Friday, July 06, 2018

Wan Nian Stone Pot Fish (萬年石鍋鱼) @ 52, Smith Street in Chinatown [Singapore]

A true foodie would make it his/her vision to try all the darn food in Singapore and i honestly feel i fall short of the criterion to be a foodie as i couldn't help but make a beeline to Kazan Japanese Cuisine in the hawker centre whenever i am at the Smith Street area! 

However, the past two visits were anomalies from my usual behavior; both times, i was dining at this air-conditioned eatery known simply as Stone Pot Fish in English.

It's a restaurant i had walked past every year when i covered the annual Chinese New Year decorations in Chinatown and i have always assumed it's catered for the tourists with exorbitant pricing. Assumption is never good as you might really miss out on the good stuff; just like i did.

Came recommended by my elder sister, we were there the first time for Mother's Day and then a month later to celebrate Father's Day! All the pictures shown in this post were taken on the second visit. 

As the name suggests, the restaurant's signature dish is the Stone Pot Fish! While the cooking mode can be inferred, the fish in question can be either live fish or frozen fish depending on your budget, 

Liquid fuel to cook and warm the fish in the pot of broth. Speaking of broth, there were 6 different styles; original (chef recommended), sour vegetables (chef recommended), spicy, perfume (chef recommended), sour soup and BBQ. Perfume might sound weird but in terms of spiciness, it's actually listed as the spiciest! 

Our group consisted of the young, the middle-aged and the elderly and i guess that left us with little choice but to go with the original. For the fish, my sister ordered live tiger grouper! Let's now start with the dishes we had that evening; all eleven of them.

Cold Trio Salad - for something that's cold, i thought it could have been colder and a lot more refreshing. Anyway, the trio refers to seaweed, beancurd skin and rice vermicelli. 

Salted Pepper Mushroom - peppery with a touch of salt, i thought this was rather similar to those found in Taiwanese-themed snack stall and boy were the mushrooms addictive! 

Ribs with Diced Yam - this was interesting and counted as one of my favourite dishes! The diced yam was almost like the famous fried yam from Putien; albeit less sweet although the deal breaker was the little pieces of deep fried ribs that remained unforgettable for having that fragrant tinge of sweetness! 

Eggplant with Garlic Sauce - appetising and a tad spicy, this was pretty good even though i would have enjoyed fried egg plants better. Nevertheless, the sauce goes well with plain white rice. 

Supreme Ribs - i have high regard for ribs as there were many amazing versions in Singapore. This one were not bad actually (juicy and tender) although marination hardly made a deep impression. 

Sichuan Fried Chicken - popularly known as 辣子鸡 (la-zi-ji), i associated this as a better version of popcorn chicken that was aromatic with an explosion of spices. To be honest, if this were to be available in cinemas, i would gladly buy a tub and slowly indulge over the course of a movie! 

Homestyle Tofu - again, i never had much expectation for tofu which was more the standard dish to order whenever Jovyn joins us. To be fair, this actually contained quite a bit of chicken. 

Putian Bee Hoon - the heng hwa cuisine style of bee hoon was too bland and dry for my liking although the two aforementioned flavour and texture were the exact reasons why some people love it so much! This could have been better if the peanuts were fresh and crunchy.

Mutton BBQ Skewers - a standard for many Northern Chinese restaurant, we couldn't resist ordering the BBQ skewers when a full page on the menu listed twelve different types; for example, mutton, beef, pork, chicken, gizzards, hearts, wings, squid, sausage, bun and mushrooms.

The mutton skewers we got came in set of 6 skewers for only S$8.00 and they didn't disappoint for being incredibly tender without a strong gamey mutton taste! In fact, you might not even have realized it's mutton until you reach the end of the skewer.

Soften Hearts - The name would have caught your attention as it did to us and we ordered one serving just to understand what it really was! 

Texture was like the fried version of glutinous rice balls with an almost liquefied red bean filling! As the filling is also known as the heart, i guess it was as its name suggests; soften heart! Yummy! 

Stone Pot Fish (Live Tiger Grouper) - main star which originated from Changsha; the capital of Hunan province in China! There was a story behind this dish even though i think you can choose not to believe it. It was said that Emperor Qianlong was delighted when he had the stone pot fish and bestowed a name for the dish; "golden fortune fish".

Coming back, the soup had a nutritious, herbal taste to it and i guess it's worth it to have live fish as the meat tasted so fresh! Of course, while i was drinking the soup, my mind was wondering if this would be very pricey since i never like to order fish when i am outside and don't know what's the market rate.

