Xin Ji Chicken Rice @ Margaret Drive

Xin Ji Chicken Rice is one of my favourite spot for chicken rice and theirs is the Cantonese style. My hubby had been patroning them since he is a little child. He brought me here during our poly days. I had been patroning them since then.

Their chicken are rather huge and fatty. The chicken skin is smooth and springy, its just slip through the throat and I simply love it. Although the chicken is huge, the meat is still tender and juicy. Their special mix soy sauce that was added onto the chicken give the chicken exta aroma.

The rice here is just right for me, not too hard nor soft. Every mouth you chew is full of chicken broth fragrance. The chilli sauce and grind ginger are all self-made by the stall owner. The chilli is slightly spicy and with a strong garlic fragance, together with the grind ginger and dark soy sauce, perfect match with the chicken.

This stall is a hot favourite, on weekend the queue could be rather long during lunch time. So have a bit of patient for good food.

Xin Ji Famous Chicken Rice

Address: Margaret Drive Hawker Centre Blk 40A #02-548

Contact no.: 64710355

Operating Hours: 10.30am to 9pm

Closed on Monday

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Hainanese Chicken Rice something that I will always miss when I am away from Singapore, especially when I travel to western country. Remember years back after my trip back from USA, I told my hubby that I want to have chicken rice.

Hainanese chicken rice could be easily found in almost all corners in Singapore. In fact, most of the native Chinese here are able to cook their own family version of chicken rice. The rice is a very important factor. Traditionally, chicken fats, garlic and shallots are used to lightly fried with the rice grains before cooking. Due to health concern, chicken fats had been discarded. Chicken broth (that is used to blanch the chicken) and ginger are then added to cook with the rice. Some will also add in pandan leaves to give the extra aroma to the rice.

In order to ensure that the chicken is not over cooked and to remain its tenderness, most of the chef will soak the chicken in ice water for a while, immediately after removing from the boiling broth. But this procedure somehow will loose part of the original chicken taste.

If you prefer to have that orginal taste of the chicken, you may want to want to try out the chicken at Chicken House. Over there, they serve kampong chicken which is less fatty and they do not soak their chicken in ice water to maintain its original. You will also note that the skin of the chicken there is much yellowish than other places else.

Chicken House

Address: 255 Upper Thomson Road

Contact no.: 6456 0698

Operating hours: 10am to 9.30pm.

Kway Chap @ Macpherson

Kway Chap (in Teochew) or 粿汁 is another Teochew cuisine in Singapore that could be taken as breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is served with a bowl of flat broad rice sheets in soya soup base and your own selection of braised pig's innards (intestines), tau pok, salted vegetables and some with braised ducks. A good chilli sauce is also a must for kway chap.

The soup is normally made with chinese herbs, spices (like cinnamon and cloves), pork bones and dark soya sauce. The rice sheets for kway chap should be thin, smooth and silky. The rice sheets should be taken together with the soup, as the rice sheets is normally bland.

The kway chap served at Chuan Lai Kway Chap King was different from most of the places I had. This place was a favourite stall by a few of my colleagues and they brought me here for lunch one day.

Chuan Lai has a wide selection of sides for you to choose, they include, braised duck, pig's innards (intestines, stomach, etc.), pork belly, pig's skin, pig's trotters, tau pok. beancurd, salted vegetables. The braised sauce and soup here has a much stronger herbal taste than other stalls and its slightly gooey. Those who like strong herbal taste will appreciate the kway chap here. I like the large intestines here, very well clean and no foul smell. The pig's skin is also good, all fat removed and braised till its real soft, its almost melt in the mouth.

Chuan Lai Kway Chap King/Chuan Lai Guo Zhi Wang

Address: 560 Macpherson Road

Contact No.: 67441252

Operating Hours: 8am to 12.30am

Istimewa Nasi Padang @ Hoy Fatt Road

Spicy food has always been something I fancy. Nasi Padang is one that I like very much. I love the spices and chilli that are used to cook the food.

If you are also a fan for Nasi Padang, I would like to recommend you to try Istimewa Nasi Padang. This stall is always with long queue during lunch hours. Understand a lot of their customers are taxi drivers and the working force nearby.

