Sin Cuisine (新一代) - Not Your Ordinary Roast in Happy Hawkers Coffee Shop @ 531 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 [Singapore]

I just had lunch at Cheng San hawker centre and was exploring the neighborhood when I strolled past the roasted delight stall at Happy Hawkers coffeeshop. The four faint English words caught my attention: "not your ordinary roast".

The roasted delights behind the glass display did look pretty ordinary though but the four-word sentence was a challenge that I couldn't step away from. Patting my bloated tummy; I ordered a dual mix rice at S$5.00.

It was a hard decision to make as I already had carbohydrates for lunch earlier and having rice again within an hour would have derailed my dieting plan! It turned out to be blessing in disguise though.

Most roasted delight stalls would have given plain and boring white rice. Not here at Sin Cuisine; it served chicken rice and it was delicious! Not overly oily yet surrounded with an intense chicken rice aroma. 

My dual mix rice consisted of char siew and roast pork. If you prefer a bigger variety, there was a triple mix rice which would include an additional portion of roast chicken.

The roast pork was not overly fatty and came with a thin layer of crispy crust. Only issue was that it was too salty for my liking. I really miss the epic roast pork from Restoran Sin Keong Kee; hopefully the border to Malaysia will be opened soon! 

Frankly, this kind of meaty texture for char siew would be a no-go as the iconic smoky char siew flavour would not likely be infused all the way in. The char siew here proved me wrong; not only were they juicy and tenderized but the taste of char siew oozed out with every bite! Indeed "not your ordinary roast".

Guilt forced me to abandon the chicken rice. :(

It's just too much carbohydrates that day. 

=====

Address

531 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, 

#01-2429, Happy Hawkers Coffeeshop,

Singapore 560531

Map

As above.

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/sinfulroastsg

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Dual Mix Rice - S$5.00

Old Tu Kee Smelly / Stinky Tofu (老涂记臭豆腐) @ Bugis Street [Singapore]

Many would have assumed Bugis Street refers to a road but it's also the name of a shopping district that used to be known as Bugis Village. 

To be honest, I didn't know what it was called but I do know I frequently cut past the crowded, narrow stretch in order to get to the other side, where Albert Centre Hawker Centre and the famous Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple are. 

A few weeks ago, I took the same route and this time, a signboard hanging from the ceiling caught my attention. There's smelly tofu right here in Bugis?! Strange that I didn't catch a whiff of it but it could be because of the mask. 

Whatever the case, I was alone and didn't have to consider my companion's dietary requirements, which would usually command a high chance that they would say no to stinky tofu. Die, die also must eat, even though I wasn't hungry!

Three types of stinky tofu; one with chilli powder, one with chilli sauce and another that's a combination of the two aforementioned. My choice; the one with chilli sauce. In terms of pricing, they were the same at 5 pieces for S$6.00 and 10 pieces for S$10. 

Freshly fried, you can't smell the stench until your nose is inches from the tofu and even then; it was still a bit too faint. But given its proximity to the crowded Bugis Street, a heightened stink would likely result in complaints and eventually, eviction.

Love the crunchy preserved cabbage as it was a wholesome balance of sweetness and saltiness; appetizing when you eat it together with the piping hot stinky tofu. 

Chilli didn't result in much differences; in fact, I think the chilli sauce would mask the flavour of stinky tofu and that's a no-no for true blue stinky tofu lovers. 

Let's stick with just plain, old stinky tofu. As you can see, it's silky soft inside with a thin, crispy crust. The pungency intensified when I put a piece into the mouth but strangely, the last two pieces weren't as smelly and were even a bit bland for my palate. Nevertheless, worth a try if you are in Bugis! 

=====

Address

4 New Bugis St, 

Singapore 188868

Map

As above.

Pricing

Stinky Tofu - S$6.00 for 5 pieces

No Horse Run Gelato @ Yishun Block 160 [Singapore] #nohorserunsg

I had lived along Yishun Street 11 for a good part of my life (three decades to be exact) and am most acquainted with the shophouses on the ground floor of blocks 156 and 160. However, it was social media who notified me of this relatively new gelato parlor at block 160; No Horse Run. 

