Bak Kut Teh: Song Fa vs Heng Heng vs Ng Ah Sio

We live close to the bak kut teh capital of Singapore, and in our 5 years of staying here, have grown to love and appreciate the beauty of a hot hearty bak kut teh brunch on weekends. It's not a super cheap meal, but it's a small price to pay for the time well spent with equally greedy friends. We're aware that there are other bak kut teh places out there that are enjoyable, so we'll be continuing to try them out and blog about them as we go along, but it's hard not to go back to old favourites every now and then. In no particular order, here goes:

1. Song Fa Bak Kut Teh at Upper Circular Rd
Leslie Tay has a great write up here that explains the evolution of how the food at this stall has evolved. This place is a bit of a challenge to get to (especially in finding parking), but we found it was well worth our effort.We ordered the premium pork ribs soup for $8.50 per bowl, which we found substantial, meaty and tender. The meat was a bit fatty but that was easily removed. The soup was less peppery than expected, and very sweet. Loved it.
Tang oh to make us feel slightly less guilty.
Beancurd skin.

2. Heng Heng Bak Kut Teh at Owen Rd

We love the fish that they serve as well - we've never tried the steamed fish because I'm not a steamed fish fan (well I'm not a fish fan in the first place), but the or he (black fish) is pretty good.

Their tur kah is excellent - boiled till soft, with lots of tasty soy gravy.

The bak kut teh here isn't as tasty as the other 2, but I like to think it's healthier, ie. less salt or msg.
The meat isn't all that tender, but it's passable. Definitely less fatty as well.
The real winner here is the or he - soft, tasty meat that goes so well with fresh lime squeezed over it, and vinegared tau cheo sauce.

3. Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh at Rangoon Rd

This place has to be most well-known for having Thaksin Shinawatra as a loyal customer, ahd having created a diplomatic fiasco for having turned Donald Tsang away (I privately think that the MFA NEA Desk could have called ahead, but that's a story for another day). We love having freshly brewed tea from the small teacups, and we've never understood why the cups need to be so small.

Pure pleasure in a teapot

We really like the soup here - only thing is that the first bowl is always the best, and the top-ups are never as tasty.
The husband likes the stewed peanuts here
Tang oh is always good
Their pig trotter is also really yummy - soft and gelatinous and tasty, and amazing with their vinegared chilli sauce. Song Fa @ 11 New Bridge Road, Tel: 6533 6128; Heng Heng Bak Kut Teh @ 107 Owen Road, Tel: 62924913. Closed Tuesdays; and Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh @ 208 Rangoon Road, Tel: 6291 4537. Closed Mondays.

Shanghai Renjia

It was Leslie Tay's post that made us come here to try the xiaolongbaos, and we weren't disappointed. Thankfully we were already warned that it was going to take some time getting a table and our food, so the wait wasn't too upsetting.

My favourite dish of the evening was the shallot-oiled noodles, with pork chops that came in a zhajiangmian-style sauce that wasn't really necessary. I'd order the noodles again in a flash with just the shallot oil.

The shen jian bao was not bad - I'm not a fan of too much pastry, but the husband loved it.

The xiaolongbaos were good - none of them burst, although we had to order another serve (and wait for it) after we were done. Great flavour, lots of soup and on the whole one of the better xiaolongbaos in Singapore.
Dinner for the 2 of us, which included a serve of vegetables, came up to around $45 for the 2 of us. So it's not that cheap, and while the quality is pretty good, it's not really a place that we would drive across the island for. But we really enjoyed the food, so if we were in the area and didn't have to wait, we'd definitely come back again.

Shanghai Renjia
Blk 151, Ang Mo Kio Ave 5#01-3046
Singapore 560151
11am to 3pm, 6pm to 10pm
Closed on Mondays
Tel: 63686927

Shirokane Tori-Tama

Shirokane is a neighbourhood in inner-city Tokyo that is popular with expatriates, so I assume that this restaurant must have had its roots from the area. I've not bothered to go do research on the history of this restaurant, but I'm sure that it can be found online.

To the food. This place probably has the best quality yakitori in Singapore, comparable in flavour and taste to the yakitori joint in Naka-Meguro that my husband and I have declared as probably the best we've ever eaten. However, we ordered quite a lot in Tokyo and the total bill was only S$100 including drinks, which was amazing value for money in our opinion.

I was there with 2 girlfriends on a weekday night and the place was absolutely packed, which is always a good sign. A better sign is realising that you're a minority race in a restaurant that is packed with their own kind. I was really pleased.

