If I am not mistaken, Fu Le Fried Hokkien Mee 福乐炒虾面 opened at Sunshine Plaza early last year (2012). I have walked past Sunshine Plaza a couple of times and noticed this eatery because of the aroma of its Hokkien Mee. I was thrilled when I found an opportunity to patronise this eatery on a weekday night for dinner at around 730pm. To my surprise, I was the only customer. When I walked past previously during lunch time, it was nearly always full. Fu Le Fried Hokkien Mee 福乐炒虾面 offers five items on their menus (exuding drinks), namely, Fu Le Fried Hokkien Mee, Hor Fun, Oyster Omelette, Prawn Omelette and Home Made Ngo Hiong. In addition, customers can choose to order Set Meal A or Set Meal B which includes the Hokkien Mee with a Drink.

I ordered the Fu Le Fried Hokkien Mee as it was their signature dish. It was served to me within a few minutes. The Fu Le Fried Hokkien Mee $4.50 (Regular) was the wet version type. The noodles were soaked in the brown gravy till they were all brownish in colour. If you look closely at the pictures, you might have noticed that a mixture of yellow noodles and thick beehoon (white) were used. Both type of noodles had turn brownish in colour. This was most probably because it was cooked earlier, left in the work and then re-heated when a customer comes in to make an order. In addition, the squids and prawns were overcooked. There was just 3 pieces of prawns and 3 pieces of squids in this plate of Hokkien Mee. If there were many customers or if the turnover was fast, this might not have been an issue (prawns/squid over cooked and noodles turning brownish in colour).

The gravy was another let down. It was not flavourful, instead was salty. In fact, there was an after taste which gave a strong hint that too much light soy sauce was added (or I will put it in another aspect, it tasted like light soy sauce except that it was thicker and more gooey). A very disappointing bowl of Hokkien Mee. At $4.50 the ingredients given (e.g. prawns, squids, egg) were miserable. The plate looks huge mainly because of the generous portion of the yellow noodles and thick beehoon.

Honestly, I doubt that I am going back to Fu Le Fried Hokkien Mee 福乐炒虾面 again. There are other eateries in Sunshine Plaza that I would rather visit such as Victor's Kitchen, Ichi Tei (Japanese Bento & Udon) and Aroy Dee Thai Cafe.

Just in case you do not know where Sunshine Plaza is, it is located in between Bugis and Dhoby Ghaut MRT station. It is a 5 minutes walk away from POMO and Peace Centre. It is just across the road from the new Singapore Pools building along Middle Road.

For full review and more photos, please visit http://foodiefc.blogspot.sg/2013/03/fu-le-fried-hokkien-mee-sunshine-plaza.html

Heng Heng Fishball Noodle located at Albert Centre Market & Food Centre specialises in fishball noodles. At the hawker centre you are spoilt for choice as there are so many stalls selling a wide variety of food. There were at least 3 stalls selling fishball noodles. I decided to try Heng Heng Fishball Noodle as there was a queue at the stall. (As you may notice, I am a typical Singaporean haha, goes where there's a queue)

I queue for around 20 minutes before I got to order my food. I ordered the dry version of the Fishball Minced Meat Noodle. The fishballs, meatball, meat dumpling, fish cakes and minced meat were served in a bowl of soup, separately from the noodles. As usual, I upsized my order to $3 instead of $2.50 (that's how greedy I am). Don't be mislead by the photo above. The portion of noodles (mee pok) given was huge; a whole chunk! The noodles was topped with pork lard and spring onion to increase the fragrance. I gave it a good mix as the seasoning was at the bottom. I had a hard time mixing the noodles with the sauce as the noodles was cluttered together in a lump. The noodles was very disappointing, it was overcooked. I did not finish it.The bowl of soup chocked full of ingredients fared better. They are very generous with their ingredients such as fishball, fish cakes and also minced meat. The soup was laden with MSG.

Overall, I would say that Heng Heng Fishball Noodle are very generous with their ingredients. But their Fishball Minced Meat Noodle was really disappointing. Maybe they will fare better with their Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle. For now, I doubt that I will be back anytime soon as there are so many more stalls for me to try. And even if there are none I want to try, I will stick to Angel Horse Teochew Fish Soup or Four Seas Fried Hor Fun.

ps: This hawker centre needs better ventilation. It is quite warm, in fact, it is down right hot. Definitely not a place for the first date. But there are gems in here worth the wait and heat for. For example the Fish Soup at Angle Horse Teochew Fish Soup and Seafood Hor Fun at Four Seas are worth a try if you are there.

