Astons Specialities

Determined to provide "quality and value-for-money food", Aston Soon, owner and ex restaurant chef started Astons in a coffeeshop along East coast road in 2005 and has since expanded the business to include Astons Specialities, Astons Prime and Astons Express.

I first visited Astons thanks to BFF and have been a frequent customer since then. The queue at their Cathay outlet is probably the longest and slowest one. If you have a growling stomach, do opt for other restaurants around cause the wait can take up to 45 minutes in extremely peak periods. Plus.. when you're hungry, each minute can feel like 1 hour >_< .

Then again, the wait can be slightly faster when it's a table for 2!

Black Pepper Fish ($8.50)

My favourite at Astons would be the Black Pepper Fish. I love their black pepper sauce and the fish is always fresh and nicely done! Crispy on the outside with the texture of the flesh being soft and smooth.

For every main course, you can also select 2 side dishes to go along with it and their side dishes are always in a generous portion! I especially love their baked potato because of how fluffy and light the baked potato is. Plus.. I dig butter. Butter is like good even on its own hehehe.


Big scoop of creamy butter...

Much bliss..

You can also request for more butter if you like! Of course during peak hours, the service can take quite a while.
 

Lemon Lime Chicken ($7.90)

Makan Boy ordered his usual and despite him not having a thing for sourish stuff, their lemon lime sauce is tantalizing! Refreshing on the tastebuds and goes well with the fragrant grilled chicken.

Chicken nuggets ($3.90)

Yummy!

I try to avoid eating too much deep fried food but Astons nuggets is so nice...(guilt trip not working haha) Furthermore, $3.90 for around 10 nuggets is of far greater value than ordering at McD's!

Ice Lemon Tea ($2)

The ice lemon tea taste lighter than the canned ones and is not as sweet.

Their menu is inclusive of 7% gst and they do not include the 10% service charge so you can enjoy affordable food in a restaurant setting! If you want to enjoy your meal in a slightly quieter environment, you might want to shift out to their outdoor area. My best advise for your trip down to Astons would be to avoid peak dining hours!

Astons Specialities
The Cathay
2 Handy Road
#04-03  
Singapore 229233
Tel: 68875889
Sun - Thurs: 11.30am - 10pm
Fri, Sat, Eve of PH: 11.30am - 11pm
http://www.astons.com.sg/

McDonald's Sundae

Do you know you can request to have both strawberry and hot fudge for your sundae?

Best of both world~

=D

KFC's Egg Tart

Maybe I am slow but I only recently tried KFC's egg tarts and I feel they are not bad!!

Chocolate Egg Tart (above) & Original Egg Tart

Hot and nice with chocolate!

=D

Boon Lay Ghee Huat Fried Oyster and Kway Teow Mee

Another stall that sells pretty good Fried Kway Teow Mee and Fried Oyster in Boon Lay Place Food Village!

Fried Oyster ($4)

What I love about fried oyster is the crispy fragrant egg with starch added. It makes the whole dish special unlike Oyster Egg which is basically just fried oyster on top of the fried egg (a healthier option??). Also, the watery chilli sauce that accompanies it is uniquely different from other chili sauce. Ironically, it is usually not very spicy (bonus point for me haha!) and taste tangy, sourish and more uplifting on the taste buds!

Plump oyster!

Nothing much to rave about Ghee Huat's fried oyster omelette but the plump oyster did make me smile! They managed to balance out a right amount of starch to put in, thus the fried egg wasn't all dry or soggy - which I appreciate!

Fried Kway Teow Mee ($3)

At one glance, their Fried Kway Teow Mee looks almost like those Fried noodles from Economic Beehoon stalls.

Their version is more watery and sweet. Only one lap cheong with no lard. Plenty of cockles and the noodles tasted really smooth but it is not exactly oily. It's an entirely different version of Fried Kway Teow but yes, it is tasty om nom nom nom!

Ghee Huat
Boon Lay Place Food Village
221B Boon Lay Place
#01-111  
Singapore 640221
Daily: 12pm - 11.30pm

Yao Heng Cooked Food

My mum used to come here often for their Satay Beehoon and I acquired a liking for it because of her. Thought I could eat that as well on this food trip but it wasn't available when Makan Boy and I reached at 11pm so we decided to try their.. Mixed Cuttlefish Dish!

