FoodZee - Good Food in Singapore and beyond

We were driving along Race Course Road looking for curry fish head to celebrate Deepavali with Sunny and chance up this new Indian restaurant that serves Chettinadu Food. The restaurant is named after its founder, Mr Anjappar, who hailed from the famous Chettinad area. Mr Anjappar started his hotel cum restaurant business in 1965 and today he has 12 branches all over the world. The friendly waiter dissuaded us from ordering the curry fish head and instead recommended us some of their special dishes. The best of was the Chicken briyani, Anjappar chicken masala, Mutton Sukka Varuval (Fried mutton), Chettinad Fish Masala and Gobi Manchurian (Cauliflower) . All the dishes have an exclusive taste of spices and curry leaves. Half-way thru our meal, we spotted an Indian man at the table next to us eating Fried Rice. What! An Indian man eating Chinese style fried rice in an Indian restaurant? So Sunny went over and enquired what he was eating and he said Mutton fried rice (Bottom, Right). So we decided to try one and, boy oh boy, it was delicious. Apparently, Anjappar is quite well known in India for its Chinese food and have quite an extensive Chinese menu. We ended our meal with a cup of hot Masala tea. I don't know how much the entire meal cost the three of us as Sunny paid for it. Thanks, Sunny and wishing you a belated Happy and Peaceful Deepavali.

The North Bridge Road Market and Food Centre is re-opened after renovation. Both market and food centre are now at ground level. The food centre is bright and breezy with centre court sitting. I saw some new stalls at the FC and intend to try them out later. When I spotted Lao Huang Hakka Niang Tou Fu, I headed straight for it. I am so glad that the owner decided to continue with their business, as they have been around for many years (close to 30 years). Their niang tou fu is stuffed with minced meat, instead of the usual fish meat, and deep fried. Each piece cost 50 cents. The stuffed tou fu, tau pok, bitter gourd, brinjal and ngoh hiang are my favorites. The noodles topped with minced meat sauce go very well with a bowl of niang tou fu. The stall number is 108 and it is open for breakfast and lunch.

Had lunch with Gam, Ron, PeterL and Menon at the only Indian Restaurant in the Upper Bukit Timah/Bukit Panjang Area. Karu's Indian Curry Rest is one of the better South Indian Rest in Spore. The curry fish head is served in a claypot together with lady's finger and brinjal. The fish head is fresh and the gravy is thick, with the use of coconut milk. I also like their Masala Chicken. The sauce that they use to cook the chicken is superb. Their mutton curry is not that great. Karu is located along Upper Bukit Timah road, just after the Bukit Panjang road junction and before the Shell Petrol Station.

If you like to relax with a good cup of tea on a weekend, go to the Ayer Rajah Food Centre. At one end of this food centre is a drink stall that serves one of the best teh tarik and teh halia (ginger tea) on the island. They use fresh ginger. Make sure you order you tea "less sweet" otherwise the sweetness will leave a lingering taste in your mouth and mask the taste of the tea and fresh ginger. It is also healthier. Better still, enjoy your tea with a plate of mee goreng or nasi goreng. There are few stalls nearby selling Shenton Way mee goreng and Ikan Bilis nasi puteh. They are all good. When I left at 1.30am, the place is still crowded.

If you love Bak Chor Mee, the newly renovated Bendemeer Food Centre is the place to go. Situated at one end of the food centre is Zhen Ji (01-21), which serve very tasty Bak Chor Mee. Apart from minced pork, it has mushroom, liver and fried wanton. The minced pork is not very fatty while the fried wanton is crisp. The chilli sauce is not too overpowering. Each bowl cost $2.00, $2.50 or $3.00. Order the $3.00 if you like more fried wanton. The stall is open in the morning for breakfast and lunch and there is usually a short queue on weekends.

I love the fluffy egg rolls found in HK. Unlike the love letters we have in Spore, the HK egg roll melts in your mouth. It also breaks easily. So if you are bringing them back to Spore, hand carry it. Locating the shop that sells this particular type of egg roll is not easy, but fun. There are three types of egg rolls, the normal egg rolls, butter egg rolls and coconut egg rolls. Each box cost HK$38, 40 and 41 respectively. The shop name is Duck Shing Ho. It is located at No 64 Java Road, North Point, HK Island. Take the train to North Point station and find your way there. Enjoy.

I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into this cake shop and saw a women carrying out a tray of freshly steamed yam cake. Yes, this is the traditional type of yam cake you usually eat in the morning at hawker centers. The yam is topped with fried shallots, parsley and cut red chillies. The cake is steamed with yam, mushroom and dried shrimp. It is not too salty and taste great without the sweet and chilli sauce. Each cake is about 5 inches in diameter and cost S$2.50. Come after 11am when the cakes are freshly steamed. The shop name is Danroll Cake Shop located at Blk 66 Toa Payoh Ave 4, No 01-309.

Today is my birthday and I usually start this day with a vegetarian breakfast at my favorite veg stall, which I grew up with. This stall is located at Pek Kio Market (Cambridge Road) and has been around for more than 35 years. It has been handed down thru' 3 generations. Mother to son, and now, grandchildren. And it still taste the same. The bee hoon/sang mee when topped with their special sauce gravy or curry is simply fabulous. The spring roll and other veg dishes are all excellent and made by the family, not commercially purchased. The stall (01-28) is open only in the morning for breakfast.

This morning, I had the best Thosai for breakfast. The female owner and cook hails from Hyderabad, India. What I like about the Masala Thosai is eating it with 3 types of curries. They each has a distinctive taste and is very delicious. The dhall curry (the one on the right) is the best. She also sells freshly cooked Vadai at 50cents each and Chapati. The Masala Thosai cost $1.50. The stall (Pooja) is located in Kosma Food Court at Blk 280 Bishan Street 24. It is open from 8am to 2pm and 6pm to 9pm. Trust me, this one is really good.

I was at Circuit Road Hawker Centre (Blk 79)looking for vegetarian food and saw this very old man frying char kway teow. He must be in his 70s or 80s. His stall has no signboard. So I decided to forgo my veg dinner and ordered a small plate of CKT (S$2). It was served on a plate with a small piece of banana leaf. And it taste good. Instead of the traditional lap cheong he uses fish cake and cockles. According to his helper (could be his son) the stall operates from 4pm to 10pm and is close on Sun and Mon. The stall number is 01-530.

Hong Kong many great restaurants selling wanton noodles. This pic is from Mak's Wanton Noodles located along Wellington Street, HK Island. Each bowl is very small, just like our rice bowl, and cost HK$25 (about S$5). It has 3 large wantons and about 3 mouthful of noodles. The soup is very tasty. The workers there are very friendly and told us that they have been in business for more than 30 years.

Discovered this tiny Dumpling shop along Kg Bahru Road. It has a unique name "8Way Junction Dumpling Specialist". The siao long pau, goutie, and boiled dumpling are all very good. Each order comes with five pieces. The meat sauce noodles is so so. It is open daily from 10am to 3pm and from 6pm to 9pm. The address No 17 Kg Bahru Road opp SGH

Went for lunch at Woodlands and discovered this stall that serves excellent Mutton Bryani. The mutton is very tender and the curry gravy is thick and nice. The bryani rice is fragrant and not too oily. They also serve fish curry which looks tasty. Will try it the next time I am there. The stall holder is very friendly. It is located at Blk 4A Woodlands Centre Road. Stall No 74A (MADINT FOOD STALL). The stall holder said he is open everyday from 10am to 1opm.