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It’s the weekends again, and what I do during the weekends? I EAT! Lunch at Kuishin-Bo, dinner at Tiong Bahru Food Center. Here we go:

Salmon Belly. Crispy skin, melt-in-your-mouth fish fat. Heavenly. I think I’m having omega-3 overload.

Tau Kua Pao.

Zui Kueh

World Best Cheng Teng. Note: It’s even better if you take-away! No kid!

The legendary XO horfun. Similar to the Cheng Teng, it’s better if you take-away. Not sure why though.

Sucky… Don’t bother

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The greatest ad ever. Turn up your speakers and indulge in the beautiful engine notes.
Credits: Partizan

Yes it’s weekend, and so it’s time for some good food!

The highlight of today’s dinner: Steam Fish Head in Special Bean Sauce. This is from one of the many fish head stalls at the Temporary Chinatown Food Centre, just beside Outram MRT Station. The fish is from a type of freshwater fish called 松鱼 (Song Fish). So some may dislike the mud-taste that comes with it. The fish head is very fresh, flesh is soft and with a little sweetness. The special sauce, was well, very special. It’s base ingredient is the Chinese bean paste sauce. It’s a tangy and a little spicy. They all served to cover the mud-taste of the fish. The sauce goes very well with rice! (I ate 1.5 bowls). The best part was the collagen found near the gills and around the eyes. Soaked with the special sauce, it’s simply delicious!

Their sweet and sour pork was also nicely done. Pork cubes were crispy. The sauce, although decent, I feel it still lacks something, should have been more tangy and sweet, i.e, more vinegar and sugar.

Sambal Kangkong (Morning glory) with Cuttlefish. Normal, decent.

(Temporary) Chinatown Food Centre.
119 Sheng Kee Steam Fish Head
Steamed Fish Head in Special Sauce - $13.
Shiokness: 4/5
Sweet and Sour Pork - $8.
Shiokness: 3.5/5
Sambal Kangkong with Cuttlefish - $6.
Shiokness: 3.5/5

And we are not done still! We ordered more food!

After noticing the queue at the stall, we decided to order some of their food (Yeah, typical Singaporean mentality). Their hokkien mee was, according to my standard, average. It’s too dry and the stock used did not pack much punch, bland.

Yes, the all delicious and utterly sinful Orh Lua (Fried oyster). I guessed the main selling point of their Orh Lua is the size of the oyster, a bit larger than usual. The egg however, could have been more crispy. Overall, the taste was decent, slightly above average.

(Temporary) Chinatown Food Centre.
Soon Ji Cooked Food
Hokkien Fried Prawn Noodles - $3.
Shiokness: 3/5
Fried Oyster - $4.
Shiokness: 3.5/5

And no! We’re still not done!

My all time favourite: Pig Liver Soup! The liver was very fresh, not overcooked, soup had lotsa flavour, Shiok!

That’s all! We were so full that we had to walk home, to help digest the food!

This was my dinner today: Seafood Hor Fun.

Hor Fun, though a very common dish in many Chinese restaurants and Che Zhar stalls, it is often an understated dish. From my experience, to gauge whether a Chinese food vendor is worth coming back again will depend on 2 dishes. One being the Fried Rice (just the normal one, nothing fancy), and the other would be the Hor Fun. If they can’t get both these dishes right, they are not worth your money.

The seafood Hor Fun from this stall at Tiong Bahru food centre has all the hallmarks of a good plate of seafood Hor Fun. It had the very important Guo Xiang, wok fragrance literally. It is the result of skilled heat control of the wok. Secondly, the Hor Fun were nicely fried, and they do not clump together like some lousy ones do. The all-important sauce is thick and flavourful. The chef is also very generous with the seafood and other condiments: Fish fillet, squid rings, shrimps and pork slices. And the best thing is? All of the above for only $3!

Tiong Bahru Food Centre
#02-37
Chow Kee XO Fish Head Steam Boat Kitchen
Seafood Hor Fun - $3
Shiokness: 4.5/5

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James May (Captain Slow) brings the Bugatti Veyron to its top speed at Volkswagen’s test track.
Source: BBC Two | Top Gear

YES! Another like-minded, senseful person has proclaimed her dislike and hatred for this most unglamorous, pointless, un-entertaining, stinky form of social event ever created, on National Radio no less. I heart you Jean Danker. Class 95 rocks.

Anthony Bourdain hates it too. And I of course, hate it to the max.

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