Tag Archives: Soups and Stews

林氏鱼丸 – Gulangyu, Xiamen, China

November 26, 2013 Big Roy Leave a comment

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Just up ahead of 沈家闽南肠粉 in my previous post, you’ll find this shop with long tradition for their fish and prawn balls. No much of a queue so I placed my order for the 丸子开会 for RMB20, which basically has 5pcs of the 黄金鱼丸 and 6pcs of the 秘制虾丸. My reviews as follows:

Very simple operation of 1 cook and 1 cashier/packer.

My order of 丸子开会… very unique naming of the dish… Balls Meeting… ;P

Minced pork inside the 黄金鱼丸… we call this 福州鱼丸 back in Singapore.

Rating: 3.5/5.

Taste: Taste is not bad. Balls are soft and not too salty. Soup has some dried shrimps and seaweed to enhance the taste but still bland. So maybe the soup is not meant for drinking? But I’ve tasted better. Hate to say this, the frozen ones from my supermarket taste just as good if not better. 🙂

Service: Pretty good.

Ambience: N.A. Takeaway and eat nearby standing.

Portion: Slightly below average. Balls are a little small… especially the prawn ones… Ok, I sounded a little corny over there… ;P

Price: RMB20

RTE: Maybe not

Location: They have 2 locations but all on the same road. One of which has tables and seats. 鼓浪屿龙头路234 or 416号. Tel: 0592-2096361

China, Suzhou

琼林阁生态面庄 (Qionglinge Noodle House)

September 17, 2013 Big Roy Leave a comment

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Alright I reckon it’s time to write a little more on Suzhou food before I leave this place for good. 🙂 This noodle house was discovered by myself while riding around the secluded areas of this deserted Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP). Came here many times already actually, just that never got down to write about them. I reckon they deserve to be recommended as the noodles here are awesome and at the same time, they are at an area where not many people will know due to the lack of public transport facilities. See my comments below the pictures attached.

Can get very crowded during weekends and lunch hours… interns in front… 🙂

Display of all the additional ingredients to go with your noodles… not much left if you’re there after 1pm… like me… 🙁

白汤 (White Soup) RMB5 – Typical Suzhou noodles with clear soup. Don’t think they use MSG as I couldn’t detect the usual MSG taste. Soup is nice and thick, I believe was boiled with pork bones among other ingredients for hours/days/weeks/months. You’ll never know. 😉

红汤 (Red Soup) RMB5 – Typical Suzhou dark soup noodles. I reckon they added a little of the braised sauce from the braised meat. I prefer the clear one still.

Assorted Mushrooms RMB8 – Very nice to go with your noodles.

焖肉 (Braised Meat) RMB8 – A typical Suzhou dish to go with the noodles.

爆鱼 (Braised Fish) RMB8 – Typical Shanghai/Jaingsu dish where the fish is deep fried and then braised. A little sweet as usual in their cuisine but an excellent source of protein. But the fish from around here are fresh water, hence LOTS OF BONES…

A meal like this is around RMB$22 (S$4.50)

This is how I slurp up my soup… Trust me, the taste is a lot better than using a spoon.

This is how you show your appreciation… by finishing the soup that took many hours to boil!

Rating: 5/5.

Taste: Really awesome… been here like more than 8 times since I came to Suzhou a year ago. Brought my SG interns there as well and they loved it. Noodles are custom made for their 2 outlets, soup base is boiled for many hours and even the accompaniments taste good!

Portion: Above average. I can be filled with only 1 standard bowl of noodles.

Service: Pretty good.

Ambience: Traditional setting. Quite appropriate for a traditional dish of Suzhou.

Price: Really cheap and affordable. I tried one traditional outlet at Shiquan Street, costed me RMB200 for 3 pax! And this is so much better than that ‘popular’ place!

RTE: Yah, tomorrow. I’m serious. 🙂

Location: 工业园区独墅湖月亮湾星月坊商业街E03. Tel: 0512-62727699. Opening Hours: Daily 0700-1330hrs.

China, Shanghai

佳家汤包 – Shanghai, China

July 19, 2013 Big Roy Leave a comment

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Touted as one of the best 汤包 (soup dumplings) in Shanghai and I’ve been here a couple of times. Good thing is that they make these dumplings on the spot. Prices are cheap too as compared to your Crystal Jades-alike restaurants. Check out some of the samples I’ve tried below:

Workers preparing the dumplings after you order at the counter on the left.

Bill and address… Yes they charge for ginger shreds…

Rating: 4.5/5. Not full 5 cos of the ambience.

Taste: Really nice with lots of soup inside every dumpling. Eating there while piping hot is recommended. Although they have frozen ones for you to bring home and steam them yourself. The soups are pretty nice as well but I detect MSG.

Portion: One tray has 12 dumplings.

Service: Average.

Ambience: Location in a shop within a neighbourhood. Not very conducive. But I was there for the dumplings.

