Pizza Maru - Korean Fried Chicken & Interesting Pizzas (No Pork, No Lard, Alcohol Free) @ Northpoint City Mall [Yishun, Singapore] #northpoint

Do fried chicken and pizza go well together? It did seem like an interesting combination and i never regretted my visit to Pizza Maru upon receiving a strong recommendation from my younger sister to check it out! 

Tucked away at the far end of the new wing on basement one of Northpoint, this eatery is one of many in the designated food arena of the shopping centre. Competition is predictably intense and the good thing is that you don't usually need to wait long to get a table. 

Use this QR code option to order! I prefer to do so the good old way by calling for the waitress as i am a sucker for recommendations and being undecided over what to order can be so frustrating! 

For example, with eight choices for the fried chicken, i was honestly stuck! Thankfully, there were four of us to share and i thought this "two is better than one" option would allow us to try more than just one flavour. Problem was; which two to choose?

Roasted Barley - free flow roasted barley tea for just S$1.90. Did you realize that Japanese restaurants would go for green tea whereas barley tea is usually the norm for Korean restaurants? My preferred tea is actually barley tea.

Korean Fried Chicken (Two Is Better Than One) - six pieces of spicy garlic dak gangjeong and half a dozen of sweet honey butter coat. To be frank, i think we over-ordered as there were just too much food (including the yet to appear pizza) and my parents are not big eaters. 

An issue with Korean fried chicken is that their base is simply put just deep fried chicken and the flavour came in at the last stage via a top-up; e.g. stir fried with a sauce, like my garlic dak gangjeong or coated with powder, like my honey butter coat. This differs from other fried chicken like KFC which has herbs and spices in the wet batter before frying. 

I do like this Korean version as the cooked batter turned out to be crispy and flavourful; the garlic dak gangjeong was sweet, garlicky with a manageable spicy level whereas the honey butter coat had a nice, buttery aroma! Too much batter was a bad thing though it got cloying after a while. 

Although the meat underneath the batter was juicy and chunky, i got a bit turned off with the slightly pinkish meat within as it gave the impression that the chicken was under-cooked.  

Real BBQ Chicago - featuring the black rice dough, this pizza has "double mozzarella cheese, string cheese, cream cheese mousse, chicken chunk, roasted onion, mushroom, tomato, potato, honey, almond flake, icing sugar, BBQ sauce."! 

Always satisfying to see the strings of cheese that never seemed to break as you pull a slice away from the pan! To be honest, this tasted like the BBQ chicken from Pizza Hut but at an elevated happiness level.

Incredibly cheesy with even more cheese oozing from the centre of the bulging ring-edge; the slices of almond provided a unique, nutty aftertaste and i super loved the sweet black rice dough! I was so full yet i couldn't resist taking the last slice of the delicious Real BBQ Chicago pizza! 

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Address

930, Yishun Avenue 2, #B1-192 / 193, 

Northpoint City Mall, Singapore 769098

Website (Home Delivery Available)

https://order.pizzamaru.com.sg/

Pricing

Roasted Barley - S$1.90

Two is Better than One - S$29.90

Real BBQ Chicago - S$26.90

(Subject to GST and Service Charge)

Kim Keat Hokkien Mee - The Claypot Version @ Block 92, Lorong 4 Toa Payoh [Singapore]

The craving for hokkien mee and the need to blog dragged me all the way to Toa Payoh one Saturday afternoon; alas, the stall i wanted to try was already closed for the day!

A frantic search online for an alternative brought us on a 650-meter walk to Block 92, Lorong 4 Toa Payoh. The coffee shop there was more famous for curry fish head, which drew a long queue even though it's only 4.20 pm, but i am focused on my objective.

Kim Keat Hokkien Mee, with a google rating of 3.9 from over 500 reviewers.

It appeared to be quite popular according to the accolades and the newspaper articles; I am a sucker for such media coverage! However, if the food turns out to be bad, i wouldn't hesitate to pen about it in my review.

Take what you want once you are done ordering.

Less than ten minutes later, our claypot hokkien mee for two persons was placed on our table. Aside from the claypot version, there are usual option like hokkien mee on a plate or traditional one that' served on traditional opeh leaf.

I figured that since there were two of us; we might as well try the claypot version and i sure wasn't disappointed with the "premium" ingredients inside which included roast pork and even lala!

Squeezing the lime before giving the noodles a good toss! Good thing about having the hokkien mee in a claypot; it locked in the heat way better than on a plate and you can slowly indulge if you like your food warm, like my mom.

