Uncle Leong Seafood (龍海鲜螃蟹王) @ Punggol Promenade

In celebration for this year father's day, my family happily arrived at Ang Mo Kio Block 233 for a much anticipated seafood dinner at Uncle Leong only to find it permanently closed!

:(

As fate has its way, the day before my elder sister gave birth to chubby-cheeks Baby Jovyn, her craving for crabs acted up once again for what seemed like the umpteenth times for this second pregnancy!

Since her birthday is going to be in the midst of her confinement period (when anything that contains seafood is a big no no), the pig sister and I decided to celebrate it in advance by paying Uncle Leong Seafood a visit at its new location - Punggol Promenade.

Reaching early at 5pm, the whole place was only half-filled and we obviously chose the internal air-conditioned section to beat the warm weather.

BLOOODY wrong move!!!

The setting sun has set its fierce glare upon this very area and the outdoor section was in fact comparatively cooler due to the breeze. In fengshui, isn't this is a fail layout??

The preggy was fortunately in a good mood (who wouldn't be considering that the heavy burden in the stomach is coming out the next day) and here's what we had!

Deep Fried Baby Squid (炸苏东仔)

Crunchy with a sweet, caramelised taste that complemented well with the chopped up chilli padi, i would not have ordered this personally given their usual diminutive size that doesn't commensurate with the price tag.

Guinness Ribs (黑啤排骨)

Fattening aside, these were meatier than the ones a year ago although there seemed to be something still missing from the memorable ribs i had a few years ago.

Mini Wok Bean Curd (锅仔豆腐)

This went very well with plain rice - a perfect amalgamation of water, tomato sauce and chilli sauce made up the thick soup that was so uniquely differently from the many mini wok beancurds i had before!

I would gladly mix this with two bowls of plain rice just to prove my point but i tried not to take in too much carbohydrate for dinner. Must try to slim down!

Mee Goreng (马来面)

Super hot and incredibly spicy!!!!

Damn!! If you have read my post on Muthu's Curry, you should have deduced that i am no big fan when it comes to the two aforementioned sensations!

Chilli Crab (辣椒螃蟹)

The appearance of a generous amount of eggs in the chilli gravy is always comforting when it comes to chilli crabs. Another excellent condiment to go with plain white rice!

At S$45 a kilogram, this was comparable to my mom's version (which i have shamelessly declared to be the best in Singapore) and definitely at a higher taste level than the one at House of Seafood @ 180.

The above was concluded despite the truthful announcement by the waitress that the crabs were not in tip top condition. Guess no one is free enough to give the crabs extra massages and spa treatments.

Salted Egg Crab (咸蛋螃蟹)

Having heard this so many times, i am embarrassed that before this visit to Uncle Leong, the glutton in me had never tried this before!

Salted egg is one type of egg i don't crave for as it gives the impression that only old people eat them and they are all disgusting salty. Therefore, i was caught with utter surprise when i took the crab claw and gave it a gentle lick.

Impressive! A savoury lick filled with great seafood flavour that grew stronger as it worked its way down the thousands of taste buds on my tongue.

The crustacean shell caked with solidified salted egg mixtur
e can even be treated as a snack if it had a softer texture! Damn, i almost broke a few molars in my attempts to bite through it.

It was such a waste to see that there's nothing i can do to clean up those unappealing diarrhea-like paste on the shell...

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Location

6, Tebing Lane,

#01-03, Punggol East

(Punggol Promenade)

Price

Deep Fried Baby Octopuses - S$15

Guinness Ribs - S$12

Mini Work Bean Curd - S$10

Mee Goreng - S$6

Chilli Crab - S$67.50

Salted Egg Crab S$45

Subject to GST

Additional Information

For reservation, please call 6441-1848.

Be there early as there was a long queue when we left the restaurant at around 7pm.

Should you feel super duper full after a meal at Uncle Leong, i believe a walk along the promenade besides Uncle Leong Seafood shall be helpful for your digestion.

My first post on Uncle Leong Seafood can be found HERE

Plan A - To Take Back My Bedroom!

My bedroom has performed so many uses for the family that it might caught you by surprise that it has not served its very purpose as my bedroom for the past eight years!

Initially, i was forced to evict from this private abode after developing a nasal allergy from having five chinchillas in the room. After the last one passed on, it became a study room, a game room, a mahjong room and subsequently a store room!

No doubt it is currently in a BIG MESS!! The following pictures shall serve as credible evidence for every one of you.

Enough is enough - War has been officially declared to reclaim this territory that is rightfully mine!

Kindly wait (patiently) for the renovated look in the next few weeks!

Kallang Western Barbeque (Chicken Chop) @ Bedok Hawker Centre

I am all for traditional tastes when it comes to food i immensely enjoyed as a little boy.

Coming from a typical Chinese family with elderly members who don't speak a word of English (even Mandarin can be a challenge); my first foray into the Western cuisine (西餐) was no doubt memorable.

Back then, chicken chop was "in" and that's my favourite Western dish until steak overtook it. I still remember my first piece of succulent red meat - from the now-defunct Ponderosa in Marina Square.

Let's not digress too much from the subject title!

After many years of trying various chicken chops sold at hawker centres or coffee shops in Singapore, i have concluded that only two stalls are worthy of my patronage.

