see my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/10/20/good-song-fish-head-hong-man-ji-delights-mei-chin-road-food-centre-on-20oct2015/
was with my sis & b-i-l this morning & originally we drove to alexandra village to take the song fish head. but even at 11am the carparks were completely full & many cars were waiting.
we turned back out at bukit merah & queensway to go to hong kong street chun kee 香港街珍记 at commonwelath crescent, but decided to drop in at mei chin road market to try out the stalls on 20.10.2015.
since we wanted song fish head, we picked the zi char stall at the hawker centre, hong man ji delights 鴻满记小吃.
the song fish head hk steamed 港蒸松鱼头 was S$13. they also served the black bean sauce fish head but sis decided to take hong kong steamed. it would be S$18 at alexandra village & at hong kong street chun kee 香港街珍记 at commonwealth crescent.
the song fish head hk steamed 港蒸松鱼头 was good, as good as the established places, not sure if the fish head was smaller?
sitr-fry kailan was also very good, anyway better than i expected.
good wok hae, tasty! S$6 for a small portion.
this stall actually quite good food for the price. becos we wanted to try the pig trotters etc from another stall we did not order other dishes.
not sure i will come specially for the zi char. but if i do, i don’t mind to try their other dishes.

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/10/15/ri-g20-11pax-dinner-whampoa-keng-fishhead-steamboat-on-14oct2015-good-food-fair-price/
organiser of this month’s RI G20 dinner selected whampoa keng fishhead steamboat. ^^
3 of us decided to go early for a cuppa at the wheeler’s yard. i took flat white. strong coffee with very smooth frothed milk. i liked it.
great ambience & lovely coffee (apparently food not so good & the cakes looked unappealing)
after coffee, i parked at ah hood gardens (HDB, lots of parking) & got to the restaurant before 7pm.
restaurant was plastered with photos of the owner, his wives & staff & the more famous patrons. our friend the organiser ordered a S$288set for 10, and changed some dishes.
the signature braised pig trotters replaced the salted egg sotong.
excellent call! this pig trotters lagi shiok! the best of texture not overly soft & mushy & tender meat falling of the bones. my friend liked the star anise flavours. for me that was just slightly over.
the best undeniably was the fish head steamboat. my friend ordered the red garoupa.
this really a supremely good tasting fishhead steamboat! ^^
the murky soup was such intense goodness.
& the refills were also not just water or light tasting soup, but almost the same intense stock. i guess the same stock minus the additional taste from the steamboat content.
not sure if it was just the head or a whole fish but it came with lots of meat too.
i think i must go round trying out fishhead steamboat liao!
the stir-fried brocoli with scallops in XO sauce was a pretty nice dish. there was a good serving of scallops.
& there was also something that tasted like the cheaper canned shellfish. a friend thought it was gluten but i felt that the texture was shellfish. not sure.
my friend changed the prawns in the set to their signature salted egg prawns.
it was a good competent dish, looked nice & tasted good too.
i guess it was nothing special just a standard dish in any zi char or restaurant.
we had a tofu dish. didn’t leave an impression with me.
i think the tofu dish at kok sen & also at muliangzai liang kee were a lot tastier.
the pork ribs with deep-fried cod strips was another signature dish.
it was competent but like any 排骨王, it’s a passable dish not my favourite.
the crispy boneless chicken 金龙鸡 was another signature dish.
crispy skin was there, but the sweet, moist, falvourful taste of a roast chicken was gone!
alas! i like my roast chicken at 6th avenue coffeeshop better leh!
we did not try 2 other signature dishes – the prawn paste chicken & the hae chor
we also had a tofu dish plus a shanghai green for a vegetarian friend.
the dinner was S$33pax, a little more expensive than the usual zi char stalls like-
keng eng keetwo chefskok sen
but quite fair price for the food (i would say better food, maybe except for kok sen), especially the alluring fishhead steamboat!^^

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/10/14/lovely-6-course-set-menu-lunch-min-jiang-goodwood-park-on-13oct2015/
had a lovely 6-course set menu at min jiang on 13.10.2015.^^
price was ok, as the food turned out pretty good. we had 5pax.
there were fe customers at lunch.
we skipped tea (normal chinese tea S$3pax no harm to have if need), just had complimentary water.
the edamame was nice.
they charged S$1pax so that was ok.
we selected 醉鸡，咸蛋虾，蒜泥白肉 from the choice of appetizers.
actually it was a friend’s belated birthday, but since she was w/o her reading glasses (haha!), i read out for her veto…
drunken chicken very good standard.
i think 1 friend said the prawn was very good. this a common item in chinese restaurants, i did not find it particularly special.
the 蒜泥白肉 minced garlic pork was good i guess, but i didn’t find it special too.
better look but not better tasting c/w my own 蒜泥白肉 though slightly different style.
the crabmeat fishmaw soup 蟹肉花胶羹 was excellent! really tasty soup.
it was a good serving, though the 花胶was not a whole piece but chopped up.
the key to a good soup is the stock base, and this one was par excellence!
the tea camphor duck was also very flavourful.
excellent duck, though the wrap was so-so.
skin was so crispy & flavourful. and the duck was very tender & moist. one of the best!
may not be better than the equally wonderful tasting tea infused roast duck at xin cuisine i had recently on 1.10.2015.the sea perch was also excellent! ^^
texture & taste almost like cod.
we wanted to order some 锅巴dish. the server recommended this popular dried scallop seafood stonepot rice so we had that instead.
it was good! very flavourful & chokeful of ingredients.
the mango sago杨支甘露 was refreshing, good dessert to have though it was just average.
our birthday girl makes a better one actually. haha!
overall, a very good set. the ingredients may not be a good as some of the special promotion set at majestic or tunglok or at xin cuisine, but the cooking was very fine & delivered great tasting dishes.
^best 6-course lobster set at tunglok signature

^chinese fine dining set at xin cuisine

the only horrendous thig was that i paid S$22.50 for parking & my friend S$20, no carpark redemption. never ever going to park at goodwood park!

