The recent trend of modern fusion coffeeshops has made its way to North east area of Singapore (finally)! Legend coffeeshop, which opened their doors this year April 2015 at Sengkang, has yet to made known to public so I decided to blog about it.The whole coffeeshop interior was a mixed of modern fusion + old skool concept, with wooden tables, rustic metal chairs and some elements of the 80s. There's coffee stall, western food stall, ramen stall, roast meat stall and cze char stall. I patronized Legend on 2 continuous nights and the following cze char dishes were what I've ordered:
(1) Deep fried Tofu cubes in cereal $6 [1 size]- Tofu cubes were very crispy on the outside and smooth on the inside. Tofu itself tasted bland without any seasoning but the buttered cereal adds an additional punch to it giving them more taste and crunch.
(2) Salted Egg Prawn Balls $22 [medium]- Portion was abit small for a medium sized but luckily it tastes good. Salted egg flavour was highly dosed, fragrant and the prawns were fresh too. Everyone on the table loves this dish.
(3) Prawn Paste Chicken Wings $12 [8pcs]- Deep fried to golden brown, these sexy legs are indeed CRISPY! Marinating process could be longer, marinades can be heavier, so that the prawn paste taste can be more distinctive. Although this current version is good enough BUT I love 重口味.
(4) Curry Fishhead $25 [1 size]- A pippin hot claypot curry fishhead was the most suitable choice on a breezy day like yesterday. Other than the meaty fishhead, chef was generous with the veggies that came with it. Lots of cabbage, eggplant, long beans and tau pok (bean curd skin). The curry gravy wasn't those thick type, it's slight watery but still full of flavours. It's not a bad choice after all.
(5) Mongolian Pork Ribs $10 [Small]- Initially we asked for Zheng Jiang Pork Ribs but it was sold out. So we chose Mongolian as alternative. The meat was tender and comes with bone. The Mongolian sauce was rather sweet for me and luckily the hints of cinnamon wasn't too overwhelming as I dislike cinnamon.
(6) French beans with Minced Pork $12 [small]- French beans, my favourite type of veggie since young. I've always love it with hei bi hiam (spicy shrimp paste) but here doesn't cater. We had the version with pork instead. French beans were crunchy, stir-fried with minced pork and mushroom bits. Overall was slight salty but still nice.
(7) Spinach with 3 types of eggs $10 [small]- Veggie part is done well, stems of spinach still have the crunch. Egg portions are generous but too bad the broth is bland. I would say "can do without" this dish.
(8) Stir-fried Potato Leaves with Sambal Chilli $8 [small]- Compared with the plate I had at Bedok Wee's family, this is a yummier choice. The vegetable chosen were mainly smaller young potato leaves which provides more texture while biting. Sambal chilli used was more spicy too which what most of us preferred.
(9) Roast Meat $7.50- The char siew sold here was different from others which I've tried before. The texture and taste was more like Chinese sausages (lap cheong) than our usual char siew. I quite like it. Roasted pork belly on the other hand, wasn't really impressive. It was overly salty and skin wasn't crackling.
(10) Fried Rice $6 [medium]- Fried rice smells real good when served. The rice texture was done just right, not mushy and 粒粒分明. The bonus part is they still use char siew in their fried rice whereas a lot other cze char stalls already changed to mock meat. A satisfying plate of rice which is flavourful and not oily.
Verdict: A cool place to chill at for food, beer and fresh fruit juices. It's a friendly environment suitable for all families. Cze char dishes were quite good. I must come back to try other stalls in this coffeeshop since this location is quite accessible from my house. The only complain was service can be quite lagging when place is crowded. You might have to pick up your own food from the ordering station when they're ready as Legend shorts manpower now.

Conveniently situated next to the popular Cheng mun chee kee pig organ soup, 20F Specialty Coffeehouse was easily spotted. There were quite a crowd when I go on Deepavali. Love the traditional shophouse feel that the whole place projected, woody furniture and old skool fancy tiles. If you love natural air rather than indoor air-con spaces, there's alfresco area at the end of the shop for you to enjoy the sun.
As for my first visit here, I ordered the following items:
(1) Flat white $5- Coffee beans are from Liberty coffee. This "Speakeasy" blend was medium bodied, with cocoa nutty aftertaste. It was slightly more intense than my usuals but I still appreciates it and finished till the last drop.
(2) Long Black $4.50- Using the same blend as the white coffee but without the milk, taste is much stronger and robust. If you're a hardcore fan for black, try this. Nutty aftertaste was more distinctive too and definitely perk you up after a tiring workday.
(3) Nutella Layered Cake $5.50- The sponge is very soft and fluffy. Together with Nutella spread in between, it's heavenly (at least for me lah)! My only complain is the outer layer of choco buttercream is too sweet but I still indulge all. I really cannot resist cakes!
(4) Ribeye Burger $24- My partner's choice as I don't consume beef. This food item wasn't a recommended dish on the menu, recommended ones are mostly duck dishes. He was pleased with this dish I guess, as he emptied the whole plate, not a bit of anything left. His humble comments were: The brioche bun made inhouse was soft and slight chewy. Ribeye steak was done well with red wine marinades and cooked to the right notes. The ribeye stripes were best consume on its own so that you could enjoy the juiciness of meat on your palate. Lemon mayo did perk up some zesty touch but wasn't necessary. The side salad played an important role by balancing this sinful yet yummy meal.Verdict: It's a great comfy place for a nice cuppa and feet rest. The bosses are really friendly and greet at every guest who stepped in. Service was top notch. Food was delicious. I will come back soon for other food on the menu. There were also other freshly baked pastries/ danishs on sale daily which I wanted to try too. Stay tuned.. I will be back