As you can probably deduce from the pictures, the strands of yellow noodle appeared a lot more than the thick bee hoon and i am not a fan of the former. I enjoyed slurping the thick, flavourful broth in the claypot even though it didn't quite translate into the same when eaten with the noodles, which lacked the highly sought wok-hei. To enhance the palatability, add the spicy-sweet chilli paste.

Ingredient-wise, no complaint except for the roast pork; some pieces were just overly salty! As usual, i would love more pork lard; to me, it's best if the stall-owner can put one tub outside for customers to help themselves!

Cleaned up; while i wasn't impressed, my mom registered her thumbs-up for the hokkien mee and even Jovyn, who ordered Japanese food, couldn't help asking us if she could have some as it was too good.

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Address

Block 92, Lorong 4 Toa Payoh,

#01-264, Singapore 310092

Map

As above.

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/officialkimkeathokkienmee

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Claypot Hokkien Mee (For 2) - S$10.00

Grub Singapore @ Bishan Park [Singapore]

Having heard so much about GRUB Singapore for the past few years, i finally made my way down a month again and was surprised to find the standalone eatery tucked at a quiet section of the beauitful, 2.7-kilometer long Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park!

I don't know why but i have always assumed it was nearer to McDonald's where you can find a cluster of dining establishments nearby. Anyway, we were happy to visit on a lull Tuesday as it was less than a month since The Straits Times published an article on Basque burnt cheesecake, with GRUB taking the top position.

Well, i wouldn't travel all the way here just to get desserts. The effort shall warrant a full meal and since this coincided with the Great Kon's bird day in a few days' time; why not a celebration, especially when we had not seen him for quite a few months!

Iced Lemon Earl Grey Tea - i requested for iced lychee earl grey tea and didn't realize my mistaken until i checked out the receipt. No wonder there's no hint of lychee! As the name suggests, it was your typical lemon tea, in earl grey flavour; not fascinating. 

GRUB Kaya Burnt Cheese Cake - we were contemplating to get just the Basque burnt cheesecake but this had a star (meaning favourites) on the menu! Personally, i didn't like the fusion combination; the kaya overwhelmed the cheese and the best representation of kaya in cake is when it is in chiffon form.

Basque Burnt Cheesecake - my only comparison was Wildfire Chicken & Burgers @ NAFA Campus and this totally took the cake (pun intended); so creamy, so cheesy and lip-smacking delicious! Maybe i should give it a try at Cavin's Kitchen!

Truffle Mushroom Baked Eggs - since there were three of us, it's good to get an appetiser for sharing; the "gratin of bacon, sauteed mushrooms and baked eggs served with garlic toast".

Let's start with the garlic toast; light, aromatic and crisp on the edges, this would be the kind of garlic bread i would love to have when i am drinking a bowl of soup! The main star was, however, a letdown; i could really just do without the eggs and simply have the mushrooms drizzled with truffle oil.

Fish & Chips - no prize for guessing who ordered this. I stole a bite of the battered fish fillet; not the crispy texture both Alex and i enjoyed and pricey at S$17.00. In fact, we had a better time with the fries. Boy, it would be nice to have a serving of the fries with a bottle of beer right now!

Spicy Beer Braised Beef Stew - a new dish on the menu, it's "beef shank stewed in pilsner beer, spicy Korean gochukang and cucumber yogurt"! Such an intriguing list of ingredients.

The Great Kon wasn't impressed though and i took a bite for the sake of this review; i enjoyed the tenderness of the beef but the stew lacked the push to create something unique that would have kept us coming back again.

Har Cheong Fried Chicken with Waffles - an enchanting combo that merged both my affection for fried chicken and waffles! Only thing, i should have asked if it would be possible to replace mixed greens with fries instead.

Marinated with the pungent prawn paste, this was literally a chunky treat for all har-cheong lovers as you would no longer be irritated by the chicken bones from the wings and drumlets! Eaten hot, you wouldn't be disappointed with its crunchy batter and moist interior!

Waffle had that thin, well-loved crisp contrasting with the soft and fluffiness insides. Obviously, the maple syrup was the deal-breaker when it comes to waffles even though i think this would taste even better with some butter!

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I hope i am not gloating here as i did have a delicious main compared to my peers! Given the friendly staff, the chillax environment (both inside and outside the restaurant) and the yummy Basque burnt cheesecake, there's a high chance i would be back!