Day & Night Menu

Notice how at Boon Lay Place Food Village, Day & Night Business is quite common among the stalls?


Mixed Cuttlefish ($4)

This is the first time I tried this but I noticed how another stall in Chinatown name it Cuttlefish Kang Kong instead.

Love the tender cuttlefish..

It has a mix of pineapple, mango, tau pok, achar, with kangkong and cuttlefish being the main star. The mix is stirred in a sweet sauce before a sprinkle of chopped peanuts on top, which I would say taste and looks pretty similar to Rojak!

If you ask me, I think this dish should be named Satay Cuttlefish Rojak! Nice!

Yao Heng Cooked Food
Boon Lay Place Food Village
221B Boon Lay Place
#01-101  
Singapore 640221
Daily: 7am - 11.30pm

Jit Sin

Couldn't find any review for Jit Sin but they were in good business that night with a continuous flow of customers.

Night business in full force!

They also sell Nasi Lemak and Economic Rice in the day!

Golden sticks of yummy meat!

Pork and Chicken Satay ($0.50/stick)

I love that their chicken meat is so tender and sweet to the bite! The pork was also nicely done and they alternated it with pork meat and lard. Compared to Malay-style satay, Jit Sin's satay was very simply marinated with sweet and tasty honey glazed all over.

Peanuts are grounded more finely

Their peanut sauce is smoother as compared to others and tasted great. It's not as oily and is more watery. The rice wasn't exceptionally tasty but nicely barbequed satay sticks dipped in saltish peanut sauce were still of much bliss. =D

Jit Sin
Boon Lay Place Food Village
221B Boon Lay Place
#01-112  
Singapore 640221
Daily: 7am - 11.30pm

Sin Chew Huat (Moi Xiang) Hotplate Stingray

The smoky fragrance of BBQ seafood is as tempting as the shiny popcorn in the cinemas. So hard to resist!

BBQ goodness!

I love all kinds of clams or shell seafood!

BBQ Stingray ($10)

Loving it!

Makan Boy and I love their BBQ Stingray! The chilli was super tasty and delicious! Saltish and slightly spicy - I totally adore it! Can't really say much about the texture of the meat because it wasn't like super fresh but it was of a decent size for the price. =D

Sin Chew Huat (Mei Xiang) Hotplate Stingray
Boon Lay Place Food Village
221B Boon Lay Place
#01-117  
Singapore 640221
Daily: 12pm - 12am

Boon Lay Fried Carrot Cake & Kway Teow Mee

What caught my eye to try out this stall was probably due to Ben Yeo's face on the Channel U sticker. I got to admit that the feature on television channels for these hawker stalls, do tempt me in giving a shot at what they offer!

Boon Lay Fried Carrot Cake & Kway Teow Mee

Fried Carrot Cake ($3)

We ordered the Yin Yang (black and white) Fried Carrot Cake which cost $3 instead of $2.50 for one colour (so as to judge better in an economical way). Apparently, the uncle whom chatted with us claims that only at his stall will you get Yin Yang style carrot cake. Really? o_O

The black version tasted alright but the white did not pass my standard. Both black and white carrot cake were too dry for our liking as well.

Hmmmm....

Probably due to the change in hands at the frying wok (currently daughter taking over business), the statement "Famous Char Kway from Jurong 13th Mile since 1956" didn't quite match the standard of the fried carrot cake now..

Fried Kway Teow Mee ($2.50)

On the other hand, their Fried Kway Teow Mee was delicious! Theirs is a drier version of Fried Kway Teow that tasted sweet and flavourful. The kway teow they use is also thinner and we were told by the uncle that they are the first and only stall in Singapore to put pork floss - top grade one somemore!

Although they stated closing time as 11.30pm, the stall was still in business when we were there at 12am. Like any other hawker stalls in Singapore, operating hours are flexible and depends on the business or personal preference of the hawkers I guess. I read somewhere online that their carrot cake is available throughout the day while fried kway teow mee is available only at night.

