Ramen: Not just your "noodles in soup" (Ramen Champion, Trial 2)

Following my research on Ramen Champion @ Bugis Iluma and our first trial for Who's the Ramen Champion?, I've learned to stereotypically explaining ramen as "noodles in soup" does not do justice to represent what ramen really is. Although at my level of skills, I am unable to put "ramen" in words, I think it's best for one to explore "ramen" in their food adventures, or hopefully with the photos and comments below.

I actually went to Ramen Champion three times in this two weeks, but not planning to write them in order, because I want to put this two ramen side by side for a comparison. This covers part of my 2nd and 4th visit.

The one type of ramen that most Japanese/ramen restaurants in Singapore never have on their menu is the tsukemen ramen. Tsukemen literally means "dipping noodles" - yes, ramen don't just come in soup! The soup broth is prepared so thick that makes "dipping" the best way to taste your noodles.

First up, we have Tetsu's version of tsukemen - the Very Rich! Paitan Tsukemen! Describing the soup as "very rich" is an understatement. I'd like to call it "concentrated" - as if it has gone through a distillation process to retain just the essence of the broth. No kidding! (Not advisable to drink the soup alone.) Concentrated to the point that they serve you a third bowl worth of broth.

Pros: The paitan ("white soup") broth is super thick and flavorful (salty), generously garnished with fresh leek, and is a perfect complement with the plain soba noodles. ♥
Cons: Noodles has been aired for too long, and I prefer my ajitama to be warm. :o

Very Rich! Paitan Tsukemen from Tetsu
Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Rating: ★★★★

Fluid egg yolk and egg white on the inside. (Unfortunately, quality is not always maintained.)

Ajitama from Tetsu
Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Next up, we have Taishoken's Tsukemen Deluxe. It is said that Taishoken invented tsukemen, the "dipping noodles"!

From the looks of it, Taishoken's tsukemen appears more flavorful with the traditional ramen topping, narutomaki. The broth looks different, instead of the paitan, Taishoken's tsukemen clear soup broth is boiled from pork, chicken and anchovies.

Pros: Noodles are "smoother". I like the anchovies broth. The cha-shu has a nice roasted aroma and the fatty parts are soft that melts in your mouth. *thumbs-up!*
Cons: Although the broth is rich and good on its own, it still seems too bland to complement with the plain noodles. Taste of the broth doesn't "stick" onto the noodles by just dipping. :(

Tsukemen Deluxe from Taishoken
Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Rating: ★★★

You've just seen Trial 2 of the Ramen Championship!

Crab Bee Hoon Soup & Chicken Pies @ Don Your Personal Pie Club

Don Your Personal Pie Club (waiting for food)
Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Here is a strange shop at China Square Central, China Court, that looks like it's a pie shop - also from its name, Don Your Personal Pie Club (or "Don Your Pie" for short), but with a wonder surprise inside. Not unless you came with someone who already knew, or that you drop in for the pies (which then you would have noticed the sign by the counter) would you have known that the surprise they kept so well inside was actually, Claypot Crab Bee Hoon Soup.

I'm not sure how many have tasted crab bee hoon soup before in Singapore, because it is not a dish that we often go looking for. I have eaten chilli crab, pepper crab, butter crab, and sliced fish bee hoon soup (my favorite), now to eat them together as one dish is actually a first for me!

Three of us arrived at Don's around 11:30am on a Monday for an early lunch. Shop is nearly empty except for a few queuing for pies. Food came at around 11:50am.

Claypot Crab Bee Hoon Soup
Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Rating: ★★★★

Their signature dish: Claypot Crab Bee Hoon Soup.

To be honest, I am very impressed with the freshness of their crabs. I was a little disappointed with the soup though, which is still good, but I felt it could have a richer herbal/wine taste and bit less "milky".

Black Pepper Crab Bee Hoon (dry)
Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Rating: ★★★

For myself, I had the Black Pepper Crab Bee Hoon. Black Pepper Crab is my favorite crab dish, but I really had no idea how this would turn out. Anything in the name of "black pepper" could go totally bad if the chef had a different kind of "taste" - if you know what I mean.

Luckily for me, this dish turned out just fine. It could be a little more spicy (more black pepper!) being the usual me, although the current level of spiciness is good enough and acceptable for most people who claim they can take spicy food. I do have one suggestion, which is to make the black pepper taste cooked more integrally with the crab - you know like how black pepper crabs at the seafood restaurants are done! Right now, it is more like fresh crab with black pepper sauce over the top. I won't complain too much though, because fresh crabs are already a +1. :)

At a pie shop, it just doesn't make sense to not try their pies at all!

