Redhill Porridge - the queue continues

Below is a picture of the Redhill porridge queue at 7 am this morning. The queue nearly doubled 20 mins later ........




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Lunch at Ikea Alexandra

The lunch time crowd at Ikea is crazy especially on weekends. The queue can be easily more than 50 people. I really wonder if it's the food or furniture that people go to Ikea. Many of us will go for the laksa. Very reasonable prices at slightly more than $5. Comes with a couple of big prawns, a big ipecac of fried chicken. And it's real good. Ikea is also famous for the meatballs but I go for the laksa anytime.














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Marks and Spencer cookies

On the back of the packaging, it is printed "Cranberry and Orange cookies - melt in the mouth cookies with cranberry pieces flavored with orange". Melt in the mouth? I was skeptical. When I took a piece out to eat, my wife immediately told me not to re-seal the package as I will definitely take another piece. Well, not quite melt in the mouth, but the cookie is real good. It is not the crunchy type but soft and full of flavor. The cranberry and orange bits go very well with the milky flavored biscuit. Thanks to my good brudder who bought them for me because I happened not to have a certain credit card that can have some discount. Now looking forward to the Pistachio & Almond cookies and the Blueberry & Oat cookies.




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Chef Alba leaving Alba@Keong Siak Street

I have only been to Alba once and that was when it was owned by Nicholas. I remember it was a wine tasting event and my impression of the food was so-so only. But I kept hearing rave reviews of the food by Chef Setia, a young Japanese chef who spent years working the kitchens in France (so I was told).

Finally, managed to lunch there today and guess what happened? Chef Setia is leaving Alba and today is his second last day! He will be going to a new Italian restaurant owned by a Japanese guy in the hedge fund business. We had a word with him and he said that the new restaurant will be higher end and at Boat Quay. It will be opened in December.

Now back to the food. We had sea bream carpaccio as starter,







followed by roasted Hokkaido scallop in a red casserole,




and then some type of pasta.




The main course was crusted roast lamp




and finished with a tiramisu.





As Chef Setia is moving to a new restaurant, I find it no point to elaborate on the food except to say that it was wonderful. Should have been there earlier. But am looking forward to his new restaurant and expecting it to be much better as he confidently stated.





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Mr Bean for breakfast

Tired of the usual hawker centre breakfast fare, mom bought Mr Bean for us - soya bean milk with zi-ma and peanut tan-yuans. The soya bean drink was good, refreshing, smooth and not too concentrated. The tan-yuans went very well with the soya bean milk. Refreshing change.







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West Co'z Cafe

Everytime I walk passed this cafe, it is likely to be almost full of customers and there will be fish head curry on every table. It must be pretty good to attract a crowd and I remind myself that I have to try this soon. Well, managed to patronise them today and it sure is pretty damn good and cheap some more ;-).



They have 2 versions of fish heady curry - one is the typical coconut base and the other assam base. Tried the coconut base this afternoon. It was sizzling hot, spicy and fragrant. Coconut was not used extensively unlike those in many restaurants. The fish head was fresh and streamed just right. The meat can be easily picked up from the bone in chunks. The price of the fish head curry? A low $15 and the portion is good enough for at least three persons. Will definitely go again - many times.

West Co'z Cafe
#02-23 West Coast Plaza


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Early morning raw fish and porridge at Redhill

Finally we have a weekday which was a holiday. Woke up at 5am to rush down to Redhill to meet the Redhill porridge kakis. Hey I am the one who has to literally travel cross country to reach there! And guess what, reached there at 6:30am n the kakis still at home. Promises were made via mobile that they should be there in 10 mins but alamak the queue was moving too fast. I ended up facing 5 bowls of porridge and one huge plate of raw fish!




Obviously, I was getting some curious looks from early risers when I started digging into the porridge. Wah, this guy is consuming five bowls man!




But I was not able to complete the feat because all four of them turned up. Had to go back into the queue cos five bowls were not enough. We all ended up having 10 bowls! Now hen is the next weekday that is a holiday??


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Founder Bak Ku Teh

There are not many good bak ku teh stalls in Singapore that are comparable to those over in Kulai, Malaysia. One shop that many people frequent is Founder over at Balestier. You will always see a queue during lunch time and you will see many tourists especially those from Hong Kong and China seeking out this place.

The walls inside the shop are filled with photos of local, HK and Taiwan celebrities that had eaten at the shop. So well, is Founder that good? in my humble opinion, I certainly think that it is one of the better ones in Singapore but is no where near those over in Kulai in which the "teh" is more concentrated, more fragrant with lots of ingredients and large meat bone.

But of course it is not everyday that one goes over to Kulai so one of the next best alternate may be to pop over here and queue and enjoy the company of the many celebrities that filled the walls.



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Cockles Kway Teow @ Banquet - Causeway Point

Working in the north of Singapore can be pretty miserable when come to food. One of the better kway teow that I found is Banquet foodcourt at Causeway Point. As we all know, Banquet is halal and you can usually find a queue of muslims and non-muslims at this kway teow stall. The kway teow is tasty, the wetness is just appropriate and the chilli is hot.







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Tatsuya

Was at Tatsuya last week. My guest was thoroughly impressed with the quality of the food and services that he is bringing his wife there when he next visits Singapore. Mind you, this is a very well travelled person. Anyway, will not go through detailed run down of the food here as I have already done that several times. Below are some poorly taken photos of what were served to us using my iPhone 3GS. Definitely did no justice to the food. Sorrie.




















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Oswaldo@Maxwell Chambers

Was at Oswaldo for lunch today. First time there. Heard extreme views of the place. My colleague had a bad experience with them just the other week and I think it had something to do with one rude waitress. Anyway, I went there with an open mind.

The place was packed with Shenton Way crowd and mostly of the foreign type; lots of ang mohs. And it was noisy; more like a typical Hong Kong coffee shop.

The waiter came by and rattled off the specials for the day. Way too fast for our liking. Anyway, we decided to share cold cuts and cheese for starters, a first course of aglio olio with truffles and a main course of t-bone steak.

The cold cuts were atypical of cold cuts served in western restaurants here. Definitely not authentic Italian. I thought the aglio olio looked and tasted like no aglio olio I eaten before. After checking with the waiter, we realized that they did not served us aglio olio but some other pasta which I did not catch the name. My host wanted to complain but "forget it" I said, since they have no courtesy to inform us of the change; just don't go next time.



The t-bone steak was okay but not great. The steak came wholesome and I asked them to slice it so we can share. But it came back in three plates for the three of us. I was not amused as I definitely told them that we are sharing. Sharing means you put them in the centre of the table and we dig in ourselves. I don't know what's wrong with the waiters and waitress here. It was the second time they heard wrongly. Either I spoke too soft or the place was too noisy or both! No wonder my colleague was pissed the other day.

Overall, if you want to have some western food, this place is a-okay. But definitely not authentic Italian and I suspect they are promoting this place as such to cater to the business crowd. Will not go again unless being invited.



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