Address

510 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1,

Within Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park,

Singapore 569983

Location Map

As above.

Website

https://grub.com.sg/

Pricing

Iced Lemon Earl Grey Tea - S$4.00

GRUB Kaya Burnt Cheese Cake - S$9.00

Basque Burnt Cheesecake - S$9.00

Truffle Mushroom Baked Eggs - S$12.00

Fish & Chips - S$17.00

Spicy Beer Braised Beef Stew - S$17.00

Har Cheong Fried Chicken with Waffles - S$16.00

(Subject to Service Charge and GST)

The Chocolaty Banana Honey Toast from Monster Curry @ Northpoint City Shopping Mall [Singapore]

I guess many people visit Monster Curry for the gigantic plates of Japanese curry rice and although they continue to be a draw for me; i am honestly more infatuated with their honey toasts! 

It was by coincidence that i checked out the honey toasts as we were too lazy to go elsewhere for desserts and decided to order one honey toast to share so that we can stay longer in the eatery. First bite and it was almost a point of no return as i would order honey toast every single time i am at Monster Curry, so long my companion is willing to share with me. 

For honey toasts, you have five choices to choose from; Mixed Berries, Matcha with Azuki Beans, Tangy Mango, Caramel with Marshmallows and Chocolaty Banana. I can't speak on behalf for four as i have only tried Chocolaty Banana Honey Toast! 

As the name suggests, it's cubes of honey toast with slices of banana, drizzles of chocolate fudge and a scoop of Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream. I have had honey toasts elsewhere and the common problem is that the toast would turn relatively bland and soft towards the middle. 

No such issue at Monster Curry as the cubic form shall guarantee crispness in every bite, with the delectable honey sweetness forcing me to quickly take another bite! 

It's completely a journey to heaven when i had it with the good quality ice cream from Häagen-Dazs! The only complaint i would have is that the slices of bananas hardly add any contribution; i could easily have them separately and it still wouldn't dent my love for the honey toast. Okay, i do get it they add to the visual appeal (and also for the company to charge more). 

Of course, we had to substantiate our dinner with The Ebi Powerpuff Curry Rice! The prawns were so much better than the Monster Combo Curry i had previously with my parents. 

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Address

1 Northpoint Drive,

#B1-102, Northpoint City.

Singapore 768019

Website

https://www.monstercurry.com.sg/

Pricing

The Chocolaty Banana Honey Toast - S$9.80

(Subject to GST and Service Charge)

Ajmir Briyani - Mutton Briyani for Takeaway Only @ Bridge next to Admiralty MRT Station [Singapore]

Nasi Briyani is something i don't usually crave but when Facebook keeps bombarding me with mouthwatering photographs of the briyanis from Ajmir Briyani; it's only a matter of time i cave in! 

Do note that Ajmir Briyani only does takeaways from their store located on an overhead bridge next to Admiralty MRT station. You can opt for delivery but since Yishun isn't that far from Admiralty, i decided to collect myself. 

Once you got to the bridge, it's the first store to your right. 

At first glance, i honestly thought i have gotten to the wrong shop as it's literally a provision store that sells mainly biscuits and snacks! Packets of freshly cooked food and snacks were also available for sale. Since i ordered online, i just need to notify the guy in charge my order number. 

And here it is, my pack of Mutton Briyani.

Back at home and all ready to dig in! My last bite of briyani was at Bismi Briyani and it wasn't really satisfying. Hence, i had a lot of expectations even though whatever looks good on photos, might not really taste good in real life. 

What the heck?! Just basmati rice with a container of curry and another smaller container of god knows that had a sharp odor. Where was my mutton!? 

It's hidden under the bed of basmati rice and it did look like a huge piece! That's the reason i generally dislike blogging about packed food; it's usually not visually appealing. Maybe that's why many restaurants are obsessed with plating. 

In a nutshell, i was so glad i made the effort to get my hands on Ajmir's mutton briyani; meat was tender and curry was thick and rich without being overly spicy. I was particularly drawn to the item that had a sharp odor; there's a nice sweetness to it enveloped by herbs and spices that literally lifted the flavour of the briyani! 

To be honest, i totally wouldn't mind ordering this again! 

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Address 

70 Woodlands Avenue 7, 

#02-K1, Singapore, 738344

Website to Order

https://www.ajmirbriyani.com/en_SG

Pricing

Mutton Briyani - S$6.00 (Special Offer)