What made this stall so popular? I believe it is because not only the food is nice, the price is also very reasonable. I was there having lunch with my hubby and we ordered beef rendang, fried chicken, squid in black sauce, fried fish and sayor lodeh (mixed vegetables curry), all these for $11.00 for two persons. If you are sharing your food, the stall owner will serve you a small plate of their self-made sambal belachan. The sambal belachan is really good to go with the rice or fried chicken.

The beef rendang was cooked till soft and tender, the gravy is rich and you can taste the strong spices in it. The gravy is good to eat with the rice.

Most of the places, the fried chicken are very dry in the inside after deep fried. But over here, the fried chicken is crispy on the outside and yet tender and juicy in the inside. Apparently I noticed that almost everyone will order their fried chicken drum stick.

The squid in black sauce was my favourite, the squid was cooked just right, soft and chewy. Unlike some stall, the squid is always over-cooked and taste like chewing rubber band. I also like the egg in the squid, silky and soft, but sinful to eat, high in cholestrol...haha.

For sayor lodeh, the vegetables are cooked till soft. The gravy absorb the sweetness from the vegetables and coconut milk is fragant. The gravy is so nice that I even drink it on its own...hehe.

Come and try it out yourself and share your views with me. As some popular dishes will be sold out quickly, its best to patron them before 12.00pm. For breakfast, they will serve longton and nasi lemak.

Istimewa Nasi Padang
Address: Blk 28 Hoy Fatt Road #01-24

(Inside Cheong Wah Coffeeshop)

Opening hours: 6.30am till 3pm (or when sold out)

Close on Sunday

Grilled Cuttlefish Head @ East Coast Lagoon

Whenever I come to East Coast Lagoon Hawker Center, I will surely patron East Coast Rojak for their grilled cuttlefish head. Their cuttelfish heads are well flaten before grilling, so that they will be crispy and easy to chew after grilling. The shrimp paste (or Hea Ko) here is very rich in taste and go very well with the cuttlefish. I always asked for the shrimp paste without chilli as I prefer its original taste. Each cuttlefish head cost $2.00. The plate showed in the photo below contained 4 of them.

You can also try their grilled tau pok and you tiao. The tau pok is pretty big here and the vegetables stuff in them are fresh and crunchy. The plate of combo below cost $3.00.

East Coast Rojak
Address: East Coast Lagoon Hawker Centre, #01-20

Breakfast @ Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

Greetings to all my Hindu friends, Happy Deepavali.

So nice, its another holiday. Had been rather busy at work and really need a rest. Wanted to go somewhere relaxing and with greenery to freshen up my mind. Hence my hubby brought me to the cafeteria at the entrance of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve for breakfast.

Over here they serve American breakfast set with either coffee or tea at $6.50. The food quality was normal but its the surrounding environment that you could enjoy.

Over here the air is fresh, surrounded by greenery, you could see butterflies flipping around the flowers and hear the birds chirping. Sometimes you may have some unexpected guests accompany you having your meal. Don't be alarm by them, so long as you do not disturb them, they wll not attack you.

After we had our breakfast, we bought a packet of fish food at $1.00 to feed the fishes and terrapins in the pond. All the fishes and terrapins must be very hungry from the way they chased after the fish food. But its fun seeing them chasing them for the food...hehe.

If you do have time, you can continue your stroll in the wetland reserve to enjoy the nature. To know more about Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and how to get there, please see my posting on http://explore-singapore.blogspot.com/2008/11/sungei-buloh-wetland-reserve.html

24hrs Prata Shop @ Jalan Kayu

Greetings to all my muslim friends. Selemat Hari Raya Aidilfitri (or also known as Puasa)!!!

Hari Raya Puasa, which falls on the 1st of Syawal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar, marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. It is a day of victory and celebration for Muslims, having successfully completed the fast.

Jalan Kayu stands a couple of 24hrs Prata shops which are operated by Indian Muslim. This is one of the place for most Singaporean to have their late supper. Since it is operated by Indian Muslim, the food offer are mainly Indian food, but there are also some Malay food as well.

Most of the time, I will patron Thohirah Restaurant. They have a wide varities of selection of food, lots of seats and the food here is nice.