Chicken pie, quarter-size box
Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Chicken pie, quarter-size
Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

I guess I didn't do the pie justice by eating it cold. :\ Pies need to be eaten hot! From the cold pie that I ate, the filling is typical local/asian pies filling - mashed potato with pieces of chicken and boiled egg. I like the texture of their mashed potato, but I've never liked boiled egg, even in my curry puffs. Cold pies are cold pies after all, unfortunately. So no rating for this time. :(

But according to wx, he was very satisfied with the Chicken Shepard Pie he got! (He heated it up of course)

If you are interested in trying this out, Don Your Pie is located at 20 Cross Street, China Square Central - China Court #01-34. The crab bee hoon dishes are $19 each. (Apparently, it was only $12.50 four years ago, as reported on ieatishootipost.sg!) They also have nice "concentrated" lime and pink guava juices! The pies are an average $5 for a fair 1-person portion.

If you work in the vicinity of Raffles Place, Shenton Way, and Chinatown, they do free deliveries for orders $30-50. Check out more information on their website.

Skinny Pizza is really skinny!

Skinny Pizza. You might be thinking: Well, how "skinny" can a pizza get? -- VERY.

The skinny pizza crust from Skinny Pizza has a totally revamped taste and texture from the traditional bread crusts. For one, it cracks!!

To get an idea, it's just like Indian papadum that tastes like unsalted crackers. Crunchy and 'cracky', accompanied with freshly prepared toppings and lots of greens, it makes a light meal that keeps your stomach just satiated and not bloated. Definitely a healthier choice of pizza!

Since it was our first time there, we decided to go all out in experimental mode. We picked the 'strangest' or arguably the 'most special' pizza available. Ever seen a black pizza before? :p

Squid Ink @ Skinny Pizza
Photo edited by Pixlr-o-matic

Rating: ★★★★

Skinny pizza is really 'skinny'!
Photo edited by Pixlr-o-matic

We also tried their pasta. Our comments? Not too bad, but unless you really want to have pasta, should just stick to what they are known for next time :)

Bay Prawn Capellini @ Skinny Pizza
Photo edited by Pixlr-o-matic

Rating: ★★★

Spaghetti Aglio Olio @ Skinny Pizza
Photo edited by Pixlr-o-matic

Rating: ★★★

Is a little pricey - averages $20 per person (assuming 1 entree each - pizza or pasta) if you are okay sticking with "just water". Their pizza is definitely more worth the price considering the "healthy" value. Great for dinner!

Who's the Ramen Champion? (Trial 1)

Ramen, ramen, ramen, ramen, ramen, ramen....

I'm saying "ramen" six times because this is really what this dining place is about - Ramen.

For a ramen place, wx and I would usually just hit a RamenPlay. But this day, on a friend's recommendation, we decided to give this "authentic Japanese ramen" a try - Ramen Champion @ Bugis Iluma.

The problem was, there were actually six different ramen stalls there - Ikkousha, Gantetsu, Menya Iroha, Bario, Taishokan, and Tetsu. And since we didn't do any research beforehand (not even asked the friend what's the best there!), we could only rely on the picture menus and our instincts for good food. We literally went from stall to stall, thinking to ourselves - "ok, this one sells ramen...and this one....ramen. next one...erm, ramen too. right...that's ramen as well. so which is the one that's really really good?"

(For an overview of each of the ramen stall's specialties, read the post "Ramen Champion @ Bugis Iluma".)

I guess my instinct failed me. As I was sucked in my usual spicy-rules-all mentality, I ended up having the Spicy Miso Ajitama Ramen from Menya Iroha. For someone at my spiciness capacity, this spicy ramen is, of course, way way too mild. :p I was quite disappointed because it says in large text, "麻辣" (mara), on their menu. I also felt that the soup was too salty that this became one of the few times where I actually failed to clean my soup bowl completely. Nevertheless, I am giving credit for their tender cha-shu and half-boiled seasoned egg, ajitama.

Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Spicy Miso Ajitama Ramen

Rating: ★★

Turns out, Iroha's ajitama wasn't the best there either.

Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Where we usually see the seasoned eggs served in halves, Bario expresses their uniquely strong style by serving their ajitama as a whole egg! We were drawn to believe that perhaps this half-and-whole thing could be the secret technique to making the best seasoned eggs! Either that, or Bario's chefs are just more skillful in controlling the timings in the seasoning process, because their whole eggs, when sliced open, reveals a perfectly crystal orange-colored egg yolk. "Woah," we reacted as if we've just witnessed the Seven Wonders in the world.

