Broadway Claypot Rice 百乐匯砂煲饭 has more than 30 years of history and as it's name suggest, it specialises in dishing out claypot rice. It is located at Coffee City, the same coffee shop as the Xu Yan Tonic Soup that sells great herbal soup.If you are observant, you will notice that although the sign says 'Claypot Rice', most of the items on the signboard are pig organ soup and bak kut teh.

As mentioned earlier, Broadway Claypot Rice over the years has built up its name by serving claypot chicken rice. But not just any normal claypot chicken rice. Customers have the choice of asking for the 'normal chicken' or 'kampong chicken'. And of course the kampong chicken claypot rice will cost more.The prices of the 'normal chicken' and 'kampong chicken' claypot rice are at the bottom of this picture. As there was two of us, we ordered the Claypot Chicken Rice (normal chicken) for 2 person at $13. There has been an increase of price by $1 after this coffee shop was renovated. Takes about 20 minutes for it to be served after ordering.Do be careful not to touch the claypot as it is sizzling hot and steaming. Look at the smoke 'emitting' out.Looks quite big and wide, but the claypot bowl is very shallow.Here's how it looks like after stirring and mixing all the rice and ingredients. I have eaten the claypot rice at this stall before. This time I can't help but comment that it looks different. Way too much dark sauce was added.. and I was right. It was quite salty... and I was disappointed. Standard has dropped. This time the amount of dark sauce has masked the fragrant of the other ingredients except for the salted fish. Other ingredients include chinese sausage and spring onions.

The good news is that there are lots of charred rice at the bottom of the claypot (to the disapproval of the partner). Crispy and crunchy.

Wonder if standard has really dropped or if it was a one off incident.

Detailed review: http://foodiefc.blogspot.sg/2012/03/broadway-claypot-rice-ang-mo-kio.html

Malaysia Peddler Sidewalk 大马路边摊 specialises in serving authentic Malaysian noodles such as Tuk Tuk Mee (Wanton Noodle), Curry Laksa, Ipoh Hor Fun and Bak Chor Mee. Today, they have six outlets in Singapore.Minced Meat Noodles also known as Bak Chor Mee. This is Bak Chor Mee follows the Malaysian style where black sauce is used. The Mee Kia was overcooked. As a result the noodles were not springy and were very soft. It was saved by the aromatic black sauce which they made themselves. But still the noodle was overcook which was an impression that stuck to me. A generous amount of minced meat and liver was given. However, the liver was overcooked. (Another negative factor..) Other ingredients include meat slices, fried shallot, spring onions and meat ball. What a pity, if only the noodle and the liver were cooked properly, with their black sauce, it would have been delicious.Two type of chilli provided. One sambal chilli and the other is chilli powder.Add the chilli powder should you prefer the prawn noodle to be more spicy.

The Penang Prawn Noodle was average. Prawns were firm and fresh. However, the prawn broth was too light. It was not tasty enough and I felt that the essence of the prawn flavour was not brought out fully. In addition, yellow noodle and thin bee hoon (幼米粉) did not complement each other well as they were of different size. Comparing this to Zhen Zi Prawn Noodle, this pales in comparison. Zhen Zi Prawn Noodle was so much better. If you like your prawn soup to be light in terms of flavour and taste, then this will be suitable for you.My 3rd dish, the Ipoh Hor Fan did not disappoint! I was surprised, this was fantastic! The key in this dish is the gravy. The gravy was perfect. Made of mushroom sauce, oyster sauce and other ingredients, it was not salty nor was it thick. In addition, it was flavourful and tasty. Make sure you mix it well with the flat rice noodle (hor fan). Coupled with the fresh ingredients, this was definitely the best dish! Furthermore, the mushrooms were succulent and had adsorbed the gravy!

Well, that marks my visit to Malaysia Peddler Sidewalk 大马路边摊 at Yishun. It is quite obvious which is the dish I like. Their other outlets are located at Suntec, Tampines Mall, Tampines Mart, V-Hotel and Greenwich.

Detailed review: http://foodiefc.blogspot.sg/2012/04/malaysia-peddler-sidewalk-yishun.html

Pastamania is probably one of the biggest Italian restaurant chain in Singapore. Currently, they have 48 outlets in 8 countries, 29 of which are in Singapore. They specialise in serving quick casual Italian food (pasta and pizza). I believe most of us here, would have patronise Pastamania before. I have patronise Pastamania when I was younger quite frequently. This recent visit to Pastamania is my first since a long long time (over a year). In terms of the environment, it is the same at all its outlets; the chairs, tables, walls, counter, tiles and lights. The standardisation is a good thing as I found the setting familiar despite not having patronise Pastamania for sometime.

Add on one of the Combo to make it a complete meal which allows you add different permutations of soup/ drink/garlic bread.

When ordering a pasta dish, there are 5 types to choose, mainly Penne, Fusilli, Linguine, Spaghetti or Wholemeal Spaghetti.The standard of the Garlic Bread seemed to have dropped drastically. It was served cold. Moreover, there was no garlic flavour which the buttery flavour did not cater to my taste bud.

The Minestrone Soup full of ingredients was too sour.

