Chi Cheong Fan (猪肠粉) @ Kovan Ponggol Nasi Lemak

猪肠粉, Chi Cheong Fan, Rice noodles Roll that is made from Rice & Peanut milk aka 米浆. Steaming method is used to steam the rice & Peanut milk to the state of which is similar to kway tiow but much thinner. The rice grains are soaked in water for minimum of 6 hours until the grains are bloated and expanded before it is grind with a ratio of peanuts to liquid form. Any shortcut to the process will caused rough texture of the milk.

This dish is found mainly in Dim Sum stalls and is of great favourite to many chinese especially the Hongkong people. Due to the demand of diners, ingredients are added to make it more appealing, from mushrooms to chicken and durain are added to it.

A piece of white cloth is placed over the boxed steamer before the milk is poured over it with the toppings on and steamed to cook for about 40sec to a min. The cloth is then lifted and placed on a flat, lightly oiled surface to detach the cloth and the cooked cheong fan. It is then rolled & cutted into small pieces and served with different sauces with white sesame seeds and chilli while served.

Situtated at the Ponggol Nasi Lemak coffeeshop at Kovan, this stall served this dish that is delicate & tasty. The skin is cooked perfectly maintaining the moisture & tender skin that melts in your mouth. The texture is smooth and aromatic sesame smells fills your taste bud, while the slight saltiness from the sauce & heat of the chilli aroused your senses. Steaming time of the skin is the main factor of accomplishing the kongfu of the chef. Over steaming results in toughness of the skin, causing it to have tough biye feel and rubbery taste while under steaming it causes it to be soggy and retain the raw, powery after taste.

Light soya sauces coupled with fried shallot oil & fragrance oil (香油) are brought to boil and splashed on the Cheong Fan before serving, garnished with deep friend shallot and spring onions which adds colours and extra taste to it.

#whatsfood#hawkerfood#zhuchangfen#chicheongfan#fatdieme#kovan#ponggolnasilemak#dianxin.

Add: 965 Upp Serangoon rd.
$: $2.50 onwards.

Follow me on my Instagram @whatsfood for more food reviews.

Saveur The French Dining for the mass.

Saveur French cuisine is a local setup that offers our masses the chance of fine french dining experience at an affordable price with a more relaxing setup.

Thou affordable but yet quality of the food is of no frills. Plating of the cuisine was nicely done and served hot as the food should be. Service was great with polite staffs with recommendations for you on the choice of food.

Entrée, Plat Principaux & Desert is the flow for fine dining, which is recommended here as well on a casual dining setup.

Mushroom cappuccino is served in a coffee cup with foams, like the way cappuccino is served. It does makes the soup nicely presented especially with the thinnly sliced mushrooms adds the presentation of the soup better. Savoury & heavy flavoured of mushrooms made it a sort after item to order almost on every table. The scent of the mushroom fills your mouth and tiny bits of mushrooms adds flavours to it. Thick and smooth texture of the soup flows like the water in the streams into the back of your tongue.

Garden salad ~ Mesclun with lemon vinaigrette with quails egg, olive, cherry tomatos with sliced parmesen chesse is a good mix to start with. The acidic mixture with crunchiness of the greens opened up the taste bud while it clears your mouth and excites your taste bud for the Plat Principaux.

Foie Gras pan fried till lightly charred that gives you a nice fragrance while you sink your teeth into the soft, buttery foie gras that melts in your mouth. Served with lentils and pickled pearl onions which strike a balance to the buttery foie gras with it's acidic taste.

Signature dish of Duck Confit lives up to expectation with the nicely roasted skin till crisp but yet tenderness of the flesh remains. As usual the bone detached itself the moment you slide your knife under. Below the drumstick is a sizeable serving of mashed potatoes which separated the drum and adds layers of colour to the dish. Satuè button mushrooms reduced the sinfulness of the duck while adding bite feel.

Pork belly is tender with crackling skin that enhance the bite feel. Nicely seasoned with slight saltiness, the meat is served with a softboiled egg which neutralise the meat with another smooth feel when the pork slides down your throat. Lentils neutralise the oily feel to the pork belly but trust me... it's never needed as the pork is roasted to perfection without any lard lingering on the serving.

Freshness of the Baked Seabass is a highlight to the dish itself, coupled with pan cooked potato cubes that is crispy outside yet soft inside.
The sea taste of the fish brings you back to the open sea just like it's caught right infront of you.

Beef tenderloin is well sealed and lightly seasoned without overwhelming the sweet taste of the beef. Juicy and tender and the moment you sink your teeth into the meat, the beef juicy would just oozed it's way out filling your mouth with the taste of beef. Served with mixture of sides from sweet baby carrot, red radish, sauté mushroom, potato au grantin and carrot puree adds colors and flavours to the beef. Sweetness is what this dish's about.

