Feeling Crabby

My partner heard from her colleagues that there was this nice stall specializing in crab dishes somewhere near Sunshine Place in Choa Chu Kang. Incidentally, my brother knew exactly which stall she was referring to. And it was not near Sunshine Place, but in it. Located at the junction of Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1 and Choa Chu Kang Road, Pang Xie Shi Fu (loosely translated as the Crab Master), was actually a stall in the small shopping complex's foodcourt, though it operated facing the road. You couldn't miss it with many hungry diners filling up the seats outside of the foodcourt... fast. So you better go there earlier, else you might in for a wait.

Our menu for the dinner was chili crab (with extra fried buns), bai ling mushroom with cauliflower and three cups chicken (san bei ji). Lets talk about the mushroom and chicken first: the portions were big and the mushroom was especially sweet and gave a very good texture. Most enjoyable eating it. The chicken might be slightly over cooked but nevertheless, the flavour was strong and taste great. Not to mention that it was served in a claypot that stayed hot till the end of the dinner.

As for our main focus, the chili crab gravy was not too bad, a bit spicy only, and just the right thickness. Great for eating the rice and buns with. The meat of the crab did not stick to the shell (which was great!) and was soft and tender and yet not to mushy. Overall, we would say it wsa not as good as that in Jumbo, but its really value for money.

So if you are in Choa Chu Kang in the future, why not drop by and have a crab of a time!

Pang Xie Shi Fu
Sunshine Place Kopitiam
Choa Chu Kang Ave 3

sand art

Enchanting ... sand art performance that I caught some time back at Esplanade.
example of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2pLHLOnG6I

Swadee @ Bukit Timah

Came across this thai eating house, Thai Noodle House, on other blogs and decided to try it. Hidden in a small arcade in Coronation Road, it was a small air conditioned place. It was empty in the restuarant when we arrived as it was quite early, but the lunch time crowd soon swarmed the place. Tucking into a nice warm bowl of Tom Yum noodle soup, with morsels of papaya salad... mmm, delicious. Pinched a few mouthfuls of Phad Thai and Blachan Rice from my colleagues, and they tasted great too! No wonder it was recommended by so many people in Singapore, locals and expats alike. However, for those who like it spicy (like me), I have to say that it was slightly disappointing, but the taste more or less made up for it. Wasn't quite full after the meal, so we added dessert like chendol, tapioca and strong Thai coffee for me and another colleague. All in all, it might be slightly pricey, but hey, it good food! So check this out the next time you are in Bukit Timah!


Thai Noodle House
No 5 Coronation Road
Coronation Arcade
(just opposite the Shell Station at Coronation Plaza)

Great Food @ Adam Road Hawker Centre!

Was having lunch one day at this popular hawker centre in Bukit Timah and was pondering over what to eat when I saw this long queue at a particular nasi lemak stall. Being a typical Singaporean, the first thought is simply: anything with a long queue must have good food! So queue I did, and good food it was. The rice was very fragrant and the chicken wing was fried to a crispy finish. And the chili did the nasi lemak much favour too, albeit slightly sweet. So if you have a craving for nasi lemak, here is one good place to go!

On another occassion, I tried the prawn noodle, yet another popular stall here. Though you will need to part with more bucks than you will expect, let me assure you that the money is well spent. Sweet succulent prawns await you when you order a bowl of the prawn noodles. The soup is thick and rich, and it will definitely leave you hungry for more (literally, because the serving size is not very big for a hungry customer).


So next time you are in Bukit Timah and have no idea what to eat, do check out these stalls out!

Adam Road Hawker Centre
2 Adam Road

Really Expensive Bak Kut Teh

On a 'good' suggestion by my colleague, we went to try this fabulous bak kut teh at Tanjong Pagar Complex along Keppel Road, opposite Jit Poh Building. Don't get me wrong, the food is really good. The soup is thick and fragrant, albeit with generous portions of pepper. The salted vegetables, peanuts, pig stomach soup, fritters and many more are just nice.


It was a satisfying meal, but here is the bombshell: be prepared to spent about $15 if you wish to try many of the dishes. That's kinda over budget for a lunch, but well, we do need to indulge ourselves every now and then don't we? So do make your way to this address:

Outram Park Ya Hua Rou Gu Cha
7 Keppel Road #01-05/07
PSA Tanjong Pagar Complex

Big Fat Sausages

We weren't counting on feeling the breeze on our face when we approach the restaurant, but as it was, the wind brought a refreshing feeling as we were directed to our seat at the alfresco area inside the Brotzeit German Bier Bar and Restaurant, facing the sea. Squinting at the menu under the dim lights, we quickly made our choice for our dinner tonight: Weisswurst pork and veal sausage and wild mushroom stew. to be washed down with half a liter of original munich lager. Whilst waiting for our food to be served, we sipped the great tasting lager and watched as the cruises passed by. While Pierside Kitchen and Bar was more romantic - the perfect place for a quite meal, Brotzeit was the place where you could chit chat to your heart's delight, with a loved one, or a group of friends.

Soon after, two succulent sausages accompanied by perfectly grilled potatoes were served. We love this dish, especially the veal sausage, which had a satisfying crunch to it, without the oiliness. The mushroom stew was not too bad either, with a sweet aroma that complemented the lager. The dumplings that came with the stew didn't sit too well with me though, but that was probably just a personal choice.

As we sipped the last of the lager, we told ourselves that we would definitely be back for more of the great food and drinks.



Brotzeit
Vivocity
#01-149-151
Tel: 62728815

Waraku @ Central

On a request from my partner, we decided to pay the over-hyped (IMHO) Central a visit to see what exactly it has in stall. After navigating through the confusing turns and narrow corridors, we finally came to a Japanese restaurant Waraku, sort of hidden in one corner on the 3rd floor of the shopping centre. Business must be good because we had to wait half an hour before we get to go in. But meanwhile we didnt waste time and checked out The Kiss jewellery shop on the 1st floor. The brightly lid shop showcased exquisite jewellery, ranging from silver to platinum to gold. The friendly staff catered to our numerous questions with smiles on their face. Felt really good talking to them. Will definitely consider this shop if we are getting any jewellery.

So half an hour later, it was back to the restaurant for our meal of cheese cream noodle, salmon sashimi, prawn maki. The prawn maki is good, though we felt that the Dragon Roll at Sushi Tei at Vivocity was better. The same cannot be said for the other two though. The cheese cream was abit thick, and the salmon sashimi could be fresher. So guess it wasn't such a good dining experience for us. If you dined there and felt otherwise, do let us know.