Detailed review: http://foodiefc.blogspot.sg/2013/02/heng-heng-fishball-noodle-albert-centre.html

Northpoint Food Court has undergone a revamped and now the food court is run by Kopitiam. Previously, before the renovation, this was no doubt the most popular stall in the food court with a long queue that can stretch to as 10 to 15 people during meal times. This time there was only 3 person at the stall, not a queue. (I think I know the reason why there was no queue... read on to find out)

Remember how in my previous post in 2010 I mentioned that the price of the Chicken Biryani Set has increased from $4.50 to $6? Well, this time there is another revision in price to $7. I can understand that the price has gone up as the rental expenses are bound to increase (after the revamp) and inflation rate in 2011 in Singapore surged to 5.2%. What made me unhappy was that the 2 pieces of crackers (which are my favourites) are no longer provided in this set. Increasing the price and cutting down on quantity or quality is a big no no to me.. (that's not the way to do business).. ok enough ranting.The Chicken Biryani Set was served with chicken, vegetable (of your choice) and rice. A very generous portion of rice was given. Each grain of rice was well cooked and curry drizzled over it, it was delish. The chicken flaming red in colour was not overly spicy. Inside, the meat was soft and tender.

I can't help but wonder if the lack of queue was due to the price increase couple with the decrease in portion. After all, last time there will always be a long queue without fail. I doubt I am eating this anytime soon. The food was good. But this is too pricey. I am better off eating other stuff.

Detailed review: http://foodiefc.blogspot.sg/2013/02/shami-banana-leaf-northpoint.html

V8 cafe is located at a corner of Bugis Junction. Unless you have heard of it or happen to walk pass, chances are that you would not have seen it. Pop by for lunch during a weekday on 2 different occasions. Not too crowded. The most 70% occupied.

Let's start with the first visit.

As it was my first visit, the item that caught my eye was V8 Cafe Signature Dish. After all, the signature dish is the item that will be the differentiating factor.

As it was during lunch time, the dish comes as a set along with soup and drink (Ice Lemon Tea).The soup of the day was Cream of Mushroom. Somehow what I notice was that it was half filled. Nothing comes free does it? =) It was a decent mushroom soup.In the V8 Cafe Signature Dish, the main item was the grilled chicken which was accompanied by whipped potato, coleslaw and carrots (boiled). The cheese did not overwhelmed the taste of the chicken. In fact, it complemented the taste. Inside, the chicken is tender and juicy. Outside the skin was crispy at the side. Thought that it was quite an average. But if it is the signature dish for V8 Cafe, then I will disagree as there is nothing special. You can get a similar item at other restaurants or western stalls in coffee shops.

Overall, service and ambience was good. If you find the background music too loud, you can request for the volume to be lowered. Food wise it was average.

Next will be on the 2nd visit. Again, similarly about 70% occupied.

Ordered the Chicken Cutlet $8.80. As it was lunch time, the meal came along with soup of the day and drink (Barley).The soup of the day was Cream of Mushroom again. Was half-filled. This time the soup was not as decent as the previous time. It was quite salty.The Chicken Cutlet was served with salad and onion rings. Just 3 pieces of onion rings which were oily. The chicken cutlet was even more oily. Not a decent dish.

Overall, service and ambience was good. But the food this time was way below average - terrible.

Detailed review: http://foodiefc.blogspot.sg/2011/09/v8-cafe-bugis-junction_18.html

Spotted this Hainan Chicken Rice outlet along Middle Road called Sing Ho Hainan Chicken Rice. The menu cover looks like looks like some vintage Shaolin Martial Art book.

As usual, I ordered 1 plate of 'white' chicken rice with organ (gizzard).With such a large plate, it make it seems as though the chicken rice is very little. The chicken rice was hard and dry. The chicken flavour was not fully infused into the rice.How was the chicken? Just average. But glad that quite a generous portion of chicken was given. However, only 4 pieces of gizzard was given.The chilli was average. But the ginger was surprisingly fragrant and cut finely.

Despite all the positive reviews online. I beg to defer. Overall, it was disappointing. The chicken was average while the rice was disappointing. In any chicken rice stall, there are 3 important factors. 1) The chicken. 2) The rice. 3) Chilli. So far none met my criteria for this stall.

Detailed review: http://foodiefc.blogspot.sg/2011/09/sing-ho-hainan-chicken-rice-middle-road.html