Penang Road Cafe

The husband and I went with the mother to try out this relatively new Penang place at Novena that we had read about in another food blog. We weren't expecting very much, but were pleasantly surprised to find that the food was pretty decent.

The mother liked the hae mee, which I found to be quite flavourful also.

The assam laksa wasn't too bad either

The husband liked the lor bak very much because it was leaner than expected

The char kuey teow was average - the kuey teow was probably slightly over fried and it could have had a little more sauce.

The ju hee char was really enjoyable though. Lovely and sweet.

We also tried the rojak and nutmeg tea, which I enjoyed. On the whole, it's a pretty decent place for a quick lunch if you're not expecting the spectacular.

Penang Road Cafe

275 Thomson Road

01-08 Novena Ville

62563218

Open for lunch and dinner everyday except Monday

Foie Gras and Cheese and Girlfriends

A combination of good friends and good food is very difficult to beat. I had a couple of girlfriends over for dinner one evening, and after dinner, the real meal started.

One of them brought over a Mont d'or cheese from Jones the Grocer, with a bottle of Chilean dessert wine.

She proceeded to cut the top skin off, and poured a couple of tablespoons of the dessert wine onto the cheese before baking it in the oven for 15 minutes at 180 deg C.

It came out nicely warm and melty

Best eaten with small toasted bread pieces

There was also foie gras that a friend had given me

The mini bread pieces came in this bag
Out they come

The same friend who bought the cheese also bought dried pear

Amazing combination of flavours : )

A Tale of Two Pizzas

We both love pizzas that have a thin chewy base with just a slightly crispy crust. We've always loved Spizza since it opened a few years back, but only recently discovered the Calzone, after years of eating the Quinta (which comes with an egg and truffle sauce). The Calzone comes with a huge dollop of tomato sauce on the side, instead of the inside, which means you can choose how tangy you want the bites to be.

Stuffed with ham and cheese and artichokes; all you need, really.

The husband and I recently discovered Bella Pizza at Robertson Quay and loved it. We had this boat-shaped pizza with onions and Italian sausage, and it was wonderful. We'll have to go back for more.

In our younger days (meaning last year and earlier) we could each manage a large Spizza pizza. Now we have to share one :(

Katong Laksa

I don't know which was the original Katong Laksa, and frankly I don't really care as long as there's good laksa to be had. I really like the laksa at the junction of East Coast and Ceylon Road at No. 51 - possibly 328 - it's spicy, not too rich and very shrimpy - yums!

Sheng Cheng Char Kuey Teow

The husband thinks very highly of Leslie Tay's recommendations, and will earnestly seek out stalls featured on the ieatishootipost website when he has time. So when he read about Hill Street Char Kuey Teow at Bedok South market, he decided that it was so good that it was going to be worth the calories and effort spent getting there. Unfortunately, we forgot to check whether they were open at night and after driving for half an hour (and paying ERP) we arrived there last week after work only to find the stall shut. That little adventure however sparked off a char kuey teow obsession in the husband, and so after work today, we went off hunting down another Leslie Tay recommendation.

Cheng Sheng at Jln Bukit Merah is run by an old couple, and they have servings in 2 sizes - $2.50 and $3.00. We tried both the char kuey teow and hokkien mee, and were pleasantly surprised to find that they both were of a pretty high standard.

The char kuey teow came steaming hot, and after one bite, we were so pleased - it was every bit as good as Leslie Tay said it was, with soft fluffy kuey teow doused in sweet black sauce which was slightly spicy. It was very flavourful with bits of lard scattered throughout.
The hokkien mee was very tasty as well, the stock was a great combination of the prawn and pork flavours.

Sheng Cheng Char Kuey Teow 生成炒粿条福建面

Block 132 Jalan Bukit Merah

Apparently the stall closes randomly now and then. They're closed from 8 March 2011 until the middle of the month.