But that was not all to the Bario ramen. As I mentioned, Bario's ramen is "uniquely strong," or bold.

Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Bario Ramen

Rating: ★★★★ (subject to individual's taste)

Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

wx slurping on his bowl of Bario Ramen

Whole ajitama, a bold gesture to the presentation - check. Milky-white tonkotsu (pork bone) soup base, ultra-rich - check. Bread flour noodles, thick and heavy - check. Large handful of bean sprouts/cabbage piled to a mountain-high, another bold gesture - check. Thick, bold cuts on the cha-shu - check. Garlic, for the strong taste - check. To eat the Bario Ramen is to be a bario man, which means super and strong, just like how the ramen is designed to taste. Some may not like this as much due to the strong taste.

For side dish, we went with Ikkousha's Chicken Gyoza. You should see that we enjoyed this dish very much:

Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Chicken Gyoza

Rating: ★★★★★

We had a second plate! And as soon as it arrived, wx stole a piece, thus leaving only four pieces in this photo.

Conclusion

Anyone who enjoys a single bit about Japanese ramen should find the time to dine at Ramen Champion. The wide variety allows for groups of family and friends (with different taste for food) to all enjoy their meal here.

Photo edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Bario storefront

Favor thick tonkotsu soup? Try the Bario Ramen! Definitely not the typical kind of ramen you would find elsewhere, so I would strongly recommend that you try it at least once. Find it too strong, and you can always go for something lighter next time.

As you can see, I have named this post as "Trial 1". This means that there will be more reviews on Ramen Champion coming on this blog. We are hoping to try as many different ramen at the six stalls to come up with a fair judgment of the ramen champion for the Ultimate Ramen Champion 2011 competition. So do come back for more reviews!

To learn more about Ramen Champion and the Ultimate Ramen Championship, visit their website and Facebook Page.

Ramen Champion @ Bugis Iluma

Another weekend right ahead! Are you running out of lunch/dinner ideas?

If authentic Japanese ramen interests you, then be sure to check this place out at Bugis Iluma.

Ramen Champion is a Marché-style (or food court-style) dining place where you can choose to dine from a selection of food stalls, charge all your orders to a card given, and only pay when you exit. Well, as the name suggests, Ramen Champion is all about ramen! You can find six ramen stalls there, each carrying their own specialized ramen flavor representative of different cities in Japan!

Here's an overview of all six ramen stalls at Ramen Champion:

Gantetsu [Sapporo]

See Gantetsu's menu

This one was actually recommended by a friend. But both wx and I were turned off by the massive portion of corn on the pics. 3-year award winning ramen from Sapporo - miso soup base with classic yellow ramen noodles.

Menya Iroha [Toyama]

See Iroha's menu

Toyama's ramen - the black shoyu ramen! Menya Iroha has been a 2-year ramen champion in Tokyo. Specializes in the black shoyu ramen and traditional miso with chili mara ramen.


Tai-Sho-Ken [Tokyo]

See Taishoken's menu

One of the most famous ramen shop in Tokyo. Known to have invented the tsukemen ("dipping noodles") soup broth - made from pork, chicken and anchovies, and served with soba, either on the side or in the soup.

Ikkousha [Hakata]

See Ikkousha's menu

Rich pork bone soup base with thin flat cut noodles is this Hakata ramen shop's killer combo. Ikkousha pays much attention to its ingredients. It is said that their pork bone soup base does not have the strong smell of pork bone that most ramen shops have. Their chicken gyoza is pretty good as well.

Bario [Tokyo]

See Bario's menu

Listed by Guardian UK as one of the "50 best things to eat in the world," no one should ever miss out on Bario's Jirokei (Jiro style) ramen. Super milky-white rich kyushu-style tonkotsu (pork bone) soup with thick and heavy bread flour noodles - the Bario Ramen!

Tetsu [Tokyo]

See Tetsu's menu

What used to be a small shop in quiet town is now one of the top spots for ramen in Tokyo (like a chain ramen cafe). You'll probably see Tetsu in Tokyo as much as you find a fast food restaurant in US. Tetsu's signature is also the tsukemen soup broth with soba on the side.

What kind of ramen (soup base + noodles) do you like?
Which ramen at Ramen Champion will you go for?

