Sushi Tei

Sushi Tei is one of my favourite Japanese restaurants that offers pretty good Japanese food without burning too big a hole in my wallet. I've been to their branches at The Paragon, Ngee Ann City, Raffles City, Vivocity and Holland Village.

My experience at Ngee Ann City is by far, the poorest due to the poor attitude and service from the staff. And because the staff spoilt my mood during the meal, I have since crossed out Ngee Ann City Sushi Tei. The other outlets that I've visited so far has good and consistent standards though.

<3

Love their colour theme!

One thing I love about Japanese restaurants is that they have a clean and simple approach to their colours and decor. I love Sushi Tei's cosy ambience thanks to the warm colours they use. I feel very comfortable and could chill for a few hours there with my awesome girlfriends! Good company is like a bonus on top of a great meal!


View from the outdoor seating area

Hanasaki Ika ($4.80)

My all time favourite sashimi besides salmon is squid. Sadly, raw squid is not selling well in Sushi Tei so they took out my forever-missed-with-much-love, Ika Chidori - raw squid and seaweed. That leaves me with only Hanasaki Ika - raw squid with smelt roe, which will suffice.

Ika Chidori - the best photo i can find from my old albums.

Almost all other Japanese restaurants I've visited serve only ika sashimi in big flat pieces! I swear small strips of raw squid taste better! I hope Sushi Tei will not take out Hanasaki Ika shall the sales be poor as well... because then I will have one less thing to look forward in life...

Chuka Kurage ($4.80)

In my honest opinion, I think it's quite hard to screw up Chuka Kurage (jellyfish). Always good!

Sashimi Salad ($9) - Raw salmon, Tuna, Squid and a few Boiled Octopus

$9 for a plate of salad with generous amount of sashimi is great value! Of course the raw salmon or tuna's texture and quality in this salad can't be compared with those that are nicely sliced (which is so costly).

Seafood Salad ($9) - Crabstick, Prawns amd Boiled Octopus

The seafood salad has less ingredients but still good! Plus.... what makes their salad worth ordering is also because of their dressing! I bet you can eat all the veggies in the whole wide world as long as you have got Sushi Tei dressing to go along with it.


Chawanmushi ($4)

Chawanmushi is a compulsory dish for me. The hot and smooth egg custard with mushrooms, crabstick, chicken and gingko nut gives me much comfort.


Cha Soba ($8)

Cha Soba noodles are Soba noodles made of buckwheat flour and wheat flour with the added ingredient of fresh green tea leaves. It is served with ice cubes underneath the noodles and it taste great after you dip it into the sauce they provide. The texture of Sushi Tei's Cha Soba noodles is good but I prefer Ichiban Sushi's Cha Soba sauce more. Sushi Tei's one tasted bland with the noodles.

Dobinmushi ($6.50)

Enjoy the soup like you would enjoy tea

Dobinmushi or tea pot soup is of Japanese seafood broth that taste extremely light and refreshing especially after you squeeze the lime in! Don't have too high expectations of the ingredients inside cause the main star is the soup! I love it!

Crunchy Tuna ($9)

Dry and not really crunchy..

Deep fried minced tuna roll with chopped garlic, topped with flying fish roe, spring onion and accompanied with chilli mayonnaise, the Crunchy Tuna was a disappointment. It tasted dry, soggy and there is some fishy smell present. Should have stick to our usual Salmon/Ebi Mentaiyaki (also our favourites at Sushi Tei!)

Asari Sakamushi ($12) - Asari clams steamed with Japanese sake

Very clear and light tasting soup

The clams are sweet and fresh. The soup taste even lighter than Dobinmushi's and I guess not alot of Sake was used. I would rather order Dobinmushi's soup instead of this the next time round.

Be prepared to queue for at least 10 minutes or more during lunch and dinner hours or simply go earlier during off peak hours like I always do - so I can get seated immediately! If you feel like having an extra something besides what is offered in their usual menu, do take note of their seasonal (spring, summer, autumn, winter) special menu!

Sushi Tei  
Holland Village Shopping Mall
3 Lorong Liput
#01-08  
Singapore 277725
Tel: 64632310
Daily: 11.30am - 10pm
http://www.sushitei.com.sg/

Hainan Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee

After trying the 91 Fried Kway Teow Mee, Makan Boy and I hopped down to basement level for Hainan Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee!

Extremely simple and straightforward business offering.

Hainan Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee. A mix of style from two different provinces?

What you see is what you get.