Since their Fried Carrot Cake is only average, just try your luck for good Fried Kway Teow Mee at night!

Boon Lay Fried Carrot Cake and Kway Teow Mee
Boon Lay Place Food Village
221B Boon Lay Place
#01-125  
Singapore 640221
Mon - Sat: 6pm - 11.30pm
Closed on Sundays

Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak

Nasi Lemak is a very common dish in Singapore but what makes it a must-eat-before-you-die-dish is definitely because of the extremely fragrant and delicious coconut rice. Smelling the rice from afar is good enough to make my stomach growl...

The queue never ends at PNL.

Many awards and testimonials!

Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak is very well known and popular among the west siders. One reason why they got so popular besides their awesome food and service is probably due to the fact that there is very limited places to go for supper in the West. Thus, this results to great business for PNL every night!

Also, PNL's queue never ends with the constant flow of customers which means that the food is always freshly prepared! Plus, despite being so busy, the people at PNL always appear energetic, smily, with a ready-to-serve attitude. (No wonder they got awarded Winner of the Best Nasi Lemak this year in January for the Hawker Masters award - aimed at celebrating hawker food and giving deserving hawkers recognition!)

Non stop frying and cooking in the kitchen

All hot and fresh.

Presenting to you.....

The Best Nasi Lemak of Singapore 2010!

Standard Power Nasi Lemak set ($3)

I love their very well cooked rice that is not too oily or dry and the chicken wing which is very crispy and tasty! Love the sweet and flavorful meat with a saltish crust. The ikan billis and peanut were very crunchy but sadly my sunny side up didn't have runny egg yolk unlike the one Makan Boy had some time back when he was with his friends.

Sambal chilli plays a super important role in Nasi Lemak but I am always more than happy to just eat the rice and ingredients without it. Plus, their chilli was abit spicy for me..


Yummy for my tummy.

Just in Boon Lay Food Centre, Makan Boy and I discovered that there were another 4 stalls selling Nasi Lemak as well!

Another shocking fact which amazes me is that Power Nasi Lemak issue FRANCHISE license! *GASP*

Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak  
Boon Lay Place Food Village
221B Boon Lay Place
#01-106  
Singapore 640221
Tel: 90064730
Daily: 7am - 3am
http://powernasilemak.biz/

Emicakes

The king of fruits, well loved but also shunned by many. It all depends on my mood when it comes to this fruit. Sometimes I thoroughly enjoy the rich and creamy fruit, sometimes I feel full just from sniffing it.

It's a love hate relationship between me and... durian.

Emicakes - claimed to be Singapore's No.1 Durian cake maker

"Some people regard the durian as fragrant; others find the aroma overpowering and offensive. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust, and has been described variously as almonds, rotten onions, turpentine and gym socks. The odour has led to the fruit's banishment from certain hotels and public transportation in southeast Asia." - Wikipedia

But yes, many Singaporeans simply adore this fruit and Makan Boy is one of them.

Ultimate D24 Durian Puffs ($7) - A treat for Makan Boy =)

Golden puff with awesome durian cream

Puteri Mas also offers great durian puffs but theirs are of bite sized puffs at $11.80 for 20pcs/box. 1 durian puff from Emicakes is equivalent to 4 Puteri Mas durian puffs. After calculating, Emicakes durian puff is of more value.

I'm not too particular about the filling as long as it is of at least 70% durian pulp. 100% durian pulp is like a bonus. Emicakes' outlet at PS is more convenient for me and Makan Boy but in terms of freshness, Puteri Mas has an upper hand. This is because Emicakes have so many outlets, their durian puffs are supplied all over Singapore frozen. We couldn't enjoy the durian puffs immediately until we leave it to thaw for about 2 hours. =/

But the wait was worth it as the durian puffs tasted heavenly. Thanks to bakeries like Emicakes and Puteri Mas, we get to enjoy delicious durian treats all year round!

Emicakes
Plaza Singapura
68 Orchard Road
#B2-04
Singapore 238839
Tel: 63385433/6433
Daily: 10am - 10pm
http://www.emicakes.com.sg/