Hyde & Co was situated along the stretch of old shop houses along north bridge road. With popular fishhead steamboat and ramen shops around this vicinity, it doesn't make Hyde & Co stands out. What attracted me to this cafe initially are the good reviews I saw online, thereafter is the cafe ambience and friendly staff once I stepped my foot in it.
Just recently, Hyde & Co introduced new cakes to the cafe and I'm glad to be the first to try out their new cakes.
(1) Lychee Rose Cake $7.90- 100% handmade with no shortening, margarine or any preservatives. This cake not only looks pretty but taste of Lychee + Rose was distinctive too. Buttercream wasn't too sweet, cake texture was slight crumbly but overall I still enjoy eating it. Girls would fall in love with this shade of pink even by only looking at it.
(2) Ondeh Ondeh Cake $7.90- First expression of this cake is, it smells so gooood! Fragrance of coconut milk was strong! The greenie pandan layers were soft and fluffy, together with the gula melaka infused desiccated coconut sandwiched between the layers, it was nomnomnom! The thick buttercream and desiccated coconut on the surface may make you think the cake is very sweet but surprisingly its NOT A wise choice if you're very into nonya-fusion creations.
(3) Buttermilk Scones with Strawberry compote and Chantilly cream $10- These scones looks good on plates but tastes otherwise. They were really plain, bland tasting and texture was dry. It's crumbs everywhere once you bite/ cut it. Personal preference, scones could be much more buttery. Otherwise adding raisins or cranberries might help.
(4) Mr Frosty $18- This dessert can get rather messy when you cut your way through, but it's an enjoyable one! Jam between 2 slices of brioche french toasts are some chocolate marshmallows puffs, caramelized bananas slices, nut bits and chocolate balls. Pairing of banana & chocolate together usually works, no doubt and the melted marshmallows gave the whole dessert an extra chewy texture. Sweet is a definite because there's also butterscotch drizzle but indulging it with the vanilla bean ice cream can balance out the sweetness.
(5) Pulled Pork Mantou (馒头) $14 x 5pcs- Mantou deep fried till golden brown, Hyde & co's version is crispy but dough is sweet. The slow cooked pulled pork fillings are tender but their homemade bbq marinades used is also too sweet for me. Even the coleslaw paired inside didn't render any help to lower the sweetness. It doesn't taste really oomph together as it's overly sweet rather than savoury. I didn't finish my portion.
(6) Coffee
(i) Flat White $5- The evenly mix of milk and smooth velvet foam makes up my good cup of white. And with good coffee beans used, the cuppa really perk up a great day for me.
(ii) Mocha $5.50- Mocha is my usual second choice of beverage other than having a white. In my mocha, I prefers the chocolate portion to be more. Hyde & Co head barista, Damien, totally knows me well and always make me very chocolatey version mocha Head barista Damien could pull out very pretty latte art too. Other than his specialty "twin swans" latte art, he's skillful with hearts and cartoon characters' latte art too.
Verdict: A comfortable cafe to chill at especially on weekdays afternoon as the whole place wasn't too fill up. I could do some writings while enjoying a good cuppa. Friendly and attentive staff here makes you feel at home too. Food served definitely has a certain good standards but pricings here may be slightly stressed on your pockets.
 

[ Chocolate Mark ]
8 Wilkie Road
#01-11 Wilkie Edge
Singapore 228095Situated at one corner of Wilkie Edge, Chocolate Mark sits at the end of the stretch from the main mall entrance on ground level. The whole cafe unit wasn't very big in size but can catered to at least 25pax. Furnished with wooden tables and chairs, the whole cafe gives out a very cosy feel to patrons.
(1) Firstly, the boss, Jeffrey, introduced us with their main highlights, Hot chocolate drinks. We tried 4 different types of hot chocolate drinks:
Artisan Chocolate:(A) Simply dark- Smooth texture but not dark enough. Contains only 56% cocoa.
(B) Milky touch- Too milky and sweet for me.
Premium Origin Chocolate:
(C) Saint Domingue- A surprisingly interesting chocolate drink with wine note aftertaste. Best of all, it's non-alcoholic!! I recommend you guys to try this.
(D) Equateur- I love this dark version most. Contains 76% cocoa, very thick yet tastes smooth down the throat. How I wish I have marshmallows to dunk in this luscious drink! (No picture provided. Go try it yourself! *wink* )