The boss stood out with his lab goggles while he fry his noodles and they have only one serving portion at $3 per plate. And yes... they have the same "One set of chopsticks and spoon per plate" policy as 91 Fried Kway Teow Mee. (O_o)

Spot the... 2 prawns.

There were only 2 small prawns, a few slices of sotong and one small slice of pork belly in the whole plate of noodles. -_-

Burnt elements from the wok.

As seen in the above macro shot, Hainan Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee consists of mainly yellow noodles and thin beehoon. The black spots on the noodles are a result of the boss's stir frying technique which gives the noodles a flavour and fragrance we refer to as wok hei, or simply, wok aroma. To impart wok hei, the food must be cooked in a wok over a high flame while being stirred and tossed quickly. This is the reason why you can taste the infusion of the red hot wok and burnt elements in Hainan Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee.

They have that X-factor in their flavourful and tasty dry noodles but they should be more generous with their ingredients. Afterall, how can you call it prawn mee when there is only 2 prawns? I definitely still prefer wet versions of fried hokkien prawn mee (with of course more prawns), so this place is a no-no if you are like me.

Hainan Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee  
Golden Mile Food Centre
505 Beach Road  
#B1-34  
Singapore 199583
Tel: 62946798
Daily: 11am - 9pm
Closed on Wednesdays

91 Fried Kway Teow Mee

I've got good news for those of you that loves to indulge in tasty local food and yet do not wish to feel so guilty about your cholesterol level after the meal.

Presenting to you... the healthiest version of local fried Char Kway Teow! (so far)

So many testimonials and advertisements!

91 Fried Kway Teow has like so many testimonials all over their stallfront! They have not 1 but 3 television screens to showcase their kway teow and appearance on TV shows!

It only goes to show how well the owner is earning from just frying a good plate of char kway teow...

91 Fried Kway Teow ($3)

They have a "One set of chopsticks and spoon per plate" policy so I guess besides trying to encourage healthier eating with their no pork no lard and minimum vegetable oil recipe, they are serious about going "green".

Not too oily!

They pile quite an amount of blanched vegetables on top with crispy anchovies and there was indeed minimal oil used. The gravy was more watery than shiny and the vegetables were not bitter at all. Despite not using any chinese dried pork sausages and lard in their char kway teow, the noodles were still very tasty and fragrant! It tasted sweet and the service was pretty quick.

If you are around looking for some good food to eat, and yet do not wish to feel so guilty after the meal, you know where to go now. =)

91 Fried Kway Teow Mee
Golden Mile Food Centre
505 Beach Road  
#01-91  
Singapore 199583  
Tue - Sun: 11am - 9pm
Closed on Mondays

Ah Balling Peanut Soup

Dessert is a must for almost every meal of mine, be it fruits, ice cream, cakes or...

Ah Balling Peanut Soup.

Especially on a rainy day or night. Aaahhh...

Chinatown push cart stallfront

Golden Mile Stallfront

I've visited their branches at Chinatown, Nex, Golden Mile respectively and I can assure you their standard for the peanut soup is all very consistent so thumbs up for that!

LOTS of peanut

I'm a fan of Ah Balling's peanut soup. I love their soft, well cooked peanuts plus the sweet, delicious and fragrant soup. I can drink it on and on and not feel full or bad about my body's sugar level. Hehehe...

Glutinous Rice Balls with Peanut Filling

Glutinous Rice Ball with Black Sesame filling

For the glutinous rice balls, they have Black Sesame, Peanut, Red Bean, Yam Paste and Green Tea. Frankly speaking, glutinous rice balls that are equally tasty can be bought in local wet markets or supermarkets too. Tried all the flavours but I will stick to peanut and black sesame!

Besides having the peanut soup as their truly special and unique selling point, 75 Ah Balling's desserts remain extremely affordable after all these years. For less than $2, you get a bowl of hot, delicious and sweet memories to bring home.

75 Ah Balling Peanut Soup  
Golden Mile Food Centre
505 Beach Road  
#01-75  
Singapore 199583  
Daily: 11am - 9.30pm

Adam & Zion Big Prawn Noodle

After work, I was lazy to travel far for dinner so Makan Boy and I made our way down to Clementi 448 Market and Food Centre.

Always crowded

So many testimonials!

I love prawns. I love prawns alot. I love prawns very much. So when Makan Boy recommended me their prawn noodle, I was more than willing to try it.

They got famous with their stalls at Adam road and Zion road, thus their clementi outlet is named Adam and Zion Big Prawn Noodle. This also means that if they open another outlet in the future say at Changi, their stall name would then be Adam & Zion & Clementi Big Prawn Noodle..?  (O_o)


Big Prawn Noodle ($5)

I love that they are so generous with their prawns!

