Hawkerman Crossover Project - Sedap Nasi Lemak

• Operating Days: Daily
• Operating Time: 11 AM to 10.30 PM
• Address: SingPost Centre, B1-128, 10 Eunos Road 8, S 408600
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Hawkerman has introduced a series of new additions to their current menu and we are here again to try it out! (Check our previous blog on them)

Being a big fan of Nasi Lemak, we decided to give Hawkerman a try as they have added four new items with Nasi Lemak on the menu. 

Other than their Sedap Lemak, they have new pasta items on their menu as well! 

Hawkerma’s newest edition has also a dish with the best of both worlds —nasi lemak sambal or chicken floss with shoestring fries. Oh, Heaven!

They have many types and flavours of chicken for you to match with the Nasi Lemak. We had a hard time deciding which item to get as we were excited to try everything on their new menu!

We have decided to top up $6.90 for their Hosay Combo, which consists of French fries with 1 Coco Bandung and 1 Fake Bird’s Nest Water. It was pretty worth it!

The Tom Yum lemak came with a huge drumstick, peanuts, ikan bilis, achar with fragrant coconut rice, and of course, the sweet sambal chilli. As most of the frequent patrons might already know, Hawkerman is known for their creativity to constantly adding new ideas to the traditional dishes. The Tom Yum lemak is something you can try — a plate packed with flavours inspired by dishes of different countries! The taste of the Drumstick was not too strong, with the well marinated Tom Yum chicken skin that brought out a slight taste of sourness and spiciness. It is perfect for someone who does not take food that is too spicy. Onsen egg is also used here as the replacement of the usual fried egg we see at any regular macik stalls.

The sedap lemak fries is something that has the combination of all my favourite — French fries, sambal chilli, ikan bilis, peanuts, cheese and transparent mayonnaise. It tasted very good at first but towards the end, we had the “ge-lak” feeling even though there were two of us sharing.

We actually went back another day specially to try out the some of the other Sedap Lemak sets! We ordered the Curry Roasted Drumlet set and the Ayam Masak Merah set during our 2nd visit.

The Curry Roasted Drumlet set came with a Drumstick and two decent size potatoes. The taste of the curry was not too spicy, similar to the taste of the Indonesian curry. For the chicken, it is definitely not crispy :) but definitely cooked (pun intended)!

The Ayam Masak Merah, which translates as “red cooked chicken” in English, came with abundant of sauce covering the piece of chicken thigh given. It looked spicy and was spicy, definitely giving your tongue the punch of spiciness you need if you are a chilli fan.

We also had the fake birds nest water and coco Bandung combo at $3. The fake birds nest water, consist of pandan flavoured sugar drink with agar agar jelly has a taste of nostalgia, a slightly improvised version of how we used to a get a cup of happiness at 40 cents during our primary school days. The taste of the Coco Bundung, on the other hand, has kind of caught us off-guard. Other than using the normal evaporated milk, coconut milk was seen on the top of the drink. Though the taste of the Coco Bundung was acceptable, we would definitely prefer the Normal Bandung drink to go along with a plate of Nasi Lemak.

All in all, Hawkerman’s innovative and creativity on traditional food is one of the key factors to draw us back, patronizing their food again and again. Hawkerman is also definitely one of the most wallet-friendly restaurants around, keeping your stomach filled with decent comforting food.

Seng Kee 119 成记 119 - Steamed Fish head enough for 2 pax @ $13!

• Operating Days: Closed on Tuesdays
• Operating Time: 11.30 AM to 10.30 PM
• Address: Chinatown Complex, 335, Smith Street, #02-190, S 050335

Chinatown Complex is one of the places in Singapore that provides cheap and authentic local food. The one Michelin star hawker, Hawker Chan Soy sauce chicken is also here at Chinatown Complex.
Famous for Steam Fish Head, there are at least 5 other steam fish head stalls in this hawker centre. The price of the Steam Fish Head is therefore very competitive. Almost all the steam fish head stalls are selling S$13 for a half fish head, which is more than enough for two people.

Please do be very careful when consuming the fish, they are full of small, hardly visible sharp bones.

Established since 1983, this stall has been serving countless Steamed Fish Head in Hot and Spicy Sauce to their patrons.

Seng Kee occupied two stalls side by side in the market, selling the steam fish head and other zi char dishes.

Seng Kee emphasis a lot on the importance of steaming their fish head instead of boiling them. All the fragrance from the fish head will be retained within, as compared to boiling the fish head, where all the fresh fish taste will be retained in the water instead.

They do not have many Zi Char items on their menu as compared to other Zi Char Stall. 

After waiting for about 10 minutes, the steamed fish head was served. 