Let me show you the food I had last night. prata with mutton curry, indian rojak, mutton satay and to complete the meal, a cup of my favourite teh terik. The mutton curry was full of spices taste and was cooked till it is really soft, simply great with the prata. The indian rojak was fresh and non-oily, the peanut sauce wasn't too sweet, just right for me. The mutton satay was good but I found the peanut sauce too watery.

They also offer other food like curry fish head, roti-john, thosai, nann, nasi briyani, mee goreng and lots more. Share your view with me if you had tried them. :)

Thohirah Resturant
Address: 258 Jalan Kayu Singapore 799487
Contact: 6481 2009
Opening hours: 24-hours

More on Tim's Restuarant @ Lor 4 Toa Payoh

Refer to my post on 19th July 09 on Tim's Resturant @ Lor 4 Toa Payoh, I like the food there so much that I keep going back with my family. Would like to share with you on other dishes that me and my family tried during our few recent visits.

Actaually we wanted we order fresh oysters, but was told that the oysters were not very fresh that day. Instead, we were recommended to tried their baked oyster with cheese and we accepted. The oysters were still juicy after baking, the cheese was rich and with lemon & tobasco added, it was just perfect.

If you want to pamper yourself, try this combo, half lobster with beef steak. I don't think you can find anywhere else where you can have this combo for just $18.80. If you do know where, share with me, hehe.

If you want something more economical, try their value main course. Like this grilled sirloin steak on cold plate is $8.00. For senior citizen aged 55 years onwards, every Saturday and Sunday between 11.30am to 3.30pm, you get to enjoy this value main course at $7.00. Other Senior Citizen's Special available are grilled chicken, grilled fish and fish & chips all at $5.00.

You can also try their pasta. The portion is big and the pasta is very well cook, not too soft nor hard. Below are their chicken and ham carbonara and seafood spaghetti. I like the cream source of the carbonara, not too creamy so you won't get sick after few bites. There are squids, prawns and mussels in the seafood spaghetti, you can try this if you like seafood.

Turtle Soup @ Upper Paya Lebar

Chinese believe that turtle soup (山瑞汤) can help to cleanse the blood. Chinese herbs are normally added, in boiling the soup wiith the soft-shell turtle, to increase its nourishment. The jelly-like soft shell is a good source of collagen, which is good for both the joints and skin. Turtle meat taste almost like chicken meat, but not as tender.

Turtle soup is not as common like fishball noodles or hokkien mee, where you can find in most hawker centres or food courts. There are limited places selling the turtle soup, especially good ones are even lesser. For me, I always patron Tai Seng Turtle Soup at Upper Paya Lebar. Although they have another branch at Geylang, I still prefer coming to this main branch.

At Tai Seng Turtle Soup, every table come with a small bottle of Chinese wine for you to add into your soup to enhance the taste. But don't worry, you won't get drunk, haha. Over here, you can ask them to top up your soup if you want to drink more. Other than turtle soup, they also serve black chicken herbal soup.

Tai Seng Turtle Soup
Address: 331 Upper Paya Lebar Rd Singapore 534949

Contact : 62828829

Braised Duck @ Sin Min

Braised duck (卤鸭) is another famous Teochew cuisine. To have a good braised duck, the sauce used to braised the duck is very important. Some of the main ingredients used to make the sauce include five spice powder, cinnamon, star anise, garlic, ginger, light and dark soy sauce. The time to cook the duck is another important factor.

Hup Seng Duck Rice is one of my favourite braised duck stall, not only the braised duck is tasty and the braised sauce is well absorbed by the ducks, their salted vegetable duck soup is my ultimate love. As for my hubby, he will go for their duck head and neck, he enjoy chewing them. The duck and the soup make me and my hubby keep coming back for more, hahaha. But patience is needed as you need to queue to place your order and the queue is normally very long during lunch hours.

I like the braised sauce to go with my rice, so I normally ask for extra sauce. But beware, it ain't very healthy as the sauce is full of oil from the duck. Their self-made chiili goes very well with the duck too, a bit sour and spicy.

The salted vegetable duck soup (咸菜鸭汤) is packed with lots of ingredient. Duck, preserved mustard vegetable, mushroom, salted prunes, ginger and white pepper. You can taste sweet, sour and saltish all at one go.

