Tag Archives: Braised

Cantonese, Media Invite, Singapore, Vegetarian

[FOOD TASTING] Samsara Gourmet – Novena, Singapore

February 9, 2016 Big Roy Leave a comment

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I apologise for not writing much lately as I was pretty swarmed with work as I do not have any part-timers helping me since school reopened. At the same time, I was planning for my upcoming coffee pilgrimage and food trail in Medan and Sumatra. Updates will be more frequent on my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/eatwithroy/) so if you guys like, can follow me there.

Recently I was invited for a hosted dinner at Samsara Gourmet, a hidden gem serving excellent authentic Canton cuisine at reasonable prices, with a head chef formerly from Tunglok Group. This humble 50-seater restaurant with a private room is owned by Ms Violet Lee, who was Miss Singapore in the 1980s, came back to Singapore after spending more than 2 decades in China building an empire.

After much checking out online, Samsara Gourmet is seriously out of the radar in the social media circle although fellow bloggers like Maureen (www.misstamchiak.com) and Derrick (www.sgfoodonfoot.com) have written on them some time ago. Location could be a factor and also lack of publicity, which is why I am writing this blog entry. The food here is so awesome that I really need to share it here.

Vegetarian Abalone Lou Hei. As mentioned in my instagram post, the veg are cut daily and really fresh and refreshing. An alternative to the regular sugar coated ones. The sauce is also made in house, a very nice rendition to the Lou Hei.

Vegetarian Platter. The mock char siew in front was really good, the middle mock goose with shrooms fillings was delicious and the top mock kidney was really crunchy and tasty. Great starter dish!

Fish Maw Soup. Served in individual bowls of $8 if I am not wrong. Full of ingredients, fish maw and chinese mushrooms sourced from HK and hand carried back. I didn’t even put any vinegar and white pepper which I usually do.

Samsara Gui Fei Chicken. Meat was very tender and skin was so smooth, it was pretty hard to kiap with my chopsticks. A must-order!

Pumpkin Prawn Ball is also another winning dish. Love how the sweetness of the pumpkin coated the large de-shelled prawns. Lovely!

Pork Knuckle Mee Sua was so good, I wish there were more. The mee sua is not clumpy and really delicious. Pork knuckle was really tender with the skin jellyfying in your mouth! Another must-order!

Claypot Chicken Rice. Wow this really wraps up the night. Rice was cooked to al dente, chicken was boneless thigh meat and very tender. Chinese sausage (Wing Wah) and mushroom were hand carried back from Hong Kong. Missing this quite a bit!

Rating: 5/5.

Taste: Truly authentic Canton food. They can also cater for vegetarian options. Really good.

Portion: Good.

Service: Very attentive. I hope it’s not because the boss was there.

Ambience: Nice and pretty chill.

Price: Considering the quality, very reasonable. At least much better than my reunion dinner at another restaurant.

RTE: Definitely!

Location & Hours:

Add: 38 Irrawaddy Road, #01-05, Singapore 329563 (On the right side of the lobby of Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre @ Novena)
Tel: +65 67343138
Hours: Mon-Fri: 9am – 9pm, Sat: 9am – 6pm, Closed on Sun & PH

Map: https://goo.gl/maps/cDvZw1JtNRS2

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Samsara-Gourmet-1519293228391002/info?tab=overview

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*** CNY PROMOTION ***

Show this blogpost to enjoy a 30% discount off all a la carte dishes with min $50 spending for dinner only from 6-9pm. Valid till 29th Feb 2016!

Indonesia, Medan

Foodtrail in Medan Day 2 – Indonesia

October 19, 2015 Big Roy 2 Comments

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Ok it’s Day 2 in Medan when I went around with the driver and trust me, this day I ate nothing less of that of Day 1! Let’s get started!

Woke up to a nice buffet brekkie. Simple foods make me happy… as long as they have an egg station to make my omelette! With more cheese please!

Ok this egg plant sambal is BLARDY GOOD! I went back for 2 rounds of just egg plant!

Left the hotel, spotted this and I was told this is actually a landmark in Medan… It’s a water tank and will light up at night.

Railway tracks run through the back of some housing… Reminds me of a lot of places… Thailand, India, etc…

Chinatown… full of business activities… just like our Hong Kong Street in the morning.