Find out which ramen we went for on first impression and whether we like it on the "Ramen Championship Adventure" series!

• Trial 1: Who's the Ramen Champion?
• Trial 2: Not just your "noodles in soup"

Soya Bean Pudding

Recently fallen in love with this dessert at RamenPlay:

Soya Bean Pudding!

Taken with Instagram @ RamenPlay, Bishan Junction 8

Rich soya bean fragrance, slightly sweet, nice presentation of colors white, red and green. It's like eating the beancurd dessert but in pudding form!

*thumbs up!*

Rating: ★★★★★

Making a Return...for REAL.

I decided to remove the previous post and scrap all my pending drafts so I can have a clean start again. Yes, I can feel that an urge to come back now, after a whole year of no-blog. I've also been increasing my activity on Facebook and LinkedIn, hopefully for Twitter as well. I took up Instagram photography lately too! More cat and food photos. I've had plans to link up a FB page to this blog, posting from FB will a lot easier and less resistant for me, so going to make that happen as well.

Finally, a comeback photo to kickstart it all. These days I need a milk tea (teh-si) a day to keep myself going at work.

This was taken with Instagram @ The Prata Place

This might be old news to you, just because I have been MIA for so long - but have you seen the new Blogger interface and template design (am using one now)? Foodbuzz is not going to like this - all my ads are gone now. :p

I'M ON A DIET (!!)

Hmm I have not updated my foodie adventures for over two months now. Getting busier with my day job and have no time to keep up with the updates. And sadly, you will see less and less good food recommendations from me for the next month or two (at least), because I am now on a special DIET, which just doesn't allow me to anything and everything I want anymore. In the meantime, I will try to compensate with some mouth-watering food shots that has been piling up all this while. :)

Now a little more about the special diet! I heard of this from my sister, proven to be effective by big-size colleague of hers, who successfully lost 19lbs in 3 weeks just by following the diet framework. But before I share any details of the framework here, I shall take on the challenge and see for myself the effectiveness. The overall idea is simple: Each day you would have something more to give up (eating) for the rest of the week - mainly sugar and carbohydrates. (Yes, no carbo!!) The best part - NO EXERCISE REQUIRED and you are free to eat ANY AMOUNT you like.

Starting my 2nd week on the diet today (it begins on a Sunday, ends on Friday. Saturday is a Free-to-Eat day!). 1st week was just tough. Inexperienced and lack of preparation, there was hardly anything left for me to eat by Friday. This week, I made plans - bought lots of veggies and mushrooms (the best duo for this diet) from Fairprice earlier. Oh, and eggs too!

Erm don't ask me the result from 1st week just yet. Because the "sotong" (blur) me forgot to weigh myself before I started on the diet! Hehe but according to my sister, who is also experimenting the diet with me, she has lost 3kg by Friday. This was really a great encouragement for the both of us, because we were almost giving up by the end of Friday. Seems like our determination is paying off. Now we just need to persevere.

Lets keep it up!!

Paradise Inn @ Thomson Plaza

Wanted to have Sakae Teppanyaki the other day, so headed to the nearest location at Thomson Plaza only to find out that the Sakae outlet there had already closed down. :( The storefront had been replaced by a Chinese restaurant - Paradise Inn. I dined at Paradise Inn @ West Coast Plaza before, but the food was not too impressive. Anyways, since we were already there, we thought we would give it a try.

Whenever we dine at a new place, we love to try the special and the new. So this was our first pick - Fragrance Tea with Lavender, Rosemary, Chrysanthemum and Dried Longan for a refreshful start!





Next, we went for a typical Chinese dinner setup - 1x vegetable, 1x meat, 1x tofu or egg, 1x soup.

For soup:




As you can see from the photo, soup at Paradise Inn looks professional - big pot, continues to be heated while you dine, plus lots of ingredients ("liao") in it!



The egg trio refers to: chicken egg, century egg, and salted (duck) egg. A usually very flavorful vegetable dish, but we find this one a bit too watery and bland. The Soup Restaurant serves the same dish and is a lot tastier.




Looks good, taste good - Soft and not too oily!



Here's a mistake we tend to make whenever we see Ma Po Tofu on the menu. Bottom-line: If you like your Ma Po Tofu to taste what the name suggests (ma po), then never order this dish in a non-Sichuan style restaurant! You will only be met with disappointment. To us, this was just a normal tofu with minced meat dish.

All in all...

