Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood Restaurant July 14, 2008

After being away from Singapore for a good 8 months to finish my last year in university, I came back and was craving for some seriously good Chilli Crabs. So last week I mentioned to a group of friends my desire and two of them started raving about this place on Causarina Road that had brilliant Chilli Crabs and out of this world Oyster Omelette. I was desperate so I happily set aside a night for them to bring me to this place. When my friend turned up to pick me from my house, I was suprised to find that this ‘gem’ was just a 5 minute drive from my house! Where have I been the last 21 years?? It was a Thursday night and when we arrived at 7pm, it was surprisingly packed. All tables were occupied and of course there was a big bowl of Chilli Crab in the middle of every table. We quickly ordered a crab, oyster omelette and shrimp-paste fried chicken.

Ten minutes later our shrimp-paste fried chicken had arrived.

It was evenly fried, not at all oily but to be honest I have tasted better.

Steamboat Buffets = Comfort Food June 2, 2008

This afternoon, I gave the oven a rest and popped down to Newcastle, England with my housemate, J. It is about 10 minutes by train from the little town where I study and in Newcastle, there is a (rather small) Chinatown. In this Chinatown, there is a buffet restaurant. Chinese buffet restaurants in England, in my opinion, are horrible. But there is something about the wide selection of greasy deep-fried or stir-fried “chinese” food that is rather comforting. A restaurant my friends and I recently discovered is No. 1 Oriental Buffet Restaurant. For 12.99 pounds, you get both the cooked food buffet and a steamboat/ hotpot buffet too. It actually is quite a good deal since it is a pain to make our own steamboat. What I really like about this place is that they have a wide selection of pork dishes and one of my all-time favourites…

Tofu!! )) I heart Tofu. But every time I look at them in the supermarket whilst grocery shopping, my heart breaks a little. Here is why. I always buy the Organic Firm Tofu from Waitrose which used to cost 1.38 pounds. However it is no secret food prices have hit sky-high and my tofu have also been affected. Right before I left for my New York holiday at the end of March it increased to 1.45 pounds per pack and when I came back a week later, the price had climbed to 1.55 pounds. With that, I ended my love affair with tofu. Thus when I first visited this restaurant I was so beeswaxly excited about the tofu that I ate all I could!

Anyhow moving on to the buffet. One can not expect Wagyu beef or abalone but one can expect luncheon meat, more tofu, crabs, fishballs and crab sticks. Er yes, I pay 12.99 to eat all the luncheon meat my tummy can hold. Oh, and another thing this place has, Bubble Tea. Er yes again, I pay an extra 2 pounds for Bubble Tea. Rest assured this is not an everyday thing.

Bubble Tea in a pint glass. Only in England

Left is a Chicken Stock Base and on the right, Chongqing Spicy Soup.

Vanessa’s Dumplings April 15, 2008

This is a place to go if you need to try bad dumplings so as to appreciate the good ones i.e. Fu Zhou Cuisine a.k.a Dumpling House. Located a few doors down from Dumpling House on Eldridge St, I only went into this place because it was 9am, I was craving some dumplings and it was the only place open. Here is why I think it was bad.

a) They took a bloody long time to cook this making me stand around till my legs hurt.

b) They were real generous… with the skin!

Cute little dumplings. Looks can be are deceiving.

Chanoodle (updated) April 5, 2008

Located on 79 Mulberry Street, this was my trip’s biggest surprise. When I first walked in, most of the tables were occupied by Caucasians and I swore under my breath (there wasnt even chopsticks on the table!) I have this issue with Chinese restaurants being filled up with the non-Chinese but here I was visiting this restaurant from the recommendation from a Caucasian. I am my biggest irony. Anyway anticipating a bad meal, I was still eager to test Ed Levine’s reviews and sat down. Looking at the menu, I decided to order their fried clams with minced pork because Ed (yes I am on first name terms with him now, JK) said their pork and clam dishes were good. About 5 minutes later it arrived, oh and by the way, the staff were real friendly.

My first thought was, it looked good, and spent the first few minutes rummaging the pile of clams to see how much there was and boy oh boy were there a lot! Plus the clams were actually big and juicy (I am so deprived here in England.) The fried garlic was lovely too though I did not spot much minced pork. I happily tucked into this dish the whole time extremely pleased with myself.

Towards the end of my clam dish, I heard a gentleman behind me ordering an Egg Foo Yong and all of a sudden I was craving for an omelette. So I looked up the menu and realised there was no Egg Foo Yong so I asked the waitress who tells me it is off the menu. I ordered one nonetheless with pork, no less, and she said to wait 15 minutes. So I did. But roughly less than 10 minutes later, I saw her holding a big plate walking towards me. That plate did not look like it had omelette on it. Instead it was this…

Big Wong’s April 5, 2008

Located on 67 Mott Street, this was one place I was seriously unimpressed. Recommended by Ed Levine, I ordered their BBQ Spare Ribs which came in a small plate and at US$5.75, I really wanted it to be good. -Poof!- a serious let down.

New Chow Chao April 5, 2008

Located on 111 Mott Street in Chinatown, I descended upon New Chow Chao after reading from Ed Levine. He said the Wonton Soup was fabulous so I ordered a bowl. It arrived looking like this…

Joe’s Shanghai April 5, 2008

Joe’s Shanghai at 9 Pell Street is one of the most highly recommended restaurants in Chinatown. Walking into the restaurant, it is also plain obvious it is one of the most successful with their large tables and more expensive-looking chairs. But, damn, an Alicia Keys song was playing O_o

Anyhow Joe’s is famous for their Xiao Long Bao (XLB as I like to call it) and I did not hesitate to order one for myself. It took a while to arrive which made me think they were preparing it fresh.

When it arrived, the XLB looked lopsided to me, then I realised its because it had an unusually great amount of soup in it.

I honestly think Joe’s has one of the best XLB around. The soup was surprisingly flavourful to me and I had such a great time slurping all 8 of them up.

Great NY Noodletown April 5, 2008

Located on 28 1/2 Bowery and on the corner of Chinatown Ice-Cream Factory, is this Chinese restaurant recommended by Ed Levine. You must be thinking, what is a Singaporean Chinese doing going to places recommended by a caucasian??? I was a little apprenhensive at first but out of the four places on the list I tried, 3 were actually good. One of the places I tried was Great NY Noodletown. Walking in, it was fairly empty as it was still quite early so I plonked down and read the menu on the table.

Egg Custard King April 5, 2008

Egg Custard King in Chinatown, NYC, is truly surprising. Never in my adult life have I imagined one of the best egg tarts I have ever tried will be in America, much less NYC. When I went into the shop, there was a tray of freshly baked egg tarts and I of course could not resist trying one.

(How could anyone resist these babies?!)

Dumpling House April 5, 2008

All hail 5 dumplings for a dollar! Located on 99 Allen Street, this was a tiny store that sold the simplest dishes. 5 fried dumplings for a dollar and boy is life good!