The Song Fish Head portion was BIG! The sauce, paired together with the steam fish head is a combination of preserved plum sauce, adding the slight kick of the “salty-sourness” to the fermented soybeans used, which provided the overall savouriness in the sauce. The bits of chilli peppers added gave the sauce an extra spicy note as well. It was then topped up with a generous amount of pork lard before serving. For the price of $13, our stomach and tastebud were truly satisfied.

The white meat of Song fish was fresh and soft with a slight earthy taste but was masked with the taste of the thick, tangy, sweet and spicy sauce. 

We ordered some side dishes to go along with our steam fish head as well. The sambal Kang kong here has nothing to be raved in our opinion,  to be honest.

We decided to order the prawn paste chicken after seeing the others eating them. Mid wing was used here for their prawn paste chicken. It was crispy and piping hot when served. A decent plate of fried mid wings with a mild prawn paste taste in every single one.

All in all, it was an affordable dinner with a plate of fish head drenched in sweet and spicy sauce. The sauce went very well with rice and with just the fish head, it is enough for two and there isn’t a need to order other side dishes. If you are a fan of steamed fish head, Chinatown Complex is definitely the place to visit. Do share with us your experience after you visit them!

House of Roasted Duck 劉強烤鴨店 - Restaurant by Gao Ji Food.

• Operating Days: Daily
• Operating Time: 11 AM to 11 PM
• Address: 2 Locations - Bugis Village and Sultan Plaza
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House of Roasted duck 劉強烤鴨店 was actually a recommendation from one of the food lovers in the community and so, we decided to try it out today.

House of Roasted duck 劉強烤鴨店 is an umbrella business under Gao Ji Food 高記食品，which making Yong Tau Foo is their forte and their key business. Gao Ji has never disappoint us so far with their food and thus, we were very excited to try out House of Roasted Duck after the highly raved reviews.

We went to the Bugis village branch on a weekday evening. You will not miss out their brightly lited signboard when you walk past.

We were there at about 9pm and there were many seats available. Probably due to the late timing where everyone would have taken their dinner, the shop looked a little empty despite its small dining area. We have walked passed a few times on weekends and there were definitely long queues outside the shop. We were glad that we need not queue before we got our seats.

At House of Roasted Duck, You will get to choose the type of meat you want to go along your staple. As for how it is named, House of roasted duck is famous for their Peking Duck, and Roasted Duck. They have Soy Sauce Chicken and Crispy Roasted Pork and as well! They have named the famous 4 meat items as “Heavenly King” and it is highly recommended by the shop for their customers to try. You may choose to create your own combo with rice or noodles, or congee based on your own liking. 

It was a rainy evening and we decided to order a bowl of shrimp wanton soup (净鲜虾云吞) together with our mains (which we will be covering shortly). Priced at $7.80, the bowl of soup came with 6 shrimp wantons.

Each wanton is filled fully with prawns and minced pork that has been lightly seasoned, wrapped under the thin and clear wanton skin. The slight cloudy wanton soup was just nice to our tastebud, but it would be better if it can be served hot (instead of lukewarm).

There were not 1, but 2 prawns in each wanton dumpling!

Being a Char Siew fan, we can’t resist the temptation to order Char Siew rice, especially in an authentic Hong Kong restaurant. 

The char Siew has a good combination of 80% lean meat with 20% fats, which was something to our liking. The sauce on rice was also light yet flavourful enough to not overpower the fragrance of white rice.  The white rice used in the stall was also of a higher quality, solid yet soft with each grain not sticking to one another. 

Next came was the combination of Crispy Roasted Duck with soy sauce chicken on white rice. Each piece of the roasted duck is sliced in a way that it has more meat with tiny bone, which makes it easier to eat. The skin was roasted to a slight crisp and was extremely flavourful! Unlike many of the stalls in the market, the texture of the roasted duck meat here does not have a rough texture, and to be honest, it was beyond our expectation and the roasted duck skin totally won our hearts down. The tender soy sauce chicken was good too, easily making it one of the favourites for dinner. The chicken was also packed with flavours and the meat was also soft and juicy, giving every bite a pleasure to our mouth.

We heard that the roasted duck here was sold out on a daily basis, even before their closing hours. Any roasted duck lover should definitely give this restaurant a try. We will definitely return soon to try out their Peking duck!

Makisan / M(- a -)ki san - Sushi and Salad with nice presentation and taste

• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: Multiple Location
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Fancy some healthier options after indulging all the junk food you see during your CNY visiting? 

We chance upon Makisan when we were walking past Ang Mo Kio central and decided to give this shop a try. Makisan is a halal certified Design-Your-Own Sushi / Salad restaurant situated alongside with many shop houses. 