Hup Seng Duck Rice
Address: Bk 22 Sin Ming Rd, within Eng Ho Hup Coffee Shop
Opening Hours: 9am-2.30pm (Mon-Fri), 9am-1.30pm (Sat-Sun).
Close on Thu

Value Butter Crab @ Lor 5 Toa Payoh

Craving for crabs but do not want to pay a high price? Here a place for you to consider, Toa Payoh Chicken Wing locates at Lor 5 Toa Payoh Hawker Center. 2 nos. of BBQ butter crabs for $14. Although lots of onions and butter are added to grill with the crabs, these 2 ingredients will only add aroma to the crabs but will not steal away the original taste of the crabs. The crabs are grilled till just cooked, you could taste the freshness, sweetness and the meat is yet tender. If you like onions, eat the crab meat with the butter sauce and onions, its taste even better.


If you dare, also try their stew pig ears. The pig ears are tender and the spices that used to stew the pig ears are well absorbed. The chilli sauce is another plus mark to go with the stew pig ears.


Actually this hawker stall mainly sells BBQ chicken wings and BBQ whole chicken. But I personally prefer their crabs and stew pig ears.

Tims Restaurant @ Lor 4 Toa Payoh

I happen to walk past Tims Restaurant & Cafe and surprise to see the crowd here at this non air-conditioned restaurant, that is tuck below a 30-year-old HDB flat. Out of curiosity, I decided to give it try here. The decoration and furniture here is simple and yet cosy.


Tims served both Western and Nepalese cuisine. The boss Tom is a Nepalese, he is very polite and friendly, you will find the warmth and passion when talking to him. The menu here display a wide range of food selection like appetizers, salad, pizza, pasta, main course (steak, seafood, chicken), etc. For any main course order, by adding $2.80, you will complete your meal with soup of the day, dessert and coffee/tea/milo.

During my first visit there, I tried their 5-course set meal which include soup of the day, mussels with sweet & spicy sauce, 220g of ribeye with pepper source on hot plate, a piece of prune cake and a cup of milo. This complete meal cost me $16.30 with no service charge and GST. With the similar combination of set meal, I believe it will cost around $20 to $30 for any other restaurant. The price here is indeed economical. As for the taste of the food, it is simply great. For the appetizers, the sweet & spicy sauce go well with the mussel and the toppings (cucumber, tomato, chilli & onion) add crunch to it. Right after the steak is served, the waiter will come over to top sour cream, bacon bits and spring onion onto the bake potato. The steak is grilled to the rawness to your need and yet juicy and tasty. As for the dessert, the cake is slightly warm before serving. You could really feel the effort from the chef.

If you are a big eater, you may like to consider their combo main course. Below are some combo main course that me and my family ordered during our recent visit. Top left - Steak with grilled fish @ $13.20. Top right - Steak with sauage @ $13.50. Bottom - Steak with grilled chicken @ $13.20. Remember to add $2.80 to complete your meal.

There is also an appetizers that I would like recommend. 10pcs of baked mussels with cheese for only $8.80. Not only cheap but the taste is great. I really love the cheese. Rememeber to add tobasco to futher enrich the taste of the mussel.

Tims Restaurant & Cafe
Seaffood, Steak & Nepalese Cuisine
Address: Blk 95, Lor 4 Toa Payoh, #01-52, S 310095
Telephone: 6250 5246
Operating hours: 11.30am to 10.30pm

No service charge and GST

Yet Con @ Purvis Street

Yet Con (逸群) Hainanese Restaurant at 25 Purvis Street has been around since 1940. My hubby is half a Hainanese and his family has been patroning this place since he was a small boy. I can't say they have the best Hainanese food in town, but the authentic taste, the old decor that has been around for years, the wooden tables and chairs are difficult to find nowsaday, and sure help to bring back some old memories for the customers.

Yet Con is famous for their chicken rice, steamboat and Hainanese pork chop. They also serve zhi char. I like the chilli sauce and grind ginger here, they go well with the chicken rice and chicken. The Hainanese pork chop is a must try, its has the ma ma taste

The steamboat here is very simple, chicken soup base, with standard selection of ingredient as shown below. Top right is a mixed plate of pork slices, pork liver, fish ball, fish slices, cockles, prawns and sea cumcumber. Bottom left is beef slices.