The food court at junction 8 gets ridiculously crowded during lunch hours but turnover is really quick so you can get a seat within 10 minutes of walking around. This original delights stall serves zichar items such as fried rice, fried mee siam, hor fun, and rice with black pepper fish, sweet & sour pork and thai style fried chicken etc. Prices range from $5.20 and up, which is a bit pricey for a food court in Bishan but it's reasonable.The sweet & sour pork with rice cost $5.20 and it comes with a fried egg. The fried egg wasn't fried on the spot so nay to that -it wasn't too oily though, and complemented the whole dish well. The onions and pineapples provided a deliciously refreshing crunch to the dish and the sauce wasn't too starchy. When eaten with warm and fluffy rice, it went perfectly. My only gripe would be that the pork wasn't crispy and the meat wasn't too fresh -it tasted like frozen bits that were heated up in the sauce.

*Pity because the sauce did have some kind of potential.

The stall owners, however, are really really friendly, and service is really good here. You'll come back for their sincere smiles and effort to converse with you more than for their food.

My current obsession with Jalan Riang has been ongoing for the past week or so when I've been enchanted by Rokeby -on a fine Tuesday I decided to try the famous Wimbly Lu that everyone has been going on about. Wimbly Lu is (according to hearsay) a mishmash of the owners' names, resulting in a quaint and rather uniquely sounding name.Here you can see that there is a clear glass counter where you can choose their fab choc desserts.

They open at 1pm and wait for it, they now serve food! Not a wide range to start with (their website menu isn't updated) but they offer stuff like toast, vegetarian (!!!!) baked rice, chicken baked rice as well as weekend brunch. Personally I feel that this is a just a tactic to draw people in with the prospect of variety -I genuinely maintain my stand that they should stick to solely desserts and drinks.

That said, the ambience of this place is utterly charming -random, mismatched chairs, clouds hanging from the ceiling and an overall vintage feel gives this place character. Light filters in from the glass ceiling, yet provides shelter so the back of this cafe has a pseudo alfresco feel with the wooden floorboards and the sunlight.We decided to try two of their specialties -Root Beer Cake with Vanilla ice cream, as well as their Molten Chocolate Cake, both $6. (Incidentally, they also offer really interesting beverages such as Iced chocolate with Bailey's for $10.50 as well as a nice range of alcohol and (presumably?) dessert wines. They of course, specialise in all things chocolate so give those a try -their ice cream is also homemade and it's $3.50 per scoop.The Root Beer Cake didn't really have a distinct root beer aroma, but between bites it does hit you in a pleasant burst of that familiar flavour. The cake texture was a bit strange to me, it was neither moist nor dry, but I would describe it as chewy. I didn't like the texture at all -I had expected something close to a brownie-like texture but it was just very different. Taste-wise it's interesting but could have had more of the great root beer flavour! The ice cream was delicious -smooth and not too sweet, with the right hint of vanilla. Paired with chocolate, it's always a divine combination. The presentation also comes out tops for this one -really have to hand it to them for thinking of putting it in a dainty martini glass. Gorgeous!The Molten Chocolate Cake is made on the spot so it takes about 10-15mins to be served. It looks gorgeous in what looks like a ramekin, and when you use your spoon to poke/scrape at the top, it's completely crisp to the point where it seems crusty. The inside is completely molten, and it appears like the crusty top and sides are just a crisp shell to contain the molten chocolate -there was hardly any "cake" I wouldn't deny that the molten chocolate was good though, not too sweet, the consistency was delightfully gooey and best of all? It had a slightly bitter aftertaste, the way I liked it.
It was just odd that the outside was so crisp and that the inside was just all molten. We would have preferred a bit more cake inside at least.

Wimbly Lu has a really rushed vibe, maybe because it's always so packed and chaotic and you can never really feel like you're just chilling out because you're worried about having to leave so that others can take your table -this isn't exactly the best feeling to have when you just want to sit back and have a good chat with your friends. The chocolate dessert concept is a good one though but I'm not sure that they should have branched out to mains as well! Also be warned that the queue can be crazy -still worth a try though. I do know of some people who really love this place!

Maison Ikkoku is tucked away shophouses near Arab St -you can get lost pretty easily amongst the rows and rows of shophouses so if it your first time there you may want to use a map! The cafe seems to have Japanese influence (hence, its name) but there are not many traces of this in their food served. They specialise in coffee & cakes, but also serve a small range of pastas and salads, as well as a decent sandwich menu.The interior of the cafe is really cosy, but unfortunately the space is terribly limited!! They do have alfresco seats but I wouldn't suggest sitting there in the day, it can get really warm Ordering and payment is at the counter, (prices are all nett!!), the food is served to you, and iced water is self service.

On the day that we went, the sandwiches were out of stock (the ingredients hadn't been ordered, i think?), so we were left the pasta and salad choices. We ordered a Nicoise Salad ($14) and a Pasta of the Day, which ranges from $14-16, but the Mushroom Pomodoro we ordered was $15. The pasta and salads came with complimentary drink of value $5 or lesser, and any more than that will require a top up. We ordered an Iced Vanilla Latte ($7) and a Cappucino ($5).The mushroom pomodoro was mediocre -the tomato chunks inside provided a nice texture, unfortunately, the sauce wasn't creamy enough. As a result, it had a tart tomato flavour that was offset by the cheese -but we rather that the sauce was creamy enough to be eaten alone. The mushrooms were sidelined in this dish -I wish it had a bit more focus, after all, it's a MUSHROOM pomodoro. But on the whole, pasta was well cooked and definitely decent!Surprisingly, the Nicoise salad was the show-stealer (it wins the coffee hands down!!!). Served with a generous dollop of tuna, perfectly cooked eggs, fresh greens and a handful of anchovies -this salad is perfect. The dressing wasn't too sour, yet it was tangy enough to be a refreshing dish good enough to be eaten on its own. The ratio of the ingredients was perfect and I can safely say that the $14 is well worth spent.The cappuccino was slightly disappointing. The acidity of the coffee did not sit so well with me and on the whole I felt that drinking the coffee just wasn't "smooth" like I'd liked it. I suppose it's the milk and the steaming of it, but I wouldn't say that this was up to my expectations at all. The vanilla latte was even more disappointing. The milk and the coffee did not go well at all, the coffee tasted sharp and slightly (?)sour in my opinion. The sugar and sugar syrup is self service so you can customise the sweetness of the coffee to your liking. On the whole, the vanilla latte did not have the luscious, smooth taste I was hoping for, and the aroma fell flat.The cafe has a magazine rack too -a very homey touch.