After 5 seconds into eating, I fell in.....





love. Muahahhaha!

The noodles and kang kong were not overcooked. Good. Their broth is more to the sweet style and it is so refreshing I can't stop drinking it one spoon after another. Very Good. The quantity of prawns they put in were such a pleasant surprise to me. Excellent. The prawns tasted fresh, sweet and firm. Perfect!

Simply put, I love and thoroughly enjoyed their prawns and the soup! They are definitely my favourite big prawn noodle stall right now till I find an even better stall of course.

And the more I look at the photos I took, the more I crave for some juicy big prawns and hot soup..

Adam & Zion Big Prawn Noodle
448 Clementi Market and Food Centre
448 Clementi Ave 3
#01-47
Singapore 120448
Tue- Sun: 7am - 9pm
Closed on Mondays

Soon Lee Porridge

Whenever you had too much of all the good food or you start feeling unwell, your parents most probably either ask you to refrain from the rich food, to eat something light, or they simply cook you a bowl of - porridge. A bowl of well cooked porridge really brings much comfort, especially on really cold and hungry days or when I simply got sick of every other kind of food/cuisines out there.

Clean business signboard

And since Makan Boy recommended me Adam & Zion Big Prawn noodle, I recommended him the porridge!

Soon Lee were closed for a while during renovation of the clementi food centre but they are back again! And by the way, Soon Lee is owned by the grandparents of my BFF! BFF tells me that because the stall is already popular and busy enough, they see no need to accept any television programmes' filming or interviews of any publications. Which is why despite the porridge having a good reputation (among those who tried it or grew up with it), you don't see any form of article or promo materials at all on their stallfront!


Home-cooked style!

Most porridge stalls either boils flavoured porridge with the meat in a jiffy, or serve it with some century egg and add pre-cooked minced pork or chicken over but Soon Lee's porridge is plain and then boiled with the meat upon order. No MSG. Waiting time is around 15 minutes or even longer depending on the queue.

Plenty of meat!!

At Soon Lee, what you get is truly home-cooked style kinda porridge which is of very good value at $2.50! I ordered the pork porridge and they gave quite a good amount of meatballs, pork livers and lean meat. They will add the fried dough fritters on top with some radish and chopped onions too.

Why their porridge is tasty even without MSG is probably due to the fact that they added quite alot of meat which helps the porridge gain flavour I guess. And no they wasn't giving me special treatment just because I know BFF. For another 30 cents, you can also add an egg.

A bowl of porridge with a taste like home, is always good. =)

Soon Lee Porridge
448 Clementi Market and Food Centre
448 Clementi Ave 3
#01-50
Singapore 120448
Mon - Fri: 6am - 9pm
Sat: 6am - 5pm
Closed on Sundays

Kim's Famous Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee

What started off in the early 70's as a simple hokkien prawn mee stall at Changi area has now transformed into the well known and popular Kim's Famous Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee at Jalan Eunos. Behind that glass panel at the frying wok, Tan Kue Kim is also very well known for frying noodles in his office wear and rolex watch. They have Kim's Place Seafood just beside the hokkien mee stall offering local seafood dishes like Chilli Crab, Cereal Prawn & Fish Maw Soup as well.

Kim's Famous Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee Stallfront

Populararity from his early days remain till now.

Pretty empty.

We went around 4pm and there wasn't much customers but the waiting time was very long. Turns out there were orders made by phone before us so... have patience.

Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee ($5)

Plenty of crispy pork lard and big rings of yummy squid

The crispy pork lard really adds fragrance and flavour for the noodles plus most stalls no longer add that so I am more than happy to eat it (once in a long while). My only complain is that there could have been more prawns because at one glance it looks more like fried hokkien sotong mee!

I also realized that their version is mostly yellow-populated noodles. Their style for the fried noodles range right in the middle between dry and wet but I would prefer much wetter noodles with more thick beehoon added. Undoubtedly, Kim's Famous Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee is still yummy and definitely one of the top 10 in Singapore!

Kim's Famous Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee
62B Jalan Eunos
Singapore 419510
Tel: 67478766
Daily: 11am - 1am
http://www.kims.com.sg/

The Wine Company

It was my best friend's birthday and she wanted somewhere quiet, private and really nice to chill like - The Wine Company at Sentosa Boardwalk.

