Ambush Sausage and Pasta Bar

Hidden in a small corner of Takashimaya lies this small shop. It was really ambushed literally. But I'm glad it was introduced to me by my buddy. Here's my short review as always:

Soup of the day and Garlic Bread and drink: $3.80

Comments: A set meal consists of a Soup of the Day and a garlic bread, topped with a drink.

Linguine with Japanese Baby Scallops with Cream Fish Roe Sauce: $11.20

Comments: Really loved how the sauce was really creamy, they gave a lot of scallops too, unlike other places that give a few only. The noodle was soft and nice, sauce was not too salty.

Wild Salmon with Linguine $11.80

Comments: The salmon was cooked perfectly, the mayonnaise seems like a mis-matched though. As I'm not a fan of tomato sauce pasta, I found the sauce a bit salty, but my friend said it was ok.

Slipper Lobster Pasta : $14.20

Comments: I did really taste the dish, but my friend said it was ok.

Overall review: A good alternative to the usual Pasta Mania. The only bad thing about the place is that it's small, and if you go during dinner time, you might not find a seat. But the service staff are really friendly because they actually asked a couple to switch places so that they could free up the table for my bigger group.

Recommendation: 7.5/10

Details of the place: 391 Orchard Road #B2-04 Takashimaya

Tel: +65 6726 8303

Dae Bak Korean BBQ Restaurant

2nd time trying the Korean BBQ type of food. An expensive genre of food but the food is nice and the meat is succulent and delicious.

Chanced upon this shop while looking for food along Amoy street and I was glad it was a nice find. Here's my short review:

Korean BBQ stove with fried omelette egg

Comments: The good thing about Korean BBQ is that the condiments (kimchi, salad, pickles, etc) are free flow, including the egg. Finish just ask them to top up.

Lettuce with Salad Sauce

Pickles

Prime Wagyu Rib $28

Comments: My friends were not really fans of Beef, but I always love a nice steak or piece of wagyu rib, so I ordered it and I was not disappointed. The meat was thickly sliced, and after BBQing it, it tasted really juicy. As you can see the white parts are the fat and that is actually the best part of the meat.

Herb Pork Belly $20

Comments: For people who don't take beef, there's always pork belly. Having a whole slab of pork belly seems intimidating, but they will give you a pair of scissors and you can cut it according to your preference. I recommend bbq-ing the whole slab then cutting it as it keeps the juices in. Just marinating the pork belly with salt seems simple but the meat is really fresh and tender so you can really enjoy the taste of the meat instead of marination.

Spicy Chicken: $18

Comments: If you don't take beef and you scared of pork belly, then I guess the only meat left is chicken. The chicken tasted ok. Even though it was spicy chicken, but it was not that spicy at all. The meat was also really tender.

BBQing the Prime Rib and Pork Belly

Dinner Bean Soup: $21 (Big)

Comments: This soup is tasty I must say. Had a lot of ingredients in it. Mostly seafood. My friend said that the one he tasted in Korea was better, but this was not bad either. It comes like a steamboat, just nice to go with the meat.

Overall review: Really liked the place even though it was a bit small. The pricing of the meats are quite expensive, so it's best to go as a group. I went as a group of 4 and spent about $20+ dollars per person. They have other dishes, but it's weird to go to a Korean-BBQ restaurant without ordering their meat to BBQ. They have free flow of lettuce, so you could wrap the lettuce with the egg(dip in their sauce) and the meat. Taste delicious!

Recommendation: 8/10 (the pricing may set you back a little)

Details of the place: 98 Amoy Street Singapore 069918
Tel: +65 6226 0450

Song Fa Day & Night Bak Kut Teh

Bak Kut Teh, loosely translated to Spare Ribs Tea. But what it is is really a herbal soup with pork ribs. A dish which our neighbors Malaysia would like to call it their national dish, but Singapore said they invented this dish. The debate continues....

Anyway I was brought to this Bak Kut Teh stall by my friend. Ordered and tried quite a lot of stuff. Here's a short review

Pig's Liver and Tail $6.50 

Comments: The liver was cooked just nice, not over-cooked. The tail given was thick and fatty which was also nice.

Braised Pig Trotters $6.00

Comments: The sauce was not too salty. The trotters, fat but they de-bone it. I would prefer sucking the meat off the bone rather than just eating just the meat alone.

 Salted Vegetables $2.20

Comments: Was not that salty. Just nice.

Pork Ribs Soup $6.50

Comments:  The meat was quite lean, but nicely cooked to peal the meat off the bone. Did not really like the soup as it was quite peppery. I prefer the herbal type of soup, but it is hardly found in Singapore.

Overall review: A nice place, though a bit small. A good bak kut teh joint must have refillable soup and this place refills your soup when asked to. A bit expensive. If you want to enjoy most of their dishes, it's best to go as a group.

Recommendation: 6/10 (there are nicer and cheaper options at other places)

Details of the place: 17 New Bridge Road #01-01 Singapore 059386 (opposite The Central @ Clarke Quay Station)

Business Hours: 11.00 a.m - 10.00 p.m Closed on Monday

They have 2 shops, but both are the same.

Tel: +65 6438 2858

Amoy's Chicken Rice War (White Chicken)

As a worker in Tanjong Pagar, my favorite place for food is Amoy Food Centre. I realise at one place there are so many chicken rice stalls, I decided to try all of them and see which was the nicest. My "survey" was fair, ordered chicken thigh for all. Ordered all around the same price of $3-$3.50

Shenton Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice #02-104 

Chilli: Spicy (no ginger provided)

Rice: Not very oily, fragrant, adding the chicken gravy enchances the taste

Soup: Nice chicken soup with a slight ginger taste

Chicken: Soft, tender, love the sauce, boneless makes it easy to eat

Recommendation: 8/10 Excellent. Cost $3.50. A set cost $4 and it comes with oyster sauce veg.

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Tong Fong Fatt Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice #01-43
A stall patronized by our PM Lee and his father before. Won a lot of awards as shown on their billboard.

Chili: Not fantastic (Provides ginger)

Rice: Not so oily, adding the chili mix with the black sauce and ginger enhances the taste of the rice.

Soup: Chicken soup with a strong ginger taste

Chicken: After de-boning, the chicken not much meat left. Chicken don't have that layer of oil that gives the chicken the edge in taste.

Recommendation: 6/10 normal, for $3.50 the portion was quite small

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Da Cheng Hainan Chicken Rice #01-53 (closed down)

Chili: A bit like sweet chili instead of chicken rice chili, not well pounded. (Provides ginger)

Rice: Dry and clumpy, not much flavor.

Soup: Soup full of flavor. Gives a big bowl.

Chicken: Dry even though it was suppose to be thigh

Recommendations: So-So 5/10 Ordered $3, they gave more rice but chicken portion was quite small.

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Xiang Xiang Hainanese Chicken Rice #01-02

Chili: Pounded chili, slightly water (Provides ginger)

Rice: Close to plain rice, not much flavor

Soup: Nice chicken and cabbage taste

Chicken: Tender but the sauce was really salty

Recommendations: So-So 5/10. Ordered $3. Loved the soup and chicken but disappointed with the salty sauce and rice. If you do not want to queue, this may be the stall you will go to.

Hope you all enjoy this write up. For all CBD workers, if you craze for chicken rice, at least you know which stall you will want to go to.

Detail of the place: Amoy Food Centre.

Nearest MRT: Tanjong Pagar Exit Cecil Street.