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chefquak
This is chefquak . French, Japanese, Teochew are my favorite cuisines..
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chefquak  Level 4
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Categories : Chinese | Hawker Centre

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/06/09/hawker-food-east-coast-lagoon-food-village-then-music-roland-garros-finals-on-8-6-2014/

went to a good friend’s house to watch roland garros finals between nadal & djokovic on 8.6.2014.
3 of us started with a leisurely stroll via the underpass to the recently renovated east coast lagoon food village for dinner.
we enjoyed nice music after dinner at my friend’s place with his amazing sound system & acoustics before start of tennis match.
for dinner, we ordered a S$5 beef soup kuay teow mee each & a S$8 orh luah to share. 
never taken this style of beef kuayteow mee before. only had the hainanese style starchy thick beehoon (which i don’t quite like), the vietnamese pho & thai thin kuay teow (i like the beef noodles at thai noodle house, even more so in bangkok siam centre or street etc, a lot more than the vietnamese). nothing like the hong kong beef noodles, my favourite but cannot quite find in singapore, maybe noodles restaurant’s version comes just a bit close. still!
this supposedly famous leng kee beef noodles though was really nondescript. very average.
the orh luah had a long queue. it was pretty good but not special. & since i started trying out orh luah last week, i think it was no better than my own crispy orh luah & the wetter starchy version which i had not posted yet.

 

 
 
Table Wait Time: 10 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Jun 08, 2014 

Spending per head: Approximately $5(Dinner)

Other Ratings:
Taste
 3  |  
Environment
 3  |  
Service
 3  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 3

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Average Lunch Buffet OK Jun 07, 2014   
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Categories : Fusion | Multi-Cuisine | Hotel | Buffet

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/06/07/average-lunch-buffet-50-street-bay-hotel-on-7june2014/

bought a S$20pax weekend asian lunch buffet voucher @ street 50 at bay hotel from groupon, so went there for lunch on 7.6.2014.
place is new. there is outdoor setting but it was hot & most part in the sun at lunch & very high ceiling (like 12m) so not useable when heavy downpour. it was fully booked so i could only get outdoors but i was there among the first few just before the crowd so managed to get seated inside anyway.
service was very good in terms of attitude & politeness, and i also got free parking coupon at the end. the food did not look exciting but did not look bad either. coffee was not included but iced water was quite fine. 
there was nothing to talk about in my first plateful. scallops & mussels were poor & tasteless (but they usually are even at say carousel for >S$60pax) w/o the thai? green dip sauce, which was also average. best was the otah (i had a second one later). the small octopus was quite good, and the long bean minced pork salad was ok. steam prawn was competent.
of the cooked food, curry chicken was quite good. curry was tasty, chicken ok but not really tender enough. mutton rendang was ok. fried prawn was tastier than the cold dish but just a competent prawn dish. mushrooms & spinach was pretty good. achar too.
the beef ball beehoon soup was competent. soup was very tasty but too oily.
the crispy yam was pretty good. sweet & sour fish was also good. 
and i liked the chendol & the lapis sagu (九层糕). pulut hitam ok but mochi was poor – skin was thick & the inside was hard.
overall, i don’t really have much to comment about this place. food was competent. at S$20pax nett using groupon it was really very ok, though i am unlikely to return myself. at S$25++pax, hard to say, i mean, there are many alternatives like dinner@peach garden miramar for S$30nett pax.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Recommended Dish(es):  beef ball beehoon soup,otah,chendol,crispy yam,sweet 7 sour fish,curry chicken,fried prawn
 
Table Wait Time: 0 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Jun 07, 2014 

Spending per head: Approximately $20

Other Ratings:
Taste
 3  |  
Environment
 4  |  
Service
 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 4

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Categories : Cantonese/Hong Kong | Teochew

