Apollo Fresh Cockle Fried Kway Teow - Wet and Garlicky! @ 84 Marine Parade Central Hawker Centre [Singapore]

I hold fond memories of Marine Parade hawker centre as i used to work in a pet shop at the nearby Parkway Parade and given the paltry pay i was receiving then as a teenager, that hawker centre proved to be the most economical place for me to fill my tummy!

Out of the many stalls, Apollo Fresh Cockle Fried Kway Teow was one of the memorable ones as the char kway teow style differed vastly from the ones commonly found in other places. I read on the news that the operators were thinking of giving up the stall and made a mental note to pay it a visit before it closes for good.

At S$3 a plate, the quantity did appear to be much lesser than what i used to have (which was quite a number of years ago, i admit) and appearance wise, its pale look didn't quite evoke an immediate appetite. 

This was a case where presentation and taste didn't commensurate with each other; it was wet as promised and the pieces of chopped up, nicely fried kway teow was drenched in the sauce that didn't seem overly black yet retained the nostalgic sweetness that i remember. 

Another feature of Apollo was its heavy infusion of garlic and this might be off putting to those who would not step into a restaurant like Mad for Garlic. Cockles wise, i couldn't comment since i don't take it but if it matters, i counted about 5-6 of them and my friend loved them! 

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Location

Block 84, Marine Parade Central,

#01-174, 84 Marine Parade Central Food Centre

Pricing

S$3 or S$5 a plate

Otoko Ramen - The Place for the Best Chashu So Far! @ Alexandra Central Mall (the Old Safra Clubhouse Bukit Merah Premise)

Anyone who dropped by Queensway shopping centre in the past would not have missed the building that had mannequins in army wear seemingly rappelling a rockwall on its facade; the old Safra clubhouse @ Bukit Merah. 

With its prominent location, i can imagine why the clubhouse was eventually relocated to the quieter Mount Faber and in its place now is a spanking new hotel (Park Hotel) with a shopping wing.

And it's the shopping section that we came for. A fellow colleague had strongly recommended one of the tenants; Otoko Ramen, tempting us with her revelation on the melt-in-your-mouth chashu that hailed from the ramen restaurant! 

Do keep in mind that the establishment was extremely tiny with a seating capacity of no more than twenty persons! Hence, you may wish to give this a miss for big-group gathering.

Shoyu Ramen

With a limited menu, it didn't take us long to decide what we want. For me, it would make better sense for me to review ramen in a ramen restaurant! I did ponder a bit on which type to order and upon sound advice from the pretty and friendly staff, i opted for shoyu! 

Topped with a generous serving of sliced cabbage and beansprouts, the broth was lightly flavoured even though my taste buds could still discern its robust fattiness! Noodles were the thin type that i generally prefer for ramen.

The bomb was on the two pieces of cha shu and i was mentally smacking myself for not ordering the cha shu ramen after i took a quick bite; it was easily the softest cha shu i ever have with a rare tenderness! I would happily exchange my favourite char siew for more pieces! 

Aburi Chashu

The chashu in the ramen was good but these totally blew me away! I was already thinking of having a second serving as i was slowly savouring the delicious meat; honestly, screw the cholesterol! 

Remember the aburi salmon i had at Standing Sushi Bar? This dish was the chashu variant and blessed with chunks of fats from slices of pork belly that were lightly grilled; they were in fact much more addictive and way more yummy! 

Should i drive to Queensway tomorrow? 

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Location

321, Alexandra Road,

#01-16, Alexandra Central Mall

Map

As above

Opening Hours

Mondays to Fridays (Lunch) - 11am to 3pm

Mondays to Fridays (Dinner) - 5pm to 10pm

Saturdays and Sundays (Full Day) - 11am to 10pm

Public Holidays (Full Day) - 11am to 10pm

Eve of Public Holidays (Full Day) - 11am to 10pm

Contact Number

+65-6250-2889

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Otoko-ramen/1602148996691822

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Shoyu Ramen (Medium) - S$12.90

Aburi Chashu - S$9.90

(Subject to GST and Service Charge)

Additional Information

For a more aromatic / flavourful broth, do use the condiments placed on your table. A sprinkling of sesame seeds did make a whole lot of difference.

Bedok Block 85 Seng Hiang Bak Chor Mee Soup (成香肉脞面) @ Fengshan Food Centre [Singapore]

The soup style bak chor mee is a signature must-have whenever one visits Bedok 85 hawker centre but i did get into a state of confusion when i stood in front of two different stalls, side by side, selling the same dish and brandishing as many accolades. 

