http://www.umakemehungry.com/2017/10/eng-kee.html

We chanced by this place the last round while we were on our way to 2 Chefs Eating Place. We were caught by the pleasant surprise with a good long queue line up in front of Eng Kee. Where curiosity kills the cat, we walked forward to the old school coffeeshop and checked that it was actually selling some economical fried bee hoon with the standard sides / finger food that we can get from the supermarket.

Lauded for its delicious and tasty chicken wings that was classified as one of the best 20 in Singapore, we find it hard to resist without ordering more than one portion for each of us. While many of us will think that economical Bee Hoon is best eaten in the morning but for Eng Kee, there are only operating from 12pm in Weekdays and 12.30pm to about 10 pm in the evening.

We had some plates with bee hoon and some plates with Bee Hoon Mee and the staples food items like fried eggs, cabbages, Otah, Ngoh Hiang, Taiwan Sausages, Fish cakes and Tau Kwa.


The chicken wings were not ready at the point of our order due to high demands from the diner. It was quite amazing that the kitchen was actually frying chicken wings non stop as I could see the continuous batches of wings coming out of the kitchen during my queue for food.

 As I sink my teeth into the piping hot golden brown wings, I fell in love with its crispy thin crunching skin. As I sink my teeth further in, I realized the juiciness of it. However, if you are talking about the Chicken Wing's taste, it was not complicated as the marinate was simple. You do not expect something you can get from Prawn Paste Chicken's fragrance. However, its more like home cooked dishes that includes, pepper, soy sauce and some MSG for its marinate.


If you are talking about the plates of Bee Hoon, I would say that they did really have the old school plain taste with QQ texture.

 Beats me regarding the long queue but if you are looking for some simple and old school economical bee hoon, do not forget about Eng Kee. Where car parking lots are good enough, the only thing that turns one off may be the hot humid heat trap in the coffeeshop space after the afternoon sun shone so hard onto it.

http://www.umakemehungry.com/2017/10/hajjah-mariam-cafe.html

Hajjah Mariam Cafe was recommended by my colleagues for its unqie dish - Nasi Ambeng. The dish is quite popular Javanese-Malay Cuisine seen during festive seasons and served on a tray sharing to up to 6 pax. It signifies togetherness and peace at meal times.

They are located in the basement of Westgate and payment counter and serving food are of different counter.

Nasi Ambeng is quite similar to nasi padang with me just that the ingredients or dishes are rather fix. It consists of a good amount of fragrant white rice for the number of pax sharing, served with meat, vegetables, fried coconut flesh, sambal goreng and other dishes.

It was my first time tasting Ambeng and will never be the last. I like the way where the portion is being served in the old school metal tray that give me good memories of childhood. Portion of rice might me too much for me but I'm save by my friend who can really take the amount of rice. Coconut flesh, Ah Zhar, tampe and as well as bagedil was given in 2 parts proportionally. For the middle portion, you can choose to have the choice of beef or chicken or even both. The meat was cooked long enough and was fork tender.

It was a stomach filling meal with great satisfaction. My favourite item other than the 2 meats on the plate is none other than this potato, bagedil, a must have in most of my halal meals. Nasi Ambeng is really worth a try although the price may be a step over here.

If not for the recommendation by my friend, I would never have discovered such place for braised duck and fish soup. Well, what a combination!

Although there are so many eateries in Geylang, be surprised that the coffee shop environment is actually crowded by office workers from nearby. Luckily we were there earlier and did not have to worry about seating. After which, we went up to the counter and order our food.

We choose our braised platter based on the items we like. We had braised duck, pork trotters, eggs, intestines, Tau Gua and Tau Pok. The duck meat was braised till so tender that we almost mistaken the meat as pork. However, we love the braised meat over here including the intestine as they were well handled and tasty.

Good to go with rice or porridge as it might be very salty and oily to consume alone.

Was rather please to have a bowl of lukewarm porridge with braised gravy and chunks of braised duck meat. The style of the porridge had the kind of homely taste which you normally wont find it from usual hawker stalls ~ Teochew Grandma Style Dish.

The other dishes not to let your stomach go empty with will be their fish soup. They provide fresh sliced pieces of fish in clear soup. Dish was simple and straight forward with preserved greens, cabbages and seaweed. Plain light meal but broth was tasty and flavorful.

I like the nostalgic taste of food especially the braised duck. Since operating hours of Hong Qin Fish & Duck Porridge is till mid noon on the weekdays (Batang Fish sold out fast), it will be more likely that we will be visiting them in the weekend instead.

Craving for porridge? Have you visited the Taiwan Porridge place that has been in business for more than 38 years? Oasis Taiwan Porridge is previoulsy located next to our Indoor Stadium in Kallang opposite the old National Stadium. They have relocated to Toa Payoh Town Park that is opposite the HDB hub and also next to Toa Payoh Swimming Complex.

 A homely taste of velvety porridge with sweet potato included. Best that its free flow and a big warm pot of it was kept by the side table for you to refill.

The Prawn Roll looks abit dry here rather than the glossy appearance but we were all glad that it was not greasy. The fillings were hot and we took caution when sinking our teeth down into it.

 "Chye Poh" egg aka Preserved Raddish comes in a beautiful round shape and was yummy. It was not salty and even taste as good alone without the porridge. Texture was crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. Wow!

This was one of the signature Teochew dishes that we had ordered. Braised duck with Tau Kwa was soaked in sweet savoury braised sauce. I will recommend the dish as the meat was not too "old", easily chew and succulent. Every piece was well immersed in the "Lor Chap" aka Braised Sauce and just goes very well on the plate.

If you eat Pig's Intestine, you will definitely like this as these braised intestine was well handled and does not have any gamy taste. In fact the combination of salted vegetable and intestine had executed well.

Forget about the calories, the stew pork is definitely awesome. With distinctive layers of the pork that melts in your mouth. Biting on them is effortless with such fork tender meat and the best thing was that it was not greasy at all.

 If you are planning for a family meal, Oasis Taiwan Porridge will be a good choice. For its simple and no frills meal with nostalgic environment, moreover they have big round tables which is good for families with kids too.

http://www.umakemehungry.com/2017/11/49-seats.html

Starting with humble beginnings with 49 Seats (this is how they got their name) at Kreta Ayer Road in 2012 and now they have move to a bigger shop space in Orchard, Centrepoint. 49 Seats are known for their Western Fusion Asian dishes at affrodable pricing.

Interior was casual with a good similar industrial chic look that contains bright hanging lights, metal chair. What caught my attention was the items that was sprayed coated in silver that sticked onto the wall. Totally Creative! Initially I thought they were just the usual props made especially for decorations but as I touched it, I realized they were all recycled items. How interesting with plastic cups, spoons, forks, plates, egg trags and even egg trays.

 Tom Yum Seafood pasta is rated as A spicy lover must try. Looks like this dish is highly raved because of its uniqueness. The Tom Yum was served cream base with seafood like mussels and prawns. It packed a good punch of sweetness, sourness and spiciness in every mouthful of spaghetti. This is in fact semi spicy and the bestseller here.

 Another recommendation on its menu will be their Seafood Marinara and a good alternative if you are not keen in spicy Tom Yum. Pasta is pretty tasty with mussels and prawns paired with tomato sauce.

Adding $4.90 to my pasta for set of additional soup of the day and 1 soft drinks. I had the Cream of Brocoli with garlic bread by the side of the double layer bowl. The soup was not quite hot, however still able to warm up the tummy.

The environment did leave a good impression. As we were only there for pasta, we have not tried out the other western food dishes. It will be good to be back again.