Hokkien Man – A Refine Hokkien Mee

Hokkien Mee with Fried Egg

Our first encounter of Hokkien Man Hokkien Mee (“HKHM”) was about a year ago. LD got a craving and decided to give this place a try. We reach there around 2 PM, however, they are sold out and almost finish cleaning and washing for the day. At the end, we ate the wanton mee from the stall beside it.

Fast forward this year, we went down to Toa Payoh for an unplanned visit around 11.30am. We decided to give them a call, the lady boss took our order 2 medium Hokkien Mee ($6; $5 for S & $7 for L) and told us it will be ready in 35 minutes.

The Stall

Since it was Saturday, parking there was so horrible as there were lots of people visiting the wet market and 2 hawker centres. I had to drop LD first to chop table and proceeding to other nearby car parks to find a parking lot. Thus, we only need to wait for another 10 mins, after checking-in with HKHM for a buzzer to confirm the order.

LD order my HKM with extra fried egg ($0.50). The HKM come loaded with ingredients and extra gravy on the plate. Some might call it “wet version”. I give the gravy a sip and I like the sweet, robust and umami flavour. I also feel certain that there is no MSG in it.

Hokkien Mee with Fried Egg

The noodle is al-dente, while the white noodle is crunchy, it absorbs the stock nicely. The prawns, sotong and sliced pork belly are evenly spread, making in an enjoyable meal. Two things that we notice missing are the strong “Wok Hei” flavour and the crispy pork lard bits.

Hokkien Mee with Fried Egg

The Noodles

For the chilli, LD feels it lacks the Power (Spiciness), that she give up eating the chilli. Meanwhile, the crispy fried egg is a must order here. Not only it gives a different texture to the plate, I find it very comforting and yummy on its own. I will probably order 2 fried egg next time to top up my Hokkien Mee. LD told me they also have abalone topping for an additional of $5 for 3-4 mini abalones.

Sliced Pork Belly

CBK Verdict: It is a delicious HKM, however, it is unlike your traditional version of HKM. Although the ingredients are the same, the taste is gentler, like it is assembled with a fine-dining touch instead of zhi char flair. Let’s just call this Hokkien Man signature Hokkien Mee. Cheers!!

Food & Drinks: 7.25/10

Value: 7.5/10

Service: N/A (Self Service)

Ambiance: N/A (Food Centre)

Budget per Person: $0-$10

Hokkien Man Hokkien Mee

Blk 19 Lor 7 Toa Payoh

#01-264 Kim Keat Palm

(19 Brewcoffee Coffeeshop)

Singapore 310019

T: +65 8798 1525 (For Ordering)

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

IG: @Hokkienman.hokkienmee

OH:

Thu – Tue: 10.00 – 14.30 (or When “The STOCK” run out)

Closed on Wednesday.

Lai Heng MMMM – Delicious BCM

Mee Pok @ Lai Heng

As a fan of Bak Chor Mee (Minced Meat Noodle), LD and I always keep a lookout for a delicious bowl BCM. Our new BCM adventure led us to Lai Heng Mushroom Minced Meat Mee (‘Lai Heng’).

Lai Heng Mushroom Minced Meat Mee 

The first time we visited the shop, we were surprised that the shop is run by all ladies. Only until the 3^rd visit, which falls on Monday, I finally saw the uncle cooking the noodle. The noodle price starts from $4/$5/$6 (for small, medium and large).

Mee Pok ($6, non-spicy). On our second visit, I decided to combine my breakfast and lunch, so I ordered the large portion. The portion is huge and I have trouble finishing my order. The noodle is cooked to al-dente and for non-chilli, the balance between ketchup, vinegar and mushroom sauce is perfect. Surprisingly, you can find beansprouts hidden between the noodles.

Mee Pok $6

One thing obvious between the $5 and $6 version, is the portion of the toppings which include mushroom, liver, lean pork meat, minced meat and also the slices of abalone. The liver thinly sliced, resulting in a crunchy texture instead of the usual soft and creamy. Each dry version of the noodle come with a bowl of soup, that is robust and filled with the essence of Oink Oink.

The Noodle

Abalone

Mee Kia ($5, spicy). LD prefer Mee Kia compare to Mee Pok. According to her, the noodle is cooked to al-dente, while the chilli is fragrant with a medium level of spiciness to it. The toppings are less than mine, but it is more than enough for the amount of noodle served $5 portion.

Mee Kia $5

Check out the Chilli

Mee Kia Soup ($5). I finally got to try their soup version. For the soup version, the noodle and ingredients are covered with the robust broth. The noodle is springy and absorbs the broth nicely. It has the same topping as the dry version, with the addition of “Tong Cai“ and seaweed. I feel that the soup version is very good, almost like eating our Singapore version of ramen. Yum Yum.

