Segar Restaurant - Halal Tze Char @ Yishun (Beside Northpoint City Shopping Mall) [Yishun]

The West Co'z Cafe at West Coast Plaza is popular with my Muslim colleagues and I had been reminding myself that I should bring my mom to try its fish head curry, despite the long journey from home. But it has become easier for me now. 

Because the dining establishment had set up a branch right here in the heart of Yishun; albeit under another name called Segar Restaurant. I am no stranger to it as I remember there used to be a branch at Star Vista.  

I happily made a reservation to bring my parents there after I finally settled the vaccination status for my dad. The location is extremely convenient as it's just right beside Northpoint City, and behind Burger King.

Since there were five of us (maximum allowed under current restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19), we opted for set menu B, comprising of one fish, one seafood, one meat, one side dish, one vegetable, and rice and selected drinks for everyone. 

Curry Fish Head - rich, flavourful consistency with a mild spiciness that slowly intensified after a few seconds; have to enjoy it with plain, white rice! Maybe because I have been having a number of curry fish head from other eateries in the past year (thanks to all the dining restrictions), I do prefer the zesty version from Ocean Curry Fish Head in Toa Payoh. Next round, I shall check out the assam fish head curry. 

Segar Golden Chicken - I have always been impressed with the golden chicken from Segar / West Co'z Cafe / Ah Poh Kitchen as the marination resulted in an addictive flavor! The things preventing me from loving it 100% were the irritatingly small pieces of bones.  

Egg Fu Yong - featuring the good, old flavour of this traditional yet seemingly simple tze char dish, I am wondering if anyone has an easy recipe so that I can whip it up myself at the comfort of my own kitchen.

Luohan Vegetables - I have never understood the allure of this vegetarian dish as there's this distinctive taste and aroma that I absolutely detest! My mom would usually use the canned version and throw it into plain porridge; needless to say, whenever that happened back when I was living with my parents, I would be dining out. 

Oats Prawn - there are a few reasons why this dish holds a special place in my heart. One, I don't take oats but couldn't resist this when it started appearing in Singapore a few decades ago, when I was a kid. secondly, it's amazing to have this with rice, and more so if the rice was drenched with curry, as in the case here! 

Most often than not, the prawns played a secondary role as most eateries couldn't manage to infuse the prawns with the oat flavor. It's the same case here at Segar Restaurant, even though the prawns were fresh and of decent sized. 

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A pretty satisfying meal that didn't require the family to travel too far; my only gripe is that the pricing was on the higher side although I could order ala-carte instead and eliminate seafood, which typically has a higher price point. 

Address

3 Northpoint Drive,

#01-02 Yishun Town Square, 

Singapore 768020

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Set Menu B - S$90.80

(Subject to Service Charge)

Friends Tasty Korea - Korean BBQ Buffet (with Free Flow Ice Cream and Fried Chicken) along Sembawang Road (Near Yishun Chong Pang) [Singapore]

I am no stranger to the stretch of shophouses along Sembawang Road that's near Chong Pang but more often than not, you would find me at Chong Pang Nasi Lemak. Another eatery I patronized before was Seoul Kitchen, before they pivoted to Korean BBQ buffet and gained popularity. 

Korean BBQ buffet appealed to me but instead of Seoul Kitchen; I decided to cast my lot for Friends Tasty Korea, a competitor right across the narrow, two-lane street. Reason being I prefer to review dining establishments that have yet to appear in this blog. 

It has both indoor and outdoor seating but a true-blue Singaporean who dislikes the heat despite living in the little red dot for his/her entire life, would 99% choose the indoor that came with air-conditioning. p.s unless he/she can't stand having the lingering stench of barbecue after the meal. 

While ala-carte dishes were available; our group of four was focused on just one thing. The free flow Korean BBQ buffet! As you can see from the above, prices were easy on the pocket with the most expensive costing just S$20.00 (subject to service charge) per person!

Introducing the griddle which was powered using gas cans. The design was similar to the one at Chi Bing Korean Restaurant, with an oil drain. Frankly, it's quite unpleasant to see the oil accumulating in the bowl even though we should be happy that it would not be in our body. 

Tissue paper available on every table and it's free! That should be the norm in all restaurants, instead of charging customers packs of wet tissue! 

Buffet counter - side dishes (like kimchi, pickled radishes, mashed potatoes, braised eggs, lettuce) and to be barbecued items (onions, mushrooms, spicy chicken, pork belly, soy marinated pork, soy marinated chicken, bulgogi beef, spicy pork bulgogi, prawns and clams). Not that much variety but I thought it's just about right.

