Redhill Porridge (红山粥) - Best Porridge I had at a wallet friendly price

• Operating Hours: 5.30AM to 8.30AM
• Operating Days: Monday to Friday
• Address: 85 Redhill Lane, #01-90, S(150085)
• How to get there: Alight at Redhill MRT (East West Line) and walk towards Redhill Close road. Estimated walking time about 5 mins.
• Food I had: Pork and Fish porridge.

Fancy for some porridge early in the morning on weekdays?

It was 7 am on a Tuesday and here I am queueing up at an old school porridge stall. It is not an uncommon scene at the Redhill market, for people to queue up to 45 minutes waiting for their pork or fish porridge. The price was very reasonable and affordable. While I was queuing, I realized many of them in the queue brought along their containers as well (it will save you 20 cents for takeaway).

Look how affordable the price can be? Nowadays, you can't get much at $2.50. We ordered their Pork and Fish Porridge takeaway. A total of $5.40.

Both the fish and pork porridge tasted slightly different as the different seasoning was used. The fish porridge was added with ginger slice and the taste of the sesame oil was much stronger; whereas for the pork porridge, fried onion (bawang goreng) was used to enhance the porridge taste.

We were pleasantly surprised by the generous amount of pork slices that the stall owner gave for the price of $2.50. Each spoonful was filled with pork slices and basically, every bite you take, you can savor the smooth and tasty porridge together and the pork slices together, in just one mouth. The texture of the porridge is definitely something worth commenting. It was smooth, thick and hot.

Many of the porridge places I have tried in Singapore or Malaysia are just mixture of cooked rice and a soup, with visible rice grains, and many times I felt like I'm eating "rice soup" instead. At this place, rice grains were smashed and cooked, not forgetting the art of stirring continuously using low fire - this is what it takes for an excellent porridge to be served.

Seng Kee Black Chicken Herbal - Alternative to Johor Fried Bee Hoon

• Operating Hours: 11 AM to 4 AM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: 467 Changi Road S(419887)
• How to get there: Kembangan MRT station walk towards Changi Road, walking distance est 5 mins.
• Food I had: Mixed Mee Sua Soup, Fried Bee Hoon, Stir Fried Nai Bai with Garlic.
• Website: https://www.sengkeeherbalsoup.com.sengkeeherbalsoup.com

I was randomly checking out some of the highly raved zi char restaurants in Singapore, and the shop "Seng Kee Black Chicken Herbal" appeared on the search engine. Out of curiosity, we decided to try it today.

Unlike other zi char restaurants, Seng Kee Black Chicken Herbal occupies almost the whole stretch of the walkway. We were told to order our dishes first before the staff assigned a table for us. There are so many choices on the menu, and every single item on the board is big enough for you to see even though you are standing.

We didn't know they allow free parking at the temple when we visit the restaurant! As there were not many parking lots nearby, we really spent quite some time looking for a legit car park lot. If you decide to visit the restaurant next time round, do look out for the car park lots at the temple.

When a table was assigned to us, we were surprised to see many Pokémon related pictures around the shop. It made us wonder if this place was previously a poke stop or a gym.

We waited for about 5 minutes before the first dish was served. It was full of herbal fragrance, though the look of this dish was not really appetizing. The taste of the soup was something to be worth commenting. The flavorful herbal taste of the soup does resemble the herbal bak kut teh, with a slight hinge of pork intestine and pork liver taste without any peppery taste. The soup was not too salty, and personally, I feel that it did make us drink a few more mouthful before we start eating the mee sua.

There are options for you to choose what you want to include in your mee sua: pork liver (猪肝), pork kidney (猪腰), lean pork meat. We decided to go for their mixed mee sua (to include everything inside) since they are famous for this. The portion was just right for one person, and personally, we felt that the pork liver, pork kidney, and mee sua were slightly overcooked. However, the lean pork slice was tender, almost to a point it could melt in your mouth, it does not taste like pork even. We felt that this dish has a mixture of good and bad, it is definitely still worth trying because of the soup based and the tender pork slices.

Cost: $5

The next dish that was served is the Stir Fried Nai Bai with Garlic. Pieces of mushroom were added and very well cooked with big fire as the wok hei taste is there. Great portion for 2-3 pax.

A Generous amount of fried shallots were also added on top of the garlic used to fry this dish. Definitely a plus point for us :)

Cost: $8

We had to wait for another 10 minutes before this signature dish is served. This "Johor San Lou Mee Hoon" look alike was seen almost on every table. We were told by the staff that a small portion ($10) is enough for 2 pax. However, despite the fact that we had the mixed mee sua earlier, we were still able to finish this plate of fried bee hoon. Crispy on the top layer, the mixture of the fried bee hoon with pork lard really blended very well together with the "wok hei" taste. Definitely worth a try!

Just as we thought we were being short changed ($10 of fried bee hoon and egg only?!) we realized the main difference between this dish and the famous Johor San Lou Mee Hoon is the way they put their ingredients. At Seng Kee, a generous amount of shrimps and fish cake were fried and placed in the middle, before the Bee Hoon is used to cover the ingredients. For Johor San Lou Bee Hoon, the ingredients and bee hoon will be fried together.