Fortunately, the Cream of Mushroom fared better in comparison to the Minestrone Soup. In terms of thickness it was just nice and there were pieces of mushrooms in it. The only issue I have is that the flavour of mushroom was not sufficient. It was akin to a bowl of Campbell soup with mushrooms added in separately. The Marinara which I always order when I patronise Pastamania, consisted of pasta (spaghetti) cooked with prawns, squid and clams in tomato herb sauce. Still my favourite. The squid was cooked well and it was not rubbery while the clam was fresh. The down side was that the prawn was not too fresh. Overall, still one of the better dishes at Pastamania.Turkey Bacon Cheesy Crumble consisted of pasta (fusilli) cooked with turkey bacon in homemade cheese sauce topped with parmesan crumble. Somehow the ingredients such as turkey bacon seems to be lacking. It was plain and akin to eating pasta with cheese.

The dishes were served very quickly within less than 10 minutes after ordering. Their kitchen must have a very efficient system in place. Pastamania is halal certified. In terms of price, it is one of the more affordable place to have Italian cuisine. Food wise, I won't say that it is fantastic.

Detailed review: http://foodiefc.blogspot.sg/2012/10/pastamania-plaza-singapura.html

Eleven Finger (Eu Kee) Scissors Curry Rice is located in a coffee shop called 'Rong Liang Ge Eating House' behind Bugis+ (formerly Iluma). The stall serves Hainanese style curry rice. Although there is always a long queue during lunch hours, the turnover is quite fast. They sell just a few items such as chicken wings, fried egg, tau pok, stewed cabbage (chap chye), braised pork belly as well as fried pork chop.From the photo above it is hard to figure out what I ordered. Well, I ordered chicken wings, pork chop and stewed cabbage (extra cabbage). It was drenched in a generous serving of curry sauce. Three type of curry sauce to be exact. Hence, you might notice a different shade in colour of the curry sauce at certain portions. The curry was thick, fragrant and yet not overly spicy. Having it all over the food made the food so wet yet so tasty and easy to eat. Shiok!

The cabbage and chicken wings were good with the former providing a crunchy bite. On the other hand, the pork chop was disappointing. Nevertheless, the curry sauce stole the show. With it, I polished off the whole plate of food easily.

Detailed review: http://foodiefc.blogspot.sg/2012/12/eleven-finger-eu-kee-scissors-curry.html

Ah-Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice 阿仔海南鸡饭 is a chicken rice stall set up by Mr Wong Liang Tai, more commonly known as Ah Tai. Ah Tai was actually the former chef of the famous Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice and has been working there for the past 20 years. He had differences with the owners' daughter who took over the management of the business in 2010. After several incidents and heated arguments, Ah Tai was sacked in October 2011 (Both Ah Tai and the owners are relatives). Subsequently, he and a partner (who was a key helper in Tian Tian) set up a chicken rice stall just 3 stalls away from his former employer (Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice) at Maxwell Food Centre.

Chicken Rice is a de facto national dish of Singapore. If you still have doubts, visit Maxwell Food Centre, and you will notice that there are already so many chicken rice stalls. One will be spoilt for choice when it comes to chicken rice as there are more than 6 such stalls in this food centre. With Ah-Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice being the new kid in the block, the chicken rice war at Maxwell has escalated. Several other chicken rice stall owners have expressed their unhappiness as they were concerned about their business. The least they need now is for another strong competitor next to them. As mentioned earlier, Ah-Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice 阿仔海南鸡饭 located at Stall No. 7 is located 3 units away from Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice which is located at Stall No. 10.

I visited at around 630pm on a weekday for dinner. There was no queue then. (By the way Tian Tian was closed that day). Anyone knows if there's a queue during lunch hours? What makes a good Chicken Rice? Well, there are three factors; namely the rice, the meat (chicken) and the chilli. I can't help but compare using these three factors to compare Ah Tai's chicken rice to Tian Tian's chicken rice which I had previously.

In terms of rice, Ah Tai's rice was indeed fragrant and flavourful. However, it was hard and very dry. I prefer Tian Tian's rice as it was softer and more moist.

In terms of meat (chicken), Ah Tai's version was decent. The timing was grasped nicely as the chicken was tender and tasty, not tough. However, all the good work was undone by.. well the way the chicken was chopped. Yes, the chopping style does makes a difference (ask the older generation or professional chefs on the way to cut meat, be it chicken, duck or pork and you will know what I mean). I have not gotten to the point where by I am such a professional foodie that I can point out this is a wrong cooking style. What makes it so obvious in this case was that it was so terribly cut that there were small pieces of bones protruding out or small pieces of bones that came off and was mixed with the rice and chicken. When I mean small, a comparison will be the size smaller than a half of the rice grain (in the photo above). Seems trivial, but it matters. With that being said, Tian Tian's version was much better as their chopping style was better and their chicken was drizzled in their special sauce that made it more fragrant and tasty. (The gizzards given were hidden below the chicken.)

In terms of chilli, Ah Tai's version fared better. It was more tangy with a stronger oomph of spiciness.

(For the sake of comparison) In terms of presentation, I am very sure that Ah Tai's version loses out to Tian Tian's. Just take a look at the above picture and compare it to Tian Tian's version. Ah Tai's version was more sloppily done considering the fact that there was no queue... hmm..

Personally, I still prefer Tian Tian's chicken rice. The chicken and rice are better than Ah Tai's version. But despite all these, I still prefer my chicken rice at Golden Mile Food Centre.

For the record, if the taste is good and the presentation is lousy, I certainly do not mind! After all, never judge a book by its cover, appearances can be deceiving.

Detailed review: http://foodiefc.blogspot.sg/2012/12/ah-tai-hainanese-chicken-rice-maxwell.html