Xing Ji versus Seng Hiang - those who have been following this blog and instagram would know my choice has always been stuck with Xing Ji although yesterday, i decided to take the plunge by ordering from Seng Hiang! 

It was an instantaneous verdict upon my first taste of the soup after a wait of close to 30 minutes - it was too bland and in a comparative sense, less flavourful than Xing Ji. Even mom, a self professed soup lover who tried out Xing Ji the previous round, had the same opinion.

In terms of ingredients, noodles were cooked al-dente and you get your usual pork balls, minced meat and pieces of pork lard. Again, i didn't find the meat balls to be exceptional; both stalls should consider outsource the purchase to Cheng Mun Chee Kee! 

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Now that i have tried both stalls, i think i would stick to my usual Xing Ji Rou Cuo Mian (興記肉脞面) in the future. 

Location

85 Bedok North Street 4, Stall 01-08, 

Fengshan Centre, aka Bedok 85 Hawker Centre

Price

Small Minced Pork Noodles (Soup) - S$2.50 a bowl

Additional Information 

For review on Lin Yuan Satay, click here. 

For review on Xing Ji Bak Chor mee, click here. 

For review on Bedok North 85 Fried Oyster, click here. 

For review on Chong Pang Bedok 511 Main Branch Satay, click here. 

Sushi Den Salmon Sashimi & Umi Nigiri Set @ Terminal 21 [Bangkok]

It's funny that instead of having local food for all my meals in Bangkok, i was more keen in checking out the Japanese restaurants instead; sometimes, i do wonder if i am pregnant in the mental sense since i can be obsessive when it comes to satisfying my craving! 

With the above in mind, let me bring you to my second Japanese restaurant in my four days, three nights visit to the capital of Thailand; Sushi Den! 

Seated at the bar counter (which was the only kind of seating around), i was in a fix on what to order since i was alone; should it be sashimi or should i take on the sushi set? Pricing wasn't cheap and a single piece of uni sushi will set me back by about S$11!

Salmon Sashimi

I simply could not resist and boy was i pleased with what i had; just like Tohkai Sushi, each slice was thicker and larger than what we have in Singapore! However, the taste was a just a notch lower when compared to Tohkai Sushi.

Freshly grated wasabi again! Honestly, the real thing was so much better; spicier definitely. I put just a bit on the first piece of sashimi before rolling it up and using my deft chopstick skill, dabbed it in the soy sauce before placing the entire content into my mouth. Almost choked my guts out! 

Umi Nigiri Set 

With an arranged dinner that was just an hour away, i must be crazy to be ordering this! As i mentioned right from the beginning; when the craving starts, i can be rather irrational!

Didn't find the content exceptional but i am not a raw food connoisseur; my only negative feedback was with the ika sushi which tasted fishy although it wasn't that bad enough for me to remove it from the tray.  

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Location

LG Floor,

Terminal 21 Shopping Centre

[Next to Asok BTS Station]

Menu

Do refer to the 2nd and 3rd photographs.

Pricing

Salmon Sashimi - 240 baht

Umi Nigiri Set - 250 baht

[Subject to VAT and Service Charge]

Charcoal Black Honey Thick Toast - Definitely Caught Me By Surprise @ Stateland Cafe

I was supposed to bring my friends to try out the toffee nut waffle that was ingrained in my mind as a darn good dessert to conclude a food-filled trail but our dear Stateland Cafe had decided to overhaul their menu! 

In spite of complaints that they were too full, we could not help ordering one main course and two servings of desserts. To be fair, they were to be shared among five persons. 

Mentaiko A.O

A.O means Aglio Olio by the way and i have been waiting to try mentaiko for the longest time ever after reading a few postings about it by Cheeserland.com!

Personally, i really enjoyed the extremely strong infusion of garlic that had a generous sprinkling of chilli flakes and with a dollop of salty, savoury mentaiko! It was like placed in a different genre of pasta altogether and the only two complaints were; too oily and way too much garlic! 

Banana Creme Brulee

From the way it was branded, you should get an inkling this would be the few instances where the ingredients would likely over-shine the waffles.

We were right; the two thin slices of caramelised banana, candied walnuts and sugar glass were delicious to have for any person with a sweet tooth and, the cinnamon scented yeasted waffle was in comparison, bland. 

Charcoal Thick Toast

Thick toast is the rage nowadays and Stateland Cafe made the bread themselves to ensure their freshness! This being my first time sinking my teeth in the trendiest dessert in Singapore, i wasn't expecting much and thought it could likely be similar to the thick thick, gao gao toast found in some kopitiams.