Given the restrictions for COVID-19, do keep in mind that self-service for the food is disallowed. You would have to wait for the staff to prepare and if there's anything you prefer / dislike; inform beforehand. 

Side dishes; most memorable would be the mashed potatoes which were delicious and this is coming from a guy who would usually request changing mashed potatoes to other sides. Do remember to refill it fast as it ran out pretty fast when we were there. Braised eggs were not bad but I prefer quail eggs, which are more the norm as side dishes in Korean restaurants. 

Drinks, unfortunately, were not covered in the buffet pricing. We decided to get a jug of cold barley tea, costing S$5.00, which was refillable. Shared among four persons, it's only S$1.25 per person. 

Our platter of meat! 

Let's the sinful meal begin! As you can see, baking papers were provided for us to lay a piece on the griddle. Two benefits; you don't need oil to grease the pan and it's also easy for the operator to clean up after our meal. 

To be honest, the meat were not fantastic (bulgogi beef was a bit dry) even though still acceptable for the price. C'mon, I can't expect much for a buffet that cost S$20.00 per person (with no GST). For plain, unmarinated pork belly, the side dishes matter as the pickled radish was the perfect companion! 

Second round, and then third round. We were still forging ahead to eat as much as we could but Alex, the weakest link in our group, had already tossed in the towel. Lousy. 

More side dishes; by this time, the mashed potatoes were "sold out" and it was only 12.24 pm! Hm.... I wonder if I could buy their mashed potatoes for meetups / potluck with friends; they will be an instant hit! 

Our final round! 

Korean fried chicken were part of the buffet deal too! Three flavours; original, soy and spicy. Personally, I prefer the grilled meat over the chicken wings even though the Great Kon and Alex did seem to enjoy the fried chicken more.

Desserts were in the form of packed ice cream and, not the plain scoop type which I don't quite enjoy as they are normally restricted to vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. So boring! 

Vanilla flavour ice cream coated with chocolate and peanut bits! So shiok! Although my tummy was already bursting, there would always be space for desserts. 

Having another one which was similar to Wall's Solero Split Lime. I would have loved to try the rest but even I had to raise the white flag. Sigh, I miss the good, old days when my stomach was a bottomless pit. 

Burp! 

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Address 

431 Sembawang Rd, 

Singapore 758396

Map

As above.

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/Friendstastykorea/

Buffet Menu

As above.  

Pricing

BBQ Buffet Lunch - S$17.90

Drink - S$5.00 per jug (refillable)

(Subject to Service Charge, No GST)    

The Original Sungei Road Laksa in Gourmet Street Coffee Shop @ Jalan Berseh [Singapore]

Someone had warned me :"don't bother to try the sungei road laksa as the portion is really small nowadays and standard isn't as great as before". I took the advice seriously but I remember the long, snaking queue in my first, failed attempt to check out Ah Tee Ko Ko Mee in the same coffee shop. 

Hence, when I noticed such a short queue in my recent visit; I can't help joining the line! I figured that a small portion might in fact be good news for me, especially when I was already 70% full after having Ah Tee Ko Ko Mee.

Got my bowl of piping hot laksa in less than seven minutes! Do you know they still use charcoal to cook the laksa? I didn't notice until I took a closer look at one of the photographs! 

I am secretly happy that the serving size was indeed not big and in normal circumstances; this shall not be sufficient to fulfill my definition for a full meal. 

What I found more shocking was the sheer amount of bloody cockles in the broth; I counted seven and they were meaty! Pity I don't enjoy the delicacy and would have to waste the whole lot of them. 

Gravy was too thin for my liking even though flavor wise; it was still pretty rich with a nice aroma of coconut milk and laksa. I also observed there were some fatty bits in the gravy and couldn't pinpoint what exactly they were; they did elevate the taste. 

However, if you ask me to compare, I did feel that the famous Yishun Laksa is better with its thicker, addictive gravy. I wouldn't mind dropping by to eat it again though, if the queue wasn't too long. p.s. do note that no chopsticks would be given, just a spoon to eat up the contents.

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Address 

27 Jalan Berseh, 

Within Gourmet Street Coffee Shop,

Singapore 200027

Map

As above.

Operating Hours

9.30 am to 4.30 pm / till sold out

(Closed on Wednesdays)

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Sungei Road Laksa - S$3.00

Additional Information

No pork / lard.