Desert is a must try especially Pistachio Penna Cotta which is nutty yet soft and smooth.
Texture of Cirtrus is a cold desert which is a favourite for sour taste buds. Lined with different acidity of fruits gives you a refreshing experience.  Coolness and sourish taste relax and refresh your taste buds and brings your back to the remembrance of the dishes you had just tried.
Chocolate hazelnut is a baby to those with sweet tooth. Chocolate mousse topped with bits of raspberries, hazelnuts & toasted rice puffs lifted diners ,especially ladies, into cloud nine. Sweetness with mixture of sourish raspberries offers you a totally different feeling of drifting in and out between sweet happiness and moments of sadness.

Overall experience has been great and  gladly to say that the chefs does put in their heart and soul into bring happiness to diners with their great food and affordability in people.

Coy: Saveur (Far East Plz, Purvis St)
Cost: $30~$50/pax depending if you drink.
Opening: Daily
No phone bookings allowed

The owners are a pair of youngsters whom are into french dining which till date they have total of 3 outlets with 1 in another brand name.

French cooking techniques are time consuming and plating plays a big part in the cuisine, it's not only food but an art to its own way.

#whatsfood#frenchfood#saveur#fatdieme#duckconfit#porkbelly#panna#sgfood#gourmetlife#desert#lovefood#fareastplaza

Follow me on
my Instagram @whatsfood
Or
blogspot www.hisfoodlife.blogspot.sg for more photos and reviews.

First Thai an authentic flavour

Spicy and sour is the first thought to many when it comes to Thai food. Namely tom yum soup, green curry, mango glutinous rice and many others.

Sitting quietly in left corner of the Purvis Street once you enter the street, frankly nothing will attract you to this shop and would be easily missed and drive past. But during lunch hours and when the night falls (after 630pm), the people standing outside will draw your attention.

Non air conditioning with just few fans around, increased your Thailand feeling further with the humid weather. We were there early at 615pm ,before the Q started, having the luxury of taking our time to decide the menu. 

Ordering goes like this: Deep Fried sweet & sour fish, sambal chilli kang kong, stirred fried cai sim, Thai fish cake, Thai prawn cake, pandan chicken, seafood tom yum, cereal softshell crab, green curry chicken, deep fried golden mushrooms & deep fried chicken wings (which was cancelled due to overordering).

The fish is deep fried till golden crispy but the tenderness of the flesh spells the freshness of the fish, coupled with the tingly sour and slight sweetness brings the aromatic scent to your taste bud.
Pandan chicken are well flavoured with thinly sliced green lemon leaves and chunky piece of chicken thigh brings great flavour to the dish.
Sambal kangkong is slightly different in the kind of ingredients that is used, chilli padi and lots of chopped garlic with some sambal are used to fry it. The heat from the chilli could be too overwhelming for some diners but it offers you the great Thailand feel.
The other must try dish would be the cereal softshell crab that is deep fried till golden brown without killing the tenderness of the crab.
Die die must order is the Prawn cake which is similar to fish cake but it is filled with prawn meat and some onions fills your mouth with the smell of prawns.
Tom yum seafood soup is sourish & spicy which when you drink it hot, it clears your block nose instantly. The taste of fresh seafood is like blended and mixed so well into the soup that the physical seafood in the serving are seen purely for garnishing.
Brasil Chicken is a traditional Thailand food which is often served with rice and omelette, the brasil has an pungent scent that is aromatic to some but a turned off as well for those that didn't like it. Minced chicken meat with some finely chopped garlic, slight chilli and lots of brasil leaves stirred fried till cooked is a well received dish by diners.
The drinks that you must order is the Thailand milk tea which tasted, looked & smells like what you get in Thailand.  The sweetness just right and nice tea-ly smell of the roasted tea leaf that definitely lifted up your senses.

Sadly to say that we missed the glutinous rice with mango which is the top seller which is usually sold out at lunch. The stall makes only a limited serving due to the constraint of quality mangoes.  I will definitely make my way back another time to capture a session with this top seller.

Coy: First Thai
Add: 23 Purvis Street
Cost: ~ $25 - $40/pax.

Follow me for more local food on
Instagram @whatsfood
Blogspot www.hisfoodlife.blogspot.sg

Farewell Longhouse,Thank you for the 14yrs

Long House (Upper Thomson Road) ~ Bidding farewell to thomson after setting their foodtrace here 14years ago. Yesterday was the last day of business for the many stall holders and diners who had patronised the chicken rice, duck rice, prawn noodles & many other tasty local favourites.

Most of the stalls are shifting to Balestial Road where its newer and bigger with more ample parkings. The rest of the other stalls will be moving to Tyrwhitt Road which is just infront of the Jalan Besar Stadium, which among the few are Soon Kee Lor Duck Rice & Te Wei Popiah & Rojak. The duck rice is a traditional teochew styled braised duck with spics served with yam rice or white porridge, with thick savoury braised sauce bringing more flavours to the dish.