So, so wrong! The crunchy texture was a nice prelude of what was to follow a few moments later; an amalgamation of buttery sweetness as a result of honeyed toast, liquid marshmallows, coconut ice cream, salted caramel and toasted nuts! So good i was actually willing to buy another plate just for myself! And no, it didn't taste burnt at all! 

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Location

32, Bali Lane 

[Parallel to Haji Lane]

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Mentaiko A.O - S$13.90

Banana Creme Brulee - S$14.90

Charcoal Thick Toast - S$14.90

Sukhumvit Soi 38 Food Street (Night) @ Bangkok [Thailand]

Honestly, i didn't know anything about Sukhumvit Soi 38 until someone shared a posting by AroiMakMak (a comprehensive blog guide for Bangkok lovers) and i knew then that i had to check it out in my next visit!

I was surprised that the street wasn't as long and as crowded as i thought it would be at dinnertime; kind of feel bad to suggest this place to the rest of the travel mates who might be better off staying put at Pratunam.

Since both Alex and i still had some time to spare before meeting up with the rest, we walked around to get a feel of the atmosphere. The lack of bustle, unlike in places like Chinatown etc, had him asking me twice if this was indeed famous.

Nevertheless, i was unfazed as my main objective in visiting was to check out the Daniel Thaiger mobile food truck that served supposedly awesome American burgers! Couldn't find it at all! :( Maybe it wasn't the opening hours yet.

Met up with the rest at 7.00 pm and i had to bring a fellow friend to seek out shops that sell slippers as one of her had slipped through the wide gap between the platform and train at the BTS station! One piece of useful information should the same happen to you; visit the 7-11 convenience stores!

When i was back after twenty minutes, the street was in "night mode". It was more crowded although not on the massive scale i had expected. Anyway, i found the whole group in the area as reflected in the direction of the red arrow above.

Quite a number of food establishments along the street for them to choose and being Singaporeans / Malaysians, they have to choose one with sheltered seating! Haha. To be fair, that inlet had about 4-5 food stalls which would have been sufficient for a varied meal.

Many of them were halfway through their meal and a friend's daughter offered me a stick of the BBQ chicken (20 baht; less than S$1); so fattening yet so good!

I also stole a bite from the fried rice and fried oyster; former was deliciously infused with wok hei while the latter just affirmed my conviction that fried oyster outside of Malaysia and Singapore would not likely appeal to our taste buds. 

Fruit Juice

I was in need of liquid more than food due to a filling "tea break" at Tohkai Sushi and the haste in finding new slippers! The one right at the start of the soi looked quite popular and i started queuing in front of a Japanese customer.

Price list for your ease of reference (generally less than S$2 a cup)!

Guess Yogurt fruit juice has yet to catch on in Bangkok but i am fine with purely fruit-based juices. From the look of the above, want to guess what would be my eventual choice?

I usually could not resist passionfruit juice although i had a suspicion that sweet syrup was added to this cup to improve its palatability.

Rotini

After gushing down the passionfruit juice in record time, i was in seek of desserts which would sweeten my stomach further and this stall with a wide range or roti caught my attention.

Went with the best seller; roti + egg + banana + chocolate at 55 baht. 

This wasn't my first time trying this Thai style roti which was supposed to be similar to the roti prata we have back in Singapore; albeit sweeter. The one at Rotini tasted more like thicker crepes and apart for the saccharine slices of banana, wasn't my cup of tea.

Ning's Mango Sticky Rice

Next up was the mango sticky rice (80 baht or 100 baht, depending on size of mangoes)! Put it this way, with that many ripe mangoes (and accolades) sticking into your face, it would be a total waste if you didn't order any! 

The way she handled and manipulated the small knife was so precise! I would hate to get into a fight with her lest she cuts my main artery with just one fast swipe. 

Served with warm glutinous rice drenched in fresh coconut milk, the mangoes were sweet and complemented so well with the sweet mango! 

The biting sensation was enhanced further with the crispy mung beans on the side! I think i would get super fat if i ever work in Bangkok; bet i would have this sinful dessert every single day! 

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Aside from the American burgers, the other stall i regretted not trying (no thanks to my full tummy) is the blazing Pad Thai above! So far, the only one that remains top on my list hailed from Krabi! 

Location

Sukhumvit Soi 38,

Bangkok, Thailand

How to Get There

Take BTS to Thong Lo Station and proceed towards Exit 4.

Exit 4 is actually the staircase down as shown in the above picture and Soi 38 is as indicated on the picture with a red arrow. 

For my summarised itinerary to Bangkok in 2015 

(4 days, 3 nights), click here.