Le Chasseur – Good Zhi Char

Le Chasseur is not a French restaurant or bistro, instead, it is a Zhi Char place. It has been on my food radar for a while, but I have not got a chance to give it a try until the turn of this year with two makan kakis

Le Chasseur

Located in Eunos industrial area, Le Chasseur occupied the whole canteen on block 27. One-third of the seating area is allocated specifically for Le Chasseur customers, while the rest are open to other hawker stalls.

For those who have never been to Le Chasseur, you need to go to the counter to get the order sheet / menu, fill it up and pass it to the counter or the service staff. It was my first time here, so actually went to the counter as no one approached me. You only pay your bill after you finish eating. For drinks, you need to order and pay at the drink stall.

Order Sheet - Jan 2022

Claypot Chicken Rice ($13, small). When the service staff brought this dish to the table, he also helps us do the mixing. He was gentle on the sweet sauce, therefore not all the rice turned brown and become overly sweet. It has a nice smoky aroma, accompanied by succulent chicken meat. The rice is a little over al-dente and you taste the salted fish in between scoops of the rice. Though it is nice, I find it is lacking the OMPH factor. At first, I thought the portion is small, however, it can easily feed 2 to 3 pax.

Claypot Chicken Rice

Ngor Hiang ($5). Crispy exterior, followed by juicy and succulent fillings with intermittent crunchy texture from the chestnut bits. It is very tasty and delicious; we ordered another plate so everyone got enough.

Ngor Hiang

Barbequed Cuttlefish ($4 / 100 gram). The presentation looks very photogenic; however, the texture did not meet the expectation. It is hard and chewy. I will give this dish a miss.

Barbequed Cuttlefish 

Bitter Gourd with Beef ($10). This dish has a nice Wok Hei, while the beef is tender and juicy. The bitter gourd is sliced in a way that only gets the flesh part, nowhere near the seeds. Not bitter at all.

Bitter Gourd with Beef 

Crispy Pork Knuckle ($30, medium). Crispy and crunchy crackling skin, followed by the rich gelatinous fats under the skin and succulent flesh. While most fried pork knuckles have a burnt part, the version here is just perfect. It looks great and delivers an awesome taste. It is served with a vinegar dipping sauce to cuts through the fats from the pork. A must-order dish here.

Crispy Pork Knuckle - Front 

Crispy Pork Knuckle - Back 

Emperor Sprout with Egg ($8). This mini kai lan look-alike vegetable is not my favourite vegetable because of the slimy texture in each bite. However, Le Chasseur stir-fried this vegetable with egg and manage to cover the sliminess in the vegetables. Turning it into a pleasant dish for me.

Emperor Sprout with Egg 

Preserved Radish Omelette ($6). When this dis dish arrived, we realised that we had most probably over-ordered, but you can’t go wrong with eggs. Fragrant, fluffy with generous cai poh bits. Yum

Preserved Radish Omelette 

Overall, with a catchy name like Le Chasseur, this zhi char place surely get your attention. The Crispy Pork Knuckle, Claypot Rice, Ngor Hiang and Bitter Gourd dishes are must-order dishes. Most of them are nice and comforting and I will be back to try the rest. Cheers!!

Food & Drink: 7.5/10

Value: 8.5/10

Service: 6/10

Ambiance: N/A - Coffeeshop

Budget per Person: $11 - $25

Le Chasseur

27 Eunos Road 2

#01-101

Singapore 409387

T: +65 6337 7677

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

OH: Daily 11.30 – 15.00; 17.30 – 21.30

PUTIEN at Kitchener Road – Award Winning Fujian Cuisine [MEDIA INVITE]

Deep Fried Pork Trotters with Salt and Pepper

PUTIEN is a Singapore restaurant with its roots traced back to the city of Putian, a coastal suburb in Fujian, CHINA. Currently, one of the most well-known Fujian restaurants in ASIA, it currently has more than 53 outlets and growing.

In Singapore, the jewel of the restaurant is the outlet at Kitchener Road. It has won numerous prestigious awards, including Michelin One-Star Restaurant in 2016, 2017 and 2018.  Personally, I have visited other branch of PUTIEN, however, this is the first time I ever tried the food in Kitchener Road.