• Old Cucumber with Pork Ribs Soup, Rating: ★★★★
• Chinese Spinach with Egg Trio, Rating: ★
• Dong Po Pork, Rating: ★★★
• Ma Po Tofu, Rating: ★★

Sakae Adventure: July's Special Seafood Promotions

This month's Sakae Adventure...

It has been a while since we dined in at Sakae (we usually call for delivery), so we went to Sakae Sushi @ Junction 8 on a week night just to try something new! Ehh actually it was because they don't have Sushi Buffets at this branch lah... Well, it was a good chance for us to explore a different part of the Sakae menu, plus I could use some of the Sakae Dollars that I had accumulated on my Sakae Card :)

We were there at the right time - July's theme for the Sakae Signature promotion is on Seafood!



We could hardly give this a miss, so we ordered the Special Ika Maki ($9.99).



You might wonder what about this grilled ika (squid) is so special.. and why do they call it a maki (rolled sushi)?

Well it is just as the name suggests. The ika maki is special because it's sushi rice wrapped up in a squid! And it's not just the usual white sushi rice though, it's sushi fried rice.



That didn't taste too bad at all! It was a lot lightly flavored than the color might suggest. The sushi fried rice was slightly sweet (I think it's tomatoes) and complemented well with the not-too-chewy grilled squid in a thin layer of teriyaki sauce. I would like to point out that it was quite professionally done too - the rice didn't just fall out of the squid rings when you pick it up with chopsticks.

On top of that, we also had some side orders, sushi from the conveyor belt, plus 5-pc gyoza on offer ($3.99)! For our entrees, wx got a Unagi Don ($14.99).



That was a huuuge portion even for someone the size of wx :p I was a lot smarter of course hehe. Since Sakae Delivery Menu does not offer any noodle dishes (except cha soba as side order), I settled for some soupy noodles to end my occasional craving for udon - the Niku Udon!



Sprinkle some Japanese chili powder and the soup becomes perfect. I would prefer if the beef were in thinner slices. But the udon noodles were very Q. sluuurpy!

Total: $67.05
I paid just 5 cents for this meal. The rest were deducted from my Sakae Card :) Don't you wish to be a Sakae eJournalist too?

Rating: ★★★

Crispy Fluffy Waffles

YAY It's waffles time again!

Do you like your waffles crispy or chewy, crunchy or fluffy?

Well, I like mine like this:



Yes...crispy on the outside, but soft and fluffy on the inside!

So this is what we had:



The Passion Fruit Mango ice cream was a little too strong taste (sour & sweet) for me - some might like the rich passion fruit sorbet-like mix in it though.

If you like the crunchy type of waffles, read my post on the Waffle Place Cottage last year.

Gelare is still around! They serve the fluffy type of waffles too. And I think they still have half-price waffles promotion on Tuesdays. A little out of reach for me though, so Haagen Dazs @ Junction 8 is my best choice. Plus, for every $10 you spend at Haagen Dazs until 8 August 2010, you get 5 letters to complete the crossword puzzle for the Haagen Dazs Word Hunt Contest! Hehe.. I just like little games like this. Fun, simple to do, and a chance to win great prizes :)

Rating: ★★★

Mushroom Park, the Mushroom Paradise

Weeehee! Chanced upon a restaurant called Mushroom Park (while cleaning up the database for a new dining app) and well, being a Super Mushroom Lover, of course I was dying to check it out! We made reservation on the website a day earlier so we could get 10% off our bill :)

We managed to arrive just before 7pm for our reservation (phew!). Anyway, it was alright because the restaurant was practically empty on a Tuesday night. The experience was great - it was a very nicely renovated place, peaceful and undisturbed, with "personal" attendants. Like VIPs!

We were impressed by the whole interior - glass table top with marble pebbles underneath, and a built-in stove right in the middle. You can tell that this place is really dedicated to serving their healthy mushroom steamboat cuisine. Classy!



The dishes were unique too! For starters, we had Mushroom Sashimi, Crispy Mushroom (like dried fruit crackers) and Shredded Mushroom (meat floss-like snack). Wow, didn't think we would be eating mushrooms like that! We probably looked like total newbs, wow-ing at everything like we're from the outerspace hehe. Oh, and the perfect drink to go with a healthy meal? The Chinese Eight Treasures Tea! (This is real stuff ok, not some instant 8-in-1 packet drink.)



