Shi Li Fang 食立方 - A steamboat affair with free soft toys after every meal!

• Operating Days: Daily
• Operating Time: 10 AM to 10 PM
• Facebook Page
• Address: Multiple Locations
• Orchard central, 181 Orchard Road #07-10/11, S 238896
• Icon village, 12 Gopeng Street #01-41, S 078877
• Thomson plaza, 301 Upper Thomson Road #01-106, S 574408
• Chinatown point,133 New Bridge Road #B1-30, S 059413
• City square, 180 Kitchener Rd #02-53/54, S 208539
• J-cube, 2 Jurong East Central 1,#02- 08A, S 609731
• West Coast Plaza, 154 West Coast Road #02-24, S 127371
• Bedok Point, 799 New Upper Changi Road #03-38/39, S 467351
• Hougang 1, 1 Hougang Street 91 #01-23, S 538692

I’m pretty sure many Singaporeans are fans of steamboat, with many new pop up steamboat theme restaurants growing rapidly almost at every part of Singapore. It was 8:30pm when we visited Shi Li Fang at Chinatown point, and the number of people queuing to go in brought out our curiosity to give this place a try.

When we walked past the restaurant during weekday lunch time, the whole restaurant would be packed with people. We were surprised to see there were still quite a number of people that had just started eating despite we have past the usual timing for dinner.

We ordered a set for 2 pax with tomato soup and chicken soup. The portion came was huge! 

We think the set is easily enough for 3 pax. The set came with pork belly, pork collar, marinated pork and chicken slices. The vegetable platter consist with generous amount of china cabbage, xiao bai chye, crabstick, enoki mushroom, tang hoon and egg. Similar to Hai Di Lao, they have handmade ramen here as well, which is a popular choice for many. You might encounter difficulty in getting the waiter’s attention to prepare the noodle on the spot in front of you as they are always very busy running around. 

Prawn glue (which came in a tube) is something that we frequent order whenever we are here. The gluelike texture paste will become springy and delicious after cooked. The prawn they used for their prawn glue is very fresh too.

The best thing about dining at Shi Li Fang is they do not charge extra for their sauce! Though they do not have a huge variety of sauce like Hai Di Lao, the variety of sauce provided here is still acceptable. Most of the common sauce for steamboat can be found here.

Cooked shabu shabu pork belly in tomato soup! The pork was fresh and thin, which is perfect for steamboat. The tomato soup base is similar to Hai Di Lao’s as well, but of course it is not as flavourful, which we didn’t mind as it is still tangy and just right for our liking.

The marinated pork was a little salty to our liking, but the flavour is still on point and it goes well with rice or noodle.

Shi Li Fang may not be unfamiliar with many working adults and is a popular choice for lunch with colleagues as they serve nice and affordable steamboat set. Though you may not get the top service like what you receive at Hai Di Lao, it is still recommended for you to give Shi Li Fang a try. Other than dining, Shi Li Fang is generous in giving out soft toys as well. Every $15 spent will earn you a chop, and with just two chops, (which is easily obtainable after a meal) you can choose to bring home a small soft toy. Fear not if you fancy a particular soft toy without enough stamps. Chances are you will still be able to get it as long as you request from the staffs nicely. There is no reason for you to spend money catching soft toy at the claw machines when you can fill your stomach and get free toys at Shi Li Fang. 

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
• Facebook Page

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.

Aroy Dee Thai Kitchen - Alternate Thai cuisine in Town

Operating Days: Daily

Operating Time: 12 PM to 6 AM

Address: 262 Middle Road, Elias Building, S188989

We chanced upon Aroy Dee Thai Kitchen after some shopping at Dhoby Ghaut area. Located just a 5 minutes walking distance from POMO, this place is opened all night, which make it a great place to place for dinner/supper.

We are provided with the menu and a pencil after a table was allocated to us. They offer many familiar dishes you would see on the menu in any Thai restaurants.

Everything was pretty much self-service at Aroy Dee. Once you have marked out what you want to order on the paper menu, you are required to bring it over to the counter to place your order. Aroy Dee takes only cash transaction, do ensure you have enough cash on hand when you visit.

We ordered a cup of ice green milk tea which was served to us in just a few minutes. The first mouth was slightly too sweet for our liking, but thankfully, the taste was more balanced after the ice melted.

Our love for Tom yum soup is beyond words and It is definitely a must for us to order whenever we visit a Thai restaurant. The taste of the Tom Yum soup at Aroy Dee is slightly on the saltier side — but it is definitely full of flavour. It would be better if they can hold back slightly on the amount of salt added to their soup base. 

Next came was the Basil minced chicken rice. Unlike most Thai eatery, we were quite disappointed to not see a fried egg on top of the white rice. Nevertheless, the taste of the minced chicken won our hearts down. It was stir- fried very well with a good amount oyster sauce and fish sauce, and the fragrance of the basil leaves lingers in your mouth after you have eaten. The cut chilli padi also spiced up the whole dish, which overall left us with a deep impression.

It would be better if there was a fried egg added.

The fried egg was served almost immediately right after the Basil leaves with minced chicken. Overall, the taste was pretty normal— it is a dish that is hard to go wrong in any eatery.

The pandan chicken was the last dish that was served and we had some expectation for this dish. There were a total of 6 pieces served for the $10 portion.

The taste of the pandan chicken was no way similar to any other pandan chicken we had tasted elsewhere. Instead of using thigh meat, breast meat used, which made the chicken very dry. The taste of the chicken was normal.

All in all, we would still recommend Aroy Dee Thai Kitchen to people who have late night Thai food craving after having a pint or two nearby. The opening hours of Aroy Dee is also a plus point for all the night owls (they close at 6am).

Aroy Dee Thai Kitchen probably isn't the best Thai food you can get in Singapore, but they do have some kickass dishes that you can try if you visit. Do share with us some of your favourite dishes after you have visited them!