Jin Jin Dessert 津津甜品 - Power desserts Gangster Ice and chendol!

• Operating Hours: 12 PM - 10.30 PM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre, 6 Jalan Bukit Merah, #01-20, Singapore 150006
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• Jin Jin Dessert Website

Scorching heat and wanting to have some 'power' desserts? 

Jin Jin Desserts have been a resident of ABC Food Centre and Market. For some reason, the previous owner gave up the shop and was later revived by two people - Calvin Ho and Ewan Tang. One is a DJ and the other an insurance agent, interesting how both would venture into dessert business.

Never did I expect to see a long queue of customers waiting patiently to place their orders at a dessert stall in a hawker centre. Especially on a rainy day! 

As from the sign board, you could see what is their famous dessert - Gangster Ice and Power Chendol. Gangster Ice came from the name in Chinese 榴莲芒果冰 which shorten it 榴芒冰 which have the same pronunciation as Gangster Ice. 

We decided to order both even on a cold rainy day! We waited about 10min before we are able to place our order. 

It is served with a scoop of pure durian and fresh mango cubes. At first, I thought it was durian ice cream, but it was pure durian flesh! It was sweet with a bit of bitter taste. 

Mango cubes are sweet and soft, but some interesting effect it left on my tongue, it does have soft spike feeling to the tongue. The crushed ice was filled with evaporated milk. I don't personally recommend to mix the durian with the ice, it's good enough to be eaten by itself! Overall a must try for durian lovers!

Next, Power Chendol. It is not Power for nothing. Most of the dessert stalls give too much coconut milk and little to none Gula Melaka. Which makes this stall very generous with the Gula Melaka

If you enjoy Gula Melaka, you are going to love this because the Gula Melaka here has a thick syrupy honey like texture. It's worth queueing up for Jin Jin Dessert and I doubt any chendol fans would be disappointed. 

While they serve a variety of other hot and cold dessert, I have yet to try others as I will sure to return for their cendol again!

Restoran Di Hwang Ya 阿明帝皇鸭 - Roast Herbal Duck with Char Siew and Roast Pork in KSL!

Operating Hours: 11 AM - 10 PM

Operating Days: Daily

Address: KSL City Mall, 33, Jalan Seladang, L2-132, Johor Bahru 80250

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Heard about this restaurant for quite awhile but never have the chance to try it, so decided to take a short trip to KSL City Mall and try out this restaurant. It has been some time since I had eaten roast duck with char siew. They were awarded International Prestige Brand award 2017 so this might be the best year to give them a try while at their best.

We were there at 8 PM, there was no queue at all so was invited into the restaurants almost immediately.

Recently they tried to be more ambitious by widening their menu with curry fish head and others. In my opinion, the restaurant should focus on what they know best, not add in dishes which they are not specialized.

Their signature duck "model" welcome you when stepped in the restaurant.

We were seated within 5 minutes, the service was good till we ordered our food. We waited for about half an hour before the food was served, making our stomach growling away.

We ordered the roast platter and it came with 3 types of roast. roast pork, char siew, and roast duck. The char siew was good but it was too fattening for us, I would say 80% of it were fats, I personally love more meat. But the outside was caramelized with thick sweet sauce give a nice crunch which you hardly get this kind in Singapore.

The roast meat skin was not crispy enough and no meat as well, so those who love to eat fats can come and try it out. Personally, it was not for me.

The skin was crispy and the meats' fresh and soft, but the roast duck is not really full of the taste of herb, which I think would be better if it's stronger. But overall, it was quite tasty.

We ordered sambal Kang Kong, but it was a bit too salty, but they still preserve the crunchiness of it.

The char siew wanton noodle was next, the noodle was springy and a bit hard with the sweet dark sauce which I like it, all evenly tasted. The portion is good enough for a person.

The dumpling soup was surprising one of a better dish, the soup was quite refreshing and the dumpling is filled with chestnut and sweet pork.

If you're ever in Johor Bahru and wondering what to eat during your shopping break, come check this place out. It's a pleasant place for friends and family lunch and dinner, what's more, they provide free wi-fi access but their prices are a bit on the high side by local standards.

Restoran Hua Mui 華美茶餐室 - My Favorite Hainanese Style Chicken Chop!

Operating Hours: 8.30 AM - 6 PM

Operating Days: Daily

Address: 131, Jalan Trus, Johor Bahru

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Hua Mui Coffee Shop 華美茶餐室 is a two-storey Hainanese coffee shop located near Woodlands custom. Situated at the junction of Jalan Trus and Jalan Dhoby, 15 minutes walk from City Square.

There are 2 restaurants barely 100 meters apart from each other, one serving Original Hainanese Chicken Chop, and the other stated the “Best Chicken Chop in Town” at their signboard. Well if you wanted to compare them in a day, my suggestion is you go to Hua Mui first for breakfast then head to IT Roo for lunch?

This coffee shop has been around in this exact same location since 1946.

Even though it was a weekday and already past breakfast, the restaurant remained packed with people. I have to wait for almost 15 minutes before I am able to get a seat for myself.

The menu at Hua Mui is a mix of Chinese and Western cuisine, which offers a variety of western, rice, noodle, sandwiches, bread, beverages and desserts.

The must order at Hua Mui is their famous signature Hainanese fried chicken chop as it displays on their cover of the menu.

The ordering system goes by filling up an order sheet and pass it to the waitress/ waiter.

Waited for about 20 minutes before the food is served.

It looks like Chicken Cutlet. The Chicken Chop was served with green peas, half tomato, 3 pieces of potato wedges with light brown mushroom sauce.

Usually, I would finish all the side dish in order before moving onto the main item, I would eat the green peas first, next to the tomato then onto potato wedges.

The potato wedges were not too soft or too hard, you could apply the wedges to the sauce or chili sauce provided, it was a good starter before into the main item.

Hua Mui's chicken chop is made from a whole piece of thigh coated with a light deep fried batter. The flesh is tender and moist to the bite, and the skin is crispy.

On the exterior, the batter was thin but was fried till it was so crispy, making neither was it too oily nor too much flour batters for the crispiness.
The accompanying sauce blended very well with the chicken chop, not too thick or too thin, was light yet tasty. You can choose to eat the chicken chop with or without the sauce, both taste really good!

The Hainanese Chicken Chop is a must try at Hua Mui Coffee Shop!
I think it’s very clear which chicken chop I prefer in Johor. That being said, it’s my personal opinion, so go ahead to try them out yourself and let me know your preference!

P.S. This stall is very to Hiap Joo, the famous banana cake, before you queue up for this, maybe you could get the banana cake first?