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/10/08/good-value-peranakan-buffet-ellenborough-market-cafe-on-8oct2015/
went with a friend, who is an accomplished peranakan home chef himself, to ellenborough market cafe for lunch today on 8.10.2015. ^^
this my second time here this year, after a hiatus of probably 8 or 10 years. never get to use the FAR (feed at raffles) 50% vouchers for many years at this or other FAR restaurants either.
ambience was pretty nice. friend who is more familiar with this place thought it’s usually quite packed & was surprised that it wasn’t.
there was a cold appetizer section with prawns, yabbies, mussels.
prawns was good, i guess quite standard.
yabbies nice to look at & admire. as we know, not much meat & also meat is rougher that prawns, not as fine & sweet.
there was a salad section bread soup & bread.
there were 2 soup – a chinese lie tong type, pork ribs i think & a cream of tomato with basil. i wasn’t too interested so did not take photos.
i tried the lady fingers. pretty ok.
the prawn mushrooms. ok too.
there was only salmon sashimi & some maki sushi.
i started with sashimi, cold appetiser & salad.
didn’t look particularly great, but the salmon sashimi was quite excellent. fresh & sweet & i like the oily belly cuts. ^^
friend made 6 kueh pie tee (you have to add the ingredients onto the hat yourself).
they were nice, good standard.
i think the chinese ramen was the bestest dish!^^
ramen chef made a live demo, whacking the marble top with the flour noodles.
freshly made & rather thick.
but it was super nice! excellent texture, wholesome taste, a super broth to rival any tonkotsu & very tasty meatballs.
i liked the babi pongteh too. just perfect texture & so flavourful.liked the chicken too.
very nice curry, some very fragrant galangal taste & ginger fibre texture.
the hong kong steamed garoupa was also very well done.
problem with buffet – you take a tiny morsel here, and there & your plate & stomach are full.
the sea sumcumber duck was also very good.
duck was very tender, very lightly & nicely flavoured. i had a second helping.
did too for the babi pongteh & ayam buah keluak.
din take the fruits nor the ahborling (sesame dumplings) & most other dessert.
basically took some durian pengat.
they were very good.
usually i go for semi buffet where the main course is an ala carte order like at one ninety @ four seasons hotel or equinox or basilico, like a fine dining main course.
for buffets like the edge or carousel or olive tree (all i mostly don’t really like) or 10 at claymore with ala carte buffet items (which i like), i go for the appetizer & skips most of the main course.
here at EMC, there is very little appetizer to talk about (say c/w one ninety or equinox), fortunately main courses tasted quite well.
best thing was the price. just S$19++pax weekday lunch after 50% FAR discounts, nothing to complain about, and the best thing was that the dishes were really quite good.
& the great ambience, good company & conversation.

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/10/02/really-nice-fine-chinese-dinner-xin-cuisine-on-1oct2015/
wife & i went to xin cuisine for dinner on 1.10.2015.^^
though this is a palate restaurant, we had never use the amex palate privileges here before today.
the last time we had a superb fine dining here was 2.5yrs ago on 31.3.2013 for a ANZ set promotion.
in fact, soup looked quite pathetic but it tasted phenomenal!!!
i think this excellent lie tong 例汤 should be offered & served in a nice earthen pot like at tunglok or say lei gardens in hk instead of an individual per portion serving. at the very least, either if it is served per portion, it should be done in a nice bowl instead of a jack’s place kind of soup serving!
must try to do this lie tong at home.
actually the duck & veg were just as phenomenal!
this tea infused duck is the best roast duck i tried!! definitely better than the very nice duck at canton paradise.
the tea fragrance was so lingering! amazing! restaurant manager said it was because the hk chef not only smoked but also marinated the duck in tea.
maybe i will try my tea infused duck again…
this preserved vege with chinese small cabbage & egg plant was super also.
the flavours of the preserved vegetables with the light soy sauce, not salty, was inviting.
a very fine vegetable dish.
the big prawn crispy noodles was great, as expected.
crispy noodles & broth all good.
lobster noodles also good, but broth tasted perhaps just a wee bit not as good.
overall still a very good dish.
i tried my own king prawns braised noodles previously which tasted pretty good too.
this a really nice enjoyable dinner & with 50% for 2pax amex palate discounts, dinner was just S$69.
for me, the dishes were very fine, the soup was wonderful, & the duck quite divine, delicate & lingering tea flavours, and so was the veg. the prawn noodles & lobsters noodles were more ordinary dishes but very well executed, real good class.
service was ok, except at the beginning server took inordinately long time to respond to taking orders (even after acknowledging which already took long time) when there were just 3 tables including our own.