Cybercafe… Singapore kids don’t know how lucky they are….

My first stop… Thirty Six Cafe. Came earlier but not opened, so went to get my SIM card first.

Love the ambience. One of the bosses at the machine.

Behind is a stage where local bands will perform on weekends.

Wow chillax seats and watch the performance! I need to lie on this the next time I’m there!

Wanted to check out this curry noodles but I have another place in mind

First you find this thing then turn left!

Bihun Bebek Akien (Duck Beehoon… Akien is the name of the owner) Wonder nice or not

These fatty pork belly just melts in the mouth. Remind me to order the whole bowl next time!

So good I emptied the bowl… #worldcleanplate

Coffee here is not bad. Aunty made this specially for me.

Aunty owner ask me to call her mama! I have a mother in Medan! Very very hospitable and I felt really at home with her!

Came here to buy the Kueh Lapis for home. End up only the lapis is nice, Kueh Ambon is bad. Can skip. Attitude of staff also need a little fine tuning.

Kueh Lapis sampling… I must say it’s really good.

Bought one lapis and one ambon. Ambon is sucky.

The street of kueh lapis, Jalan Moejopahit

Cheese with banana fritters and loads of chocolate! #fatdieme

This jar of Gila Sambal is damn spicy! Love it!

5th stop. Macehat Cafe. Pronounced as Mah-Cha-Hut. Highly recommended by friend.

Inside is compact man…Many tables and crampy.

Outside equally crowded and lots of smokers

Ordered the Avocado Choc with ice cream and espresso shot. Pretty good.

Ordered a latte takeaway. Typical dark roasted, same ol’ taste profile.

6th Stop. Kwetiau Ong. Spelt as Kway Teow in Singapore and Malaysia. Since 1914! Father passed to the daughter and old aunty is frying this darn good!

I shall conquer Jalan Selat Panjang! Famous food street in Medan! SPARTA!!!

Mie Tiong Sim’s Mie Pangsit. which is actually our Wanton Mee. Pretty good actually. Must eat.

This glutinous rice chicken is damn good. Next trip must tapao this!

Pandan kuehs will be dressed with grated coconut

Medan chee cheong fun… yeah spreaded over a pan.

This Medan style chee cheong fun is damn blardy good. There are 2 stalls at Selat Panjang, go for the one who is same size as me… if not bigger…

This is known as Murtabak in Medan… yeah I also scratch head… but apparently this pancake is very common snack among the locals. Common toppings are chocolate, cheese, peanut and coconut. Same same.

This is the bamboo version of our Kueh Tutu… Didn’t buy this cos you eat one, you’ll be full… then cannot eat anything else!

This glutinous rice thingy has got coconut peanut fillings inside. It’s alright can skip though.

This purple glutinous rice cake with kaya is blardy good. another must try!

Can’t remember what this is but the sauce isn’t that tasty. The prawn crackers were crispy though.

Something like kumquat (honeyed lime) drink

Badak drink is like Sarsi… only available in Medan.

Sate padang looks good but had it the day before so didn’t order.

After dinner we headed to the night market

Meet Bob, the civet cat! No I didn’t look for his poop for kopi luwak!

Me with the owner of Bob. Cute right? ;P

Behind every big guy is a small civet cat.

The mother of the stall owner offered us nonya kueh while we were waiting for the rain to stop… So nice and warm the people here!

The makan gang… Thanks for the hospitality guys!

That ended my second day in Medan. Yes I did ate that much. Everyone had food coma after that…. haha… Day 3 was pretty much rushing to the airport and head back to SG. So that ended my whole short Medan trip. I promise I’ll be back for more good food! Till then Medan, I’ll see you guys soon!

Yours gastronomically,

Big Roy

Batam, Indonesia

One Day Foodtrail In Batam – Batam, Indonesia

September 17, 2015 Big Roy Leave a comment

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Was wondering what to do one of my off days so I decided to head to Batam cos it has been a long time since I’ve last visited. So I called up my food buddy Chandra (@batamliciouz) and just so nice Charlene was also off that day, and off we went!

So early in the morning in the train and so many people

Spotted wreaths for opening ceremonies or funerals, are all on boards like these.