On the whole, I would say go for their salads and maybe their hot coffees. We didn't have a chance to try their sandwiches but we'll definitely be back to give it a try. The cakes are hits and misses, I've been told. I'll be back to try more, though. This cafe may be largely hit and misses, but its definitely home to hidden finds. Prices are also reasonable and they serve breakfast items (which end around 11.30 so you gotta go early!)

This quiet eatery at Telok Blangah Crescent is a perfect place for a late lunch, the Fushan Roasted Meat stall offers great Wanton Mee (with their signature charsiew) and Charsiew Rice, as well as Roasted Pork Rice. The recently renovated coffee shop promises dark, wooden tables and a breezy ambience with fans installed.You can't miss this signboard!The Charsiew Rice is $3, and you have the option of adding on ingredients, such as the braised egg/tofu/extra meat etc. Honestly, this plate is more than good enough for me, and the serving of meat is just nice. I specifically asked for the charsiew to be lean, and without fatty bits. True to what I had asked for -the meat was lean! The meat was tender, with the outside charred to a lovely, sweet crisp that was glazed with their sauce. It was savoury, but more on the sweet side with a smoky aroma.

The sauce can make or break the charsiew rice, they say. The sauce they drizzled over was the perfect consistency -they didn't make the elementary mistake of adding too much starch into their sauce, yet it wasn't painfully diluted and watery. I would have preferred it slightly more savoury though, it seemed to tilt the balance of flavour to the sweet side which wasn't totally unpleasant, a matter a preference I guess.

What i liked best was the chance to sample both versions of chilli -the garlic chilli sauce packs a punch with the initial zest of sourness, followed by the sharp kick of chilli. The taste of garlic is strong in this one, and it's slightly on the sour side. My personal rave is the other sambal. It's thick enough to smear evenly on the pork, with a rich aroma that adds so much flavour to the meat! It's every bit as sinful as it looks and smells, and you should definitely go for this chilli for a perfect complement to your charsiew rice.

Yong Kee Seafood Restaurant is tucked away in a coffeeshop behind construction sites, at the end of the road. You'd never think to look for hidden gems in a place like this, but lo & behold -this place can really take you by surprise! Environment wise, I'd have to admit that the filthiness of this particular coffeeshop did get to me a little, but for the relatively good food, it's all worth it.There are the signature dishes and we decided to order a few of them -the crispy vermicili, the yom yum soup, the seafood beancurd and the fried vegetable with hae bi. The Seafood Beancurd came in a savoury, starchy sauce that was on the whole, tasty enough for me to wolf it down. The tofu is homemade and has a distinct, welcome smokiness. There is also fresh seafood -prawns, fish & cuttlefish with the tofu. While I felt that the cuttlefish were slightly unrefined in an otherwise delicate dish, the flavours for this were well-balanced save for the gravy that was a tad too starchy initially.While the extraordinary factor of this dish would be attributed to the fried hae bi (Singaporeans are all so used to having hae bi only in our spicy vegetable dishes!), I'll like to point out that the vegetables were also fried in a slightly starchy sauce. Maybe it's the Thai style of zi char but the stir fries seem to be slightly starchier than usual..hmm. The deep fried hae bi reminded me vaguely of lard, and its crisp texture complements the vegetables well -adding a refreshing texture to the whole dish.The crispy vermicili is the star seller of Yong Kee Seafood. One brilliant idea was formed one fine day and this dish was borne of sheer creativity and talent. It looks an omelet from far but it's actually bee hoon with a deep fried, crisp outer texture. The beehoon sticks to one another and is held by its deep fried top. The bee hoon is also chock full of prawns, fishcake and other delicious ingredients -oh, not to mention the sprinkling of beansprouts and spring onion. Delicious. The beehoon is tasty on its own without being overly salty and the novelty of this dish saves it from the mediocrity of the flavour.We had expected much more (maybe too much) from the tom yam soup. Being a Chinese-Thai Zi char eatery, we would expect really fabulous tom yum. However, the bowl of tom yum that was served was way too thick, with an overload of curry powder in it. I'm not biased towards tom yum soups that aren't clear even though I have a preference for clear soups, as long as there's a distinctly tangy flavour that's refreshing enough. This soup though, failed in that sense. It was too thick -passing off for a tom yum curry more than anything, and was far from refreshing. The ingredients however, were ample for the $7.

As a general rule of thumb, steer clear of the tom yum soup if you dine here! The stir-fries are also quite starchy, so we don't recommend these to people who don't enjoy gooey gravies. We recommend the seafood tofu and the crispy vermicilli -they all have very distinct flavours and textures. Waiting time is pretty quick, and dishes have a wide price range depending on what you order. Expect to pay around $15-$25 per person. They also serve crab here, so it's a cheaper alternative to the usual seafood venues.