PUTIEN Lor Mee ($9.80 for Small, $19.50 for Medium and $28.80 for Large). A must order dish when you dine in PUTIEN. The noodle is cooked in a rich milky stock, together with the fresh clams. You will also find dried shrimp (Hae Bee) and small scallops that gave the broth its umami flavour.

PUTIEN Lor Mee (Individual Serving)

Fried Heng Hwa Bee Hoon ($9.80) is a very popular dish for a Heng Hwa restaurant in Singapore. The bee hoon is smooth with a touch of springiness, bursting with flavours from the broth it is cooked with. Simple looking, yet delicious.

Fried Heng Hwa Bee Hoon (Individual Serving)

PUTIEN Bian Rou Soup ($4.80 per pax). The first time I tried this soup. Looks like a mini wanton, however, the wrapper is made of pork meat. It is good, but pork flavour in the skin is very delicate not recognisable at first. After a few bites, you will notice the uniqueness of the wrapper.

PUTIEN Bian Rou Soup 

Seaweed with Mini Shrimps Dressed with Sauce ($7.90) and Stir-fried Yam ($13.90). The seaweed is an appetizing starter, as the chilled seaweed is tossed mini shrimps and vinegar dressing. While the stir-fried yum, is a fusion between sweet and savoury with crispy and crunchy.

Seaweed with Mini Shrimps Dressed with Sauce 

Stir-fried Yam

‘100-Second’ Stewed Yellow Croaker ($13.80). The yellow croaker fish, butterfly, and steamed in a claypot for 100 seconds. The result is  a perfectly cooked fish with tender and almost boneless flesh. The broth can be drink as a soup as well, without worrying about the fishy aroma. Yum Yum.

‘100-Second’ Stewed Yellow Croaker

Deep Fried Pork Trotters with Salt and Pepper ($6.50 per piece, min order 2 pcs). This dish only uses the front hind trotters. The skin is crispy, while there is not much meat on the hind, you will be sinking your teeth into the tendon and collagen.

Deep Fried Pork Trotters with Salt and Pepper

PUTIEN Sweet & Sour Pork with Lychees ($13.90 for Small, $20.90 for Medium). Tender and succulent sweet and sour pork. The sweetness added a different type of sweetness to this dish.

PUTIEN Sweet & Sour Pork with Lychees

Spinach in Supreme Stock ($13.90 for Small, $20.90 for Medium). Spinach cooked in the egg infused broth with salted egg and century egg. While this is a common dish in most of the restaurant, I have to admit the blend of the egg in the broth gave this dish in PUTIEN a slight edge. A flavour bomb vegetable dish indeed.

Spinach in Supreme Stock

Overall, dining at PUTIEN Kitchener Road is definitely different from other PUTIEN outlet. I visited the outlet at Parkway Parade a few times, however, it seems the dishes at the Kitchener branch is another level higher. Not only the food is delicious, but the price is pocket-friendly as well. If you like PUTIEN, give this branch a try.

Food: 7.75/10

Value: 9/10

Service: N/A (Tasting Invitation)

Ambiance: 7.75/10

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

Madam Leng Mooncakes at PUTIEN

During the Mid-Autumn Celebration, PUTIEN sale Madam Leng Mooncakes. Founded by Madam Leng Ah Eng, the longest-serving stalwart in PUTIEN, she has been making her Teochew style mooncakes for almost two decades. It comes in two flavours: Yam and Purple Sweet Potato (with/without single salted egg yolk). The fillings are made using Thailand’s Premium Taro and Japan’s First Grade Purple Sweet Potato respectively.

Madam Leng Mooncakes at PUTIEN

These mooncakes are in demand during the Mid-Autumn Celebration and this year, it sold out one week before the actual day of Mid-Autumn Festival. As no preservative is used in the mooncakes, it is best consumed within 3 days of purchase. So, keep this in mind and try out Madam Leng Ah Leng mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Celebration 2019.