Arrived at this place called Kedai Kopi Sudi Manpir, only known to locals. This sloppy looking stall you must wondering what the old couple is selling right? Make a guess?

A closer look… they can sell a few hundred plates a day!

Yes, it’s Mee Rebus! And it’s only 10000rupiah (S$1!) One of the best in Batam already!

Wanted to order the Fried Maggi Mee but came this instead. Still, this is pretty darn good cos of the wok hei. This Mie Goreng Tg Pinang costed only 20000 rupiah ($2)

Wanton Mee otherwise known as Mie Pangsit in Indonesia. This one is ok at 16000 ($1.60)

After that headed to Caffein at Nagoya Mall area, met up with my friend Joe who owns the place.

All bakes are done in house. Caffein is prolly the first cafe in Batam to do specialty coffee, macarons and artisan cakes.

Rochester 32000Rp ($3.20). Pretty awesome with a wafer base and layers of choc and hazelnut mousse. Yums!

Latte 23800Rp ($2.38). Beans are from Liberty Roasters in Singapore.

Awesome hospitality from Caffein! You guys should visit when you’re at Nagoya Mall. They are opposite Matahari exit only.

Interesting way to rent out advertising space.

Es Jeruk Manis 10000Rp ($1). Some fruit juice cordial thing. Forgot what this is… hehe

Bak Kut Teh 32727Rp ($3.20). They have versions like this in minced pork and pork slices. Soup is herbal but not too strong. Not bad.

Ayam Rojak 54545Rp ($5.50). Imagine boneless fried chicken mixed in a rojak salad. Quite yummy!

Their version of hor fun 15000Rp. Not as tasty as SG ones.

Fried Kway Teow 17272 ($1.72) Soso only, not as good as the morning one.

After that we went to visit this old friend of mine, Singapore’s famous Fish Head Steamboat, Whampoa Keng!

Wah got alfresco seating and also band playing on weekends!

They can’t use charcoal there hence these avante garde table stoves!

The legendary Ah Keng! Haven’t taken any photos with him after knowing him for so long!

See this pano shot of the whole row of Indomie instant noodles.

Wanted to try this only. Salted Egg Yolk Chicken.

Ikan Lebam 31000 ($3.10) Notice the sauce they use is different from ours. Minced ginger with tumeric, Yums!

BBQ Stingray 17000 ($1.70) – Fresh and yummy!

Sate Pandang – Damn shiok! Love the peanut sauce over the top and spinkled with fried onions.

Was a great day of fun, thanks to Chandra and Joe for bringing us around! Didn’t try many things, so will definitely be back again and try more local foods!

Yours gastronomically,

Big Roy ;P

Chiang Rai, Thailand

Foodtrail in Chiangrai Day 3 – Chiangrai, Thailand

September 3, 2015 Big Roy Leave a comment

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Day 3 began with me visiting a couple of places before heading up to Doi Chang Mountain. I just love not just checking out unique coffee houses but also less known street food! I will let the pics do the talking!

At Chivit Thammada. I’ve written a separate blogpost about this place before as it gave me some much inspirations. Love this place like mad!

My order of Scrambled Eggs Muffin with Smoked Salmon. Yummy!

Back in town, parked my car, on my way to 7-Eleven to top up my SIM Card data when I spotted this eatery.

Which was selling this awesome roast pork!!! Just by the look of the skin, I know this is CRACKLING! So guess what happened next? ;P

Yeah I ordered a plate of roast pork rice but I asked for lesser rice. It’s very well roasted BUT they chopped in really small pieces. 40 baht!

Pump petrol before the long journey up the mountains!

But first, stop by Wat Rong Khun aka White Temple. Seriously too touristy for me. So I took a selfie anyways! ;P

But check out the construction, really detailed.

This is actually a road divider cone at the White Temple. I don’t understand why they used 4-faced skull… Hmmm…

Pano shot of the view halfway up. Very nice lake.

Found a roadside eatery where I decided to have my lunch.

OMG check out the view. Very serene surrounding.

Lady didn’t speak English, so I used my limited Thai to order a fried rice. Thais somehow do damn good fried rice!

Ordered this bittergourd veg also but DAMN SALTY… If not also very nice. Maybe see me excited then put too much salt hahaha…

Decided to explore Doi Chang town a little

Doi Chang Coffee Farm’s milling facility

The bad cherries are filtered out for instant coffees and your 3-in-1s.

