[CLOSED] Central Thai ECP –Thai Food with An Awesome View [MEDIA INVITE]

Central Thai at East Coast Park (‘CT’) is a Halal Thai restaurant located within a short walking distance from East Coast Park Area F. If you are coming from the city direction toward the airport, it is at end of East Coast Park. It is not even close to the East Coast Lagoon or the East Coast Seafood Park.

Central Thai Entrance - Early Evening

Centra Thai Entrance - Evening

The “secluded” location offers a great view of the Singapore Straits. The crowd is minimum and the parking is also free, almost like your own private beachfront. Occupying a sole property, CT offers indoor and al-fresco dining settings. To avoid the hot scorching weather in the early evening, LD and I decided on air-conditioned indoor seating. However, once the sun set, I suggest you choose the al-fresco seating area to enjoy the cool breeze.

The View - Early Evening

We started the meal with Thai Prawn Cake ($9 for 2 pcs, $17 for 4 pcs). They are huge and each one of them is about as big and as thick as my palm. The exterior is crispy, while the interior is bouncy. The seasoning is sufficient, LD and I did not even dip it in the sweet chilli sauce provided.

Thai Prawn Cake

Thai Prawn Cake

Thai Prawn Cake

Clear Tom Yum Prawn Soup ($18 for Regular, $25 for Large). We have the regular size. The broth is robust and tangy but not overly spicy. The prawns, sliced fish and mushrooms are fresh. LD feels that the soup can be spicier and more sour, however, I like this mild version. It is acceptable to those who can’t take too much heat.

Clear Tom Yum Prawn Soup

Thai Spicy Basil with Minced Chicken ($16 for Regular, $21 for Large). At first, the dish looks super spicy, especially with the bright red colour covering the chicken. However, LD assured me that it is not the case. The minced chicken is juicy, while the heat is more of a sambal-like. Not that full-blown spiciness like in other Thai restaurants. It can do with a bit more basil though.

Thai Spicy Basil with Minced Chicken

Steamed Seabass with Spicy Lemon Sauce ($34 fresh, $42 Live). When this dish reaches our table, it just looks very appetizing. Once it reached our table, the smoke just keeps coming out from the boiling broth, giving this dish a mystical arrival and the WOW factor.

Steamed Seabass with Spicy Lemon Sauce 

The fish is so fresh, and the flesh is soft and velvety, while the broth is aromatic, tangy and acceptable spiciness for me. Basically, both of us devour the whole fish and left it with bones only. A complement to the chef!

The Flesh

Stir-fry Four Heavenly Kings ($16 for Regular, $20 for Large). Lady fingers, eggplant, petai and long bean, cooked with onion, capsicum and prawn paste sambal. It is aromatic, LD like it but I don’t like any of those vegetables.

Stir-fry Four Heavenly Kings 

Pineapple Fried Rice ($14). It was one of the best dishes of the night. The rice is al-dente, fragrant and evenly coated with the fried eggs. The diced pineapple is evenly spread, while the cashew nuts and prawns added different crunchy textures to the dish. A must-order dish here. LD commented that it is a childhood type of must-eat Thai dish when she is young and it has been a while since she had a decent one like Central Thai’s.

Pineapple Fried Rice

Pineapple Fried Rice

Pineapple Fried Rice

Our dessert is Mango Sticky Rice ($8.50). It is served with pandan-flavoured sticky rice. The mango is sweet and bursting with flavour. While the pandan sticky rice is a touch too soft (like being overheated in a microwave). The mango and sticky rice taste good with coconut milk.

Mango Sticky Rice

Mango Sticky Rice

For the drinks, I have the Iced Thai Milk Tea ($4.60) and LD ordered Thai Lemon Grass ($4.60). We ask for our drinks to be less sweet and they acceded to our request. Both the drinks tasted very solid and the portion is very big. If you come in a big group, you should order the drinks in a tower.

Thai Lemon Grass & Thai Milk Tea

The décor of the restaurant is simple, functional and Thai-inspired. I like the natural light entering the indoor dining area during the day.

Indoor Dining Area

Al Fresco Dining Area

Overall, we like the food at Central Thai. They are tasty and delicious. However, for those who like their Thai Food bold and super spicy, you need to inform the service staff when you ordered. The current spiciness level is targeted towards a family-friendly level. Our picks are Thai Prawn Cake, Steamed Seabass with Spicy Lemon Sauce and Pineapple Fried Rice. Cheers!

Evening Atmosphere

Thank you very much, Parveen for the invite and Central Thai team for hosting us.

