Apart from the traditional toast sets and fried dough fritters, Lor Mee (鹵麵), is next in line when it comes to my favourite breakfast bites. The Hokkien-inspired noodle dish is served in a thick dark gravy, made of corn starch, spices, eggs and usually comes with various ingredients such as ngoh hiang, fish cake, meat dumplings and braised egg. It is best eaten with the usual condiments - garlic, chinese parsley and chilli, (vinegar too, but not for me), as it enhances it's taste. Although traditionally served with fried fish toppings, different adaptations and even methods of cooking have since been adopted by the many stalls, providing diners a wider variety of choices and selections of the original dish.

If you are looking for a good bowl of Lor Mee (or rather, any other local cuisine) in Singapore, do look no further than the highly acclaimed Tiong Bahru Market and Food Centre. After recent renovations, the hawker centre now serves tasty and hygenic food - in a much cleaner, spacious and satisfactory environment. It also features two of the best stalls in town if you want to have a bite of that starchy goodness.

More often than not, following your kiasu instincts and lining up for the longest queue is actually the best method in discovering great food. Well.. That is if you do not mind waiting up to 30 minutes during lunch hours, just to slurp down a bowl of noodles from Tiong Bahru Lor Mee. It is not difficult to understand why the long queue when you get your hands on their Lor Mee, the noodles are of the right texture, without being overwhelming chewy, and the braised gravy - the soul of the dish, is thick, smooth and of the right consistency.It is served with the usual fried wanton, fishcakes, braised egg, ngoh hiang and crunchy beansprouts. Their Lor Mee comes in regular and large sizes at S$2.50 and S$3.00 respectively.

Lor Mee 178 (178 probably means "prospering in wealth together" in Mandarin) differentiates itself from the rest by adapting shark meat nuggets into their Lor Mee. Besides the usual ingredients, they also serve it with a handful of fried fritters, which most Lor Mee stalls have long gone subtracted it away, and that is a plus point to 178. Although it turns soggy (or rather, less crunchy) when drenched in the gravy for too long, the fried nuggests still retained its soft flossiness texture, and the coating of gravy actually enhances its flavour.

The price sets at S$2.00 for a regular-size, and S$3.00 with added shark meat nuggets.

Nestled in one of Singapore's most happening night-spots, the multi-level Hansang's layout was a fusion of Western and native Korean, equipped with a sleek series of wooden furnitures and inviting ambience lights, with the real barbeque actions cooking up at the second storey.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love pork belly meat, despite all the high fats content and health risks and what's not, I mean, come on, life's too short not to enjoy. By that, self-control is definitely recommended when in Hansang, with all the high-grade wagyu beefs and pork slices, one would find it hard, but salivate constantly.

Well, it's not wrong to pamper your taste buds with some Samgyupsal (S$25.00) once a while. These lightly seasoned pork belly slices sizzle at the touch of the grill. There are probably a hundred and one ways to savour the meat, but my prefered way of eating is none other than wrapping one or two slices with some garlic in the crispy lettuce, dipped it into chilli sauce and pop them into the mouth!If you are looking for something more fulfilling, why not try their classic Bibimbab (S$18.00), which consists of generous portions of meat slices, mushrooms and assorted vegetables, not forgetting the glorious egg. Jumble them up with your prefered sauce and you're good to go. Nothing special though.
A good bowl of beef stew is set to warm one's body during the cold season. Although not usually the case in all-year-summer Singapore, beef stew with savoury broth and heaps of japchae (glass noodle) is still one of my favourite dishes when it comes to Korean cuisine.
Smoke might be difficult to avoid as Hansang is not equipped with retractable pipes that suck in the barbeque smoke, prices are quite steep (spent about $50 per pax), other than that, Hansang is a good place to go if you're craving quality korean barbeque in a relaxing environment.

It was indeed an honour to be invited by online dining guide, Openrice.com for a food tasting session at Ambush, Plaza Singapura. Perhaps you might have seen the grafitti-styled logo, paired with a couple of tomatoes elsewhere, it is because they have offered diners a convenient and casual European fix at other major shopping malls - Junction8, Jurong Point, Ngee Ann City and Jurong's new Jem (Opening in April 2013) as well.