The shopfront is neat and clean, and the staffs working in store were systematic - one to take order, one to place the ingredient the customer choose together and one to wrap and cut your sushi into pieces (via a machine), before packing them the into the sushi box. 

You can choose to design your own salad or design your own sushi by filling up the forms available at the entrance of the shop. The guided steps on the order sheet is clear and easy to fill. We’ve decided to try out the DIY sushi during our visit. Other than the Japanese white rice, they have the healthier brown rice option for you to choose on top of your usual nori (seaweed) base, or egg crepe base - for a change!

We waited about 5 minutes before our order is ready. While waiting, we noticed a lot of deliveroo and foodpanda deliverers collecting their orders as well. Our diy sushi came with a cute Tiffany blue box, and it totally looked like we have received an expensive gift ( well, it does look like a watch box to be honest) !

They have two sizes for sushi, one is Mega San and the other, which we ordered, is the “Little San”. The difference between the two as per how it is named, is of course the size of the sushi. 

Our creation as seen above. Everything in it has what we usually order off the sushi bar! Our wrap contains Chicken floss, tamago and crab stick. For the sauce, we have chosen yuzu sesame. We like the slight hint of yuzu in the sesame taste and we thought it went quite well with the overall ingredients we have chosen. It has a refreshing taste and yet it’s not overpowering, definitely a sauce you can try if you visit!

We ordered the tempura enoki mushroom to go along with our Little San. The tempura batter was very crispy, but a little too oily for our liking. It would be so much better if the chef can heat up cooking oil in the deep frying pan to the right temperature before frying the enoki mushroom.

Makisan is one of the no frill and healthy food store concept that is slowly gaining its popularity especially among the younger generations. About 90% of the ingredients are non deep fried, and what makes it greater is that you can choose the ingredients you like to put them into your sushi, based on your mood. If you have no idea what to put inside your sushi, Makisan has their own menu for you to choose as well. We will definitely return soon to try out their DIY salad. Do share with us your experience if you have tried them before! 

The Assumption Restaurant for Training (The Art) - Fine dining in School

• Operating Days: Mondays to Fridays
• Operating Time: 12 PM to 5 PM (Monday to Thursday), 12 PM to 9.30PM (Friday)
• Address: 30 Cashew Road, S 679697
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Assumption Pathway School (APS) is one of the specialized schools for students in Singapore who are slightly slower in learning as compared to the average students. It is an alternative school for secondary drop-out as well.

The Assumption Restaurant for Training, also known as The ART, is a semi-fine dining restaurant that serves Western and Asian cuisines. It is open for the public to visit and dine. The school provides a working environment for their students in the Hospitality Services, allowing them to put their skills and knowledge into practice. It also creates a platform for students to further enhance their training, especially important to those who are not yet ready to be employed outside due to lack of confidence or request by parents due to their young age. 

So you may wonder, is the food served here are of good quality?

Please be patient with their service as the place is operated by students who are still learning and gaining practical experience from what they have learnt in school.

After 5 mins of walking in the institution, we have arrived at The Art.

They change their menu here at the restaurant on a daily basis. The highly raved porridge buffet is available on the last Friday of the month, and we would love to try it out someday!

We were being served by the students almost immediately when we reached the restaurant. After we sat down, we’ve noticed a few of them were tagged to their mentors/teachers, to guide the students as and when they need. We were served by the students very promptly and they were all generally very courteous. Really thumbs up for their effort!

We waited for about 1-2 minutes before the bread with butter were served. 

The corn soup came almost immediately as well, right after serving our bread. The corn bits given in each bowl of cream soup was really generous, and there was no need to add any artificial ingredient to enhance the taste. It was smooth but slightly too sweet for us, we had to eat it together with the bread to balance the sweetness.

One thing worth mentioning is definitely the attention given by the students. Once we have finished each of our dishes, they will clear it for us within a minute.

We ordered one main each to try and the Roasted Herb Brined Chicken with Sweet & Sour Sauce came first. To be honest, we didn’t have high expectation of the taste when we first saw it as the chicken thigh looked very pale and dry. However, the first mouth really surprised us! The chicken was tender and very well marinated! Somehow, the taste was very similar to the chicken at Poulet and we really like it a lot!

Next came was the Fried Fish Fillet with Sambal Mayonnaise. Similar to the chicken, it looked very dry from the outside but once you cut it up and have the first bite, we could taste the freshness and tenderness of the fish, with an extremely crispy crust outside. It went very well with their sambal mayonnaise, which offset the overall oily feeling we felt towards the end. We love this dish!

