This stall has been here ever since i was born and is my favorite then and now . I cant find any other chicken rice stall in yishun that is better than this , so if anyone in the north havent tried this , i definitely recommend this stall.

Plum Village, located along Upper Thomson Road, has been selling authentic hakka food. It is probably the restaurant that has the most comprehensive menu of hakka delights.

Mummy’s birthday is round the corner so we decided to bring her to eat her favourite food – Hakka delights since my family are all hakka.

Abacus Seed ( 算盘子 ) is made up of yam and tapioca flour. Yam was being steams and mashed up before adding in tapioca flour. It was then roll into small little balls with the centre being indent in. It was shaped in this way signifying reunion and signifies wealth. In most of the shops selling abacus seeds, it was mixed with more tapioca flour so as to save cost and to increase chewiness. But in Plum Village, more yams were added (similar to household making method), giving it a denser texture yet a stronger yam fragrant. Mushroom, carrots and minced meat was stirred fried with it. It would have been better with more mushroom , carrot and minced meat was added.Preserved vegetable with porkbelly 梅菜扣肉 served in plum village was disappointing. This is because the pork belly was slightly dry and wasn’t tender. The dish was not salty enough. Usually this dish tends to be more salty as the preserved vegetable was braised with the pork belly over long period of time to enhance the pork belly taste. This process brings out the saltiness within the preserved vegetable. Broccolis were stirred fried with oyster sauce. It was remarkable that the broccolis were still crunchy and green because it was usually very soft and soggy when I purchase these dish elsewhere. Sea Cucumber Stir Fried with Snow Peas 海参炒扁豆 was my dad favourite dish as he say that the sea cucumber was very nutritious. The sea cucumber was springy and chewy. It was well marinated and braised with oyster sauce. Homemade Beancurd ( 家乡豆腐) was my favourite dish as the beancurd use was very smooth, coupled with the slightly salty minced meat and mushroom, it helps to appetite me. The fried prawns in Hakka wine (红槽虾球) was something my mum missed greatly. It was something that my past grandma regularly cooks. The prawn was stirred fried in red glutinous wine. The taste was not something most can appreciate. It tasted like sweet beer. I found it slightly diluted but the prawn used was fresh.Meatball and cabbage soup taste really normal like those we can cook at home. But it is worth mentioning that the meatball was well marinated. We order this dish as we wanted something to drink since in plum village, the only available beverage was coke and Chinese tea.Prawn and meat roll (五香) was pretty decent. It was crispy and not oily. They are all handmade from scratch. Hakka Yong Tau Fu (客家酿豆腐) is a must –try item for people visiting hakka restaurant. Fried beancurd was stuffed with meat fillings before steaming it. It was tasty.If you are looking for decent hakka food, you can popped by to plum village. The food was pretty decent but do not keep your expectation too high as the food are labour-intensive so the quality might varies.

Follow me at instagram / facebook : @jacefootprints

1933 is a cafe which is opened by BreadTalk. To most, it feels like an atas version of ToastBox. The cafe offers local cuisine, priced reasonable, considering the high class shopping mall.Tea Set ($10.90++)
The cafe offers a reasonable priced tea set during the afternoon. It is pandan chiffon cake served with a choice of tea or coffee. As the coffee machine was down, the choices were limited to mostly tea.Gula Melaka Pandan Chiffon 香兰椰糖蛋糕 ($8.90)
Childhood favourite soft pandan chiffon is baked with bits of palm sugar for that extra Nyonya flavour and served with delightful Gula Melaka syrup.
Interesting chiffon cake with a layer of Gula Melaka filling in it. If not enough, there's a serving of rich Gula Melaka syrup to dip with. The cake was light and fluffy. Although it looked like there was lots of cream with dessicated coconut on top of the cake, I felt that it gave the cake a kind of moist feel.Served with Green Mango Peach fruit tea 有机芒果桃味茶 ($8)
The tea was light and fruity in taste.

Overall the tea set was enjoyable. The service was great with the staff refilling the tea without being asked to.