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/04/26/23pax-dinner-ban-heng-orchard-central-on-25apr2014/

we started with the list of chef’s recommendations above.
for me the best dish was the abalone. it was about or almost the normal good restaurant standard, not better.
the rest of the dishes were kind of below par or maybe i should say just ok. however everything is relative. the price of S$26.80 is i guess pretty alright for the number of dishes, though these days there were more talks of worthwhile calories & worthwhile cholesterol and focus was more on quality than quantity. 1 friend i asked during dinner said pretty much the same, that relative to price it was ok. another friend commented on FB post afterwards – “The food was actually quite satisfactory for the price and place”.
the chilli crab was pretty ok though not spicy (as we were told by the servers), but its not a dish that the ladies took much nor the rest.
the sharkskin soup was gluey like sometimes served in wedding dinners. i took <1/2 of the portion served.
the drunken prawn was among the better dishes. 1 lady on my table commented that it had nicely herb flavoured soup. the prawn was quite ok.
the frog legs were a bit below par say c/w the plum, meaty ones at ah yat turf city.
likewise the garlic steamed scallops with tanhoon. this should be a pretty standard dish if using live scallops, but somehow the scallop & garnishing were not tasty. i do a much better tasty dish using IQF frozen razor clams from sheng shiong, but of course i always prefer razor clams to scallops for this garlic steamed preparation.
the stir-fried scallops with asparagus was also an average dish. the asparagus were quite good in texture & taste. scallops were just average. like the frog leg, this dish was lacking in ‘wok hae”, which was surprising as the baby kailan dish that came later had very good wok hae.
the deep-fried soon hock was also quite average. this was also a standard dish at many restaurants. couldn’t say it was poor but while the fishes were crispy outside, the inside were not moist & tender as the usually good ones at most restaurants, & the sauce were not so tasty as well.
the lady who commented on the drunken prawns went to spy on the other tables…haha…& we ordered the steamed seabass & the roast duck. good food-spotting, well done!
the 1/2 seabass with spicy bean sauce was good. though 1 friend commented that soon hock was a better & more expensive fish…but it goes to show that quality of cooking/preparation is equally or sometime more important than quality of ingredients. 
the roast duck was good too, flavourful but just a tad salty. compare this with the really good roast duck at noodle restaurant at centrepoint!
it prompted the lady friend to quip that perhaps the trick was to mine the non chef recommendations.
the 2 vegetables dishes we ordered were quite good, above average.
the baby kailan had very good wok hae.
& the spinach with superior stock was good. nice tasty stock.
the deep-fried tofu with thai sauce was much below par, both the tofu & also the sauce.
the mayo prawn salad was quite ok & refreshing though not a favourite with me.
the hae chor looks were not so appealing. the taste was just ok.
the braised goose was to me below par, which is kind of surprising for an establishment that started out as teochew restaurant 42years ago in 1972. it was not ‘pang” i.e. flavourful & texture was over boiled. my favourite is the braised duck at imperial treasure teochew restaurant at ngee ann city. my own teochew braised duck is also more flavourful than this. 1 friend asked whether one could tell between goose & duck. couple of us felt that sway when eating goose in hong kong the more gamey & fragrant taste was quite apparent. 
overall, food, ambience & price were quite ok for such a get-together. ala carte buffet was quite convenient, one price, easy to manage for groups & don’t really have to plan or pre-order the food, pretty much order anything you fancy. we were mostly more interested in talking, with food as a good accompaniment, so i was not paying much attention to the menu too. it’s probably not a place i would go much or soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Recommended Dish(es):  chilli crab,drunken prawns,small abalones with broccoli,roast duck,steamed sea bass,spinach with superior stock
 
Table Wait Time: 0 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Apr 25, 2014 

Spending per head: Approximately $31(Dinner)

Other Ratings:
Taste
 3  |  
Environment
 4  |  
Service
 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 4

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S$2.80 Teochew Fishball Noodles OK Jan 30, 2014   
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Categories : Teochew | Coffeeshop | Noodles

