revisit.

It was a weekday evening, hence the place was not that crowded. Still looks about the same as three years back but the menu has changed a little. Knowing that their BBQ was good, we chose a set menu for two @$52++ that comprises of BBQ meats (chicken and beef short ribs), kimchi soup, rice and complimentary side dishes and fruits. However, my friend do not take beef, so we changed it to pork collar.

wet towel, chargeable

complimentary side dishes

The side dishes comprised of 8 different types of items. There were blanched items (spinach and bean sprouts), stir fried items (celery and ladies finger) and potato and kimchi. The bean sprouts tasted a little unfresh that night so we didn't take too much of it. The cooked potato and celery were nice. Tasted just like home-cooked.

marinated chicken

The service staff will ask if you'd like the BBQ meat to be cooked in the kitchen or DIY. We prefered to do it ourselves, because that's part of the fun! But it could get kinda hot in your face kind with the middle of the table heating up.

BBQ in progress

beautifully barbeque'ed meat

The meats were well marinated and tasted good. Pork collar was firm with some fatty bits while the chicken meat was tender. Service was a little erratic as they forgot to serve the lettuce and bean paste for us to eat with the meat. Dab a little bean paste (slight spicy), not too much because it is salty onto the fresh crisps lettuce, add a slice of raw garlic, place the still smoky meat (right of the hot grill) onto the leaves, wrap it tightly and put into the mouth. Yummy.

kimchi soup

The kimchi soup was served in a hot stone bowl. Its spice level was lower than expected and there was sweetness in the soup. Enjoyable with white rice. There were rice cakes and tofu squares in the soup as well. So it will fill you up quite fast.

I am not sure if a two seater (or whether there were any two seaters in the restaurant) could accommodate so many things on the table. But was glad that they put us at a table for 4. Cold korean tea goes well with the BBQ. The side dishes and tea are refillable.

This meal costs about $65 (incl. of taxes) for two pax.

Coffee Stars by Dao @ Wisma Atria

Located at Level 1 of Wisma Atria, this newly opened Thai cafe, was easy to find. Open spaced concept, so if you are seated by the side, be prepared to be oggled at by other shoppers.

interior

chair in nice electric blue

The place was bustling on a Friday night. We ordered stuffs like fried noodle shrimp and crabmeat in yellow curry egg sauce, tom yum noodle, and lots of cakes! Hahaa, we had like 4 cakes for the 3 of us. For cakes, we had coconut, baby champ cheesecake, devil food cake and durian cake.

fried noodle with shrimp and crabmeat in yellow curry egg sauce

yummy prawns

Perhaps there was a mistake? We weren't sure ourselves.. but we didn't find any crabmeat at all in this dish. But there were lots of eggs though. The kway teow was quite mild tasting and the flavour were mostly concentrated in the fried eggs. There was just a tiny hint of curry flavour. So tiny that it was almost negligible. Prawns were nice but there was hardly any kick to this dish.

various condiments

some chili flakes to give it that 'oomph'

tom yum noodle soup

looks like udon?

Had just a quick taste of the tom yum soup, and it was pretty tasty with that sourness at the end. But my friend who had the noodles said the dish didn't make any impression on her.

For me, I just had coffee and cakes.

cappucino

baby champ cheesecake

coconut cake

Cheesecake was sweet and moist. Coconut cake was light and had slivers of coconut flesh layered in it. But was not particularly fond of that cherry ontop of it. Ok for decorative purposes but felt that the cherry had somewhat disrupted the overall taste of the cake.

cheesecake

coconut cake with grated coconut, fresh cream, sponge cake, coconut flesh

Two cakes aint enough for us girls, so we ordered another two!

devil food cake

dense

durian cake

smooth and creamy

Devil food cake probably because it is sinful? Hahaa, perhaps. The cake was nicely dense and chocolatey but not overly sweet. We liked. The texture of the cake reminds me of "ma lai gao" (rice cake). Durian cake was not much of a looker, but it sure tasted good! The durian taste was not overpowering and just nice for a cake.

The service was friendly, and iced water is served here.

For this meal, we paid $23 per pax and there were three of us. Currently there is an OCBC credit card promotion where a total bill of more than $60 entitles you to a free slice of cake.

Tai Liok Claypot Rice @ Alexandra Village Food Centre

Visited the new Alexandra Village Food Centre for dinner tonight. Alot of stalls were closed. Guessed those are only opened during the day. Not many people there at night, so we took our time to browse. Old Punggol Satay had moved there from ABC Market. My friend wanted to eat claypot rice, so we went and got ourselves one pot. Minimum order is $10 for 2 pax. Waiting time was between 25-30 minutes. Added an extra order for watercress soup.

waiting patiently for our food

After some 20 minutes or so, our food came.

claypot chicken rice

add the dark soy sauce according to taste or colour...

watercress soup $4

The rice came piping hot, and it has chinese sausages (lap cheong) and a darker sausage (yun cheong) that is made out of liver. Besides that, it also has some stalks of vegetable, salted fish bits and chicken breast meat. However, do watch out for that odd bit of chicken bone and skin.

fragrant savoury claypot rice with generous amount of ingredients

spicy chili sauce

Each of us got around 4 small bowls of rice, and plenty of soup. The portion should be just right for one male and female combo, but for two females... it was a little too much... hahaaa! The chili sauce is worth mentioning. A little dash of this chili, goes a long way! Kid you not. It is loaded with garlic! Superb.

scraped till the bottom...

almost done..

Enjoyable and worth the wait. Take note that this stall is not open during lunch time.

ps: we've finished dinner by 8pm but am still feeling full... even at 1130pm...

Joe's Kitchen @ Bukit Merah

Everyday, on my way to work, I will pass by this place. From the bus, the shop's name was quite prominent as the lettering on its awning were huge. Located opposite Alexandra Hospital, and nearby you'll see an OCBC bank.

Went with a colleague to have lunch, and we reached there at about 1215pm. To our surprise, the place was empty. No other customers except us. Hmmm...

menu

interior

glass door, and outside view

We ordered mango salad, tom yum soup, green curry, prawn cake, stuffed chicken wing and pandan chicken. For drinks, I had thai iced tea.

thai iced tea

Service was brisk, and the items were delivered in succession pretty quickly. Probably because we were the first customer of the day. I felt more at ease once the other customers began to stream in... Mixture of demographics; a group of middle-aged uncle and aunties, a group of Korean ladies, a caucasian boy eating with his local friend and a group of working adults.

mango salad

with peanuts, raw onions and cuttlefish

Mango salad was a mixture of sour and sweet mangoes. It has raw onions, peanuts and cuttlefish. The cuttlefish was chewy, and perhaps the dish would taste even better if the chewy cuttlefish was replaced with small anchovies for extra crunchiness. Nevertheless, the mango salad whets the appetite and we were ready for more.

green curry (chicken)

long beans and brinjals, and tender chicken

The green curry gravy was rather bland. The vegetables were soft, and the chicken was tender. The small bowl was enough to feed 2 pax.

seafood tom yum soup

mushrooms, cuttlefish and prawns

The tom yum soup was good! Tasty and with the right sourness and spice.

stuffed chicken wing

prawn cake

Liked the prawn cake. Fresh and springy on the inside and crunchy on the outer part. Tasted even better when dipped into the chili sauce provided. However, the stuffed chicken wing, was just so-so.

pandan chicken

boneless chicken

The pandan chicken was quite disappointing. The meat was a little bit dry and not as flavourful as expected. The prawn cakes fared much better in terms of taste and texture.

All in all, the meal costs about $34 for 2 pax.