One of them is Kallang Western Barbeque located at Bedok Hawker Centre (otherwise also known as Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre).

With a facade that remains relatively unchanged for the past twenty years, it's sad to say that i have faithfully stuck to my order of old-school Chicken Chop and persistently ignored the other items on the menu.

This is the original and classical display of chicken chop in Singapore - two slices of cucumber, a spoonful of baked beans, crinkle fries and of course, the delicious piece of grilled chicken thigh!

No fanciful mushroom or black pepper gravy that totally spoils the taste of any good meat.

Nonetheless, it would be horrifying not to have any type of marination or seasoning and the honey based marination is precisely the reason for me to continually patronise this stall (or the other) to fix my chicken chop craving.

The meat glistened with oily moisture yet it maintained a smooth tenderness that would not result in an intake of astronomically high level of LDL cholesterol.

Nothing's perfect (unfortunately) because the slightly charred skin, with intentionally burnt sides, is as important as the meat! The delicious goodness is at its maximum level only when you have them together.

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Location

Block 207, New Upper Changi Road,

#01-30, New Upper Changi Road Block 207 Food Centre

(next to Bedok Bus Interchange and near to Bedok MRT Station)

Price

Chicken Chop - S$5 nett

Additional Information

The lady boss approached me after noticing that i was taking loads of pictures. For a moment, i thought she will rudely tell me that photography is disallowed!

Thankfully, she actually recommended that we should seriously consider trying her chicken cutlet and pork chop the next time we are at Bedok!

Jovyn - A New Addition to The Family!

A week ago, while relaxing in the Indonesian island of Batam, i received a phone message tagged with a picture from my elder sister - the bloody arrival of my first niece!

Baby Jovyn.

Mom is overjoyed since she has always loved babies and had worked as a nanny for some years. Frankly, she was so dedicated that she spent more than what she earned, on the kids!

Jovyn is an adorable little thing, isn't she? Unlike most babies, she didn't have that wrinkly look that makes it difficult to separate one baby from the other.

Seeing the two plump cheeks, mum and i cannot resist the cruel temptation of leaving them untouched! C'mon, who can forget crayon shinchan and his balloon size cheeks!

Obviously, we were trying to check if this little gal is as promising as that lecherous kid from Japan.

She didn't see the funny side of things though and started bawling after that. Well, we were not too worried about this failed attempt; there is ample time for us to analyse and maybe realise her potential.

Wahahhahahahaha.

Swiss Grill (Portabello Burger & Grilled Meatballs with Duo Cheese) @ Coronation Plaza (Bukit Timah Road)

Brought to you by the same group of people that gives us Swiss Butchery, this bistro is not very noticeable even though it is tucked in an 'ancient' shopping mall along the traffic-busy Bukit Timah Road.

However, 29 reviewers on HungryGoWhere gave it a high recommended rating of 9.0! That again proves the point that wherever good food exists, location is usually not a problem.

Having said that, everyone is different and the only way to know whether the food is good or not is to try it personally.

Mushroom Soup

This was good - as good as what you can get from a usual can of campbell soup with more mushrooms thrown in.

Don't get me wrong, i love campbell's mushroom soup and it's true that some restaurants could not even match that taste but at S$7.90 a bowl, this is not something i will order again in the future.

Roasted Tomato Soup

On its own, the initial few mouthfuls were not that big a difference from the savoury tomato base i am accustomed to have on my pasta; except that it was more watery.

Unfortunately, without the pasta to dilute the sauce, you get an increasingly overbearing sensation with each additional spoonful.

Grilled Meatballs with Duo Cheese

This was delicious!! It's like a combo of cheesy lasagna with grilled meatballs, pieces of bacon and mushrooms thrown in for that additional kick.

The only complaint i had was the insufficient meat-tomato sauce. It's too good and was like a perfect companion to the complementary bread.

I would have loved to show you more pictures but the night was drawing near and lighting conditions were not favourable (if you must, you may also blame it on the quality of my camera).

Swiss Portabello Burger

With premium ingredients like grilled chuck beef, bacon cheddar cheese and creamed portabello mushroom, i thought i have found a fierce competitor to counter de burg decadence.

It was better than a normal burger and could have been even better if the burger bun is changed. I was a bit disappointed although i have to admit that separately, the juicy beef and creamy mushrooms were rated pretty high on my taste bar.

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Location

587, Bukit Timah Road,

#01-05 Coronation Shopping Plaza

Opening Hours

(for Swiss Grill)

Tue-Sun: 11.30am to 10pm

Closed on Monday

Price

Mushroom Soup - S$7.90

Roasted Tomato Soup - S$7.90

Grilled Meatballs with Duo Cheese - S$14.90

Swiss Portabello Burger - S$15.90

Full menu pricing is available at their website located at http://www.swiss-butchery.com.sg/. There is no Service Charge and apparently no GST although there is a sale tax in the receipt that works out to be about 6%.

Additional Information

Seating options are pretty limited and the Gang of Four had no choice but to choose the alfresco area after the friendly service staff had kindly informed us that the air-conditioned unit is not working.

Since the butchery is in the same shop, special dishes may be available and they shall be listed in this wooden board outside the shop. The incredibly good grilled meatballs with duo cheese is one such dish that is not listed on the normal menu.