Bidding goodbye to Long house ,which was brought over by TEE Land with $45.2M, will be developed into residential & Commercial. But the Love for food wasn't going to end here, the new locations might bring more sparks to life of other foodies when you pay them a visit.

ADD: 100 Tyrwhitt Road (Jalan Besar Stadium)
&
411 Balestial Road (Balestial Market)

#longhouse #chickenrice # Prawnnoodles #gorengbisiang #duckrice #fatdieme #whatsfood #onenation #singapore #onenation #hawkerfood

Follow me at my Instagram @whatsfood

Roti Prata along Braddell Road (upper serangoon road).

Roti Prata is a 24hrs favourite food by many  local singaporeans. Dough is kneaded, flip and tossed stretching it to thin skin and mostly topped with eggs, onions, cheese & other ingredients, pan frying it to crisp and eaten with curry or sugar.

This stall is hidden in a secluded coffee shop at the junction of Braddell Road and Upper Serangoon Road heading towards Nex Shopping Mall. The indian stall owner has been serving this traditional indian food for many years, a decade at least.
The roti itself is of no taste, not slight saltiness compared to other stalls. You could taste the slight burnt smell and crispiness of the dough if you order a plain. Coupled with his spiced curry with hot heat of chilli and  the mutton-ry favour smell, lifted the experience of this delicacy.  The curry is heavily spiced with anil star, cinnamon, curry leaves and chilli enhanced your taste bud. Might be slightly hot for some but the heat just made things better when you dip the steaming hot roti into the curry before sending it into you mouth. 

They also sell curry mutton which is cooked to perfection. Soft and savoury with great herby smells which took off much of the "mutton smell" that some are often turned off by it.

The stall operates until about 1pm before it closes for the day so diners who are keen to visit, you should do so in the morning. 

Price Range from $1.~$2 depending on the roti you order.

Add: 2 Braddell Road

Follow me on Instagram @whatsfood. 

#breakfast#fatdieme#whatsfood#curry#rotiprata#sgfood#onenation#singapore#mutton#upperserangoon

Losing food heritage ~ Long house @ Thomson

Prawn noodles, Chicken Rice, Hebal Soup, Duck Rice, Goreng Pisang are few of the popular stalls which had been with Long House since they started back in 2006. They will be moving out on 20th April 2014 to 2 different locations.

Food lovers had been patronising this place for their wide range of food from Chinese, Malay, Korean to Thai food.

The top of the list of food is mainly Bugis Chicken Rice, Duck Rice, Goreng Pisang & Prawn Noodles.

Today I bid my farewell to Long House with a bowl of Ah Hui Prawn noodles (哑辉虾面).
Dry yellow noodle with pork ribs & prawn with chilli, garnished with fried shallots which gives you a crunchy bite feel. The chilli seems rather normal but if you add a little more the heat would be pretty intense.  The mixture of the chilli together with some light soya sauce and frangence oil enhanced and lift up the smell and taste of the noodles.

The pork ribs is moist & tender which pulls away from the bone effortlessly.  The prawns are fresh and sweet and the flesh is just nicely tough for you to get the chewy texture which leaves you wanting more of their prawns. 

Their soup is one of those rare find as the owner added minced garlic to their soup. Surprisingly, it enhance the already thick prawny flavoured soup. The garlic complement the soup by lifting up the smell of the soup with its own flavour and lightly smoothing the prawn smell which some may not like. Prawn-ers lover should give it a shot before it shifted out of Longhouse food centre on 20/4/14.

Some mightnot know that Longhouse food centre property at Upper Thomson Road bought at $678,000, sold for $45.2 million

March 31, 2014 Business
Property value increased by a staggering 6,667% after 34 years.

By Belmont Lay

For those of you who haven’t gotten wind of this news: The site in Upper Thomson Road where Longhouse food centre is situated has been sold off for an earth-shattering $45.2 million.

The last day of operations for the eatery is on April 20.

Hawkers, with the help of Longhouse’s affable owner, will be moving to two locations: Six of them are relocating to Balestier Market along Balestier Road, while five others are moving to a coffee shop in Jalan Besar.

Longhouse is run by Ng Choon Gim, a former property lawyer. The property was bought by his late father for $678,000 in 1980, which was subsequently leased to fast food chain A&W for eight years.

Kopitiam Group leased the premises for two years before it was left unused from 1990 to 2000.

Long House then began operations in 2000, with Ng taking over in 2006.

This sale can easily rival that of Tong Seng Coffeeshop, the pretty famous Halal eatery located along North Bridge Road — opposite Bugis Junction — that was valued and believed to be sold for about $18 million.

Long House’s imminent closure comes hot on the heels of news that Lavender Food Square will be gone before the end of 2014 to be redeveloped into an office