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.

Farasha Muslim Food - Ayam Penyet @ Seah Im Food Centre

A while back, I brought the folks to Seah Im Food Centre to try out the lor mee from Shi Ji Noodle Stall.

After our meal, Mum spotted the next table having the ayam penyet from Farasha Muslim Stall. Tempted by what we saw, we ordered one set to share among the three of us.

The name ayam penyet translates as "smashed chicken" which means the chicken is flattened by smashing after being fried to a crisp. I have actually seen the stall at NUH's food court using a mallet.

A dish of Indonesia origins, I have eaten ayam penyet quite a number of times, but it is the first for them. 

The ayam penyet ($5) here comes with a chicken leg, cucumber, raw cabbage, a cube of tau kwa, a piece of thumb-length tempeh and sambal. The rice and soup are served separately on another plate.

Shi Ji Noodle Stall - Duck Noodle @ Seah Im Food Centre

I have tried the lor mee from Shi Ji Noodle Stall located at Seah Im Food Centre a week ago and I am back to try their duck noodle.

You can read about the stall in my previous entry here.

So, I arrived a little after lunch hour and there were not many customers around. The friendly uncle is sitting outside the stall chatting with the neighboring stall owners. I ordered a bowl of dry duck noodles and he went back inside the stall to prepare my order.

It was then I overheard him conversing with somebody from the stall behind him in fluent Thai. #impressed

Fried Kuay Teaw Mee @ Seah Im Food Centre

This is yet another Hokkien mee stall at Seah Im Food Centre which is manned by an old lady with a bandana on her head.

So why do I visit a second Hokkien mee stall at the same food centre?

If you remember my previous Hokkien mee post, I mentioned that I am going to visit the notorious stall that does not allowed customers to take more than one pair of chopsticks.

Well this is the stall that I actually went to by mistake. You see, I had left the note which contained all the information (stall's name, unit number, business hours, etc) at home thus when I saw this stall selling Hokkien mee, I straight away thought it is the one.

So while composing this post at home that night, I realized the photo of my Hokkien mee looked very different from those found on the web of the stall.

For $3, theirs had about four prawns, uses thick bee hoon with round yellow noodles, had chives while mine had only one prawn, uses thin bee hoon with round yellow noodles and comes with char siew and stewed cabbage!

It was only after checking the unit number did I realize that I had visited the wrong stall! Therefore, I had to make a trip back to the food centre and visit the correct one. So, what do I do with this review from the wrong stall in the meantime?

Since the photos are already edited and post drafted, then might as well just complete it and publish.

Banana Leaf Pork Briyani & Rainbow Prata @ Woodlands Wave 9

Update: Banana Leaf Pork Briyani has permanently closed.

Pork Briyani, anyone? 
 
I know what you are thinking. I could not believe it myself when I first heard of it recently. I got to know about this when a small commotion erupted among the Muslim community on Facebook because they were creating awareness and warning each other to be careful of it.

Although technically not a Malay dish, briyani are usually sold at food stalls run by Indian Muslims therefore I understand their concerns when this dish, which is not Halal, suddenly pops up in their midst.

Initially, I thought the fiasco is about somebody being caught selling pork at a Halal-certified stall but as it turns out, the business owner, who is a  non-Muslim is actually selling the pork briyani at his own non-Halal stall.

After visiting the stall for myself, I must say their worries are redundant. The pork dishes on the menu are clearly labeled and with the image of a sexy sow on the signboard, it is unlikely that any Muslims would have accidentally consume something haram.

Cheng Ji Chao Xia Mian Hao Jian @ Seah Im Food Centre

While researching about Seah Im Food Centre, I learned about this notorious Hokkien mee stall who had, for reasons unknown, set some weird rules for its customers.

According to the accounts of several past customers, the owners do not allow them to take more than one pair of chopsticks. Those unaware of the 'law' ended up being chided for doing so. This has caused much distress among the 'victims' but the owners seem adamant about it.

This really piqued my interest hence I decided to pay this stall a visit. However, I have no plans to use myself as a bait to prove if the rumor is indeed true!

Shi Ji Noodle Stall - Lor Mee @ Seah Im Food Centre

During my second trip to Seah Im Food Centre, I decided to try out Shi Ji Noodle Stall.

This stall sells duck noodle, prawn noodle, tom yum noodle and lor mee (braised noodle). I decided to go for the lor mee as I was craving for it that day.

It is self-service here. You queue to order your food, wait to collect and pay for your food.

I am pretty much impressed by the generous serving of ingredients in my bowl. There are plenty of ngor hiang (five spice rolls), lor bak (braised meat), fish cake and a certain fried stuff which I was unable to identify.

There is also half a braised egg and topped with minced garlic and coriander. I added two spoonful of black vinegar into the bowl which is the SOP for me.