The dessert came last with a slight disappointment as we were having high hopes of seeing many people buying their cakes and bread over the counter. We felt that the cake had too much cream on it and it tasted slightly below average.

Overall, we had a good dining experience at the ART, with good service rendered and good food prepared by the students, and it’s reasonably priced. Please give these students your greatest support to instil them with more confidence, indirectly creating a more inclusive society as a whole.

Xun Wei Hotpot 寻味火锅 - Steamboat buffet for less than $20+ per pax!

• Operating Days: Daily
• Operating Time: 11 AM to 1 AM
• Address: 28 Liang Seah Street, S 189049
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Liang Seah Street, also known as the steamboat street (well, at least to me), has many steamboat restaurants and other eateries along the same stretch. It was a cold and gloomy evening and here we are, standing at the street deciding which steamboat restaurant to try. We were attracted by the projector that screened the shop name “寻味” on the ground, and that’s how we came to know about this restaurant and decided to give it a try.

This is the shop front of the restaurant. Nothing fanciful from the look outside.

We tried very hard to get the attention of the waiter (who happened to be also the one handling payment, clearing plates and attending requests) to find us a seat. The paper menu was passed to us almost instantly after we settle down.

As you can see, there are not much variety of food choices on the menu (especially for the types of meat) as compared to the more atas steamboat restaurant out there. However, it was quite alright for us, given the amount we need to pay for each pax (I will be covering that later).

The beef slices were fresh and thin, and personally, we think it went very well with the mala soup base! The portion given was very generous as well.

The whole table of goodness just for the two of us (of course it is free flow, you can order as many times as you want)!

We were told that just for the two of us, we can order up to 4 soup bases. We ordered the tomato, chicken, seafood and of course the mala soup base. Each soup base has its own uniqueness and you will definitely be spoilt for choices. One downside is that the waiter did not tell us the soup are chargeable (excluding the buffet price). We were charged for $8 for the soup base, which is still pretty reasonable.

They have also condiments corner for you to mix your sauce for the steamboat. We went on a weekday at about 10pm and some of the sauce had run out. 

For the price of $19.80+ on a weekday and $23.80+ on a weekend, 寻味 maintained their low prices at Liang Seah Street to remain competitive. With the price paid and the type of food served, it is worth visiting them if you are craving for a steamboat affair with your buddies after a long day work. Just to add on, 寻味 has free flow ice cream just like Haidilao as well, and it is probably the only steamboat restaurant along the stretch that has this. Do share with us your experience with them after you visit!

Nadim's Delights Burger Banjir - with Cheese overwhelming!

• Operating Days: Daily
• Operating Time: 11 AM to 3 PM & 5 PM to 11 PM
• Address: 508 Jurong West ST 52, S 640508
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Thinking of having a lot (we mean A LOT) of cheese sauce overflowing your meal? Calling all Cheese lovers -  Nadim's Delights is a place you can try if you are in the west area.

Nadim's Delights is a halal western food stall located inside a coffee shop at Blk 508 Jurong West Street 52. We were here for the highly raved Burger Banjir. Just as the name Burger Banjir, which is translated as “Flooded Burger”, you can expect cheese flooding on your plate when it is served.

The waiting time at this stall may take more than 30 minutes. It may not be ideal for those who are looking for a quick bite during lunch or dinner hours.

Burger Banjir came with double chicken patties that were lightly breaded with melted cheese in between them. The burger was then drenched in savoury cheese sauce when served. 

The set came with fries and baked beans. 

They have recently changed the French fries from standard-cut into crinkle-cut, which is a good change in our opinion. The cheese sauce is not too salty and light, which goes very well with the French fries.

Most people will usually hands-on with the burger, but you can definitely not use your hands to eat the Burger Banjir unless you want to get your hands with cheese all over. It is recommended to eat your burger with a knife and fork.

We suppose it was the overload of cheese sauce that helped the burger to keep its shape; the meat patty inside the burger did not fall apart when we sliced it, unlike most other burgers. Other than the meat patties and cheese, Coleslaw was used instead of the usual lettuce underneath the bun. At first, we were expecting the bun to be soggy since it was served soaking in cheese sauce. Surprisingly, the burger is able to hold its shape as well as we slice it through with just plastic knife. The meat patty they use here is similar to the patty seen in Ramly burger, and not the usual crispy patty in most chicken burger. We prefer the patty to be more crispy as we felt that a more deep-fried patty would add more flavour to the overall taste. 

Nadim's Delights' Burger Banjir is a must try for all cheese lovers if you are heading to the west. However, it is highly recommended to go with an empty stomach or you can share the set with a friend as it may be too rich for some.