Mee Kia Soup $5

Mee Kia in Soup

Since Lai Heng has been operating for 34 years, they sure have their own fans. Waiting time up to 30 minutes is normal, but so far, we waited around 10 to 15 minutes on average. Once you placed your order, you will be given a queue number and you just have to wait at your table until your number is called.

While Waiting for Our Noodle 

Chilli and PORK LARD is self-service!!

Unlimited Pork Lard

Overall, a must visit place for Bak Chor Mee lovers and it is in my top 3 Bak Chor Mee place in Singapore. Cheers!!

Food: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 7/10 (Self Service)

Ambiance: Clean and Tidy Coffee Shop

Budget per Person: $0 - $10.

  

Lai Heng Mushroom Minced Meat Mee

Blk 73 Toa Payoh Lorong 4

#01-611

Singapore 310073

T: +65 9620 2074

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

IG: @Laihengmmmm

OH:

Thu – Tue: 08.00 – 16.00

Closed on Wednesday.

Benson Salted Duck – Delicious Salted Duck

Salted Duck

Every time we travel to Taipei for work or holiday, without fail LD and I will treat ourselves to a salted goose meal. However, as the AVA still banned the goose in Singapore, salted duck is the next best alternative.

There are only a few stalls in Singapore that sell salted duck, you can probably count it with the fingers in one hand. Benson Salted Duck is always one of the names that come up when you google salted duck in Singapore. Even Singapore “Makan Guru”, KF Seetoh hold this stall in high regards.

The Stall

As it was only two of us dining, we decided to order a 3-person portion for the duck, 2 rice, innards and fish maw soup. Total damage $19.

The duck itself roughly chopped and partly deboned to easy eating. At the first bite, the duck is on the saltier side, especially on the skin. The skin is thick, fatty and springy. Although the meat is dense, it remains succulent as the fats from the skin rendered into the meat.

The Duck

The secret to eating the duck is to squeeze the lime on it. The fusion between the lime juice and the salted created the superb umami flavour and remove the saltiness from the duck. It just transforms the flavour of this dish to another level. The duck is also served with salted vegetables, to balance the dish.

The Chilli

The rice served at Benson is butter rice. It is fragrant and tasty, can easily be mistaken as chicken rice. The rice is al-dente and can easily be eaten on its own without other dishes.

The Rice

For the duck liver is dense yet creamy. It is not as moist your goose liver (foie gras), more like in between goose and chicken liver. The giblets are crunchy, but it is braised in dark soy sauce instead of blanched in salt like the goose version in Taiwan. Not sure what is the reason for this, but I was expecting the giblets in the salted version.

Salted Duck Liver, Braised Duck Giblets, Tofu

The fish maw pig organ soup ($5) is actually a hidden gem that you must try here. They are very generous with their ingredients, especially their fish maw and pig’s liver. The liver is cooked perfectly, making it creamy with a bit of crunch to it. The pork ball is springy and packs of flavour as well.  The clear, pork and duck infused robust broth is just awesome. Yum Yum.

Fish Maw Pig Organ Soup

Fish Maw Pig Organ Soup

Service is efficient. Order at the stall and they will deliver your order to your table. Price is reasonable as well.

Overall, Salted Duck is almost like a rare commodity in Singapore. It is unique, delicious and difficult to find. Benson Salted Duck is definitely a must visit stall. Cheers!!

Food: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 7/10

Ambiance: N/A (Coffeeshop)

Budget per Person: $0 - $10.

Benson Salted Duck

Blk 168 Toa Payoh Lorong 1

#01-1040

Singapore 310168

T: +65 9781 4042

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

OH:

Fri – Wed: 10.00 – 15.00

Closed on Thursday

[Closed] Tim Ho Wan @ Toa Payoh – Hot off the Oven

Tim Ho Wan (THW) officially opened in the heartland. After much fanfare opening of its first overseas outpost in Plaza Singapura, THW has made inroad to the heartland. The residents of Toa Payoh now can rejoice and licking their chops in anticipation to savour the popular Baked Char Siew Bao.

After reading about their soft opening from RubishEatRubishGrow on my blogger buzz, Little Devil and I decided to try our luck on Friday (23/08) pre-empting that the queue won't be so long. So far, we have not tried the Plaza Singapura outlet yet, as we don't want to queue and we don't work near town area. Lucky for us, we can now claim that “We don't need to line up at Tim Ho Wan”. Understanding that it is currently on soft launch mode, we kept our expectations in check.

