Entree Kibbles

Saturday, November 04, 2017

Flaming Don (烤丼) - Signature Flaming Chicken Don @ Bugis + [Singapore]

You like grilled meat? I do and have no qualm having it every meal if not for the fact that it's expensive and not healthy for the body.

Having said that, i do crave for grilled meat every now and then and when i couldn't quite decide what to have for lunch one afternoon at Bugis +, i decided to give flaming don on level five of the shopping mall a try.

It's indeed disturbing to see an almost empty restaurant at noon but i did realize in recent months that businesses at bugis, orchard road etc are facing a lull on Sundays. Anyway, i am prepared to review the food, for better or for worse.

Ordering was via the self service kiosk where payment can be made at the same time without the need for a person to man it; the current trend has no doubt relieved the manpower stress for the dining establishments although at the same time, some might lament the lack of a human interaction.

Note the queue number on your receipt.

Proceed to the soup and drink counter and keep in mind your queue number when it appears on the television screen. As with most self-service eateries, you have to collect your own food.

Top up S$1.99 to make your meal a set with free flow drinks and miso soup! Aside from tea, there is coca cola, sprite, fanta grape, minute maid and heaven and earth. Remember, you can take as many times as you want!

Same counter for you to collect your cutlery, serviettes and choose from the five types of sauces. What are the sauces for? I have no idea as i didn't take any and the food i had wasn't bland to warrant extra sauces.

Here's my food which includes my Signature Flaming Chicken Don, the chawanmushi and the chilled tofu with miso goma dressing. Jovyn and Jerald were with me and even though they had a late breakfast, i thought it's best to have extra, just in case.

Nothing to complain about the miso soup and well, drinks would be drinks and it's not as if the drinks were specially prepared. But to drink my fill, i gulped a few cups of minute maid orange juice!

Chawanmushi was pretty decent and cost only S$2.90. I think i should really try to make this at home myself as i heard it wasn't difficult.

Chilled tofu with miso goma dressing isn't something i will order usually although i can make an exception when i am with Jovyn, who is a tofu person. The dressing was too salty in my opinion.

Now on the signature flaming chicken don - visually, it wouldn't look out of place from a normal teriyaki chicken don. However, the perfect onsen egg would be the deal maker.

As you can see, once you mix up everything, the texture would be relatively wet due to the onsen egg and when coupled with the generous sauce (teriyaki i think), i do like what i had. It wasn't mind-blowing amazing but it's a comfortable meal with well-grilled chicken.

And you know what?

The kids took a bite and decided to TAKE OVER my lunch!

Being the kind uncle i am, i didn't have much choice but to order another bowl of chicken don for them! If i have known they were to need food, i would have opted for much cheaper hawker food! I am kind but stingy.

Oh, do remember to return your used utensils and tray.

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Location

201 Victoria Street,

#05-02/03, Bugis +,

Singapore 188067

Operating Hours

Mondays to Thursdays - 12pm to 10pm

Fridays to Sundays - 12pm to 11pm

Website

http://flamingdon.com.sg

Menu

As above

Pricing

Signature Flaming Chicken Don - S$9.90

Drink with Soup - S$1.99

Chawanmushi - S$2.90

Chilled Tofu with Miso Goma Dressing - S$4.90

(Subject to GST)

Wednesday, November 01, 2017

Noodle Place Restaurant (華苑面粥小廚) @ Orchard Gateway [Singapore]

There are so many dining establishments along Orchard Road that i don't usually give much thought about what to eat, and especially not when i am with my sisters and mom since they have dietary preferences.

Hence, i didn't raise any objection when my sister suggested checking out this noodle house at Orchard Gateway that's super near the exit of Somerset MRT station. Major regret as i didn't realize a single bowl of shrimp wanton noodle was so pricey!

Well, it's supposed to serve authentic Hong Kong cuisine which includes their signature roast meat, congee and noodles. Never try, never know and my sister did notice the place being crowded during mealtimes.

Shrimp Wanton Noodle (鮮蝦雲吞麵) - the noodles had a rubber band texture that was rather appealing although many would likely comment about the strong akaline taste that didn't weaken even after i mixed up everything.

I had the opportunity to try Mak's Noodle at Centrepoint mall before and in comparison, the soup was less flavourful and the shrimp wantons were pretty dry and unappetizing. Basically no wow factor here to make me feel that the S$9 we paid for (which has not included GST and service charge) was worth it.

Shredded Chili Pork Noodle (京都炸醬麵) - this differed from the Korean style 炸醬麵 that we have been accustomed to and the meat tasted like minced, saucy char siew. To put it in context, same price as my shrimp wanton noodle and i would very much rather had this as my meal.

Seven Treasures Pork Congee (状元及第粥) - no idea what the seven treasures were but how the hell did the porridge manage to get so thick and with all the grains dissolved?! That's like cooking witchcraft! Mom liked it whereas i prefer my porridge to have able-to-taste grains in it.

Triple Mixed Roast Meat (烧味三拼) - since Hong Kong is famous for their roast delights, it's a must for us to have some and since we couldn't decide if we should go for roast pork, roast pork or char siew (barbecued pork), we thought having a mixed platter (just like what we did in You Kee) would be the best option!

Roast duck was the best with a juicy bite that's best dipped in the sour plum sauce. Roast pork was a disappointment; not crispy and can benefit from reduced salt.

Char siew was decent and i would prefer it to be sweeter. Absolutely no fight against the crystal char siew in You Kee (Malaysia) and Kay Lee (Singapore).

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Location

277 Orchard Road,

#01-17, Orchard Gateway,

Singapore 238858

Website

http://pfs.com.sg/noodle-place-restaurant/

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Shredded Chili Pork Noodle - S$9.00

Shrimp Wanton Noodle - S$9.00

Seven Treasures Pork Congee - S$8.00

Triple Mixed Roast Meat - S$28.50

(Subject to GST and Service Charge)

Monday, October 30, 2017

Black House Burgers - Top 10 (Out of 871 Restaurants in Kuta) @ Bali [Indonesia] #blackhouseburgers

Befitting its label as touristy area, Kuta has a ton of restaurants serving a wide variety of cuisines for travellers to choose from. I am confused given the sheer number and relied heavily on the recommendations from Trip Advisor.

I wasn't seeking specifically for burgers but 900 over reviews for the Black House Burgers appeared rather legit and the pricing wasn't a total ripoff (at least compared to what we have in Singapore).

Literally a hole in the wall and for that good of a review score; the restaurant was empty except for two customers who coincidentally were Alex's colleagues!

Non-air-conditioned setting even though it wasn't that bad when we visited as the sky was overcast. Well, to be frankly, the weather had not been great in the past few days we were in Bali.

Display of camera models over the past few decades; due to the bounced lighting, the painted-on pictures didn't look too realistic in the above photograph.

Tables and chairs made from disused oil drums!

Quirky design aside, i was most impressed with the staff members; they served with a smile and even willingly passed me the WiFi password without me asking for it!

There were so many things i wanted to try beside the burgers; there were the awesome fries (potapork, hot jack, beefy bucks) and the 100% real fruit juices (less than S$2 a cup)! Pity my tummy was still digesting the nasi campur i had at Made's Warung three hours before. :(

Serviettes, cutlery, pepper and salt were placed on an aluminum tin on every table; i only realised later that it was baking tin and the eatery was using them as serving trays too! That's blasphemous for anyone who enjoys baking!

Need more sauces (mustard, tomato, chilli, BBQ, thousand island dressing, mayo etc)? Get them from the sauce station at the corner. Long term stayers can consider getting the loyalty-stamp card for extra freebies!

The A-Bomb - sometimes, i don't really get the names of dishes on the menu. I presume that the A-Bomb refers to Atomic Bomb and there's absolutely nothing terrifying from the burger. And we didn't explode too after taking a bite.

I can hardly taste the chicken with the generous layer of caramelised onions. Don't get me wrong, i love caramelised onions and hope they could be included in every burger; simply to enhance the sweetness! However, the chicken patty failed to surprise and the toughness didn't help.

Bonnie & Clyde - Alex's colleagues recommended this with a footnote; be careful of the bits of bones which had the potential to get stuck in between your teeth. An advice worth taking as they are dentists and we all know how expensive dental work is. p.s. Alex loves the crispy crinkle-cut French fries!

So what's between the soft charcoal burger bun with a touch of sweetness (and could have benefited from more butter)? Braised pork ribs, crispy wanton skin (imagine the cackling sound as you chomp down the burger), caramelised onions, button mushrooms, sliced tomatoes and a sunny side up with a runny yolk that drools when you bite through.

Don't be afraid of the bones as the braised pork ribs were impossibly tender and the ribs broke into tiny pieces without any resistance. I love the taste of the braised pork ribs as it's like digging into a slab of juicy BBQ pork ribs! Absolutely delish!

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Location