I was looking for a stall to buy my lunch from at Kovan Food Centre, and since there was a queue outside this stall, I decided to join the queue to try them out.No sets are available here, so you would have to couple the dishes you would like. I went for the roast pork, pan-fried egg and long beans (Total of $3.50). The long beans were crunchy and juicy, while the egg was a little salty for my liking but contained a good amount of goodies like cai po and lupcheong. The roast pork, depending on preference could either be good or disappointing as it was fairly lean. It also somehow lacked crispiness as well. Despite so, the thick and luscious Hainanese curry was flavourful without being spicy and thus able to cover up the shortcomings.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/hougang-hainanese-curry-riceeconomical-bee-hoon-kovan-hougang-food-centre/

BALIthai is a restaurant under the Katrina Holdings, which also owns a few other establishments such as Streats Hong Kong Cafe, Hong Guo, Indobox and So Pho. BALIthai strives to combine the tastes of Thai and Indonesian food into one dining establishment. With the renovation of Suntec City Mall, new eateries such as BALIthai is being introduced to the revamped mall.A great side to share would be the Combination Platter ($15.00++); a platter consisting of Rice Crisps, Beef Satay (representing Indonesian cuisine), Fish Cakes and Spring Rolls (representing Thai cuisine) and accompanied with a curry sauce and a Thai sweet chili sauce. Most of the items are fine, except the Beef Satay and Spring Rolls which felt rather limp. The Fish Cakes and Spring Roll is well complimented with the Thai sweet chilli sauce, while the Beef Satay and Rice Crisps made a perfect match with the thick and flavourful curry sauce.The XO Seafood Fried Rice ($10.50++) tasted pretty consistent. We opted out of squids for this plate, so more portions of other seafood such as prawns are included. People whom are not resistant to spiciness should refrain from ordering this as it is moderately spicy.The Basil Chicken with Lettuce Wrap ($8.50++) despite being a side dish is pretty well-sized. Coming with other condiments such as rice paper and a bowl of assorted vegetables. To eat this, one would have to place the condiments on top of a lettuce leaf and roll it up together. The vegetables are fresh, therefore making a refreshing break from the spiciness of the Basil Chicken. There was quite an amount of small chili in the Basil Chicken which gives the whole dish a fiery kick when bitten, so do take note if you want to order this.The Pineapple Fried Rice came with Pineapple Chili Sauce and Fried Fish Filet ($11.80++). The fish were well fried being crispy, and the Pineapple Chili sauce was significantly zestier from the bits of pineapples added. The rice could have been tastier though, and we would have loved it more if there were pineapple bits to chew on.

I would not say that BALIthai serves up authentic tasting Indonesian and Thai flavours, however the quality of each dish served is of a reasonable standard. There are definitely better places which may be better in taste and cheaper in price, but at least it is a place that easily meets the minimum criteria as a commercial restaurant.

For more photos and the full review. please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/12/07/balithai-suntec-city-mall/

5 Star Corner is a western stall in Hougang Central that sells hotplates, chicken chops, steaks etc, which is very typical of most western places located in coffee shops and food courts before names like Aston’s Express, Lava Rock and Char Grill Bar became familiar to us. I also noticed quite a number of people who were dining there were having western food too.I ordered the Chicken Chop ($5.00). The chicken was tender and juicy and was easy to cut. The skin was also crispy. The French fries were thin but fried golden, nicely salted and crispy. However it lacked the fluff of potatoes, partially due to its size. The garlic bread is freshly sliced and spreaded with garlic spread by the staff, though I would have preferred it to have a stronger taste of garlic. The coleslaw was a bit of a letdown being lukewarm though.

For the full review and more photos, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/5-star-corner-blk-805-hougang-central/

This particular outlet was opened in around 2010 at Sengkang Community Hub and was operating together with the Hougang Green Shopping Mall outlet till around a year later when they closed down the Hougang Green outlet. The Sengkang Community Hub outlet was branded as a “Tuckshop” outlet probably due to the huge contrast of the menu in both outlets, where the one at Hougang Green was serving western entrees and pasta, the Sengkang Community Hub outlet serves local delights. Given the closure of the original outlet at Hougang Green, the outlet at Sengkang Community Hub now also serves pasta dishes, though not every single item made it to the current menu.While this outlet itself is probably better with their local delights, I could not help but to order the pasta because I had one at the Hougang Green outlet before and it was so irresistable. Being part of the duo of the most expensive pasta being served here, this Special Chicken Meatball Pasta with Cream & Cheese ($8.90) might look slightly overpriced. For what you pay, you get regular spaghetti noodles tossed in cheesy cream sauce with three of the “Special” Chicken Meatballs. The Chicken Meatballs bear a very chewy texture and literally bounces with every bite, though not very memorable in the taste. The sauce was not very thick but it had the required creaminess to taste, and the cheese did help by reducing the heavy cream flavour to a moderate amount that does not feel jialat even at the end of the dish. It however just seemed to lack in quality and flavour in comparison to the pastas that was being served in the Hougang Green outlet, though still being of an reasonable standard.

I actually have no idea when KFC rolled out the limited time offer on the Chocolate Banana Pancakes, but after seeing the advertisement on the newspaper, I just knew I have to try it out.On first look, the Chocolate Banana Pancakes ($2.95 for set meal, including Iced Milo) are slightly thicker than the standard pancakes size that KFC serves. The batter has bananas mixed into it, which gives off a light sweetness that does not cloy in the throat even when maple syrup is drizzled on top. It was also rather consistent in texture and not too crumbly nor mushy; done just right. The chocolate seemed to be chocolate chips or chocolate buttons, melted into the pancake to provide the flavour and was reasonable in serving.

This definitely would not be the best of the best you can get out there, but at the price of $2.95, it certainly brings a lot of bang for your buck and definitely the best value you can get.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/chocolate-banana-pancakes-from-kfc-singapore/