This restaurant is tucked in the small food cluster at the Big Splash end of East Coast Park. We parked at the public car park and strolled to it.

The first impression is that it's a cosy place. We were seated in the centre row. As it was drizzling, it added on to the cosy atmosphere which I like. There were quite a few versions of Ramen and toppings were added at a cost as usual. Each topping looked interesting, and we wasted no time to opt for the "ALL IN".

What arrived on the desk first was a lovely mortar and pestle set with some sesame seeds on it. We grinded as we chatted. There atmosphere was warm and this added on the fun.

The Traditional Hakata Ramen (ALL IN) was delivered to us after a short while. It was quite a large bowl, and the toppings didn't fail to impress. They were generous with the pork and mushroom too. What caught out attention was the shimmering, soft white egg white and sun-orange egg yolk (I googled and found it's called lava egg or nitamago) that rests so tantalizingly on the top. It was so tender when I bite and swallowed on it that I couldn't have to resist following up with the second half immediately. How come other ramen shops can't do it so well?

Actually every single bite of ramen and every drop of the soup is nice. Needless to say, we emptied it into the stomach cleanly.

This place beats Central's ramen shops hands-down.

Top of the class ramen and eating experience. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

This falls into "I am salivating as I write" category.

Highly recommended !

I haven't had Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle for a long time, so while I was at West Mall food court, I began queuing up for it. They were wearing the straw hats, and there was those ubiquitous certificate for food. While queuing, I can feel the heat from the glass separating us from the frying activity. It was immerse, indicating there was continual frying for a long time. Good business.

I think I can say it's just nice for my taste. Tangy, and yet there was some gravy from the noodle, the dish was not dry and was yummy. Three prawns decorated the top - they should add more. Some stalls would over cook, but not this - no hint of over burn. Okay, I tried to be critical but can't find any fault. I just ate and ate. Before I knew it, it was gone.

Oh, the sambal is rather spicy.

Summary: they have done it right, and there is quality maintained despite the large turnover. If you stay in around Bt Batok and want a quick fix, go no further.

Is it the best around? Not sure, but it's good enough for me. Tell me where can I find the best !

(They also sell others like Fried Guo Tiao. I be checking it out soon.)

On my second visit to shop for lights along Balestier Road, we came across this chinese restaurant, Jin Fu Rong. It claims to be a gourmet restaraunt. There was a group of staff - around 5-6 - seemingly waiting seriously for customers, with a slight crossed brow. It was 7pm+. However, the eatery was quite well occupied by then. Not too packed, but it was reasonable. Quite obviously, it was a relatively new shop and they were consciously monitoring their customers flow.

There were a few exquisite dishes on the menu, like pig's ear and the Tianjin's Guo Bu Li Bao. For the later, those who have gone to Tianjin would have checked it out. The name of dish sounds like "Dog-won't-bother bun". Of course, it's not that. It's just that Guo happens to be a chinese's surname. But for the story behind it, I will leave it for you to find out from those who went there, or perhaps from the stall. However, this gives a hint of the dishes that are rolled out - dishes authentic to the chinese provinces. Or at least they try.

Most of the customers went there as small groups, to check out the variety. On the whole, the food was a little special, and interesting. I didn't find them so great though.

I think the restuarant model is interesting, but it won't substain for long. Maybe this review will help generate some flow though. Not sure. Maybe less instead. Hee.

I went to meet my family to shop for lights. But they had their stroll already and was resting at this Founder Bak Kuh Teh Restuarant along Balestier Road, just opposite the Shaw Plaza.

We were sitting by the right corner. The amazing thing is there was a small window, and on looking out I was next to a road which looked like an exit from a car park. I really meant, next - like cm's away. Not a secure feeling, as the cars passed by.

The rest was great. While waiting for the food, we had a good time observing the many celebrities taking photo with the owner. The owner didn't smile at all in all the photos - easily 100 of them - pasted on all available space of the wall. It was the celebrities who were trying to smile. It seemed from the photos that they requested for the photos to be taken, and the owner obliged.

The best part was still the food. My mom ordered the upgraded pork ribs. It's wonderful, done rightly, and the soup while peppered, was delightful. We also ordered some vegetables, soya bean curd, and pork belly to go along. Rating : 8.5/10. Why not 10/10? Well, I prefer a more rustic environment to go along this traditional dish, and it also lacks the traditional tea drinking setting and the smell that should come along. But on the whole, there is nothing much to complain about.

After the dinner, while we went out around 8pm, the queue had become longer. Hmm, it was just a weekday. Go early to avoid the queue.

Price wise, it's slightly pricey compared to coffeeshop. I had it some time back (02 Nov 10 may not be the exact date), so my guess is that it's about $8 for the bowl of prime pork rib. But you would need to order a little more to share. So, over $10 per person.

Recommended.

The restaurant is nicely decorated, with an open concept surrounded by 4 walls, each decorated with a different theme. One side is particularly artistic - with beautiful paintings using seafood (See photos attached). The ambience is just nice.

The food is typical of a east coast park seafood restaurant, but everything is more expensive. Crabs can exceed $100 per kg. Simple dishes also swing in the range of $30 to $50+. The watercress soup is actually very good, well boiled and reminds me of homely meals. The watercress itself is placed on a second plate and the pork strips are placed by the side. Excellent. You got to try it.. if you are there. The fish, brocoli, lamb chop (at $15 each, quite small) and coffee pork rib are good but I am not sure if they are worth the price. I guess people go there for crabs. However, it was just too expensive. The crabs in east coast are much cheaper and yummy too. You want to have seafood where you dirty your hand, don't care about the cost and eat to your heart's fulfilment. The high cost takes away half the joy.

On the whole? It's expensive and the portions are small. We (4 of us) incurred a total of $185 for simple dishes. We almost went for the set meal for 4 - but that would have been .. if I remember correctly - around $230 (before GST) for the simpler version. The better version was around $320?

Seafood lovers, go east.