Beef noodles at Yummy Viet

This is my first blog of 2010 ... and after so many mths of inactivity. This is also my first blog using my iPhone.

Had my lunch at chinatown at a eatery call Yummy Viet. Yep, a vietnamese resturant right in the middle of chinatown. But so many vietnamese resturant popping out in Singapore, I am not surprise.

Ordered a bowl of beef noodle, yes, the plain old beef noodle ... Nothing new. But it is the plain usual food that make a place to stand out from the rest. Sad to say, this indeed just a bowl of plain old beef noodle. Nothing special ... well, at the price of $6.30, I expect a bit more beef inside. The rice noodle was ok and the soup base was not too saltish.


Nothing much to shout about. $6.30 was not too much to pay if one need to get some Vietnamese beef noodle fix.

I will give it a Ah Pui score of 6/10.

The location is at :
Yummy Viet
Smith St
Chinatown

- Posted from my iPhone

ChinaTown Complex Rpt 01

Chinatown Complex had since open after it renovation from May till now, havn't really write anything about it. So today I decide to start with my first report (hopefully there are more to come .... #slurp)

I was doing my recce at there last week, and walk past this stall (not the usual Hokkien Mee or Fried Kway Tiao stall). It called itself a 'Cooked Food' stall. Surprise that such a boring generic name can stop me in my tracks. Actually what tempted me to stop was not the name of the stall, but I walk past a lady eating a big delicious looking plate of Chao Kway Tiao. I was very tempted to go up and ask her where she got her plate of Chao Kway Tiao. But my senses overcome my greed and stop me. I don't want people to cry sexual harassment, especially not here. But my foodie star shone on me. A few meters later, I spotted a stall using similar plate that hold the Chao Kway Tiao that the lady is eating. So I decide to end my hunt and give it a try.

The price range from $3-$5 per plate. I order a $3 plate, and yes indeed, the portion is similar to what the lady has. But other than price, how it taste is the main thing that will make me think whether should I come back again.

It does not disappoint me. It does not taste like your normal Chay Kway Tiao, which is full of egg and sweet sauce. It taste more like what you get from a Zi Cha stall (maybe thats why the stall is called 'Cooked Food' rather than xxx Chao Kway Tiao. The Kway Tiao is moist enough, not too sweet. It has generous portion of greens and fish cake. What is lacking is the 'Hum' or cockles. There are a bit on the small side, nothing close to the one from Outrum Park Chay Kway Tiao. What make it up is the chili (sambal). It taste good, just spicy enough but a bit of saltish. But must try. The Chay Kway Tiao is not really that fantastic, but overall, it taste better than usual. I personally think that one should give it a try.


Today, I decided to give this stall again. This time round, I ordered their Fied Hokkien Mee ($3) (which supposing is their popular dish). It comes with 3 prawns, fishcake, good portion of greens and slice pork belly. It too served with a small plate of their chili. And again, slightly from your usual Hokkien Mee, and less egg. It was wet, and a perfect match with the zasty taste of lime. However, given that I tried their Chao Kway Tiao, this dish is a bit disappointed. It doesn't really taste like how a good Hokkien Mee should taste like and lack the 'wok' taste (which is critical for a good Hokkien Mee). Not worth to go there just for this, but if you are not picky, it should be fine.

For the Chao Kway Tiao, I give is a Ahpui score of 7/10, Hokkien Mee 6/10.

The location is at :
Ah Ang Cooked Food
China Town Complex
#02-149
(Near the side that is facing the Buddist Temple)

Garden of Eden

Yesterday, was walking along club street and stumble upon this small restaurant, Eden Cafe. First sight, I was attracted by the dessert sitting on the display shelf rather than the food. It was rather quiet that time, and the whole place seems quite cosy, so I decided to give it a try.

Small cosy place

After sitting down and going through the menu, I sort of become a bit disappointed. The main course and sandwiches was quite limited, and selection for a meat eater like me, is even more limited. My initial enthusiasm gone cold. Good thing is that the waiter was friendly and eager to give explanation to the dishes in the menu.

