It had been nearly a year since Lee’s Taiwanese had opened it’s first outlet in Singapore, and there is already a second outlet located at JEM. Lee’s Taiwanese is apparently started by a Taiwanese whom have relocated in Singapore, and claims that the restaurant brings authentic and genuine tastes of Taiwan Street Snacks to Singapore.

Ala-Carte options are available on the menu, though generally the Deluxe and Premium Set Meals brings more value to the meals in general by adding a side and a drink. Do note that some items are only available in Ala-Carte and not included in the set meal promotions though.Two of us went for the Braised Pork Belly Rice and it was filled with hidden treasures. Other than Braised Pork Belly, it came with preserved vegetables, snow bean curd and a slice of taiwan sausage hidden right underneath. The Braised Pork Belly had pretty much of the fatty meat layer which melted in the mouth, though it was pretty evident that it was not braised deep enough as it did not reach the middle. The preserved vegetables were rather decent, while the snow bean curd was thinly sliced and chewy with the signature taste of tofu. We requested for more gravy, but it seemed rather bland and just tasteless somehow.Salt & Pepper Chicken was something we had high expectations of but really fell flat on the face. The chicken was fried pretty fine, but left us wondering if the chef had completely forgotten to season it with salt & pepper before serving it to us. No doubt it was fragrant, but it was missing the plot to the main story.Snow Bean Curd was the same ones that appeared in the Braised Pork Belly Rice. Silken and bouncy, the taste was pretty heavy and while it was manageable for both of us to finish the ones in our bowl, it was a bit too much for us to continue on the ones ordered as sides.Sweet Potato Fries really stood out from the other side dishes we ordered that night. The crispy batter and the sweetness in the fries coupled with the sourness from the plum powder really won us that night. There was just an adequate amount of plum powder sprinkled on the sweet potato fries that it was evenly balanced on flavour and not heavily spammed with flavouring.
[VDO:4]

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/lees-taiwanese-jem/

Weeks ago while I was roaming around Jurong East I found a stall that sells Ayam Penyet within a coffee shop not far away from the Bus Interchange/MRT Station/JCube and thought that I would make a trip there specially for it some other time. Turned out that this stall happens to be Waroeng Penyet and this is their Jurong outlet (or what they call; Jurong Cafe), with the main stall relocated recently from Blk 81 Marine Parade Road to opposite I12 Katong at 99 East Coast Road.I went for the most authentic of all Penyets; the Ayam Penyet. At Waroeng Penyet, you have options for many of the items. For meat, you can choose to have either thigh or breast meat (I choose breast) and for the chili you can either have either spicy or mild (where they would still give you a bit of spicy to try). The bean curd was already fried in batches before you order, but I visited the outlet for lunch at slightly past noon and found it to be sufficiently warm and did not really lost the crispy texture that it should have. As I requested for breast meat, it was firm enough, though the fried batter on the chicken was not as crispy as I expected it to be. The crumbs however, added a very nice crispy feel to the chicken. Aside from having just the breast, it was also served with a small part of the wing and the meat came off the bones pretty easily. The mild chili was pretty tame and though not particularly spicy, it tasted different from the spicy variant instead of being a watered down version of the latter variant. This should be manageable for those whom have low tolerance to spiciness as despite it having much of the taste of the Penyet type of chili, the spiciness level was pretty near non-existent. The spicy version had very much of a kick to it; it was quite spicy where it may catch some people off guard but yet felt so addicting and you just want more of it. It’s sort of like a love-hate thing with the spicy variant.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/waroeng-penyet-blk-134-jurong-gateway-road/

Parco Millenia Walk is one department store that nearly has everything in it; a gym on Level 2, a number of Japanese restaurants opened at the Itadakimasu area on Level 3 and some small eateries spread across Level 1 and 2. Formerly occupying a small area in Level 1, Francisca Dessert Parlour moved into the Level 2 area with a comfy seating area and a bigger counter as well.As a dessert parlour, Francisca sells a lot of sweet items, but I was craving for Macaroons that day. I went for the mini ones and the staff recommended the Chocolate Raspberry, while coupling it with a Vanilla one. The macaroons indeed looked the part; it had quite nice feet on them. The shells also had a very nice meringue texture which was slightly sticky and chewy but had a crunchy texture on the inside. The Vanilla one was a letdown though; it came in some paste instead of cream that did not really taste much and the shell was providing more flavour than the paste. The Chocolate Raspberry had a very nice aromatic fruity and berry-like flavour on the shells, but it was so overwhelming that I could not even detect the chocolate inside it.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/francisca-dessert-parlour-parco-millenia-walk/

Seoul Xpress opens up its first outlet at Jurong Point, which is probably the first F&B establishment that serves Korean food fast-food stye, with the exceptions of fried chicken related dishes. It’s many offerings include the very iconic Bibimbap amongst other rice dishes, Ramen, Sandwiches coupled with a few traditional Korean snacks and desserts. It’s exterior is also very fitting for a fast food establishment, with prominent yellow and red accents in white that makes it all vibrant, cheery and inviting.Some might argue that the Bibimbap may not traditional enough as it is served in a plastic bowl, however the yellow plastic bowl was a practical design; holes that can be used as handles and slots to hold the chopsticks and in; genius! The illustration of the Chicken Bibimbap ($6.90 ala-carte; $9.80 as a set meal with 4 side dishes and a drink) on the menu board had all the carrots , mushrooms, meat egg, preserved vegetables and cucumber on it, while mine somehow was missing of the egg; probably my order got mixed up with the lady after me because she ordered the same dish but requested not to have the egg added. The rice was a bit too soft actually, and it made it harder to mix the sauce and the ingredients in because it was clumpy, coupled with the plastic bowl which was light and easily moved while mixing. Also, without the stone bowl that usually served in, there would not be any bit of charred rice in the bowl at all, something that I always loved in Bibimbap. The ingredients were pretty much fine, with the vegetables being crunchy and juicy and the mushroom being earthy enough. The fried shallots were pretty fragrant. The chicken was slightly bland on it’s own, though it was not too much of an issue since you are supposed to be mix with the sauce before eating. The chili paste here is quite moderately spicy. I have had Bibimbap that had the chili paste milder than the one served here, though many other places do serve chili paste way stronger than this one. While it was fine with me, this sauce could be considered pretty spicy to those who are not used to the level of spiciness of Korean chili pastes. Pretty decent for a fast-food standard.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/seoul-xpress-jurong-point/

Located in one of the most obscure corners of the northen part of Singapore in Junction10, formerly Ten Mile Junction, is now home to Penyet Town, a restaurant which specialises in Indonesian fare at food court prices.I ordered Ayam Penyet Town, which is the signature item. Here you get one piece of chicken with some fried items, vegetables and chilli, which is $6. The chicken is pretty tender, pulls apart easily and seems to taste fine but could have been stronger in it’s flavour. The fried taupok was soft but lacked crispiness. The chilli was just spicy enough within my ability; at least it did not set me off with a fiery tongue.Our Tahu Telor came slightly after the mains which was a bit odd especially since we had waited slightly around 20 minutes since we made our order. I never tasted the shrimp paste as it had peanuts in it, but the fried beancurd was rather similar to the ones on my Ayam Penyet Town. The dish was mainly quite uplifting due to the fried egg that gave it a very nice fragrant flavour, or the dish would have turned out rather bland. My friend did comment that the sauce is quite spicy though.

There seems to be a hidden charge of $1 per plate of rice which was not stated nor informed during our order. Not sure if it is stated in the menu though.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/penyet-town-junction10/