My first thought; is this doubling up as a betting outlet for horse racing? My second thought when I was there on site; the signboard looked like it was a pharmacy although you can also argue it appeared similar to a road sign. 

It's a very small and narrow outfit with just about thirteen indoor and four outdoor seats. Can be quite a squeeze if you are in a big group. Interior design was somewhat retro (note the old school good morning rags) with supposedly funny and quirky posters.

Why did I say supposedly funny posters? I am not exactly an observant person and the first thing I asked was "where's the menu?" Well, the poster behind the ice cream counter (above) did ask me to turn behind but I didn't notice. The lady did tell me to look behind but it can be quite frustrating for the service staff as it would be so much easier to have an B5-sized menu at the counter. Obviously, I was embarrassed too, for not reading. 

Anyway, it's time to choose the flavors for my gelato! There were interesting ones like burnt white chocolate, kopi guyou, smoked milk with cocoa nibs, muah chee etc. I was most keen with lemongrass pandan and maybe mango yuzu sorbet for my mum but Alex insisted on having muah chee. He won the battle.

I had to get a serving of waffle too! They had options for buttermilk or pandan gula melaka; as a traditionalist, let me have the former first. p.s. also because it's cheaper.

Selection of sauce for your waffle; classic maple, childhood milo, jam and caramelized cookie. Alex wanted milo but this time, I overruled his decision! No prize for guessing what a traditionalist would want to drench over his waffle.

Tea selection - as my mom was joining, I would need to cater for hot tea. Compared to Moin Moin Gelato, also in Yishun and at a way more convenient location, I did notice similar selection but price wise, it's a dollar more expensive. 

Melona Manpuku by Roji Cha - at S$5.50, the tea was served in an old classic enamel mug; it was an anticlimax given that Moin Moin Gelato had the tea served in a pot with two accompanying glasses. Taste wise, it had an enchanting melon touch, which we enjoyed.

Freshly made waffle with two scoops of ice cream, on a chicken-design plate! From my understanding, the owners are in their 20s whereas such retro designs were more common in my era, in the 1980s.

Typically,  the waffle would just be placed on the plate, as a whole. Over here at No Horse Run, it was nicely cut up for ease of sharing but the pieces were purposely laid as above for the sake of Instagram.

Eating wise, however, this would still be the preferred format. Buttermilk Waffle - I tell you; the aroma was no joke, I had to swallow my saliva a few times when it was cooking on the griddle! Size wise, it was pretty thick.

Sadly, it didn't have that very much needed crisp and was in fact, too soft for my liking. It's a pity as flavor wise, I could say it's  good. Unlike most waffle sauces which would be drenched on the waffle, No Horse Run decided to put it in a saucer, which upped the satisfaction by a lot more as my mom and Alex were more than happy not to add on to the sweetness!  

Muah Chee Gelato - an interesting flavor doesn't correlate to a tasty one. This was the lesson Alex learnt yesterday as the muah chee tasted more like peanut butter with an uncooked rice flour aftertaste. I should have gone with my lemongrass pandan. 

Mango Yuzu Sorbet - this was refreshingly sour even though my mom found it a tad sweet. Personally, I love the combination of mango and yuzu; it's like a marriage made in heaven. But yes, the sugar level can be curbed a bit.

Mom and Alex were not impressed, especially with the pricing in an obscure HDB neighbourhood (and when you compared to Moin Moin Gelato) but I am willing to try out other flavours! Without the tea.

=====

Address 

160 Yishun Street 11, 

#01-216, Singapore 760160

Map

As above.

Operating Hours

2.00 pm to 2.00 am

(Closed on Mondays) 

Website

https://nohorserun.com.sg/

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Hot Tea - S$5.50

Buttermilk Waffle - S$5.50

Double Gelato (Premium) - S$9.80

(No Service Charge, No GST)

Additional Information

Even though I was not showing signs of a high tide, the poster showing the directions for the washroom enticed me to take a second look. Did they decorate the toilet, like Tiramisu Hero? I die die had to check it out.

Oh........................

