The casual Vietnamese diner passes muster, but barely, and their price points are probably a huge factor in their staying power.

A word to the wise: bring lots of deodorant; Pho Hoa's poorly ventilated so fully expect to walk out reeking of the day-old frying oil and a mish-mash of bone stock.

The Cha Gio ($6) was decent flavour-wise, but seemed more like the usual Chinese spring rolls than a Vietnamese rice-paper wrap. The Bun Ga Nuong ($13.95), a massive bowl of fresh vegetables and grilled chicken, sauced up with a salty dip, made for quite the refreshing salad. The Pho Tai Bo Vien ($12.95), a hefty stock that was laden with MSG, was topped with juicy striploin and meatballs. The Pho Ga ($11.95), a clear chicken-based noodle soup, was lighter than I'd expected, but still reeked of artificial MSG.

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We were at Cuppage Plaza for a no-frills lunch. This old-school shopping centre is famous for 3 things, dodgy massage parlours, underrated restaurants frequented by Japanese expats so you know it's super authentic, and last but not least, hole-in-the-wall cze char and economic rice stalls that are dirt cheap.

Isle Café is one of many economic rice stalls, but it's distinguished from the rest by its longest queue, a sure-fire indication of good food. The food turned out more than decent. It wasn't particularly refined stuff, but it had that very-missed homecooked feel to it. Plus, 7 dishes for 2 persons cost us only $13! How ridiculously low is that?

Although, we did see a baby roach traipsing across the cashier's countertop. It was really gross but if you think about it, the reality is that roaches present at almost every hawker center. Just because you don't see one doesn't mean they don't exist. There's just no way to completely eradicate such pests. At least it was a baby one and not a full grown one. And no, we were completely fine after dining here. No tummy upsets or anything.

We had:

1) Ginger Pork: sautéed in a thick sticky dark soy and oyster sauce for a full-bodied flavour. The pork was very lean but it was sufficiently moist. This was great with steaming hot white rice

2) Curry Chicken: Thick, creamy, rich, with a manageable spiciness and completely droolworthy

3) Pepper Chicken: a tad tough, but still palatable

4) Fried Luncheon Meat: Cannot-go-wrong option. So full of artificial junk but so dependably good.

5) Fried Egg: whites were a little rubbery but the yolks were perfectly done. Considering that these had been sitting in the display for a bit, the soft, semi-runny consistency of the yellows was quite the feat. Great for smearing it all over white rice

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Revolution Coffee is another offshoot of Papa Palheta's ever-growing coffee empire. After the dismal experience at Chye Seng Huat (also owned by the Papa Palheta people), I wasn't too keen on this. But my coffee-loving friend, who's on this quest to try every single coffee joint on the island, dragged me all the way to the super ulu-fied Revolution Coffee. And boy, was Revolution Coffee ulu-fied to the max. It's near-ish Portsdown Road, which is already considered to be relatively out-of-the-way, seeing as there's no public transportation access. And, the building it's housed in is in the middle of nowhere. The next nearest building is a good 15 minute brisk walk in the blazing sun away. I can't imagine anyone but the on-site office workers patronizing this place. Which is why, I suppose, Revolution Coffee isn't open on weekends.

As expected, the brews here are of a pretty high standard, but it isn't something that I can't get from a decent coffee joint in town. Also, their food's tonnes better than CSH, which isn't saying much as CSH's stuff was so disappointingly sub-standard. That said, the fare here at Revolution Coffee isn't good enough to draw me back there on its own.

We had:

1) Mad Chef's Sticky Date Pudding ($9.90): pretty damn good. The pudding was moist and rich and had a delectable smoky sweetness derived from dates, buffeted by the rich smoky sweetness of gula melaka butterscotch sauce. A scoop of icy French vanilla ice-cream further upped the comfort level of this heart-warmingly rich dessert.

2) Revolution Coffee Affogato ($6): also memorably good. Perky extra-strength espresso, Premium French vanilla ice-cream, house-baked cookie crumble and a dusting of chocolate powder, what's not to like?

3) Spaghetti Amatriciana ($9.50): while ginormous in portion, it was a bit amateurish. Overcooked spaghetti was tossed in a supposed-to-be-spicy-but-not-really-so tomato basil sauce and loaded with bacon. The fact that the bacon was in bountiful supply couldn't quite detract from the lack of finesse in this. Still, this was a commendable effort.

4) Cafe Latte ($5.50): love! It was creamy, full-bodied and had the perfect amount of froth at the top.

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I don't understand what's the big deal about this place. The stall lady is overtly stingy. She counts every single itty bitty little green leaf as just to make sure you don't get one more leaf than your plate of $4 noodles is worth, and refuses to give you one more pair of chopsticks even if you order a large plate of noodles. That's the problem with hawker stalls that have been "discovered" and consequently become famous. The fame just gets to them and they suddenly develop an attitude problem.

Taste-wise, it isn't mind-blowing. It's okay, but this stall, which touts itself as a healthier alternative by using vegetable oil and refraining from the use of lard, just lacks that certain lardy compound that cannot be replaced. The Char Kway Teow ($4 for large) is served with a distinctive layer of green leafy vegetables and crisp silver fish topping. And if you think that a bunch of artery-clogging oil-soaked chai sim are going to help lower your cholesterol, then you've got another thing coming

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Ali Shan Curry Fish Head, which has another branch at Bedok Interchange Food Centre, usually has a ridiculously long queue. Not today though, so we went ahead and ordered a few dishes. Their mixed vegetable dishes are not bad, they have a comforting homestyled feel to them. Should try if you're in the area.