Food & Drink: 7.5/10

Value: 7/10

Service: N/A (Tasting Invitation)

Ambiance: 7/10

Budget per Person: $11 - $25; $26 - $50

Central Thai – East Coast Park

1300 East Coast Parkway

East Coast Park Area F

Singapore 468964

T: +65 6443 5510

W: https://www.centralthai.com.sg/

F: https://www.facebook.com/CentralThaiSG/

IG: @Centralthai

OH: Daily, 11.30 – 22.30

Menu Available here

My Briyani House Marine Cove – Unveiling New Menu [MEDIA INVITE]

Lamb Shank Briyani

My Briyani House is an Indian Restaurant concept by Mr Teh Tarik Group. It serves a wide range of traditional and authentic Indian dishes as well as the iconic Teh Tarik. My Briyani House is also MUIS Halal Certified Restaurant.

My Briyani House @Marine Cove

My Briyani House at Marine Cove just revamps its menu and ready to tantalise our taste buds. The start dish for this new line menu is Lamb Shank Briyani ($13.80 for 1 pc, $25 for 2pcs).

The lamb shank is cooked over a long period as the flesh is almost fork-tender and easily fall off the bone. It is tasty and only has a little gamy taste. The briyani rice is fluffy, al-dente and flavourful. The spices are just right to ignite the aroma instead of overpowering the whole meal. The best part is to dig out for the lamb gravy at the bottom of the briyani rice.

Lamb Shank Briyani

Sambal Prawn ($8). Crispy and crunchy prawns. The sambal sauce has a multilayer and distinct spicy and sweetness. The sambal prawns are good with any type of rice, it can easily be a “rice thief” dish here.

Sambal Prawn

Masala Squid ($8). Aromatic and coated with creamy and delicious masala curry. The squid has a good bite to it, followed with a slight chewiness. 

Masala Squid (Left) and Sambal Prawns

Chettinad Chicken ($8). This chicken dish sure packs of punch. The gravy is solid and absorbs well into the flesh. The chicken use is a bit too small for my liking, as the meat tasted a bit firm. The gravy from this chicken and masala squid goes nicely with the Butter Naan ($4).

Chettinad Chicken

The butter naan is aromatic and buttery. I like the chewy bread-like texture and the aromatic butter inside. Of course, it works wonder to polish the gravy from the Chettinad chicken and masala squid.

Butter Naan

Curry Fish Head ($28). The new signature dish here. The fish is fresh and cooked in spicy and tangy curry. There is no coconut milk inside this curry, so the curry fish head does not feel heavy. The curry spices stand out, together with a tangy and spicy flavour. In case you are wondering, the curry fish head is catered to Singaporean taste as the recipe was finetuned by Mr Mok, the owner of Mr Teh Tarik Group.

Curry Fish Head

Other than the briyani, we ate the fish head curry with the plain prata ($1.40, min 2 pcs). The plain prata is crisp and fully and if you let it swim in the curry fish head, it is a perfect vessel to savour the curry fish head.

Curry Fish Head

Vegetarian Briyani ($7.50). This vegetarian briyani is a medley of flavour and texture. The rice is fluffy and al-dente, accompanied by crunchy and juicy vegetables. The sweet flavour extracted from the vegetables together and spices just work wonder. As there is no meat in this briyani, this dish feels light and you won’t feel guilty when you scoop more of it.

Vegetarian Briyani

Side dishes that we tried include Papadum, Lady Finger Poriyal ($2) and Mixed Vegetable Thoran ($2). The mixed vegetable is sweet and crunchy. Combine with the attractive fresh colour, it is easily paired with white rice of briyani.

Mixed Vegetable Thoran and Papadum

I can’t comment much on the Lady Finger Poriyal, as I did not taste it. Lady finger just not of my liking. Papadum is crunchy with the right saltiness.

Our Meal, Lady Finger Poriyal at top roght

Of course, the meal here won’t be complete without the Signature Ice Teh Tarik ($2.50). Smooth milky texture followed with a strong tea flavour. Yummy!!

Signature Iced Teh Tarik

The décor of My Briyani House is simple, almost like a food court style. The place is very spacious and one of the attractions here is the kids’ corner. It is open 24 hours, so you can enjoy it any time of the day.

Indoor Seating Area

Kids' Corner

Outdoor Seating Area

Overall, I like the new menu of My Briyani House. It combines the popular Authentic Indian dishes with local dishes as well. There have been improvements compare to the last time I was here for my prata fix. Do take note that this new menu is only applied to My Briyani House @Marine Cove. Cheers!!

New Menu 1

New Menu 2

New Menu 3

New Menu 4

Thank you Chef Mel Dean and My Briyani House for hosting us.