Mid-Autumn Festival 2021 Street Light Up @ Chinatown [Singapore]

The mid-autumn festival took place a few days ago on 21 September 2021 and the following set of photographs were actually taken on 09 September; I know, I am super delayed but work has been busy recently and my weekends had been occupied with activities! 

Well, late is better than never and let's go back to the very start of the photo-taking session, when we exited Chinatown MRT station, to the pedestrian street known as Pagoda Street.

Given the pandemic, activities were severely curtailed and you don't really feel the atmosphere of the mid-autumn festival. There were shops selling lanterns but even then, business didn't look promising when there was already a dearth of customers. 

As it was still daytime, and I came straightaway after work, I decided to go for dinner with my dad first. No prize for guessing what's our dinner; it's definitely Kazan Japanese Cuisine at Chinatown Complex food centre! 

The lights were already switched off but with the daylight, it's quite hard to take good pictures. But without a tripod, and a lack of deep understanding on using my camera, it's a definite that I would have a hard time taking photographs at night! You shall see later.

Another standalone store offering lanterns and also mooncakes. Nowadays, it's quite easy to secure mooncakes as every bakery would concentrate on making mooncakes for sale during this period. And without travelling being an option, I understand that local sales for mooncake have skyrocketed these two years. 

Lanterns again; sadly, I am no longer of the age where I get excited over lanterns, especially the kind lighted by candles. Maybe the pandemic has changed everything. Even on the actual day of the mid-autumn festival, I didn't see that many children carrying a lantern around the neighbourhood. 

Perfect timing after dinner as the sky had darkened, showing us the beautiful illumination from festive lightings. These lights weren't put up because of the festival though as you would have seen the same setup during lunar new year.

Street light up along South Bridge Road; given my amateur photo skills, I am not sure which manual setting I had adjusted that overexposed the hanging lights across the road. 

Slightly better; at the very least, I can roughly make out the design. They were, in essence, mooncakes of different designs. But if you bake mooncakes, as I did, you would know the amount of molds out there is staggering!

The iconic People's Park Complex; if this building was ever demolished, it would be a landscape changer for the entire Chinatown area. Oh well, we could have said the same for the Pearl Bank apartments but they were eventually redeveloped anyway, despite the petitions. 

More on the snowskin mooncakes street lights. To me, they appeared more like biscuits than mooncakes since the latter is usually much thicker and chunkier. 

12-meter centerpiece in the middle of Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road. As compared to past installations for mid-autumn festival, I have only one word for this year version; stunning! 

Installed in parts, it did give the visual impression that Chang Er, goddess of the moon, was ascending to the moon palace, as per legend. Of course, there is more than one legend when it comes to mid-autumn festival but Chang Er is iconic, together with the jade rabbit, lanterns and mooncakes. 

Overhanging street lighting across New Bridge Road. As expected, over exposed and my poor photography skill was unable to improve the conditions. I think I need to take up some courses soon so that I can make better use of my DSLR.

Hanging lanterns include images of rabbits, traditional mooncakes and flowers. From an article on Straits Times, I noted there are about 900 lanterns in total; with the overhanging ones likely taking up a majority.

Larger ones, aside from the centerpiece, were on the ground, featuring people, trees, rabbits, and items like wine jars, mooncakes, pomelos etc. 

Back of the centerpiece.

Middle section between Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road, where many decorative lanterns were placed. I think the pity is that the roads were not closed and many people couldn't stand closer for a selfie / wefie. 

View of Pagoda Street; it's slightly more crowded although still incomparable to the scene pre-pandemic. Do you miss the life then? I sure do as people contribute to vibrancy and a livelier festive atmosphere.

I bet Dad feel the same way too.

These hanging lights had the jade rabbit hugging the pomelos! I have no idea why pomelos were part of the mid-autumn festival and decided to google. Click here for more information! 

Last segment for the lanterns. I understand that the wires in the lanterns were necessary for sculpting but I wonder if they could wrap the wires with white tubing instead so that they were less noticeable. 

Ending this post with photographs of Dad!

=====

Duration of Mid-Autumn Festival 2021 Street Light Up

Until 05 October 2021.

Website

https://chinatownfestivals.sg/