Good cherries gets pumped up for pulping process.

The hulling machine. Removes the parchment off the beans

Sorting in progrees into different grades and types

Colour sorter. Laser recognition to remove the off coloured beans which the bean sorter cannot detect.

Manual sorting which is why Doi Chang beans are highly graded.

After eating the cherry, the coffee beans remain

Akha Tribe. The original founding family of Doi Chang.

The original founder of Doi Chang beans. Not to be confused with the popular Doi Chaang chain all over Thailand, UK and now in Malaysia and Singapore. This uncle is the elder brother of the other one.

View of Myanmar. That’s why this family decided to settle at Doi Chang because they can see their homeland at a distance.

Time for the farmers to come and deposit their harvest of the day!

Weighing and recording of every farmer that is registered under the coffee farm so that it’s truly Single Origin.

Deposits went on till around 7pm+. Cherries are soaked overnight to be fermented for next day processing.

Alright that’s all for day 3, watch out for Day 4!

Your gastronomically,

Big Roy

Chiang Rai, Thailand

Foodtrail In Chiangrai Day 1 – Chiangrai, Thailand

August 31, 2015 Big Roy Leave a comment

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Alright this is a very late post but at least the stalls are still there last check. Chiangrai is a very nice place if you haven’t been. Less crowded as compared to Bangkok and the weather’s cooler especially towards the year end. This blogpost may be quite long due to so many things to write about. So maybe I should just stick to the food? Ok maybe food with some attractions that I reckon you should know lah. Anyways, you will be seeing a lot of food pics and please read the captions below them, and yes I ate most of them. So don’t judge ok? ;P

Lunch place during transit at Don Mueng Airport, Bangkok.

My lunch at Don Mueng Airport while transiting. Can’t remember the name of the place but it’s on the left side bside Taurus Coffee Bar. Not bad, not expensive.

Taurus Coffee Bar beside the Japanese eatery

Some cake that looks good but was just too sweet at Taurus Coffee Bar

Latte was really bad from Taurus Coffee Bar

Collected my car which will accompany me for the next 5 days.

Simple lah, cheap also at S$40 per night.

Checked out the room service menu. The description puts me in doubt… So off I go outside exploring!

Found this roadside stall on the road that leads to the Clock Tower. Locals eat here so I parked my car and try.

Looks like a mess but heck with hygiene, this could be damn good.

Put this and you’ll need a lot of ice water.

Not the glass noodles I like but this kway teow was alright. Love the broth and a must-eat whenever I’m in Chiangrai!

Roadside eating is very common in Chiangrai. If you’re not prepared for street food, then you may not be able to try what’s local.

This shop sells pau. I didn’t try because pau will take up my stomach space although I have a lot of HDD. ;P

Heard this stall is very popular due to the youtiao and pandan custards.

Most youtiao in Thailand are short cute ones, this one is what we normally have but at only 15 baht.

At first I thought is kaya but I was in for some surprise

Wah lau, this is some damn good Pandan Kaya custard lahhhhh

Think everyone knows what this is. Khao Naew Mamuang (glutinous rice with mango) Something I cannot resist.

Just sit anywhere and enjoy your coffee and desserts

They are selling some toast with a lot of condense milk. Very local which I avoided cos of sugar.

Not a very good machine but it works for them and no one’s complaining, So we are all happy!

My order of kafei yen (Thai ice coffee).

The Clock Tower. See tourists gather at the road divider to take pictures. There is light display at every hour from 7pm. One prime attraction in Chiangrai.

Packed this Khao Mun Gai for only 35 Baht. It is really tasty and fragrant!

So that’s all for day 1. Stay tuned for Day 2!

Yours gastronomically,

Big Roy

Media Invite, Singapore, Tse Char Stall

[Media Invite] Gu Ma Jia Private Kitchen 姑妈家私房菜 – Macpherson, Singapore

June 18, 2015 Big Roy Leave a comment

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Was invited for a media tasting recently at this place which I believe many people have not heard of. I was however curious to find out how different it is from the Pulau Ubin cuisine from the ones I grew up with. Nah, I wasn’t from Pulau Ubin, just that my nanny’s brother lives there, and I stay with them during the school holidays. Yes he still lives there. ;P

When I arrived at Gumajia after closing the coffee bar, I was greeted with the group of bloggers there. Very family style, with kids some more, definitely my first time encountering this mix. The table was not big enough to accommodate everyone (we had more than 10 pax on a big round table), wasn’t really comfy but tried to blend in lah.

