Waffletown USA @ Balmoral Plaza

Update: Waffletown USA has permanently closed.

Waffletown USA is a family-owned business that had been serving American food such as burgers, fried chicken and Belgian waffles for the last thirty odd years in Singapore.

During the 1980s, it was situated at the basement of Bukit Timah Plaza before moving to its current location at Balmoral Plaza along Bukit Timah Road. It has been years since I last visited them and as I walked through its door today, a wave of nostalgia hits me in the face. 

Everything from the furnishings to the deco remained exactly how I remembered it to be when they were still at their previous address.

Nine Fresh Desserts Taiwan 九鲜 九份甜品 @ Jurong Point

I have never been to Taiwan before but thanks to the kind folks who brought in the Taiwan desserts chain stores to our shores, I am able to have my first taste of taro balls with beancurd/grass jelly about a year ago. 

As much as I like the dessert I had then, I was hesitant to go back again as the price is almost equivalent to a meal at the food court. 

However, I am happy to have found another brand of Taiwan dessert stall offering a similar concept but with a more wallet-friendly pricing.

Introducing, NINE FRESH DESSERTS TAIWAN! They offer a few combo of desserts featuring Taiwan-specified ingredients like taro balls and pearls. Or, if you prefer, you could also create your own by selecting one of the base (beancurd, grass jelly, ai-yu jelly) and choosing your favorite toppings.

Xin Long Fish Soup @ Kopitiam, Jurong Point

Update: Xin Long Fish Soup has permanently closed.

After my dental appointment today, I chanced upon this Xin Long Fish Soup stall located inside the Kopitiam Foodcourt on the third floor of Jurong Point Shopping Centre.

Fish soup is one of my favorite comfort food so I decided to order a bowl for lunch. (yes, I ate twenty minutes after my tooth extraction!)

When it comes to fish soup, I prefer to have it with fried fish and thick bee hoon (rice vermicelli) rather than with sliced fish and rice. I can have a hearty bowl of fish soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner consecutively without getting sick of it.

National Orchid Garden *Free Admission!*

I have always thought that the National Orchid Garden is simply a small scale garden showcasing its collection of Orchids and probably not worth the price of a ticket to go in.

When I learned that Singaporeans enjoy free entry from November 2016 till January 2017, I decided to take the opportunity to check it out if it is really the "go one round and we're out" kind of small like what I had thought.

By the end of my visit, however, I realized that the National Orchid Garden is anything but small. With over 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids, the Garden is the largest display of Orchids in the world!

Delicious Fried Carrot Cake 日夜香菜头粿 @ Redhill Market & Food Centre

There are two rival fried carrot cake stalls at Redhill Food Centre but I decided to patronize the one called Delicious Fried Carrot Cake (日夜香菜头粿 #01-33) instead of Fu Ming Cooked Food (福明熟食 #01-49).

The reason why I picked one over the other is because I heard that they add taugeh (beansprouts) to their fried carrot cake. I have eaten fried carrot cake with beansprouts at Thailand before but it is still the first time I have heard of this combination in Singapore. I must admit, it did arouse my interest to give them a try.

Manned by an elderly couple, the uncle does all the frying while the auntie helps to take order, beat the eggs and receive payment.

Both the white and black versions of fried carrot cake are available here and you can opt for or without beansprouts.

Yan 焱 Fried Beehoon And Fried Chicken Wings @ Redhill Market & Food Centre

I have finally gotten the chance to try the fried bee hoon and fried chicken wings that Mr Lee Hsien Loong had personally stood 30 minutes in line for.

It caused quite a stir back then when photographs of the Prime Minister queuing went viral across all social networks.

That was two years ago.

Black Muah Chee @ Toa Payoh HDB Hub

I am quite surprised to know that there is a black version of muah chee! 

This stall called "Hougang Six Miles Famous Muah Chee" located inside Gourmet Paradise Food Court at Toa Payoh HDB Hub sells exactly that. The black element is actually due to the crushed black sesame seeds coating its exterior.

Of course, they do sell the usual crushed peanut version as well.

Here, the muah chee are individually hand pulled from a larger dough then dipped in shallot oil before being tossed into a bed of crushed peanuts or black sesame.

Compared to other vendors who simply place a blob of the dough into the tray of crushed peanuts and then snipping them into smaller pieces with scissors, Hougang Six Miles Famous Muah Chee's muah chee is way more chewy due to the extra stretching.