End up, I decided to order Honey Mustard Chicken ($14.90) while ah pui soh ordered Saffron Cream Salmon ($16.90).

Honey Mustard Chicken


Saffron Cream Salmon

We were told that all the food were only prepare fresh, none was prepare beforehand. So we will need to wait at least 20 mins for the food. So to kill time, we order a pot of tea ($6.00)


The tea was refreshing and it comes in a unique set of teapot and teacups. The teacups was design in such a way that you won't feel the heat even if hot water was poured into the cups. I will need to get a set of these !

And after 20 mins (I was starving ...) the food finally arrived. Once again, I was really disappointed ... it comes with some greens salad and a piece of deboned chicken tights. The salmon seems to look better and more filling.
However, after taking a bite on the honey mustard chicken, all my opinion changes. The chicken was tender with a the juice locked in, and together with the honey mustard flavouring, it was excellent. The saffron cream salmon was even better. The salmon coated with creamy sauce, together with a layer of saffron on top, the combination was perfect. The taste was not to strong to overpower the fish, but complement the dish very well. Both dishes were well worth the 20 mins wait.

After finishing the meal, now is time to try the very reason that I step into this place - Desserts !
We spend about 10 mins scanning through the menu, trying to decide what we want. All choices are very tempting. Finally we end up ordering Hibiscus Cheesecake ($6.90) and Rosepetal Brownies ($5.90).


Hibiscus Cheesecake


Rosepetal Brownies

For the dessert, since all are already pre-made, the wait is short.
The cheesecake comes with a thick coat of hibiscus jam and half a slice of strawberry. The cheesecake itself taste unlike your usual cheesecake, it is much lighter and softer. And the cream was mixed with citrus juice rather than source cream to make it lighter and healthier also. (So I won't feel so sinful after finishing it). The hibiscus jam goes well with the cheesecake, however, the only imperfection is that the biscuit base is a bit hard.

The brownies, I would say, is the star of the entire meal. It comes with a few bites of white chocolate and some rose petals scatter around, and (instead of the usual a round scope of ice-cream on top) a thick slab of ice-cream beside the brownies. The rose petals I would say is more like for decor than taste, cos there is not much taste, except that I feel like .. well what else, eating flowers. When I use my spoon to cut into the brownies, expecting it to be hard, I am surprise that it went right through, like cutting through butter. And when I put it into my mouth ..... it simply melts in my mouth, not too bitter but with the sweet taste of chocolate, heavenly. Together with the ice-cream, I would say, this is one of the best dessert that I ever tried. Highly recommended !

Now that it's dessert had caught the attention of my tastebud, I will definitely come back again to try the rest of the dessert. The triamasu will be my next target.

For this place, I will give the food a Ahpui score of 7.5/10. As for the dessert, a 8.5/10. The brownies is highly recommended.

The location is at :
Eden Cafe
54 Club Street

Nice little Eatery hidden in Ann Siang

Hidden in a corner at Ann Siang is a nice little Japanese eatery - Wacha.
When I first step into this shop ... err ... restaurant, I thought I might had entered a shop selling nice little Japanese tea wares. Well, they do sell them, but they also serve food ... wonderful food.

They have both à la carte and set menu, with the tasting menu at $40 each. I will suggest go for the tasting menu, you got a 5-course meal for only $40, really value for money.


The first course is a set of mini mouthful of various appetizer (for me, I feel it will be better if they come in a bigger portion), served in a cute little mini basket. (I would like to have one of those)

The next dish is stew pork and lotus root. It is so nicely done that the lotus root almost melts in my mouth. The it was follows by baked cheese with macaroni and ham, and lastly, the unique green tea fried rice.





And of course, the dessert : Green Tea Cheesecake and red bean pancake ... heavenly !
Then, we finish off with a pot of green tea, relax and enjoy the surrounding deco.

I would say this place is highly recommended, try it, before the whole town know about this wonderful place. Do book in advance, as seats is very limited in this family run restaurant.

The location is at :
Ann Siang Road (right next to club street)
Tel : 6438-1553