jens

This is my first time trying out the deep fried spring roll from old chang kee, or known as Spring O. The spring roll exterior is not as crispy as I have liked it to be, probably because it has been sitting out for quite long. However, the interior fillings made up for it. It is very flavourful and it is slightly crunchy to the bite as well. There is also some carrot in it. I almost wished there is belachan chilli for me to dip the roll into. Overall, I find OCK’s rendition of the spring roll to be quite a refreshing change from the usual spring rolls sold in restaurants or served at buffet tables.

SGD 1.20

I had my afternoon tea at Coffee Club. I didn't want something cakey, so I decided to try their mango macaron. This mango macaron is unlike the normal ones since there are several stuff in between the two macaron shells. There is a layer of mango cubes, mango cream and some nuts within the two shells. It is quite challenging eating it without making a mess since the shells are quite fragile, but the whole thing tasted great. The mangos give a little sourish taste to the sweet macaron shells and the nuts provided some crunch. Macaron lovers should try this out. I enjoyed it a lot.

I was craving some ice cream and since Ben and Jerry's is the nearest place to have ice creams, my hubby decide to oblige me even though they are rather expensive. I went for the good old chocolate flavour and I was not disappointed with the chocolate at all. It is really thick and intense and it gave me a chocolate high with the large amount of cocoa. Chocolate is good for health in moderate amounts so I am not complaining at all. Chocolate lovers should definitely try this since the chocolate intensity is there and it is hence worth the higher price.

Granny's pancakes have quite a few branches in Singapore and the one here in ghim moh is just one of them. There are different fillings to choose from but I decided on the peanuts filling pancake. I got 10 of them home and while on the bus home, the peanuts is really fragrant until the lady next to me on the bus kept peering over at what I was holding. Tastewise, it is as good as it smells. The peanuts are really very fragrant and I like that the pancake is not overly sweet. Instead, the peanuts taste and flavour is more dominating than the sugar which is what a good peanut pancake should be like. The peanuts given is also very generous as well, making this very worth it.

On the same day that I was there for the food and rojak, I also ordered drinks from the drinks stall since it is a hot day out even though it is already evening time. One person in the group ordered for all of us and I am also not quite sure what exactly he ordered. It tasted like fruit punch to me and it is surprisingly refreshing and not watered down. Nothing beats an icy drink and the fact that it is not overly sweet is also good in helping to curb our thirst. Often, too overly sweet drinks just make me feel even more thirsty, but not this drink.

The group of us went to Longhouse and in big groups, we always like to order something extra just to have something to munch on while we continue our chatting. We ordered two plates of the rojak, one with chilli and one without. The rojak comes with cuttlefish, you tiao, tau pok, cucumber and all the other usual ingredients. The cuttlefish is still crisp and is very tasty indeed. The prawn paste used for the rojak is also quite nice, not too strong on flavour so it wasn’t too overly salty. The amount of peanuts given is not as much as the one at Toa Payoh HDB hub, but it is enough for the additional crunch and nutty flavour.

This is my first time coming across a steamed dishes stall in a hawker centre, so I decided to just order one of the dishes to try. As my hubby loves pork ribs, I decided to get the black soya sauce pork ribs dish. The food was served quite promptly and it smelt very nice as the stall helper placed it down on our table. The pork ribs was quite tender and was adequately seasoned. The meat is also tender and it is not difficult for the both of us to polish off the entire dish of pork ribs. The only thing that is not too good is that there is really more bones than meat, but otherwise, it is a good experience ordering from this stall and I will be back for more.

As we had a relatively filling breakfast, my daughter and I decided to get porridge for our lunch. There is another stall selling porridge, but we decided on the porridge from this stall as the queue is shorter. We got the raw fish+plain porridge set which costs $3.50. My mum ordered another bowl of plain porridge to go with the raw fish. The porridge is quite well balanced in that it is neither too starchy nor watery. Although it was plain porridge, but it is quite savoury by its own. The raw fish is very appetising, dressed up with sesame oil, red chillis and coriander. We wished we had ordered the $5 portion though, because it is so tasty!

SGD 3.50

I normally do not order mixed veg rice if I dine outside, but I made an exception since this stall's food looked really good as I was sitting right in front of the stall. I wasn't really expecting much of my plate of rice with long beans, fried sour and sweet fish and tofu, but the food is really quite good. The long beans are not fried until they have become crumpled, it is not too soft and still retains the crunch. The fried fish is also very tasty because I didnt feel like I was eating lots of flour instead of fish meat. The tofu is just the normal kinds but the other two dishes are above my expectation. Overall, I would say this is one stall that serves quite good dishes at an affordable price.

One thing I appreciate from this stall, when I ordered my plate of rojak, is that they only cut their ingredients upon my order. In this way, it helps to retain the freshness of the ingredients, especially the cucumbers, pineapples and the mang guang. I got the normal standard rojak at $2.50, but there is a choice of grilled cuttlefish which comes at a more expensive price tag. Although I ordered takeaway, the youtiao and the dried beancurd (tau pok) is surprisingly crunchy! There is a generous amount of peanuts sprinkled on top of the rojak which adds on to the crunch factor. Definitely worth a try.

This is not my first time buying the salty tau sa pia from Fragrance. I only go for the mini tau sa pia since I find that the mini ones have more bite to it and it is just right in size to polish it off in two bites. The crust to filling ratio is just right as well, though I think the mini ones have more crust so as to make the tau sa pia hold better. The salty mung bean filling is not too crumbly which I like since I wouldn’t make a mess eating it.

Having gotten a custard pau previously from Kimly, I was keen to try on their other paus since I am quite satisfied with the taste of their paus. I decided on the char siew pau. The char siew pau is unlike what I have eaten before. The char siew is more of the minced meat kind which sticks together instead of separate. This makes me feel like I am eating a pork pau instead of a char siew pau. Moreover, the char siew didn't have the caramelized bbq taste. It is quite a disappointing experience. I would just stick to the custard pau next time if I want to order.

I am quite a fan of traditional ice cream flavours, preferring to stick with vanilla, chocolate flavours. When I saw there is actually a vanilla bean flavour, I decided to try it. I was told that the difference between this and the normal vanilla is the addition of black vanilla beans into the vanilla bean ice cream. Indeed, I can see little specks of black bits in my vanilla bean ice cream. Taste wise, it is almost the same, but there is more depth in the flavour. I am not too sure how to describe it, but it just taste slightly better than the normal plain vanilla. After trying this, it got me addicted to vanilla bean ice cream now!

I ordered the turkey bacon aglio which consists of turkey bacon, chilli, garlic and diced tomatoes tossed in olive oil. This must be one of the best pastas offered by Pastamania. I love how spicy and fragrant it is. Though it is a little oily due to the olive oil, the olive oil is healthy hence there is really nothing to worry about especially if you eat it once a while. The turkey bacon was delicious as well. Those who like spicy and flavourful pastas should definitely order this!

SGD 7.70

I will buy breads from Green Pumpkin whenever I am in NEX and yesterday, I tried the green pumpkin. The exterior of the bread is very pretty with it resembling a japanese green pumpkin. The green pumpkin bread has a very fluffy exterior and the interior lies the orangy hue pumpkin which is smooth and sweet. The ratio of bread to filling is just right, anymore or less it will end up tasting too sweet. However, the only thing which I didn't quite like is the price since it is pretty expensive for such a bread at $1.60.