The décor of the restaurant is very simple, light wooden colour and Zen like. The decoration is similar to the THW at IFC Mall in Hong Kong and Plaza Singapore(which I saw when I passed by). For review of Hong Kong Tim Ho Wan @ IFC Mall, click here. Small table size and limited personal space is something to remind you of Hong Kong, but be glad you are given a slightly bigger personal space here. This place can sit maximum about 100 customers.

First out from the kitchen within 10 minutes of placing our order are Vermicelli Roll with Pig's Liver ($5.50) and Vermicelli Roll with Sweet and Sesame Sauce ($4.20). The Vermicelli Roll on the Pig's liver filling is slightly thinner than I remember. It is smooth in texture and the pig's liver is cleaned properly, no foul smell, silky, juicy and tender. For sweet and sesame sauce, it has the right thickness, smooth and goes well the with sauce, tasted like one of Littledevil's favourite street food in Hong Kong.

Vermicelli Roll with Pig's Liver 

Vermicelli Roll with Sweet and Sesame Sauce 

For traditional Dim Sum, Prawn Dumplings / Har Gao ($5.50) and Pork Dumpling with Shrimp / Siew Mai ($5). Har Gao here is fresh and juicy with a sticky, soft and resilient skin. What we find interesting about the siew mai is it tasted better after you let it rest a while. Slightly chewy and flavourful with a wolfberry uniquely placed on top to add sweetness to the siew mai.

Prawn Dumplings / Har Gao

Pork Dumpling with Shrimp / Siew Mai 

Beef Ball with beancurd skin ($4.20). This dish left a lasting impression during our visit in Hong Kong. They add a little tangerine skin into the ball to create a distinguish taste. When the first order came, the beef ball is over steamed until the beancurd become dry and the supposed unusual flavour of the tangerine aroma did not come out as expected. We ask the a couple of service staffs, if it suppose to be like this. Finally the Executive Chef came out to check with us, graciously accept our feedback and insisted to make us a new batch. This is what I call service. Kudos to them. The result of the second batch is nice tender juicy beef balls with its distinct tangerine skin twist.

Beef Ball with beancurd skin

Finally come the time for reckoning the Baked Bun with BBQ Pork ($4.50). It's thin crispy crust with the texture of a 'Bo Luo Bao', is simply amazing and melts in your mouth. The filling has a familiar sweet juicy char siew flavour chopped pork. Yummyyy, I can say this is as good as the one in HK. If you have to wait in line, this is something that you can look forward too.

Baked Bun with BBQ Pork 

Steam Chicken Feet with Abalone Sauce ($5). It has a nice rich flavour from the abalone sauce, unfortunately the chicken feet is slightly mushy instead of springy and crunchy comparing to the ones that we tasted in Hong Kong. Hopefully they can do something to get back its crunchiness. The presentation with parsley and cut chilli, show that they are trying to twist Singaporenise in their dish.

Steam Chicken Feet with Abalone Sauce 

For desserts, we have Mango Pomelo Sago ($5) and Tonic Medlar & Osmanthus Cake ($3.50). The mango sago is thick, flavourful with a nice combination of sweet and sour. The pomelo taste is somewhat missing. Osmanthus cake is like a jelly, with visible Osmanthus flowers and wolfberries in the jelly. It is very flavourful and it is not as sweet as we thought it is going to be.

Mango Pomelo Sago 

Tonic Medlar & Osmanthus Cake

Service is very good. Their service staff is very friendly including the trainee. According to the service staff, they are going to open take away counter on the 1^st floor in the near future. At the moment, they only entertain dine in. If you want to take away after you dine in, you can order but you need to pack yourself due to the company policy. Styrofoam box and plastic bag will be provided FOC.

Overall, we like what we saw. Although all the food is not one hundred percent of the Hong Kong standard, it is close enough, especially on the Baked Bun with BBQ Pork. I hope the line will not be as long as the one in Plaza Singapura in the future. All I can say is that from the soft launch, it can only gets better. Cheers!!

Food & Drink: 8/10 (Baked Bun with BBQ Pork, 9/10)

Value: 7.5/10

Service: 8/10

Ambiance: 6.5/10

Tim Ho Wan @ Toa Payoh
450 Toa Payoh Lor 6
#02-02, ERA Centre
(opposite building of the bus terminal)
Singapore 319394


Tel: 6483 2000

Op Hours: 12.00 – 20.00
No Reservations, Everybody must queue.
The menu, see below.

The Menu :)

Swatow Seafood Restaurant – Good Traditional Teochew Dinner

As my mom-in-law is a Teochew, we have decided to go to Swatow for her birthday.