L'Rez is located at the far end block in Nanyang Polytechnic. Just look out for the child care centre. It is just on top of it. The restaurant is located at the level 3 and offers 3 course set lunch at $12 for students or staffs. The restaurant is also open for public with the lunch set priced at $15. As the restaurant is manned by students, it is now open only during school terms for lunch. So do call up to make sure the restaurant is open before going down.Chicken Broth with Tomatoes and Handmade Chicken Balls
perfumed with lemongrass and basil
For the Entree, there was 2 choices available but I had selected this as the weather was cold and wet. The dish was served with the pipping hot soup poured over the meatballs in front of me. The dish itself looked not bad. But the meatballs were over-seasoned and tasted quite salty.Pan-Fried Fillet of Seabass with Caramelised Pineapple Sauce
haricot verts and tomato buttered rice
For the main course, there was 2 choices but I had selected this as the other choice was spicy and I did not feel like having spicy food. It was a good choice as I overheard the staffs telling customers that the restaurant had ran out of the fish after I had ordered. The rice was quite flavourful but not evenly cooked. I could taste a few undercooked grains. The fish was well cooked and fresh.Creme Brulee Ice-Cream
chocolate genoise, chocolate crumble, fresh orange segments and orange diplomat cream
For the dessert, there was no choice to select. I had waited quite long for the dessert to be served. Seem that the kitchen could not handle the load. When the dessert was finally served, I was disappointed to find that the scoops of ice cream were all melted. I almost wanted to ask for a replacement. As I did not tend to wait any longer, so I did not ask for a replacement. The brownie was soft and moist.The set lunch was served with a cup of coffee or tea. But I had top up $1 to upgrade the drink to a hot chocolate. It tasted not bad although I would prefer a richer one.
I was surprised to be presented with the bill without asking. Kind of being pressured to leave the restaurant. Maybe they need the table as the restaurant was packed that day.

For more food reviews, visit www.umakemehungry.com

Chicken Rice Lovers should be very familar with Boon Tong Kee. They started from a small stall in Chinatown since 1979 serving Cantonese Style Chicken Rice. With much emphasis on quality service, founder Mr Thian Boon Hua and his family established their first restaurant in Balestier Road during 1983.

With good comments through media and words of mouths, business soared and following, Boon Tong Kee slowly opened a few outlets. Keeping up with changes and competitions,their business has also been diversified in such a way that they are also selling Cze Char Food items instead of solely chicken rice.Having enjoyed their delectable chicken rice from branches like Balestier and East Coast Road, Boon Tong Kee had left me a good impression ever since my first visit.

With guests coming from aboard, we think that the best and simplest food to introduce is none other than our Chicken Rice.

This was my first visit to Cheong Chin Nam branch and it caught me by surprise with their utensils (Fork & Spoon) nicely wrapped in the green sheet of paper.Knowing that we were rushing for time, the lady who served us had handled the situation well in a polite manner. Service was prompt and courteous too.Drinks were served prompting and quenching the thirst during a hot day while waiting for the arrival of our lunch.Chicken Rice was fragrant and served in a pyramid shape. Its fluffiness and the well controlled use of oil was something to look upon as you won't have a greasy feel after consumption. In fact, the rice was so good that I can actually finish them without any side dishes.With so much raved about their Boiled Chicken, you should never miss this signature dish. Meat was fork tender, gentle on the teeth. It was lightly drench with light soy sauce and was not greasy.Sweet & Sour Pork was the hit on the table! Pork was deep fried and coated with sweet & sour sauce. Even though it was coated with sauce, the style of the dish retained the crunchiness and crispiness of the food. Texture was extraordinary and in my opinion better than the jelly type ones we had in Hawkers. What's more, each piece of the cube really contains meat and not solely fats.Egg Plant was not bad either. They were cut into bite size pieces and deep fried. The softness of the egg plant was something we looked out for. Along with the sweet sauce spread on top of the dish and sprinkled with the yummy minced pork meat floss, there was nothing more we could expect.With 4 pieces of prawns, it might sound way expensive but hold on first before you decided to skip this dish away. Prawns used here was generally bigger perhaps one of the reasons why it costs more. Not mentioning that the experience with the dish was pleasant and most importantly we were very happy about the freshness of the prawns and the uniqueness of the cereals used.While most of us were expecting the dry fragrant and crispy flakes loaded onto the fleshy prawns, this dish gave its name a change with its impressive soft and fluffy cereals among the few curry leaves that touched up the overall taste! So if you have the budget, do not miss this out!Overall, Boon Tong Kee not only have delicious poached chicken that is popular among the diners but also a range of delectable Cze Char Dishes that are remarkable. The place is recommended for family dining and even for guests from aboard.