Next to the chicken rice stall at Esplanade MRT Mall's Nom's Cafe is a new corner stall selling prawn noodles. I opted for the regular/standard portion which costs $4 - good value in the heart of town. I got a big bowl of prawn beehoon soup with lots of thinly sliced lean pork, bean sprouts and whole (not halved) shelled prawns. The soup was tasty if a tad salty - not the best but it passed muster. What will get me coming back here is the bright, clean environment, with tables cleared quickly, friendly and brisk service from the noodle vendor and the generous toppings for the noodles.

The hospitality extended to our lunch group by the restaurant's manager and his team really impressed us ~ even the staff at some five star hotels' in-house restaurant do not provide such a warm welcome and shiw such gracious appreciation after we had settled the bill.and were leaving the place.

The specialty here is deepfried chicken and the spicy 'Jerk' chicken, though the restaurant serves chicken in other forms just as cutlet and grilled chicken as well. There is a fair selection of pasta, and fish too to cater to non-meat eaters. Most main courses are very reasonably priced between $12.90 and $15.90 and with the exception of pasta orders, you get to choose one veg/salad and one carb (fries, baked potato, rice) to go with your entree ~ all served on the same platter.My lunch mates who had ordered the deepfried chicken and the pasta were happy with their choices. I opted out of their signature crunchy chicken to try their bbq chicken thigh instead ~ it was juicy and tender, with a flavorful smokey sauce covering the meat. The chicken thigh was big and obviously came from a bird that was bigger than those served at Kenny Rogers. The version here looks almost oil-free compared with Kenny Rogers' dark quarter. The fries was well done and I enjoyed the broccoli and carrots which were cooked just right, unlike at other places like MFM that serve almost uncooked veg that were hard and had slight raw green smell.

Another plus point was being served iced water on the house, even though bottled mineral water was on the menu, unlike other casual restaurants like Bakerzin and Pastamania that are so rigid in enforcing their no free water policy.

Wendy's is the only economical burger joint that gives customers a choice of seafood burgers ~ hoki fish, codfish, salmon and shrimp. The Combo Meals which come with Wendy's signature medium cut fries and a big cup of iced tea or soda are good value. We ordered the codfish burger combo and the shrimp burger combo.

The codfish patty was lightly battered and deepfried, then sandwiched in between a bigger than average hamburger bun. It was hearty and filling but just a tad too greasy. Adding a tart dill pickle would have moderated the richness of the omega oil-rich codfish patty. The shrimp burger was excellent ~ a big patty of juicy minced fresh shrimp coated with a thin layer of fragrant crisp breadcrumbs. This got me hooked, the breaded shrimp burger was so good I could eat it without any sauce or cheese. Wendy's medium cut fries were very good too, as was our add-on of a side salad which was fresh and crisp; loved the crunchy croutons in the salad too.

We had their soft serve ice cream cone for dessert ~ a luciously creamy and chocolatey twirl of ice cream on a good quality, crispy cocoa cone. Fitting end to our hearty dinner.

Dropping by at the revamped and rebranded ARC at the foot of PSA Towers was the right decision to clear away Monday blues. A reasonable range of lunch options, some old & some new, but all dangling special opening promotions to entice the lunch crowd. I've always favoured Delifrance's crispy, buttery croissants over Subway's no nonsense baguette loaves. As part of the re-opening offer, choose your favourite bread (baguette, croissant, ciabatta, multigrain) and your favourite topping (egg mayo, chicken, seafood, tuna) to go with coffee or iced tea & soup of the day for just $8.90 this week. It had to be croissant with the creamy chicken filling for me, with a cafe au lait to complete a satisfying lunch.

Whenever I am stressed or distressed, I instinctively reach for some form of carbohydrates. What would my life be without them. An unreasonable timeline, a project requiring lots of data searches or number crunching, dealing with difficult people are times whensomething crunchy to nibble on mindlessly, but when there are big issues that call forcarbo overload, noodles is the foolproof comfort food for me. Especially if thenoodles are carefully fried with passion and lots of wholesome ingredients, like the Rasapura stallholder late on Sunday evening. Piping hot, with the noodles, crunchy bean sprouts and chives absorbing the flavourful seafood stock, rings of springy fresh squid and two big fresh juicy prawns. This is restaurant quality hawker food that does wonders for the soul. Definitely worth the roundtrip to and from MBS.