Prince Coffee House - Beef Hor Fun @ 249 Beach Road

A week after my Hainanese pork chop at Prince Coffee House, I actually make a second trip back to try their beef hor fun.

Previously, while doing my research about the pork chop, I came across photos of their beef hor fun which looks amazing to me! At the same time, I found out that the beef hor fun, together with the Hainanese pork chop and stewed ox tail are their signature dishes thus, the decision to give it a try.

I will let you in on a secret.

I have never eaten beef hor fun before.

No kidding.

Due to certain reasons, my family do not take beef at all. I only tao jiak beef occasionally when I am out by myself and it is nothing more than a beef burger from a fast food chain.

Prince Coffee House - Hainanese Pork Chop @ 249 Beach Road

Prince Coffee House got its namesake from the now-defunct Prince Cinema at Shaw Towers where both were located some thirty years ago.

As with most Hainanese-run coffee houses, this coffee house serves both Western and Chinese fare.

This has to do with the majority of Hainanese being employed as chefs by the British during the colonial days. After the British troops withdrew from Singapore, these Hainanese set up their own coffee houses with the east-meets-west culinary skills that they have acquired.

When the original owner wanted to retire and fold up the business, four of his staff decided to take over and they had kept the coffee house running till this day.

Singapore Zam Zam - Mutton Briyani @ 697 North Bridge Road

My visit to Zam Zam was entirely accidental and unplanned. No prior homework was done for my visit to this century-old business specializing in briyani and murtabaks.

I actually ended up here after I took a wrong turn while on my way to Blanco Court Prawn Noodle. I did not even know that Zam Zam was located in this area!

Nevertheless, I carried on my way to have my prawn noodle as that was the main purpose of my trip. After having my noodles, I figured there is still room for a murtabak so I made my way back to Zam Zam which is a two-storey shop house. 

The upper floor is air-conditioned with long tables while the lower floor is the kitchen where all the action took place and with a relatively smaller seating capacity.

Blanco Court Prawn Noodle @ 243 Beach Road

Prawn noodle has always been one of my favorite noodle dish but unfortunately, the one near my place tastes plain sweet of rock sugar which is a big turn off for me. Since I have not had a nice bowl of prawn noodle for a very long time now, I decided to google for one and go eat it.

I narrowed my selection to the Blanco Court Prawn Noodle which have a long history in Singapore. The main reason for choosing this was because the location is somewhere near my previous workplace. 

Ironically, while I was working in the area, not once did I venture beyond the Golden Landmark side as I always head to Tong Seng Coffeeshop at Liang Seah Street for lunch.

L32 Handmade Noodle @ Tampines 1

I have heard about this very famous handmade noodle stall at Geylang Road for a while now. The stall had a rather strange name called L32 which actually stands for Lorong 32, with reference to its location at Geylang.

Geylang is rather out of the way for me so when I found out that they had a branch at Tampines, I was overjoyed.

Tampines is not that near to me either but it is much more accessible than Geylang. The branch in question is located at Tampines 1, inside the food court on the fifth level. I finally found the opportunity to make my way here after sending my parents off at the airport earlier this week.

I took the MRT from Changi Airport to Tanah Merah and transferred to Tampines. Upon reaching, I realized the food court is Kapitans by Kopitiam.

Arnold's Fried Chicken @ Yishun 10 Cinema Cineplex

I heard that Arnold's Fried Chicken have been around for 30 odd years. Online reviews have touted it as one of the best fried chicken around and with such raving reviews, I guess it is time for me to try it for myself.

Although they have four outlets island-wide, none are located near me. The nearest outlet would have to be the one at Yishun but then, I hardly ever go there. Perhaps, that is the reason why I have not heard of them before.

I planned a visit to the outlet at Yishun, which is located inside Yishun 10, the mega Cineplex that Jackie Chan and Carina Lau came to officiate its opening during the 1990s. (I remember it was such a big sensation then with many star-struck fans turning up, hoping to catch a glimpse of the superstars)

Aspirasi - Ayam Penyet @ Seah Im Food Centre

After Dad's appointment at NUH, he requested to have the ayam penyet at Seah Im Food Centre which we had previously. The ayam penyet that we had then was from Farisha Muslim Food (#01-31).

This time, I suggested that we try the one from Aspirasi instead as it is the famous one at Seah Im Food Centre. I mean, if you google for ayam penyet at this food centre, Aspirasi is the only name that turn up in the search results although there are more than one ayam penyet stalls here.

Aspirasi specializes in fried chicken rice served with your choice of sauces: sambal ($4); sweet & sour ($4); lemon ($4) and black pepper ($4). Other than these sauces, you can also opt for the normal chicken rice ($3.50) or penyet ($5) that comes with a whole chicken leg.

Alternatively, they have fried rice with chicken ($5) and fried rice tomato with sambal chicken ($5.50) which is quite popular as well.