Firm yet yielding, they had the ideal texture and mouthfeel, which made for a satisfying bite. It’s always encouraging when the actual dish looks quite similar to its “glamour shots”. It was quite a heap of fish, well-presented in a bright colourful bowl you’d expect in a restaurant rather than a hawker centre. The fish was beautifully crisp, firm and meaty, a real pleasure to eat.

Not sure if I can find a compelling reason to return, especially when there’s a pretty good boat noodle joint just https://franklincountyfreshfoods.org/woods-farms-james-mark-woods/ downstairs. Don’t expect super-authentic restaurant quality Thai food here; Khun-Yai is more of a casual home-style cooking meant to cater to a wider range of palates. The variety is fairly decent – you can pop by for a quick lunch or sit down to a sharing plates family dinner. This veteran western food purveyor has been around for decades, having been at Temasek Polytechnic from 1993 to 2018 before moving to Beauty World. NTP Western & Grill is all about the comforting nostalgic old school flavours, no newfangled fusion cuisine here, and their years of experience is evident in the quality of the food. Sandwiched between two thin slices of soft brown bread, it called to mind the myriad uniquely flavoured toasts of Coffee Break at Amoy.

• Always curious about newfangled flavours, I asked for a mix & match – classic & bak kut teh.
• They have personal six-inch pizzas such as the San Daniele Ham & Rocket Pizza ($10.50), which comes with aged Parma ham, shaved parmesan cheese, tomatoes, and rocket leaves.
• Remember waiting for some time before the pancake arrive.
• For a taste of affordable Mediterranean fast food, head to HapiHa, a hawker stall on the fourth floor of Beauty World Centre.

Zesty food has a vivid, spicy, piquant, utterly savory flavor; feels invigorating, stimulating, fresh and reviving. Food with a zesty flavor never soothing or dull; this is exactly the opposite. Unsweetened or no added sugar, no added sweet flavor; probably sugarless, plain or bitter in taste, but not always. Unsweetened tea is not to everyone’s taste but unsweetened fruit juices are perfect, as there is no need to add any sweetener to something it is already sweet. We are talking bland, flavorless, flat, insipid, weak, dull, savorless, plain, unseasoned, unsavory, unflavored, probably unappetizing food. Tasteful or full of flavor, flavorful, food; it could mean refined, sophisticated, stylish or classy when it refers to the layout of a dish –the realm of a food stylist; the opposite?

Chicken Biryani + Mutton Chap + Phirni + Gulab Jamun

The wanton soup ($3.30) was also good value – I counted about 12 wantons for a $3.30 bowl. Their skins were just the right thickness, almost translucent but elastic enough that they held the minced pork and water chestnut fillings without tearing easily. The soup was sweet enough, if somewhat one-dimensional and quite oily, but had enough greens to keep it relatively fresh-tasting. After a culinary stint at a Ritz-Carlton hotel, Chef-owner Janson decided to put what he learnt into a western food stall of his own, starting Big Boys Sizzling Hot Plate a little over 2 years ago. The stall takes their hearty portions and interesting flavour combinations as points of pride – their vongole features hae bee hiam made from an old family recipe dating back over 50 years.

Battered fries, on the other hand, were a bit of a revelation, because they gave it more body, more crisp and more flavour. Not much to say about the broccoli, but they tasted boiled . The minced pork was similarly tasty, and the peanuts added a creamy nuttiness to the broth and, of course, crunch and texture. Lifted by the cilantro and spring onions, it’s a nice bowl of comfort food that’s not too filling. At $8 for 10 (I paid $9 for the 2 flavour combo), they’re pretty affordable. Word is that the owner hires experienced cooks who have been trained at dim sum restaurants.

Chicken Sandwich

Crispy on the outside with tender flesh on the inside, I enjoyed the flavourful and well-sauced Soy Garlic Chicken. On the Ssal Dak side , the chicken is fried with 100% rice flour instead of wheat for a crispier texture. On the menu are four main flavour – Original Crispy ($13 for half, $25 for whole), Sweet Spicy ($14, $27), Soy Sauce ($14, $27), and Honey Butter ($15, $28). Half consist of 7 pieces, while whole has 14 served in a basket.

In all honesty, I was pleasantly surprised at first bite. Through the familiar oily sweetness, there was a strong vegetal note, thanks to a lot of bean sprouts, perhaps the most I’ve seen in a plate of char kway teow. It alleviated the richness, making it a bit more moreish. The style is moist but not wet, but with not very much wok hei. I actually thought I was having a blood cockle-less version of fried kway teow, until I stumbled upon a tiny one midway through. Disappointingly, all 3 tiny cockles I eventually unearthed were also basically tasteless.

Kolkata Chicken Biriyanichicken 2 Pcs + Aloo + Egg + Chicken Chap

I’d typically have gone for the white cold brew, but since it wasn’t part of the toast set, I settled for an iced kopi instead. The coffee was quite rich and smooth, but it would be nice if they consider introducing dairy-free milk alternatives like soy and oat milk. Not exactly worth a trip, but it’s a pretty decent local breakfast with a little twist. As much as I wanted to like them , the fried fish soup ($3.50), ostensibly their signature, really failed to impress. The fried fish was tremendously soggy, literally disintegrating as I lifted it with my chopsticks – I’m guessing the fish isn’t the freshest.

Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Daniel Ang and DanielFoodDiary.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. The spicy sauce is made of red chilli peppers dried and grounded into sweet and smoky gochugaru. Fresh chicken is cooked to render out the fat to create a crackly skin, then hand-brushed with a house-made sauce to coat the skin for maximum flavour. I liked the garlic chicken best, which was evenly marinated and tasty on the outside.