Kluang Rail Coffee

So after our lunch in Malacca, we decided to head back earlier to avoid being caught in the Causeway jam. On the way back, however, we saw the turning to Kluang and I couldn't resist asking the husband to turn off so that we could try the coffee at the railway station. Most of the Malaysians that I know have said that the coffee is really good...and since we were nearby I just had to try for myself.

How to get there? Look for the railway tracks, and follow them.

And yay! We found the KTM station, as well as a (free) parking lot right in front of it!

BUT..it was closed :( Upon a closer look, we realised that they were closed for lunch. It was 2.10pm. They were reopening at 2.30pm. Could we wait? After having driven 20km off the N-S highway, OF COURSE we could.

So they've been around since 1938. Pretty cool tagline :)

It was really nice to see a local train station and people scrambling on and off. It's actually quite sad to think that come July, all we'll have are memories of the train rumbling through the Clementi and Bukit Timah areas.

Finally the doors opened at 2.30pm sharp. We weren't the only ones waiting.
I wonder whether the locals would have regarded these prices as reasonable or not.

The back of house. Nothing much, very humble.

Man, it was absolutely full within 5 minutes.

They had mee goreng, nasi lemak and various curry puff thingys on the table, which we saw a lot of people eating. We ordered a cup of coffee each, which the mother immediately pronounced as "no big deal" and "not worth the extra 40km drive nor 20 minute wait". The husband felt it was good, but not worth the drive. I thought it was fairly normal good coffee, but not worth the diversion either.

The kaya toast was very enjoyable, but again, not really worth the extra 40km (that's Singapore from east to west) and time spent.

By the time we left there was a queue for both indoor and outdoor tables - so the locals must love it!

On hindsight, if we were Kluang locals, perhaps we would have enjoyed the coffee and kaya toast a lot more. Unfortunately, it was perhaps the high expectations that left us feeling a little let down. But if I was ever going to be in Kluang again for any other reason, I think that I would still be quite happy to go there again.

Jonker 88 in Malacca

The husband, the mother and I recently spent a weekend in Malacca because of a weding we had to attend. We didn't have much time to eat and walk around, but managed to get about 2 hours of sightseeing done before we drove back to Singapore. We parked along Jalan Tengkera to walk to Jalan Hang Jebat about 10 mins away. Incidentally, I had been previously told that Jalan Tengkera was where my beloved paternal nyonya grandmother lived before she relocated to Singapore.

Walking along Jln Tun Tan Cheng Lock, we came across these 2 shops selling local produce.

When I was last in Malacca in 2004 with my parents, one of my uncles had brought us to this shop to buy chinchalok. So I figured it was worth spending more money there, and picked up a few bottles as well as gula melaka.

Belachan, chinchalok and gula melaka galore.

The bane of historic towns with conserved buildings along narrow streets - major traffic problems.

Round the corner was Jonker St, or Jalan Hang Jebat.

And we came across this super crowded eating place. If there's a queue, it's got to be good.

The interior was rather charming - with old furniture and the original shophouse elements still intact, like the open courtyard, exposed floor beams and spiral staircase (not pictured).

Apart from the stalls outside, there were also stalls selling drinks, lor bak and rojak just inside.

We decided to try the noodles from the stall just outside the shophouse. This lady preparing the noodles was mighty busy - the orders were pouring in nonstop.

Check out her curry pot

Her able assistant assembling the noodles together

I ordered a normal (ie. curry lemak) laksa and an assam laksa. These cost around RM4 to 5 each, if I'm not mistaken.

Then proceeded to get dessert - it had to be durian chendol, no less.

Preparing the good stuff

We got an extra serve of tau kee on top of the noodles

It was the first time I had ever seen tau kee in assam laksa...but it was interesting. Both were good, but the assam laksa was somehow better, perhaps because it was more tangy and had a sharper flavour.

The durian chendol turned out to be pretty normal - nothing very mind blowing. Pleasant on a hot day.

They're probably worth a quick lunch stop if you're ever in Malacca, but my take is that there have to be other more exciting coffee shops - it was good, but not die die must try. Pleasant enough nonetheless, provided you can get a seat!

Website: http://www.jonker88.com/