(2) Next, we have the snacks and mains.
(A) French fries $4.90- Skinny type of French fries. Air-fried made them tastes more healthy & less oily.
(B) Sweet potato puff $6.90- The common ones you can find from supermarket frozen section. Done by air-frying too. It's crispy on the outside & sweet inside.
(C) Earl grey waffle $11.90-Crispy texture on the outside, fluffy inside. Earl grey infused waffle was not distinctive in taste but got an unusual peppery aftertaste. Vanilla ice cream was common.
(D) Chicken sausage waffle $12.90- Waffle texture is chewy rather than crispy. Slices of chicken sausages are mixed in together with the waffle mixture. I find the overall taste rather bland, best to go with the bbq dip provided. Portion of chicken sausages can be more. The shredded cheese below the scrambled eggs didn't spark any fireworks in me too. Boss Jeffrey also includes a small piece of chocolate together with their savoury waffles. His idea was to let all his customers taste a hint of sweetness after the food. It also links up to what they're popular for: CHOCOLATE.

(3) Lastly, girls' best friends, DESSERTS! As told, all the desserts sold here are from suppliers, not made in-house.
(A) Triple crunchy chocolate $4- The portion of white chocolate layer in the centre was too much, causing it to be overly sweet. Ratio of the dark chocolate mousse vs white chocolate should be adjusted. I like the crunch base which helps to improve the overall biting sensations when cake is put into my mouth.
(B) Matcha Azuki cake $7.90- Cake texture was crumby and matcha taste wasn't distinctive. You can only taste it in the buttercream part which was seen here as too little in this cake. The overall sweetness comes from the red bean fillings.
(C) Chocolate Lava cake $5.90- Cut across the lava cake and chocolate flows out nicely. Yum! The chocolate filling was dark, very thick and causes some choking effect in our throat. But I still love it most among the rest of the desserts Paired really well with the vanilla ice cream scoop provided as it balances the sweetness.

Verdict: Overall experience was good. The boss, Jeffrey, was very friendly and approachable. He is also knowledgable, did a great job in explaining the different types of chocolate drinks they selling to us patiently. I was really impressed with their chocolate drinks. I will definitely come back for more chocolate as I'm a chocolate lover.
A pity that Chocolate Mark doesn't have a proper hot kitchen, therefore most food are from air fryer, oven. Therefore, main food wise, there's still room for improvement.
 

Sin Heng Kee porridge shop was my kind of comfort place whenever it rains or if I fall sick. Selling a variety of porridge, now they have extended their menu to have appetizers and claypot frogs. Sin Heng Kee gained popularity within a very short period and upgraded from a coffeeshop stall to a whole shop unit. It's long queue every time I patronize Sin Heng Kee, waiting for seats or takeaways can be a pain!!
On my recent visit, I ordered:
(1) Preserved Egg with sliced ginger and garlic mash 姜葱蒜蓉皮蛋 $5- An appetizer served chilled before my mains. A great new item introduced as the ginger and garlic mash did perk up my tastebuds and made me crave for more food.
(2) Claypot Ginger Onion Frog 砂煲姜葱田鸡 $8 (1pc)- Frog meat was juicy and tender, tastes good especially with the gravy. Soya sauce gravy was on the sweet side although lotsa ginger was cooked with it but it still works for me, I even add them into my porridge.
If you are a big fan of frog, you could order bigger portions such as 2 or 3pcs of frogs at $15 and $22 respectively.
(3) Signature Porridge 招牌粥 $5- Porridge filled with sliced Pork, meatballs, pork liver, intestines, preserved egg bits etc (can't remb the rest 😂).. Love the tenderness of the pork slices. Liver and intestines tastes fresh too, without the pork stench which I'm scare of. A bowl full of ingredients & definitely fulfilling meal on a cold day!
(4) Meatball Porridge 肉脞粥 $3.50- This bowl of porridge which looks rather bland on the appearance but taste tells you otherwise. Same as the signature porridge, the porridge was very flavourful on its own and the texture was really smooth. It tastes very homely, like the version which my mum will prepare for me using ikan bilis broth. The minced pork meatballs were also well marinated but slight salty for me. The sesame oil, fried shallots and spring onions shattered on top gives it an additional punch too.

Verdict: The porridge sold here has a certain good standards. Currently my favourite place for porridge and definitely will come back for more. I just simply won't get tired of their porridge after so many visits. Prices are affordable too for every household. But take note, patience is required as it's quite a long wait, especially at meal times.