Birthday girl =)

Sentosa Boardwalk connects Vivocity to Sentosa island and is also the first garden-themed boardwalk in Southeast Asia to feature tropical landscapes which are indigenous to Singapore.

Located right in the middle of the Sentosa Boardwalk, The Wine Company offers food as well, on top of its extensive wine list of more than 300 wines, and has a really quiet, romantic and comfortable ambience for a good harbour view over a glass or two.

Sunset when we arrived!

Customers enjoying their wine and isn't their background lightings beautiful?

We chosed to sit inside for our food first before moving out later for our drinks (as well as to enjoy the night view).

Because the lightings in the restaurant were really dim, all my photos are taken with the lousy flash and poor focus from my iPhone so pardon me if the photos appear badly taken or blurry.


Cheese Croquettes ($8)

Started with Cheese Croquettes which is of melted cheese in golden crust but what was presented to us were overfried crust with cheese that tasted mediocre.

Not much bang. =/

French Onion Soup ($8)

Consisting of beef broth and caramelised onions topped with a toast and melted cheese, the French Onion Soup tasted light with a hint of sweetness but I still favour thick soups like cream of mushroom or clam chowder!

Bruschetta Platter ($14) served with  Roma Tomatoes, Olive Tapenade and Chicken Liver Pate (from left)

The Roma Tomatoes were ordinary tasting and Olive Tapenade tasted too strong. It's my first time eating Chicken Liver Pate which tasted very yummy and because I prefer bread that is soft and fluffy, I didn't really appreciate the crispy and very well toasted bread so I was eating the chicken liver pate on its own the whole time! One of my girlfriends don't like any kind of livers so no matter how tasty we say it was, she was not tempted to try it at all. If you happen to be same like her, please try cause it tasted good!

Spaghetti Carbonara ($14)

Super thick and heavy creamy sauce!

There's nothing to complain about their tasty Carbonara. ;)


Seafood Marinara Linguine in Tomato sauce ($17)

Seafood Marinara Linguine in White Wine sauce ($17)

Birthday girl and girlfriend ordered the same - Seafood Marinara Linguine, al dente with prawn, mussel and squid. Birthday girl requested for white wine sauce which the chef gladly did so for her. After trying both styles, I feel the pasta is done better in red.


Chicken Pesto Cream Penne ($14)

Penne al dente with sauteed chicken & pine nuts in pesto sauce, this is probably the best pasta we ordered for the night! I love the tender flavourful chicken and the sauce which is not as thick as the carbonara's one! Undoubtedly, all the pasta we ordered were good and firmness of the noodle were all done very well!

Tuna Steak ($22)

Shiny smooth!

Served with french beans, roasted cherry tomato with basil and balsamic sauce, their Tuna Steak is a winner. The pan seared tuna steak was nicely done, the texture of the fish was fine and smooth in the mouth and the crunchy french beans were nice to chew on. Overall, the contrast in taste and texture between the crust and the interior of the tuna makes it very interesting to the palate.


Chocolate Truffle Cake ($18) from The Line Shop in Shangri-la hotel

Very chocolatey moussey texture

Since there is the birthday cake, we did not order any of their desserts. Girlfriend got a super good deal for this cake at only $18!! Even Prima Deli or Four Leaves's cake cost way more! This Chocolate Truffle Cake is one of The Line Shop's signature cakes, and it tasted very very rich with mousse-like texture, perfect for those who has a chocolate tooth.. like me. =D

Also, we loved that the service was very pleasant and the two staff that served us were very attentive and polite. Twice we approached them to help us charge our iPhone which they had no problems with and probably cause it was a Sunday night, the business was rather slow and steady so they weren't too overworked I guess.

Porta Rossa Moscato d'Asti ($48.50)

Sweet toast to end a lovely night

To enjoy the rest of the night with much bliss, we ordered Moscato from Piedmont region, Italy. Made from 100% Muscadelle grapes, the wine is light straw yellow in colour. An aromatic wine with a flowery bouquet and the slight fizz gives the wine the zest it is known for that sweet and refreshing taste.

Beautiful lightings.. so romantic.

Peace

The Wine Company is definitely a great place to hang out at, be it with friends, for business or romance with that peaceful harbour view. Do mark this place down and ease away all the stress of life in Singapore, with a glass of wine and good company.

The Wine Company (Sentosa Boardwalk)
6 Sentosa Gateway
#01-08
Singapore 098072
Tel: 63769029
Mon - Thurs: 12pm - 12am
Fri - Sat & Eve of PH: 12pm - 1am
Sunday & PH: 10am - 11pm
http://www.thewinecompany.com.sg/