Anyway, eat first and decide later. For soup lovers, you can always top up the soup and i think our family topped up no less than 3 times! 

Burp! I have already decided; next time we visit, i am going to extra extra servings of Ribs with Diced Yam and Sichuan Fried Chicken! 

Family photo and a photo of a satisfied Jovyn. 

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Location
52, Smith Street,
Singapore 058959

Map
As above.

For Reservation
Call 6423-9252

Facebook Page
Cold Trio Salad - S$6.00
Salted Pepper Mushroom - S$8.00
Ribs with Diced Yam - S$16.00
Eggplant with Garlic Sauce - S$8.00
Supreme Ribs - S$16.00
Sichuan Fried Chicken - S$12.00
Homestyle Tofu - S$10.00
Putian Bee Hoon - S$14.00
Mutton BBQ Skewers - S$8.00
Soften Hearts - S$10.00
Stone Pot Fish (Live Tiger Grouper) - S$88.00
(Subject to GST and Service Charge)

Thursday, July 05, 2018

Jungceylon; Largest Shopping Mall in Phuket at Patong [Near Bangla Road]

I am quite the shopaholic when i am overseas and having been to shopping destinations like Bangkok; it takes great effort to impress me, especially for someone who isn't into high-end goods.

Jungceylon, named after the old name of Phuket, is the largest shopping centre on the island and i was expecting to find tons of good deals which didn't materialize as Phuket is infamously known to be touristy with goods and services priced higher than even Bangkok!

Nevertheless, i thought it would be fitting to show all of you some of the pictures i took, which i guess would give you a rough idea on what to expect if you happen to be there. Of course, you can also go straight to the mall's website here.

Even though there weren't many retail levels, the space the mall took was rather big with a total of four different zones and it could be quite nice to window-shop in air-conditioning when the outdoor was freakish hot!

Unlike malls in Singapore and Bangkok, the interior decor didn't wow me.

Outdoor was definitely way more impressive and as it was a little past Christmas, there were still the festive decorations with mesmerizing fairy lights.

How big can a canopy be?

As wide as you can see in the above photograph! It's literally a gigantic umbrella with the ability to shelter many, many shoppers! The picture i took didn't do it any justice, honestly.

This Pimnara Spa above McDonald's appeared to be popular although i thought it kind of looked like a sanitized factory with staff members working to beautify the products (i.e. the customers).

Balloon sculptor to liven up the scene! p.s. i am unsure if you need to pay for the sculpted balloons although in Singapore, they were often employed by the mall operators to dispense the balloons for free.

Gundam!

A placeboard showing the world map - you can redeem tickers from the tourist privilege counter and put the stickers on the country you came from. Since Singapore is just a little red dot on the map, i think just one sticker would cover the whole country.

Robinson - note, i don't think it's the same as the Robinson in Singapore as it has the word "ocean". Oh well, regardless of whether it is the same or not,  you yourself would decide which would be the better one.

For me, i found the pricing relatively expensive and as i was with my dad, there's only so much shopping i can do. The relaxed therapy is simply a boring activity in the eyes of my father.

He perked up slightly with the appearance of this 20-meter Chinese junk boat replica which would be the backdrop for the water fountain show that took place at 7 and 9 pm every night.

We didn't bother to wait for the shows though.

However, we did chance upon the one night at the 11th minute mark and it didn't seem particularly special for us to stay throughout. Typical of tourists, i shot a few photographs and continued my way back to Swissotel Resort (Patong Beach).

A floating market in Phuket! A bit far-fetched given that i have been to the Damnoensaduak Floating Market near Bangkok.

Phuket Square Zone - i wasn't intending to step in but something caught my attention. No, not Coach as i am not into the brand. Frankly, i am not really into branded goods and thought it's crazy to pay ridiculous pricing! My money would be better spent on food.

Big C Extra Hypermarket!

Its fame was well known in Bangkok as THE place to get all the Thailand snacks for your family, friends and colleagues! And it sure didn't disappoint with even a section for Thai souvenirs!

3443.75 baht - That's how much i spent and included the tiny yet yummy PhangNga pineapples which also happened to be even more expensive than the pricier Sarawak pineapple in Singapore.

A random shot.

If you prefer to be closer to action, it might please you that there are two hotels located within Jungceylon; the Pimnara boutique hotel and Millennium resort patong. And there's one more advantage to staying at Jungceylon; bangla street is just across the road.

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Location Map
As above.

Website