What's on the food tasting menu?

Negra paella (S$14.50) rises up as one of my Ambush favourites, the reason for my love towards this Valencian classic is simple - the rice was sticky enough, flavours were robust and I liked how the bright orange roes contributed an additional crunch to the overall texture. Just like any squid ink dishes, make sure you have checked your teeth before grinning!Roasted Pork Knuckle (S$28.00 for whole) impressed me with its perfect crispy skin, yet the juicy tenderness of the meat was sufficiently retained. You could have seen how good this was when it disappeared off the table after a few minutes. The sauerkraut and mashed potato that comes along with the pork knuckle was nothing to rave about, but I do strongly recommend to savour the pieces of meat by pairing it with the gravy sauce.Huge? Definitely. Juicy? Yup. Flavorful? Checked. Mussel Pot Large (S$17.60) is something not to be missed. We had them doned in Aglio Olio style - semi-sweet, which is so full on sauteed onions and garlicky flavour, and classic Vin Blanc - aromatic with white wine. Both, which proved to be too good to compare against each other.Decorated with home-made tomato and orange sauce, while the Duck confit (S$18.00) sits comfortabley on a bed of mashed potatoes. It actually looks better than it tasted. It was well-seasoned and marinated, but a tad dry for my liking.Crispy Chicken and Seaweed Pasta (S$13.00) was what I have chosen for my main course. The pasta itself was cooked slightly less than the al-dente standard, while the crispy chicken reminds me of KFC's popcorn chicken. Although this dish was an interesting fusion of Asian and Western, it was not exactly a winner for my palate.All in all, I thought that the starters/appetizers fared better than the main courses. But hey, guess what, "everyone gets a little taste of Europe", Ambush is a great option for a simple gathering over a wide variety of European dishes.

Talking about technology, Genki Sushi has one of the most innovative ordering methods. Each table is equipped with one iPad preloaded with their very own application, which you order your food directly from the device. Your dishes will be delivered promptly right to you in a mini shinkansen (bullet train) on it's "railway track". After unloading your food, one then pressed a button to send the carrier back to the kitchen. How cool is that, I have to admit that I was pretty amused and mesmerized by the cute trains.Don't know how to use their "GenkiPad"? Do not hesitate to approach one of their staff.

One of the must orders are the Salmon Triple Flavor (S$3.80) and Shrimp Triple Flavor (S$3.80), which consists of the key ingredients done in different ways. My favourite among the three is the ones which are seared briefly and topped with black pepper, which adds an additional kick to the sushi. There is also a similar version for the crab as well (S$3.80). Seared Salmon with Pollack Roe (S$2.30) is nicely seared with a faint burnt fragrance, but Peiyi was complaining about the lack of roes (or it's either the roes got melted when it was seared.) The salmon meat is soft and melts slightly in your mouth.Their Steamed Egg Custard (S$2.30) is soft and silky, and packed with a reasonable amount of fish cakes, mushrooms and crab sticks. The downside is that the steamed egg lacks in flavour, it doesn't have the distinct eggy flavour.Japanese Chilli Pepper to the rescue!

Feeling a need to eat something more, we ordered the Oyaku Don (S$5.80) - deep fried chicken chunks with a nice layer of fat in thin batter, paired with strips of sweet onion and runny omelette, and served along with a good bowl of Koshihikari rice, planted by the Japanese in Vietnam. I could really do with more eggs though.One of my favourite is their free-flow of Japanese Green Tea (S$1.50), which you do-it-yourself, by mixing the green tea powder with hot water. Needless to say, you can adjust how strong is your cup of tea according to your preference.Genki Sushi adds on to my list of favourites, and I'll definitely be back for more economical, yet authentic and quality Japanese food.

Just a conclusion tip - be there early or skip the peak hours. We were there at about 8.45pm on a Saturday, and we had to wait for approximately 20 - 30 minutes.