The taste of this dish at Seng Kee is comparable with Johor San Lou Bee Hoon. It will be better if the portion can be bigger.

Cost: $10 for small/ $15 for big

While I love the traditional, odd and uncommon dishes, It’s worth going to if you’re around the area, but save yourself the time if you are located at another end of Singapore.

Sunday Pasar Malam @ Permas Jaya JB (Fried Carrot Cake, Fried Chicken & Everything Else)

-=Relocated! Address Updated=-

• Operating Hours: 4.00PM to 10.00PM
• Operating Days: Sundays
• Address: 2, Jalan Permas 11/19, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, 81750, Behind Renaissance Hotel
• Food I had: Fried Carrot Cake, fried chicken

In Johor Bahru, every day after 4 PM there's somewhere on the street where Pasar Malam is set up, today we focus on Sunday's Pasar Malam in Permas Jaya. If you are taking a cab to this place, just let the driver know you are going to Aeon Permas Jaya. And once you reached Aeon Permas Jaya, look around and you will see a lot of blue tentage across the road.

Their Pasar Malam unlike Singapore, sell more of daily necessities as the photo shown below.

Fruits, from as small as Cherry to as big as Durian.

Home use items like nail clippers, wallets, fingernail paint, bags.

Vegetables

and even egg!

So once over that section, we come into cooked dish like this crab with a different sauce.

Fried chicken, I have tried this before, they used chicken breast meat for the chicken which not to my liking.

roast duck and meats, they really look appetizing

Japanese bbq skewers, have not tried this before but will come back for it in future.

fresh sugar cane drink which they sell in 2 sizes, small for 2.50RM which is 350ML, and big for 5RM which is 1L. The sugarcane might not be pure sugar cane juice as they were really too sweet as if its drinking syrup. 

So this Kampung Nasi Lemak is one of my often visited stalls, no not for the rice but just for the fried chicken as you can see they put it just in a basket, you can just order this fried chicken by itself without buying any other thing, it cost 3.20RM per piece. Don't worry about the parts, all are either drumstick or thigh meat, so choose the one you have the most feel with.

After I bought a piece of thigh meat, I immediately took a bite, and I regretted it very much. The juice and the oil just keep flowing out, spilled onto my clothing, enough about the dirtiness. Even when you have not bite onto the meat, you know that it is worth buying. The fried flour with skin was totally crispy that you can hear the crunch more than eating cereal. The meat as expected was tender as and flavorful with their seasoning. The taste of it was applied with spices which you can taste in most of the Nasi Lemak stall. So taste wise, don't expect too much from it.

Next food I've tried was Tampoi Radish Keuh which is so called fried carrot cake, the stall owner always kept both his hand busy stir fry the radish kueh, with eggs, garlic, black sweet sauce, and chili

You won't see queue here as everybody ordered and continue on with their shopping before coming back to collect as normally it will take 30mins to have your order. Do let the lady boss know how much you want and with or without chili.

They only have 1 standard size selling at 5RM, the box does keep the warmth of the kueh.

Although it might not look appetizing to you, once you take 1 mouth, it's full of egg, the sweet black sauce, chili and a special taste which I suspect its cinnamon flour into it, they did not disclose to me what was it but it does taste like it. The egg was exceptionally generous! Every spoon I scoop bound to have a piece of an egg. So be sure to try it whenever you are at this Pasar Malam but be prepared to wait for it.

Restoran Yi Bao Mee Hun Kueh (順利麵粉粿) - Chilli is the game changer to the food!

• Operating Hours: 9.30AM to 7.30PM
• Operating Days: Daily except on Thursdays
• Address: 5, Jalan Maju, Taman Pelangi, Johor Bahru, 80400
• Food I had: Mee Hun Kueh

There are many Mee Hun Kueh stalls in JB, and today, I would like to introduce one of my favorite stalls. It was a lazy Sunday and since we didn't have any plan, we drove into Johor Bahru to hunt for food.

The Chinese name of this stall is not the usual translation from its English name, therefore please take note of the shop name if you are taking a cab down!

It was really humid when we were there, but the shop is really well ventilated though it is not air conditioned. They have many fans installed at strategic locations, which is just right for eating Mee Hun Kueh. Personally, I feel that this is one of the plus points of this shop as I seldom see that in many stores, not even in Singapore. So, thumbs up to them!

Unlike most of the restaurants, they do not have any menu on the table or for their customers. You will need to look at the wall for the type of food they serve, and it was all written in Mandarin. A simple translation is as follow:

On the left;

面粉粿 - Mee Hun Kueh

板面 - Ban Mee

幼面 - You Mee

面线 - Mee Sua

米粉 - Bee Hoon

肉汤 - Meat Soup

粥 - Porridge

On the right;

江鱼仔 - Fried anchovies

加菜 - Add vegetable

凉茶 - Herbal tea

薏米水 - Barley drink

酸甘酸梅 - Sweet sour plum drink

罐装水 - Canned drink

One of the key factors for a good bowl of Mee Huh Kueh include the special sauce they had premix for you to mix it into the noodle. It's a mixture of red chili, green chili with lots of chili seeds in sight. It was stingingly spicy when tasted it by itself. 

