Soup Restaurant @ Clementi Mall

Located at Level 3 of Clementi Mall, was there for dinner on a weekend. Surprisingly, there was already a small queue formed even though it was just around 6pm.

Probably last ate at a Soup Restaurant a few years back. Like maybe more than five years ago?! Gosh, time flies. This time round, didn't order their signature chicken dish as we wanted to try other things.

our order chit

Chrysanthemum tea (@$2++) refillable

 Service was pretty fast, and our food arrived within 10 minutes after we ordered. Wow.

detox soup with tian qi (田七汤  @$7.90++)

Was disappointed with the soup as the tian qi taste was too weak.

stir fried san yu fish with spring onions and ginger (@$10.90++)

Thought the fish dish to be a little too bland for our liking.

black pepper venison

braised bee hoon with pork trotters (@$13.90++)

The venison dish was tender and flavourful. However, the black pepper taste here was pretty mild and the dish was pretty oily, in fact.

Liked the braised bee hoon with pork trotters very much. Flavourful, with the noodles absorbed most of the goodness from the sauce. Yums! Be careful with the smaller bones from the trotters though. The skin part was the best! There were just about 3 pieces of trotters with skin, and those are the good stuffs. Limited edition! Friend thought the dish was too salty though, but I think it'd appeal for to people who likes stronger flavours.

This meal costs about $58 for two pax.

Xiang Mei Roasted Meat Chicken Rice @ Bukit Batok Central

Was at Bukit Batok Central, and had to run some errands at Block 636. Then, came across this dingy looking foodcourt (think it was S11) and saw a queue for this stall selling roasted meat. Curiousity got to me, so I queued as well.

still queuing

Got to the front of the line some fifteen minutes later.

roasted duck and roasted pork rice (烧鸭加烧肉饭) @$5

closer view

Hmm, the roasted pork has crackly skin but the portion that I got was towards the sides so the meat was hard. Roasted duck was pretty good with tender meat. The chili was very garlicky but has no punch.

Best of the lot, was its soup. Flavourful with lots of peanuts and chicken feet.

soup, all gone

Gurney Drive @ Causeway Point Woodlands

Located at Level 5 of Causeway Point. Visited on a weekend to have a super late lunch.

seats

menu

Ordered the ampla drink (regular sized). Ampla fruit or better known as 'buah kedondong' or 'balonglong' is a small fibrous fruit with pit that's quite sour. One can eat it fresh with a sauce made of dark soy sauce, sugar and chili padi, or have it preserved. Yums.

Ampla (kedondong) drink regular (@$3.80++)

The drink was rather thin, so it was abit of a letdown. What's Penang food without lor bak? Since they have it here, we ordered a plate to try. $4.50++ can only buy us deep a few small pieces of fried beancurd and a meat springroll. Geez, seriously inflated pricing...

lor bak (@$4.50++)

meat roll

Next up, belachan chicken wings. These deep fried wings do taste like har cheong gai (prawn paste chicken). Served right off from the fryer, piping hot and juicy on its inside. Decent snack.

belachan chicken wings (@$4.90++)

For main courses, tried the lemon chicken, sweet and sour fish (add $1 for white rice), belachan fried rice and prawn noodles.

lemon chicken (@$6.20++)

belachan fried rice (@$8.90++)

sweet and sour fish (@$6.90++)

prawn noodles (@$6.90++)

The lemon chicken sauce was too sour, and the chicken too thin. Belachan fried rice has just a hint of belachan, and a nice flavourful dark soy sauce (kicap) chicken. However, the chicken was too tough. Sweet and sour fish has quite a thick coating of flour. Prawn noodles tasted good. It was served with bee hoon and yellow noodles. Soup was flavourful and likeable.

No serviettes available here. Just wet towel @20 cents each.

Expect to pay around $12+ per pax for a main course and a drink.

Mayim @ West Mall Bukit Batok (Part III)

Was there for lunch again. The food was still good as usual but the price has gone up.

jasmine tea with rose bud (@$1.65++)

Ordered dishes to go with steamed rice. Trotter's vinegar. Our must have!

pig trotters vinegar 猪脚醋 (@$8++)

yummy steamed rice liberally doused with sauce from the pig trotters dish

Not sure why but all the meat dishes arrived first.

deep fried chicken with sweet sauce (@$10.80++)

char siew with peanuts, served with plum sauce (@$7.80++)

The chicken was tasty but do watch out for the bits of bones in it. Char siew was tender and dad liked it with the plum sauce alot.

Next, the expensive vegetables! The spinach was a little bit too oily.

small tofu cubes with 3 types of greens (@$10.80++)

stir fried spinach with roast pork and lap cheong (@$13++)

stir fried fish slice with spring onions (@$10.80++)

Service was good, and hot water for the tea was refilled often. The food was more than enough for a family of 5 adults and we spent about $88.

GRUB @ Bishan Park 1

Located at Ang Mo Kio Ave 1. This park is not the one with Canopy nor MacDonalds. Some of our friends went to the other park and had to redirect them to the right one.

Once there, proceed immediately to the front of the restaurant where there's a stand with an ipad (or tablet of some sort) with an app. Follow the instructions and got ourselves into the queue. The system will send out an sms to your mobile, and the link allows the user to check the queue number as well.

At 7.48pm, there were 25 tables ahead of us in the queue and the place was full. Finally got a table at 9pm. So the legendary queue was true and yes, we were one of those that waited an hour plus. Final order at 9.45pm and the place closes for the day at 10.30pm.

cider, 500ml (@$13++)

For food, we had fish burger, cheeseburger, risotto, pork belly and steak fries.

pork belly and risotto (@$15++ and $10.50++)

parma ham crumble and shimeji mushroom risotto

The crumble was interesting and slightly intriguing as I can't really tell what it is that I'm eating. But we thought the risotto were too watery and its flavours too subdued. Someone said porridge.

Crispy fish burger (@$12++)

crumbed fish fillet, remoulade

The fish fillet had crispy crumbs but there wasn't much taste on the fillet. The sauce on the burger bun was nice.

GRUB cheeseburger (@$11++)

minced beef patty with melted Monterey Jack cheese

One characteristic of the burger buns here, was its glistening top. So shiny! Liked the cheeseburger better than the fish. The beef patty was strongly flavoured (a tad salty though). Perhaps, adding the fried egg (@$2++) might balance up the flavour a little.

 Grilled steak & fries (@$18.50++)

ordered medium rare

The ribeye was abit tough. One can chew slowly and savour its beefy flavours but guess I liked fatty beef a little too much.

Slow roasted pork belly (@$15++)

Best dish of the night? All votes went to pork belly.

Had churros for desserts. First time having this! Served with dark chocolate and sweet creme anglais.

churros (@$8++)

Best eaten while it's hot, and gotta knock off quite a bit of those sugar before dunking it into the slightly bitter chocolate sauce. Yums. Crispy outsides and abit cakey-kuehy on its insides.

The service staff were courteous, and they do acknowledge the customers' long wait. The bistro seem to be doing well, with its steady stream of diners. One might even catch a glimpse of local tv/radio personalities here.

Our meal there costs $140 for 5 pax.