Check out some of the food that I’ve tried while some were wiped out and I don’t have the opportunity to savour them.

Ubin La La Beehoon ($18). You must be wondering not another white beehoon… But this one has an awesome stock to begin with and tasted really good. Highly recommended,

Crispy Been Jal ($12/$18). Totally caught us by surprise was this dish of crispy brinjal. Lightly seasoned and tossed fried with garlic and french beans. Another must order dish.

Salted Egg Yolk Crab (Seasonal Price) – Crabs are fresh and juicy. Taste is really good on the sauce.

Yuan Yang Kai Lan ($12/$18/$24). Taste like the usual kailan but a lot efforts. Applaud the chef going through so many procedures.

Gu Ma Traditional Beancurd Soup ($28). $28 for soup… you must be wondering why so expensve, wait till you see the amount of ingredients inside in the pic below.

Check out the amount of ingredients use! Soup is really rich and bursting with flavours!

Assam Fish Head – $28. Freshness from the fish head was tasted. Very well balance of flavours!

XO Sauce Prawn Noodles ($36). Probably one of the best prawn noodle soups I’ve tasted! Rich broth served with fresh prawns. Yummy to the max.

Fruity Enzyme Drink ($4.80) – Detoxify with this refreshing drink!

Fruity Enzyme Jelly ($5.80). Taste like sour plum. 🙂

Rating: 5/5.

Taste: Love the taste and originality in flavours.

Portion: Large

Service: One particular staff was very friendly and helpful. The rest are pretty ok.

Ambience: Nothing avant garde. Typical tse char style.

Price: Listed on pics. No GST and srv

RTE: Mum will love this!

Location: 45 Tai Thong Crescent.

Hours: Daily 11am to 10,30pm (Mon-Fri 2.30pm to 5.30pm break)

Reservations: +65 6285 2023.

http://www.gumajia.com.sg.

Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee, Singapore

Kim’s Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee – Eunos, Singapore

March 24, 2015 Big Roy Leave a comment

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As I mentioned earlier, I was on a Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee roll and I’ve always wanted to pay this place a visit. Kim’s Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee is one of the 3 pioneers for fried hokkien prawn mee in Singapore. Established in 1965, writing on this place cannot be more apt for SG50!

So before I visited Kim’s, I actually heard a lot about what happened to the food quality, what happened to Mr Tan’s life and stuff. I didn’t really want to know what happened, but what I saw was the 68 year old getting his hands dirty again and frying the noodles himself… yes, he is still in his long sleeves but I didn’t notice any bling Rolex. It seemed to me that he is trying his very best to get back the original flavour and quality. I was there on 2 separate nights and both nights Mr Tan was there to cook personally. Enough said, pictures.

My order of $8 portion. Plate is big, portion is alright.

For the $8 portion you get more seafood ingredients and bigger prawns.

Back a couple of days later to taste the $5 portion. Prawns are smaller but ingredients are still substantial.

Rating: 4/5.

Taste: On the first night, I ordered the $8 portion. Loads of ingredients, good nevertheless. I went back on another night to try again if there was consistency, taste was similar if not better. However the broth could be a little richer. Ingredients was substantial for the $5 portion. Love the pork lard on the sides but would prefer it more crispy. Chilli belachan was good but would be nicer if it was spicier. Their famous Oyster Omelette was really good, a must-order!

Portion: Good. Quite a bit of ingredients.

Service: Ok.

Ambience: Coffee shop style.

Price: Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee

RTE: Yes!

Location: 62B Jalan Eunos, Singapore 419510. Tel : 6747 8766. Operating Hours : 11am – 1am

Overall review: If you googled on this place, many bad reviews on how bad the noodles are can be seen everywhere. I believe if more people patronize Mr Tan, he may get back the original standards. But that being said, I still see regulars swinging by at 11pm to 12+am to indulge in his Hokkien Mee. So you be the judge. 😉

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