 

Madam Leng Mooncakes

Purple Sweet Potato (with single salted egg yolk)

PUTIEN

127 Kitchener Road

Singapore 208514

T: +65 6295 6358

W: http://www.putien.com/

F: https://www.facebook.com/PUTIEN.RESTAURANT/

IG: @putien_sg

OH: Daily, 11.30 – 15.00 (LO 14.30), 17.30 – 22.00 (LO 21.30)

New Ubin Seafood – A Truly Singaporean Culinary Experience

 Fine de Clair Orh Luak

New Ubin Seafood is a casual, laid back and family friendly restaurant serving Singaporean Cuisine. The origin of New Ubin Seafood can be traced back to Pulau Ubin itself. After the government acquisition of Pulau Ubin, New Ubin Seafood move through different locations and finally settled down in the rustic setting of Sin Ming Road.

New Ubin Seafood - Great Wall of Ubin

We were introduced to New Ubin Seafood by our church friends Daniel and Michelle a few years back, and totally got hooked on the heart attack fried rice (fried rice cooked with beef drippings and fats) that was served with their US Black Angus Ribeye Steak. We got a bit overdose by it and only recently returned after hearing that they are going to move to the West. Yes, they are uprooting to the Hillview Ave and their last day of operation in Sing Ming is 06 November 2016. So we decided to have one last visit before it makes its' journey to the West.

Through the years, the cuisine of New Ubin Seafood has evolved. To make it simple, they basically served delicious cuisine that you can find in Singapore, no hold bars. Acknowledged by Michelin Guide Singapore under their Bib Gourmand category or known as Inspector's favourite for good value, they must be doing something right.

Part of the Dining Area - Air conditioned

A must order of course is their US Black Angus Ribeye Steak ($13 for 100 grams). Grilled to medium rare, it is served with the heart attack fried rice. The steak sliced to bite size, to make it easy for diners to use their chopstick to pick up their food. It has a good charred to seal in the juice in the beef, succulent and beautifully cooked to medium rare. Though it is ribeye cut, the steak itself is very lean. I personally just ate the steak with sea salt and caramelised onion, the dijon mustard that are also served at the side somehow seems to decimate the flavour of the beef.

US Black Angus Ribeye Steak

The crispy potato wedges is well-seasoned with cayenne. Fried rice is good especially with the combination of their wok hei and beef fats. However it does not feel the same compare to the last time. I guess, the wow factor was lost on me.

Heart Attack Fried Rice

Beast & Butterflies - Retro Ambiance With Asian Inspired Menu [MEDIA INVITE]

Beast & Butterflies (BnB) is the main dining destination for latest Boutique Hotel in the Millenium Group Singapore stable. Designed by one of the world's most prolific designer, Philippe Starck, you can expect BnB to be imaginative, colourful, retro and playful at the same time. Moulding together the retro theme with modern technology, BnB is definitely edgy with its own unique style.

Part of the Dining Area - Philippe Starck Design

Part of the Dining Area

Part of the Dining Area

Once you enter BnB, you can see the centre tables are filled with lava lamp, creating the distinct red flow that filled the dining area. There are about 40 Android tablets on the wall showing contemporary art, where can actually use it to take photos and send it to yourself. Android users like LD and I were able to take advantage of charging cables to charge our phones. Sorry Apple users, this is Android territory. Pool table and interactive bar counter added to the chill factor of this establishment.

Part of the Dining Area

The Pool Table

Cafebiz @ Hotel Jen Singapore – Super Brunch [RENAMED to J65]

As part of the celebration of Rebranding Traders Hotel Singapore to Hotel Jen Singapore (Click here for the news), Little Devil and I got invited for Super Brunch by Hotel Jen Singapore.

Brotzeit – Authentic Bavarian Cuisine

Brotzeit Katong is the 5^th outlet of Brotzeit in Singapore. Brotzeit is a leading German franchised concept casual dining restaurant offering Bavarian Cuisines and popular German Beer originated from Singapore (Yup, Singapore!!!). Currently, they can be found in Singapore (6 Outlets), Malaysia (2), China (3), Hong Kong (1), Phillipines (1), Vietnam (1), and Thailand (1); and on the way to grow their presence in China, Indonesia and Australia.