This restaurant really goes all out in ensuring that its customers enjoy their mushroom steamboat the proper way. There is a process to follow and actually they will serve you for the most part so you can just sit and watch until you are ready to do your "shabu shabu" thing. First, they invite you to taste the original mushroom soup base, before anything else is added. Then, they add in the mushrooms, cabbage, Taiwanese frozen tofu, and a kind of herbal yam (explaining what each ingredient is as they are added). A kitchen timer is set on our table: Time left to devour is exactly 6 minutes. :)



Once again after it's ready for our chopsticks to make a dive, we were invited to taste the soup again - it had a nice extra sweetness to it from the mushrooms and vegetables added. Finally, we were ready for "shabu shabu"!





Fresh thin slices of beef and pork, and the soup were perfect complements for each other! So fresh and sweet that we ate it plain (without any sauce) after cooking it to just right in the soup. And the soup was just filled with the rich essence of the meat, the mushrooms, the vegetables - we couldn't help but finish the entire pot of soup in the end. :p

Another of our favorite dish was the special Mushroom Treasure (Steamed) Rice. Try their special red chilli sauce! The slight sweetness blends in perfectly with the steamed rice.



Now for the desserts :D Green Tea and Plum Jelly! It's nothing like the normal jelly or the Japanese konnyaku that we usually eat. This jelly is really soft yet still spongy (like jelly!). I love the Plum Jelly, lightly-flavored and not too sweet (I thought the Green Tea one was too sweet though).



That's it! All of the above are part of a set meal. There are five types of steamboat set meals, and an ala-carte menu as well. The cheapest, Healthy Set Meal is priced at $26.80++. The most valued (imo), Natural Set Meal or Creamy Dory Set Meal is priced at $36.80++. (There are also the Dynasty Set Meal, the Vegetarian Set Meal, and the Tilapia Fillet Set Meal, which were slightly over our budget.) We both picked the Natural Set Meal. But don't feel restricted that you have to pick the same set meal as your partner (even though you will still be sharing the same pot of soup)! The variations are only on the type of meat/fish and the rice/noodles. With the Natural Set Meal (& above), you get a free upgrade to the Mushroom Treasure Rice, which is otherwise $3 on the ala-carte menu.

This is definitely a thumbs-up place for me. In fact, I've already recommended it to my family, and I dined there for the 2nd time the same weekend - yes, I went there twice in 5 days! The restaurant was full house on the weekends though. So I would suggest to go during the week if you don't like the crowds and noises.

But hurry up if you are keen on trying this place, because they are closing down on 1 August 2010. Sobs, it's really sad. I wished I had found out about this place sooner. We only learned about the closing by chance when we asked them about their signature Mushroom Fishball, which they won't be serving anymore. So quick quick, if you are even considering about checking them out - I would say, go for it - why not! Only half a month left before it's gone forever!



Mushroom Park is located at 87 Serangoon Garden Way (near Chomp Chomp). Reserve online today so you can get 10% off like I did! [website]



Rating: ★★★★★

Crispy Prata for Supper?

I'm sure many are already fans of The Prata Place in Springleaf Garden (Thomson). If you are a prata fan, this is probably the first place you should hit up.



Took a break in the middle of our family mahjong tournament. This place opens till midnight, so it's great for supper.



We went there around 10:30pm and it was already packed with people. We had to wait quite a bit before our food is served. If you want to beat the crowd, best time to arrive is ~11pm, you'll still have an hour to eat. :)



Prata is crispy just as it is known for. But suggest to order those flavored pratas (rectangular ones), like cheese prata, as they are a lot thinner and crispier than the kosong type (round ones). If you're feeling a bit adventurous, perhaps you would like to try their chocolate prata or durian prata! (Too weird for me personally hehe)

All in all, we ordered 3 cheese pratas, 1 onion prata, 3 kosong, 1 mutton curry, 1 cabbage side dish, 3 iced milo, and 3 teh haliah (traditional ginger milk tea) for just $26.90 - ~$5+ per pax.

Rating: ★★★★

I can cook! : Steam Meat Loaf with Mushroom

As a special dedication to my new foodie blog, let me present you my very own steamed meat loaf with mushroom!!

Just randomly decided to cook something, it's my my first attempt (using my own recipe!) so still in the experimenting stage...

INGREDIENTS:

• Minced meat
• Garlic, diced
• Mushrooms, diced (need Chinese Mushrooms, but I've only got button mushrooms :\)
• Light soy sauce
• Dark soy sauce
• Sesame oil
• White pepper
• Corn flour
• Some water

Just mix them all up and put to steam for ~10 mins!



Not too bad for first try, says my family. :D

A simple way to eat this is meat loaf bread: