Pork Satay @ The Satay Taste at Cheng San Food Centre in Ang Mo Kio [Singapore] #chensanhawkercentre

Cheng San Hawker Centre didn't have many stalls that were open for business at night and I was about to leave for the nearby coffee shop when I caught a whiff of grilled meat.

The nice aroma came from this The Satay Taste stall; I am the kind of people who could totally have satay for dinner without the need for a main meal and it did catch my attention that each pork satay cost just 70 cents when the norm nowadays would be 80 cents a stick.

I was being 'health conscious' here; just ten sticks for dinner. p.s. I did have a chocolate rice roll from the Pine Garden bakery earlier though. 

Despite the initial captivating smell that stopped me in my track, I was kind of disappointing with the appearance of the satay; there didn't seem to be much fatty parts and the meat had just small pockets of charred parts. 

Health conscious people who are looking for a cheat meal can still consider though as it was more meat than fats. In "normal" circumstances, there would be at least two parts of fat on a stick of pork satay and it's only one part here at Taste of Satay.

Saving grace for the unhealthy souls was that the meat was tender! For me, I guess I would still prefer the pork satay from my usual stall at Chong Pang; Xu Zhong Xing. p.s. peanut gravy was pretty spicy! 

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Address

527 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, #01-116

Cheng San Food Centre,

Singapore 560527

Map

As above

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Pork Satay - 70 cents a stick

(Minimum 10 sticks)

Woodfire - Inexpensive Yet Super Good Burger @ Johor Bahru in Malaysia

Just when I thought a burger could never get better than Burger Labo, the Great Kon shared of an eatery in the nearby Malaysian city of Johor Bahru that served not just amazing burgers; the prices were a fraction of what we would have paid in the expensive lion city! 

This was actually my second visit to Woodfire and I took the opportunity to walk from the Malaysian checkpoint to its branch behind Johor Bahru High Court, a distance of  less than two kilometers. Definitely doable on a cloudy day.

Photographs of its façade and interior; reminded me of an American diner. Despite the high review rating of 4.7 from over 1,700 reviewers on Google map, I managed to find seats, easily, on both visits! Maybe the crowd would only kick in during peak mealtimes. 

A Muslim-owned establishment, I would strongly recommend Woodfire to my many Muslim friends, although I bet some (including non Muslims) would argue that Ramly burger stalls (like Fendy's Burger Stall) are more worth it! 

Just the look of the range of burgers on display would make me swallow my saliva! For the purpose of this review, I shall be ordering burgers again although what I really want to try in my next visit would likely be the smoke lamb ribs.

Butter Soda -  gassy, carbonated and sweet; if the aforementioned appealed to you, another key advantage was its similarity to popcorn; as if we are drinking liquified sweet, butter popcorn! Pity I don't enjoy carbonate drink that much, and this was a tad too sweet for me. 

Beef and Cheese Fries - I assumed it was minced beef although the description on menu clearly stated sliced beef, which would essentially be more worth it right?! Sadly, the beef was tough and the fries were cold. Kudos to the cheese sauce, however, as we couldn't resist taking fry after fry!

Gourmet Beef Burger - when it comes to burgers, I would prefer going for original for ease of comparison. To me, if you can't get basic burger right; there's absolutely no impetus for me to try the rest of the burgers.

At just RM 19.90 (only about S$6.00); buns were soft, the homemade beef patty was lightly charred, resulting in an enslaving smokiness added with a generous douse of spicy salted egg yolk sauce; so unforgettably delicious! Compared to my first visit though; this patty was drier this time. It would have been perfect.

Beef Brisket Burger - thanks to the Great Kon, I got the opportunity to take a few bites of the beef brisket burger, the most expensive on the menu and one that literally had overflowing ingredients! 

I happily took two bites as the Kon was still feeling full from his morning breakfast at Alex at another restaurant! p.s. I joined them only after my half day work from my home, taking an afternoon leave from work.

Aside from the satisfaction of biting into huge chunks of juicy beef, this had a more intense smoky BBQ flavor than the Gourmet Beef Burger; thanks to the BBQ sauce! There's another thing I enjoyed; the additional of fries shallots, which put it on to another level of texture and aroma! 

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Before and after! Definitely going to check out the rest of the burgers in my next visit. Maybe their gourmet chicken burger or even the nutella biscoff waffle! So much to eat; so small the stomach!   

Address

2, Jalan Air Molek, Bandar Johor Bahru, 

Jalan Air Molek, 80000 Johor Bahru, 

Johor, Malaysia

Map

As above.

Operating Hours

Mondays to Thursdays - 12.00 pm to 10.00 pm

Fridays - 3.00 pm to 12.00 am

Saturdays and Sundays - 12.00 pm to 12.00 am

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Butter Soda - RM 6.90

Beef and Cheese Fries - RM 16.90

Gourmet Beef Burger - RM 19.90

Beef Brisket Burger - RM 38.90

(Subject to Service Tax)

Báo Khánh Alley in the Morning @ Hanoi [Vietnam]

Báo Khánh Alley was the street in Hanoi that I walked through every single day when I was in the capital city, as it was the location of Bonsella Hotel, our choice of accommodation! 

It was a nice street, aside from the many hotels along the stretch, you can find massage parlors, souvenir shops, restaurants, cafes, bars and even a branch of Pizza 4P's.

Late at night, you can even find people playing chapteh (also known as shuttlecock / featherball) in the middle of the road! I am guessing they were hotel employees who had some free time closer to midnight when most hotel guests would be sleeping / getting ready to sleep. 

Scene in the morning along Báo Khánh Alley was different though; with many shops shuttered, it's transformed into a mini market where you can secure fresh produce like fruits and vegetables! 

It's like bringing the locals to the touristy precinct and feel so authentically local! Thing is, I don't think Báo Khánh Alley or its immediate surroundings had that many local residents to patronize this makeshift market.

Raw meat in the rawest form without any refrigeration! It's okay in the first few days when we were in Hanoi since the temperature was relatively cool in the low 20s degrees celcius.

Towards the last two days, the temperature had risen quite a bit to almost the 30s degrees celcius and that's when I noticed a lot more flies hovering around raw meat. Sanitation is definitely not up to Singapore's standard and hence, might appear a bit revolting to some.

Be mindful when you walk along the street in the morning though. In this case, the fishmonger actually had a few live fishes in the pail and they were struggling like mad, resulting in splashes of water that almost hit us! 

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Click here for my Week-Long Itinerary to Hanoi - City of Lakes @ Vietnam

All Day Coffee 55 Hàng Bún @ Hanoi in Vietnam

It was just a period of non-stopped walking after checking out Vietnam's first university, the Temple of Literature, and even though the legs weren't breaking, we were dying to have a seat and get some drinks!

That's when we turned into a relatively quiet road, and chanced upon All Day Coffee, with its European style façade. A search on Google Maps revealed it had a great review score of 4.5 from over 400 reviewers.

Interior design of the café; raw, spacious with high ceiling. In Singapore's context, this would be considered as classy. Second photo was taken on the second level, where there were more seating.

Passage leading to the washrooms, where there's even a bench for people to wait. Not sure if that would help if someone is extremely "urgent".  Whatever the case, it's time to reload after release and I must admit it took us a while to decide what to eat given that the pictures on the menu were so tempting! 

Vietnamese Coffee with Condensed Milk - obviously had to get this as it's something I would miss greatly when I am back in Singapore. This came in the form of the phin dripper, which is synonymous with traditional Vietnamese coffee drinkers.

Honestly, I am more into ready-made coffee and such 'deconstruction' process for paying customers is always lost on me. Anyway, I think this coffee was alright; didn't wow me. Maybe I got the process wrong or something.

Dreamy Creamy Coconut Cake - indicated as must try on the menu, this had a gelatinous layer and surprisingly sweeter than expected. 

Fluffy Mango Cake - prefer this over the coconut cake for its light fluffiness and that it's not overly sweet. Taste buds do change as I age, especially when the Singapore's government is so capable of educating its electorate that less sugar, less salt, less oil would be good for our health! 

Bacon & Cheese Croissant - this was one delicious croissant! Warm, crusty, butter with bacon and cheese that absolutely tinkered the taste buds! To think I am not really a croissant lover, except for the sweet almond croissant.

Avocado Toast All Day Breakfast - I always assumed that avocado is just a healthy fad and it couldn't contribute much in flavor to a dish. So wrong I was as the buttery nuttiness can make a difference and in this case, the addition of what appeared to be bell pepper totally brought the flavor to another level. 

Eggs Benedict All Day Breakfast - forgot to mention that the toasted bread were delightful; crisp with texture and went well with the poached eggs that was drenched with the savory, Hollandaise sauce.

Carbonara Pasta - so far, I have been stealing bites from my friends' mains. Here's actually my main, which was visually pretty and had a name that inferred its Italian authenticity. 

A good mix of the pasta with the raw egg yolk, the creamy sauce and the Parmesan cheese resulted in a tasty mixture with just one problem; the paste wasn't al dente with a pretty hard texture. 

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Address

55 P. Hàng Bún, Quán Thánh, 

Ba Đình, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Map

As above. 

Pricing

Vietnamese Coffee with Condensed Milk - 59,000 dong

Dreamy Creamy Coconut Cake - 85,000 dong

Fluffy Mango Cake - 85,000 dong

Bacon & Cheese Croissant - 88,000 dong

Avocado Toast All Day Breakfast - 115,000 dong

Eggs Benedict All Day Breakfast - 115,000 dong

Carbonara Pasta - 139,000 dong

(Subject to Tax)

Click here for my Week-Long Itinerary to Hanoi - City of Lakes @ Vietnam