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/01/30/s2-80-teochew-fishball-noodles-guan-kim-on-30jan2014/

was going to get some sugar & cornflour at sheng shin at commonwealth met at 12.30pm on cry eve 30.1.2014. the queues were like 20pax, so i gave up. but since i already put coupon, i decided to walk over to the tanglin halt market to take wei yi laksa. however laksa stall was closed & the very nice tau huay with ginkgo nuts. this time, they sold out of tau huay. no luck…

anyhow i went to the coffee shop next to the hawker centre & found a teochew fish ball noodles which i ordered.

c/w xin lu at mei chin food centre, the fish balls were just slightly harder (i guess means more starch) & maybe less tasty. the noodles were done well, qq (al dente) & not soggy however, the chilli sauce was too salty.

overall it was not as good as xin lu and also hup kee, the other fishball noodle stall at mei chin food centre. it was ok fishball noodles but not something i want to go especially to take.
S$2.80 teochew fishball noodles

S$2.80 teochew fishball noodles

 
S$2.80 teochew fishball noodles

S$2.80 teochew fishball noodles

 
guan kim coffeeshop

guan kim coffeeshop

 
 
Date of Visit: Jan 30, 2014 

Spending per head: Approximately $3(Lunch)

Other Ratings:
Taste
 3  |  
Environment
 3  |  
Service
 3  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 4

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Expensive Family Ala carte Dinner OK Jan 21, 2014   
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Categories : Teochew | Seafood | Kids-Friendly

I had an expensive very average food at chui huay lim on 19.1.2014. I did a family dinner there with my brother & sister & ordered ala carte as i had jumbo$ expiring in jan2014, better redeem. smile

the the prices gone up. roast suckling pig was S$168, now S$198! cold crab was S$28, now S$30. 1/2duck & 1 whole punning chicken were S$28 now S$32. pork trotter jelly & har chor were S$8, now S$10.

crackling skin of the roast suckling pig was good . but the meat was overcooked & tough!

the 1/2 lor arh (soy sauce duck) was good but no better than muliangzai liang kee, and imperial treasure teochew restaurant was simply superior in comparison, and i think my own lor arh also more flavourful.

puning chicken was really poor, and i ordered 1 whole chicken as we had 11pax! waste of money, any chicken rice stall would offer better chicken. my wife said my own homecooked chicken was better!

the teochew mixed vegetables with dried scallops & the broccoli spinach tofu with shimeji mushrooms were good, and the teochew plain char kuay teow with chye poh was super, very good wok hae! there were 2 vegetarians among us by practice.they didn’t take the scallop but were ok with & enjoyed the dish. smile

i did not order any fish & prawns as they were very expensive. red garoupa was S$11/100g & tread fin tail was S$8/100g. i think most restaurants would do red garoupa at S$8/100g!

overall, i thought chui huay lim had turned very expensive for very average food. much better to do lee kui (ah hoi), muliangzai liang kee & swa gardens etc which have comparable food at lower prices. i still have jumbo$ though but will probably go to jumbo outlets rather than chui huay lim.
cold crab

cold crab

 
pig trotter jelly

pig trotter jelly

 
roast suckling pig

roast suckling pig

 
lor arh (braised duck)

lor arh (braised duck)

 
puning chicken

puning chicken

 
brocoli, spinach tofu & shimeji mushrooms

brocoli, spinach tofu & shimeji mushrooms

 
teochew mixed vegetables with dried scallops

teochew mixed vegetables with dried scallops

 
teochew char kuay teow

teochew char kuay teow

 


See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/01/20/expensive-family-ala-carte-dinner-chui-huay-lim-restaurant-on-19jan2014/
 
Recommended Dish(es):  Teochew mixed vegetables with dried scallops
 
Date of Visit: Jan 19, 2014 

Spending per head: Approximately $50(Dinner)

Other Ratings:
Taste
 3  |  
Environment
 4  |  
Service
 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 3

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