[CLOSED] Xiang Man Lou (香满楼): Authentic Shanghainese Cuisine

Xiang Man Lou ('XML') is a tiny Shanghainese Restaurant located at Temple street squeeze between the Temple Inn and a slimming studio. You can be sure that you probably passed this restaurant a few times without taking notice of it. I certainly missed it when I try to locate it, not to mention the non-English or non Hanyu pinyi signboard. Yup, if you have not figured it out until today, now you know Chubby Botak Koala can't read Chinese :)

2013 B'day Episode 2 – Paulaner Brauhaus – Belated Octoberfest

Episode 2 of Chubby Botak Koala 2013 birthday celebrations, took us to Paulaner Brauhaus for lunch. This time around with family members. Enticed by their lunch menu, we decided to visit the first / oldest microbrewery in Singapore. This is actually my second visit here, the first was way back in 2004.

Teochew Traditional Steamboat Restaurant - Freshest and High Quality Homemade Steamboat

When it come to a Teochew restaurant, you can be assure of the freshness and the quality of the food. Thanks to HGW for the invitation for the food tasting. As I have been here before, I combine this review with the experience of my other visit previously.

Teochew Traditional Steamboat Restaurant (TTSR) is located in the red light district / food paradise near Marine Parade, yup the famous Joo Chiat road. There are so many food establishment popping up here, the town council has stop issuing permit for a restaurant/cafe except for replacement only. To be exact TTSR located opposite the car park of Kuan Inn Tng Temple in Joo Chiat Road.

From the outside, you can see inside the restaurant through their glass doors and windows. The decoration is simple, clean and the restaurant is well lit. On the side of the wall, you can see the picture of ingredients of their steamboat. Before we proceed to the food, lets get this clear. This is a ala carte steamboat restaurant, not buffet.

For starter, you only have one type of soup base which is TTSR special soup base. For the freshest ingredients, you can try their fish maw, glass prawn and silver promfret. The fish maw is imported from Indonesia according to the owner. It is the square type that came from a bigger type of fish. The glass prawns and promfret taste so fresh without any trace of fishiness at all.

Fish Maw

Silver Promfret

Glass Prawn

For the homemade ingredients we tried: meat balls, fish balls, prawn wantons, squid balls, fish kuey tiao, Japanese crab sticks & spinach fish noodle. The fish balls has smooth and springy texture. To sum up the taste of the rest is they are fresh and full of flavour. There are two choice of chilli, their homemade chilli sauce or their chopped chilli with soya sauce and fried garlic. As I do not like chilli, according to the other food reviewer their chilli sauce really got kick.

Meat Balls, Squid Balls, Fish Kuey Tiao, and Spinach Fish Noodle

Prawn Dumpling

For the carnivore inside us, you can choose from USDA prime beef, pork belly and chicken. The beef and pork belly are top notch. Check out the marbling in the beef and the pork belly just melt in your mouth after a quick dip in hot pot.

USDA prime beef & pork belly

Aside from the steamboat, don't miss out on their TTSR famous dishes. The one that I always have for every visit is their deep fried pork knuckle. The skin is crispy and the meat is lean, juicy and tender. Yummyyyy. This time around I manage to try their Teochew style sea cucumber and deep fried prawn with garlic. The sea cucumber has the springgy texture and succulent. The gravy is light and allow the taste of the sea cucumber to speak for itself. The prawn is fresh and goes well with the garlic flavour.

deep fried pork knuckle

Deep Fried Garlic Prawn

Teochew style sea cucumber

To close the meal in the Teochew restaurant, you must definitely have their Yam Paste with Ginko Nut (Oni). The yam paste is smooth and the sweetness level is just nice.

Yam Paste with Ginko Nut (Oni)

The service here is fast and efficient. The price of the food also cover customer from different budget.

Overall, if you are near the area and looking for a nice, light, fresh and high quality steamboat and cooked food, this is definitely a place to try. If you don't feel like the steamboat, just order their cooked food. Being back to this place for a few times, it says about the quality of the food here. Yum Yum !!!

Food & Drink: 8/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 6/10

Ambiance: 6/10

Teochew Traditional Steamboat Restaurant

176 Joo Chiat Road. #01-01

Ph: 6348 8924

Op Hours: Daily 12.00 – 14.30; 17.00 – 23.00