Another droolicious looking place that made us want to haul ourselves out of the house on a Sunday to queue up early for dinner. Ginza Tendon has certainly captured many hungry imaginations just from the glistening golden chunks stacked on a huge bowl of rice.
It was 5pm when we reached (officially opens at 5:30pm) and already there were 5 persons ahead of us. By the time the restaurant opened, there was about 30 people in the queue!
Away from the maddening traffic of Serangoon Gardnes is the homey and cosy Baci Baci tucked right in the corner of Lichfield Road (doesn’t that name conjure up images of grassy hills and blue skies?).
Unlike the typical over commercialized places in town, I like the quietness and warmth of the decor (which makes it great place for that romantic date and intimate gatherings) and their food is a real treat to the palate.
In conjuction with Peony Jade’s 12th Anniversary, they are introducing a new ala carte menu from June 2016. I was quite looking forward to trying it as I have not been to any of their outlets before.
First up, a sample of appetisers. The Crispy Suckling pig (very nice piece of crackling skin) served with Otak wrapped in Vietnamese Rice Rolls.
I have been seeing so many droolicious pics on the Shiok Maki, the signature dish from Koh Grill & Sushi Bar and was pleased to finally get to try it last week! Thankfully we escaped the long waiting line by arriving just at the start of a weekday lunchtime. Still it was already pretty full house when we got a table.
We started with the highly recommended Shiok Maki Generation 1 ($16.80) Now I understand what the craze is all about!
Since York Hotel had just ended their recent Penang food fair, choices seemed limited for a Penang food buffet in an air-conditioned environment until we found this place.
As usual, excited by friends’ photos and delicious-looking online reviews, we were really looking forward to the lunch. Especially for the Assam Laksa.
The delightfully enticing pictures of caged goodies for WooBar’s hi tea certainly did their job in persuading us to go all the way down to Sentosa to check it out. Unfortunately our contacts had not been there before, or we certainly would not have.
After reading seeing ravishing reviews online but getting less than glowing feedback from friends who went there, this place piqued my curiosity. For one, I have not tried crab stock based ramen soup before, and wondering how it would compare vs my favorite black pork ramen. Secondly, why the less than enthusiastic response?
We went down around 1pm at lunchtime. The place was mostly packed with younger customer types and the queue can take a while. You place your order by checking off your options on a food order form. I decided to go for the crab broth ramen (with strong flavor and normal texture noodles).
Mum made this yummy braised dish over the weekend. Simple and delicious!
Ingredients
Light soya sauce
Dark soya sauce
White pepper
5 Spice powder
Star Aniseed – 2 pieces
20 pieces of mini tau-pok (can buy from wet market, look for the stalls that sell bean sprouts / tau pok)
300 gms of minced pork shoulder (“kap sang”)
1 large carrot (usually water chestnut is used but today we use carrots)
Prepare the stuffing
1. Place the minced pork and diced carrots into a mixing bowl/platter
2. Marinade with 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce and sprinkle of white pepper
Pack the stuffing
1. Lazy way … just use your fingers to split the tau pok
2. Pack in as much mixture as you can without making it look like Santa’s overflowing gift bag
Prep the braising sauce
1. Add enough dark soy sauce to cover the tau pok when it is simmering. In our case the pot is big enough to fit all the 20 pieces of tau pok so the height of the sauce is upto the line of the tip of my last finger (remember when you place a solid in the liquid, the liquid level rises).
2. Add 1/2 teaspoon 5 spice powder
3. Add 2 whole aniseeds (or 1+ is also ok if that’s what you have)
4. Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sugar
5. Bring to a boil, then simmer
Bring it on
1. When the sauce starts to simmer, place the stuffed tau pok in one by one.
2. Bring it to a boil, then lower heat to medium for simmering
2. Cover the pot with a lid (with a vent for steam to escape. If your lid doesnt have one, prop one side up of the lid with a chopstick or long ladle placed across the pot).
3. Wait about 5-7 minutes. The meat cooks pretty fast. Check and see if meat is ready. Once done, turn off the heat. It’s ready to serve or kept aside for another day.
Enjoy 🙂
I was quite pleased with this impromptu dish that turned out super yummy. Hope you like it too!
Cove99 came highly recommended by friends for quality Chinese cuisine so we give it a try over the weekend. Conveniently located in Tanjong Pagar (walking distance from MRT Station), nestled within the rows of shop houses.
Inside, it looks nice and new, and pretty much clean (always a good sign). I liked the oriental furnishings, particularly the chinosire colors desgined. At the corner, in place of a enclosed private room, wooden dividers provide privacy and space for larger groups of diners.
singaporeaneats 