The noodles were machine cut, there were fried anchovies, sliced and minced meat, egg, and Sweet leaf Bush aka 玛尼菜, it does look like leaves pluck out from trees but it's edible which is a good source of vitamin K.

The soup looks clear but it was refreshingly sweet, which I could taste the noodle and the meat in the soup itself. The noodle, however, is machine made, so the uniformed shape, size, and thickness are going to be the same, which other shop does still keep the tradition of pulling the noodle themselves.

And do not forget to eat them with the chili, it will really enhance the taste, it brought up the taste of the soup and the noodle to another level.

There was two type of meats - sliced and minced meat, they both do have a different type of tenderness although both had the taste, I preferred the sliced as you bite into it, you would feel the meat sliced direction.

And whats hidden right below beneath the soup is a soft boiled egg, be careful not to stir the noodle too fast as it might break the egg, or if you preferred to mix the whole egg with the soup.

This place will always be one of my top Mee Hun Kueh shops to visit as their chili is really my top reason why I kept coming back to this shop for more.

Penang Rojak in JB - Motorbike selling Rojak with Sticky sauce filling up fruits and you tiao.

• Operating Hours: Mon to Tues (12.30PM to 4 PM) & Wed to Sun (12.30PM to 5 PM), close on Thur
• Address: 3-7, Jalan Maju, Taman Maju Jaya, 80400
• Food I had: Penang Rojak

Rojak is a Malay traditional food with vegetable and fruits.Rojak means "mixture".

No matter Singapore or Malaysia, you can see rojak almost everywhere. Had tried a lot of places and nowhere yet able to beat this Rojak stall that I am introducing.

This motorcycled stall's opposite Restoran Yi Bao Mee Hun Kueh.

 From the owner, he prepares the sauce, fruits and you tiao in the morning to ensure they are all fresh.

You might see some would eat and stand by his stall or waiting to take away order. You can request to separate the sauce from the food or ask him to mix it for you if you asked him to mix, it's recommended to eat it immediately, else just separate it, they will give u 2 packets, one would be the sauce another would be crushed peanuts.

They were packed in this plastic container and was given 2 satay sticks to eat on the spot. I requested for all you tiao, you can request it from the owner.

Take note do not to stir the food as it will make all the food soggy. So just eat as how it is, no need to mix it. The sauce is very sweet with a mixture of sugar, crushed peanuts, prawn paste and something unique about this sauce - Maltose is added so the sauce is very gluey feeling. It was really a perfect match. The sauce was so good I can even use my tongue to dig out all the sauce clean.

Ramenplay (拉麵玩家) - First time having pork cheek

• Operating Hours: 11 AM to 10 PM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: 30 Tai Seng Street #01-03 S(534013)
• How to get there: Tai Seng MRT, take exit B and walk about 5 mins.
• Food I had: Pork Yakiniku Tonkotsu Ramen, Toroniku Ramen, Chicken Gyoza

Was going to Changi but we drove passed Breadtalk HQ and was thinking why not have our dinner there? So we went over without knowing what to eat. We reached the dining area and we saw RamenPlay that we have not tried yet, so why not? 

It was 9.30PM and there were expectedly no crowds.

There was an ongoing promotion where you order a ramen and top up additional $4 to have a side with a drink.

Toroniku Ramen, Toroniku means pork cheek. This is one of RamenPlay’s recommended dish on the menu. I loved the firm texture of the ramen, it is very similar texture as wanton mee, hard yet chewy once bite.

The pork cheek in this dish was surprisingly very soft until it nearly melts in your mouth, but I do not like the slight burnt taste of the meat, and that burnt taste does blend into the soup which does not make the soup better. If there was no burnt taste, the broth would be much tasteful.

I have always love Japanese soft boiled egg, and Ramenplay did not fail my expectation on the egg. The yoke was very juicy, gluey and full of taste, if you eat it with the soup it will taste much better.

Next was Pork Yakiniku Ramen, Yakiniku means grilled meat. it reminds me of Yoshinoya, the taste was exactly it. The noodle having the constant texture, the difference is the soup, which does have a much sweeter in taste compared to Toroniku Ramen, but this soup does not have the burnt taste so I can conclude that its the burnt pork cheek that spoil the soup.

We ordered a set and 3 gyoza presented to us, with sesame sauce at the side. If you love gyoza or any fried dumpling dim sum, you will love this. The minced chicken meat wrapped in crispy dumpling skin. The skin was fried to the point where the skin was crispy but preserved the juice and tenderness of the meat.

RamenPlay has a lot of items offered on the menu even Shabu Shabu. There were so many other Japanese Ramen stores these days, you could give it a try with their ramen (hope their pork cheek is not burnt) especially their gyoza. After tried out their dishes here, I will return for their food over here to have an affordable Japanese cuisine as compared to others.

Ramenplay does have other stores around Singapore, Bedok Mall, JEM, Novena Square, and Resorts World Sentosa. Do comment if they do really taste differently.