Food & Drinks: 7.5/10

Value: 6.5/10

Service: N/A (Media Tasting)

Ambiance: 6.5/10

Budget per Person: $0 - $10, $11 - $25

My Briyani House @Marine Cove

1000 East Coast Road Parkway

#01-04, East Coast Park. Marine Cove

Singapore 449876

T: +65 6742 5522

W: https://www.mrtehtarik.com.sg/

F: https://www.facebook.com/mybriyanihouse/

IG: @Mybriyanihouse

OH: 24 Hours

Chaoniu HotPot – Teochew Beef Hotpot

Teochew Beef Hotpot

Teochew Beef Hotpot is one of the must-try dishes in Chaozhou and Shantou area. I tried it during my maiden trip to Shantou and I love it.

Chaoniu Beef Hotpot

The first thing that I notice when having Teochew Beef Hotpot is clear broth soup base. Next is the freshness of the beef. In Shantou, they only use fresh beef they get daily from the abattoir, unlike the frozen stuff that we normally get. The master cutter in each restaurant will only slice the beef upon order. The freshness of the beef together with the knife skills deliver a #beefgasm experience not to be missed when you are in Chaozhou and Shantou.

To our surprise, a few days after we return to Singapore, we saw Chaoniu Hot Pot. We posted in on FB and “jio” a few “makan kakis” to check out this place. In total there was 5 of us.

The Menu - Part 1
Image Credit: Chaoniu Hot Pot

The Menu - Part 2
Image Credit: Chaoniu Hot Pot

We ordered Beef Feast Set ($168). This includes the neck, sirloin, tongue, topside, flank, blade, leg, beef ball, burdock, beef organ, tripe, tendon, vegetable platter and beancurd platter. For the soup base, we choose the ChaoShan Beef Broth ($15).

ChaoShan Beef Broth

While we are waiting for the order to come, we went to choose our sauce. Once the soup is boiled, you need to have a plain bowl of soup first topped with spring onion and coriander to warm up the tummy.

The Sauces

The Sauces

Each portion of the meat served comes with a coin. This coin will tell you the cuts of the beef and how long it should be cook to get the optimum flavours. The beef parts, tripe, beef ball, vegetable platter and beancurd patters did not come with the timing so you cook base on your liking.

The Cheek

It is best to cook one type of cut at a time. The process is that you put the meat in the big strainer and dip it base on the suggested time. While the meat is swimming on the hot broth, stir it with your chopsticks so it is evenly cooked. Once cooked, lift it and portion it with your makan kakis. Repeat the same process for the other cuts of beef.

How to Cook The Beef

The Leg

The neck and sirloin are our favourites cut due to the nice marbling and fattiness in the meat. We ordered extra plates of these. Flank has a nice fattiness, but the meat texture is a bit chewy.

 

The Neck

Sirloin

The blade provides us with a crunchy texture of the soft bone when you bit into the meat, while topside is the lean part of the cuts.

The Blade

We notice the beef is not the same as those we tasted in Shantou. In Chaoniu, the source of the beef are mainly from the US and it came frozen, before it is thawed for cutting and serving. Due to the conditions in Singapore, it is not possible to get fresh beef like in Shantou.

Topside

The meatballs are bouncy, crunchy with a slight chewiness. Tasted like tendon meatballs you commonly found in “Bakso” in Indonesia. The offcuts like tendon and liver are surprisingly good, though I find the tripe is chewier to my liking.

Tripe, Burdock, Beef Organs, Beef Balls and Tendon

Beef Balls

Beef Organs

Tripe

The beancurd platter and vegetable platter provided a great variety. We like seaweed and black fungus.

Beancurd Platter & Vegetables Platter

For the finale, you should order their glass noodle. It is served with their special homemade sauce and topped with pork lard. Yummy!!  I don’t recommend their knife sliced noodles as it is hard to cook and become lumpy.

Glass Noodle

Glass Noodle with Special Sauce and Pork Lard

At the end of the hotpot, the service staff will serve you desserts FOC. On that night it was white fungus with wolfberries.

Desserts

The décor is simple and function orientated. The dining area is spacious, but the sauce area is congested. You have to take turns to take get the sauce. Our service staff was friendly and very helpful and show us how to cook the beef and even help us cooked the glass noodle. Don’t expect HDL standard of service, but they are good enough.

Overall, it was nice to found Teochew Beef Hotpot in Singapore. For those who never been to Shantou, this will be a good experience. Beef lovers, this is place is a must-visit but leave your non-beef eater friends at home as they will only able to see you eat. Cheers!!

Food & Drink: 7.5/10

Value: 7.25/10

Service: 7.75/10

Ambiance: 7.5/10

Budget per Person: $26 - $50; $51 - $80

Chaoniu Hot Pot

195 East Coast Road

Singapore 428900

T: +65 6909 8783

W: https://chaoniu-hot-pot.business.site/

F: http://bit.ly/FB-Chaoniu

IG: @Chaoniu_hot_pot

OH: Daily 11.00 – Midnight