We started with a salad - can't recall what it was, but it was nice. Pleasant. Refreshing.
Tsukune - one of the rare versions in Sg where they actually have cartilege minced into the meatballs.

Chicken hearts - not a fan, sadly.

Thigh meat - this was really juicy, tender and tasty.

A close up

Chicken soup - very pleasantly mild and soothing.

Nankotsu - probably my favourite chicken part. Nicely done.

I can't remember which meat part this was, but it was just as good as the thigh.

Mushrooms were okay.

Asparagus was nice.

Pork neck was amazing. Succulent, soft, juicy and very tasty

Okra- this was not too bad

The chicken wings were really, one of the best I've ever eaten - second only to the Naka Meguro branch. Super crispy skin with super juicy meat.

And ended off the meal with a seaweed ochazuke. Lovely.

The meal wasn't cheap, but it was certainly good. I think it cost around $80 per person including drinks.

#01-02 Robertson Walk, 11 Unity Street. Tel: 6836 5680

Ayam Penyet: Wong Solo vs Ayam Penyet Ria

After our numerous trips to Batam, we (okay, I) became slightly obsessed with ayam penyet and decided to go on an ayam penyet hunt around Singapore one week. We managed to try 2 places out before I decided it was enough, much to the husband's relief.

The first place we tried was Wong Solo in the basement of Far East Plaza. Apparently the husband had been catering from this place for dinners during night shifts, and he thought the ayam bakar was very good.

We ordered a soto to share, this was not great not bad...pretty normal I guess.
The ayam penyet ($6.90) arrived, with lots of chilli on top.
The ayam bakar was also $6.90. The husband was right - the ayam bakar was really nice, with the sugars in the sweet sauce caramelising nicely over the grill.
Another shot of the super fiery chilli - I loved the chilli but it was just a bit too hot for me. I ended up painstakingly removing most of the chilli seeds, and panting like crazy. The ayam itself was reasonable, I suppose - there was nothing really outstandingly good or bad about it, it was just normal fried chicken.
We normally would have ordered an avocado juice, but did not feel like paying $5.20 for it, so the meal felt slightly incomplete.

So shortly after Wong Solo, we headed to Ayam Penyet Ria at Lucky Plaza. The husband thought it was a branch of the one we normally eat at Nagoya Hill in Batam. At this place, the iced avokat wasn't so expensive, and so we ordered it. Nice : )

We ordered a serve of tempeh and tau kwa to share - this was all right.
The chicken here was pretty juicy and tasty, but I think Wong Solo's chilli is still better. Ayam Penyet Ria's chilli was too similar to sambal belachan, so it felt more like ayam goreng from a nasi padang stall with sambal belachan. Not a bad meal though, just wasn't what we were expecting. Their respective websites are here: http://www.wongsolo.com.sg/wongsolo.html and http://www.ayampenyetria.com/home.html

La Pizzaiola at Jalan Riang

We found this super good value for money out of the way Italian place near our friend's place in Braddell, with pastas less than $15 and pizzas around the same price. It was super packed on a Friday night, so thankfully my friend had made reservations. It was like a trattoria, very homely and down to earth. We loved it and more than anything else, we loved the prices.

Cold cut platter to start with.
Home made ravioli with pumpkin, in a butter and sage sauce for $13.90.
Ham and mushroom pizza for $14.90This was a special item that day - porcini lasagna. It looked ugly and it was excellent- not too rich and full of porcini flavour.Parma ham and rocket pizza for $16.90.

We ordered another pasta which I didn't manage to photograph, and all this fed 4 adults and 1 6-year old for $25 per adult head. Leslie Lay has a great write up (and much better photos) of the place here.

15/3 Jalan Riang, Tel: 62825031, www.pizzaiola.com.sg

Batam Orphanage Visit July 2012

So back we went to Batam, with a great menu lined up. Refueling started at Ayam Penyet Ria at Nagoya Hill, with in my opinion, one of the best ayam penyets at 12500 Rupiah per set.

Teh botol - super refreshing

We ordered a gado gado on the side - this was so-so.

But the ayam penyet was as good as ever - small by Singaporean standards, but who really needs hormone-filled chicken anyway.

Then it was off to the orphanage, and the menu was slightly different. It was going to be assam fish, for a change. I soaked an entire pack of assam, and removed all the seeds.

Then we chopped up brinjals and lady's fingers. These went in first, since they needed time to cook.

Had a pineapple on the side, for flavour, thrown in 15 mins just before serving.

We put in the fish about 30 mins before serving. There were 4 ikan tenggiris in total.

Kalamansi lime for the sour flavour.

And throwing in chopped tomatoes just before turning off the flame. I thought it was really good!