Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 @ Junction 8 Bishan

Do you have a favourite outlet of Din Tai Fung in Singapore? It is pretty easy to find a branch, regardless of whether you are at the North, South, East or West side of Singapore.

It was lunch hour, and there was just the two of us. It was a hot day, so we went for the cool comfort of modern world air-conditioning. Ordered a pork chop fried rice and the all-time-favourite and must-order, the original steamed pork dumplings (猪肉小笼包).

steamed pork dumplings (猪肉小笼包) @ $10.90++

The xiao long bao (steamed pork dumplings) felt a tad smaller and less juicy, and somehow the fold slightly not so refined. It still tasted good though and that was all that mattered. Tiny parcels with tiny burst of robust pork flavour.

pork chop fried rice (猪排蛋炒饭) @$12.90++

The pork chop fried rice surprised me a little. Usually, the flavours of the fried rice was really mild. This plate of pork chop rice was the tastiest of all Din Tai Fungs thus far that I've ever tried in Singapore. Not to say I've tried many but at least when compared against the ones at JEM, Serangoon NEX, Paragon and Resorts World Sentosa. The pork chop did not dissappoint. Wonderfully tender and tasty.

Expect to spend from $15 onwards for a meal here.

GRUB @ Bishan Park 1

First time visiting during lunch hour on a weekday. To get here, one could take a cab and drop off at the Bishan Park carpark. Informed the taxi uncle to take us via Sin Ming Avenue.

The days of the long queues might have passed, but this place is still pretty busy during lunch hour. Lunch sets are priced at $15 and $17 and you'll get additional cake, on top of your burger or main course. Quite a good deal, considering that the average cost for a burger is about $13, so that $2 extra would nett you a decent slice of cake for desserts. If you get a pasta dish, for example one that costs $17, then with the lunch set, the cake would practically pay for itself. Free, even better!

lunch set

Had tried the fish burger and the cheeseburger during previous visit, so this time round, went for the Har Cheong Gai Burger. I can almost imagine how it would taste like. Yums.

Food was served pretty fast. All burgers come with fries, but one could opt for a small salad as well. Needed my greens, so no prize for guessing what I had. Tangy vinaigrette and pleasingly sourish.

The patty for the har cheong gai was fried till a deep brown colour. Very very crispy batter. Am thinking that if the burger was served with those fragrant sambal belachan, then the oomph factor would probably have shot up by twofold!

Har Cheong Gai Burger @$13++ (ala-carte), or $15++ (lunch set)

are we ready?

Liked the portion of the meat. Easy to slice through and it was juicy thigh meat encased in crispy prawn paste batter. The prawn paste taste was rather mild but one could still detect it. The crispy batter somehow reminded me of luncheon meat chips.

juicy thigh meat

For the cakes, there were adequate options and variety to choose from. On our day of visit, there were about 6 cakes options and a key lime pie.

rainbow cake, key lime pie, lavender earl grey, ondeh-ondeh and milk tea cake

The top two cakes for me was the rainbow cake and the ondeh-ondeh cake. Don't you feel happy, just by looking at those colourful layers of soft sponge?

Kedai Makanan Wan Fatt @ Jalan Mendaling

Revisited this place for some zhichar when I was back in Kajang during the December festive period. Read about my first documented visit here in 2012.

Wan Fatt feels rather run-down actually...but as long as the food is good and price is reasonable, then it is still one of the go-to places in Kajang. Rather unique to be going to a place that is like within temple grounds.

large tables for families

menu board

My cousin and uncle met us for dinner so there were 7 of us. Ordered five dishes; fish, pork, chicken, vegetable and a tofu dish. This place has a rather extensive menu and ordering was easy as the menu has pictures.

When eating zhichar in Malaysia, usually the dips would be garlic and bird-eye chilies with soy sauce. Drinks would be a pot of tea.

must-have

yum cha

Food arrived fairly quickly as we were there around 630pm. The crowds for weekends usually starts after 7.

(from top, clockwise - stir fried yau mak, pork ribs in golden pumpkin, two types of almond chicken, braised beancurd

The steamed tilapia with minced ginger was good. Think the fish was probably a good one kilo in weight. Vegetables were done stir-fried with preserved beancurd (the one's that is eaten with plain porridge).

The golden pumpkin was a bit bland though, but the pumpkin was naturally sweet. The chicken was a combo of crispy chicken skin with fish paste served with plum sauce, and the middle one would be deep fried chicken in salted egg yolk.

closer view of the almond chicken

The braised beancurd pot was really good and it has some vegetables in it as well. The sauce was good with the rice.

This meal for 7 pax cost about RM153.

Kedai Makanan Wan Fatt

Location: Temple Bangunan Tin Hong See, Jalan Mendaling, 43000 Kajang, Selangor Darul Ehsan
Contact: 012-656 6553, 019-326 8476
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kedai-Makanan-Wan-Fatt-Kajang/137778679626580