Price: All that for RMB56.50… Around S$11.30.

RTE: Yes if I’m in that area!

Location: See the bottom of last pic.

Taipei, Taiwan

牛轧堂 (Beef Noodles) – Taipei, Taiwan

May 13, 2013 Big Roy Leave a comment

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Went to Kunming Street as I was recommended the best beef noodles at 牛店 which is just across from this shop that I’m writing about but they do not open in the afternoon after 2.30pm and reopens only at 5.30pm. I guess their business must be damn good cos they were busy preparing for that night’s business. Hence no choice, I crossed the street and spotted another beef noodles shop. The deco looks neat and decent and the boss of the place warmly welcomed us to take a seat upstairs after we placed our orders.

Shop front… Good thing is, they don’t have too many things on the menu to confuse the customers.

Video of the tenderness of the beef can be seen here – http://youtu.be/f7lVJvAM7Dw

Rating: 4/5.

Taste: Pretty good I must say. Specially made broth from gouqizi, vegetables and chicken, boiled for hours. Beef slices were tender and melts in your mouth. Noodles are also specially made for the shop. The side dishes of beancurd and eggs are nice too!

Portion: Average

Price: TWD140 per bowl. A lot cheaper than the popular ones which starts from TWD180 onwards…

RTE: Maybe if I’m around the area but then again, there are so many food places in Taipei… and only 1 stomach… ;P

Location: No. 134-2 Kunming Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City 108. Tel: (02)2331-0397. Opens daily from 1100-2200hrs.

Chinese-Thai, Thailand

海外天鱼翅酒店 @ BANGKOK, THAILAND

April 15, 2011 Big Roy 2 Comments

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Told myself I need to feature this place after my last trip to Bangkok in Jan. (Yes I’ve got loads of backlogs… sigh) I’ve been patronising this shop since the year 2000, from the time I was savaging sharks fin soup then to the current fish maw soup. It serves very very authentic Chinese Thai seafood cuisine and the fire control is so good, it makes the dishes taste like they have been glazed over the fire before they are being served.

It is started by the old aunty who sits behind the cashier counter and now her family is helping in the whole restaurant. She is also a Teochew and when you step into this restaurant, you can speak almost anything with them from English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Burmese, Teochew and Thai of course. Check out the pics below:

Many HK magazine reviews... that explains why so many HKgers frequent this place when in Bangkok.

The Chrysenthemum drink is very nice and free flow... love it...

My favourite Fish Maw Soup... Thick and tasty!

Awesome Claypot Vermicelli with River Prawns

Fried Kang Kong... They call this Morning Glory... but quite nice although not sambal.

This is a must try... Salted fish fried rice... after trying this, you will not eat SG ones anymore...

Love this chilli dip sauce... great with the vermicelli and whatever...

Old Aunty and me... She recognises me all the time since my 2nd visit... Feel the warmth when I chat with her...

Stairs to 2nd floor if ground floor is filled.

Rating: 5/5.

Taste: I can’t describe anymore. Just go try it when in Bangkok. Try the steam cod fish also, very nice and fresh. You can wash it down with cold bird’s nest also. 🙂

Portion: Average.

Price: The whole meal came up to about slightly less than Baht$1000 which was about SGD$44 for 2-3 pax. Very affordable good food.

RTE: Everytime in Bangkok!

Location: At the beginning of Chinatown on the right side. Yellow signboard on the outside. 457-461 Yaowaraj Road. Tel 02223-0325 02223-7341

Beef Noodles/Kway Teow, Singapore

Bugis Street Ngak Seah Beef Kuay Teow @ Lavendar Foodcourt

April 1, 2011 Big Roy Leave a comment

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I’ve been eating this beef kuay teow since 1995 and the prices hasn’t change much since… Just by a dollar difference. So I was at Lavendar Foodcourt again after such a long time and decided to have my favourite mixed beef kuay teow. Surprisingly, they do not have any reviews print out on this stall… so I decided to write about them.

The stall... see the prices didn't change much...

Yummy dried kuay teow... with some beef balls soup... for S$4

Rating: 4.5/5.

Taste: Still has the authentic beef kuay teow taste of yester years… Tribe is tender and beef is fresh. Love it!

Portion: Average.

Price: $4.00 or $5.00

RTE: Yeah…

Location: Lavendar Food Court. Easy to spot. 🙂

Chinese, Claypot Rice, Macau

百勝菜馆 @ Macau City, Macau

February 15, 2011 Big Roy Leave a comment

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Was brought to this place by my friends in Macau, which I don’t think I would try in the first place. I would have come across this place as it is situated at the 手信街 of Macau City, but I might not have gone into the place and try the food because I would have thought it’s just another claypot rice place. But there are a lot more stuff than claypot rice. Nested in the middle of the old alley, the eatery has a lot of history behind that place… I was told that that street used to be a place for prostitutes during the olden days and the ladies would try to attract the men from the windows of the 2nd storey. Ha!