Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice, Singapore

My friends were in Singapore during their flight transit for a few hours, and they decided to try Singapore's most famous food, which was none other than hainanese chicken rice. They were a couple of choices, but they chose Wee Nam Kee. So off we went..

There was a bit difficulty in ordering since not all of the waiters spoke English. So we basically just looked around and pointed things out that look good from the other tables -.-' Therefore, I did not really know what we ordered.

Well, all of the food we ordered tasted great!! and since we were super hungry, the food tasted double good.lol Surprisingly, I preferred the steamed chicken than the roasted one. I usually love roasted chicken better, but Wee Nam Kee's steamed chicken was really tender, juicy, and full of flavor. Even the clear soup tasted good.

I did not take notes on the price since we did not even look at the menu. However, I remember thinking that it was kind of cheap considering there were five of us and we felt super full afterwards. If I recall correctly, the bill came out about S$64 for the food above.

The restaurant was packed during lunch hour. We had to wait a little bit but it was well worthed.

Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice
275 Thompson Road #01-05
Singapore
Ph: (65) 6255 6396

Cafe Mount E, Singapore

Whenever I go to Singapore with my parents, it usually means check up/doctor time. And I can assure you it takes a whole day, or sometimes even a few days. They always make the time to go to Mount Elizabeth Hospital. It was close to Orchard Road. During lunch time in between appointments with doctors, we usually have our lunch in Paragon just across the street, or in the hospital's cafeteria.

The cafeteria was called Cafe Mount E. It was newly renovated that made it more comfortable. However, it was super crowded with nurses, doctors, and staff during lunch time.

1 vegetable + 2 meat = S$4.00

There was no menu here. Basically we just need to wait in line and point out what we want and then pay at the cashier. The food here is quite tasty and super cheap! My favorite was the fried chicken. It was boneless and delicious. I always added veggies, and that time I decided to added some fish balls. I thought, the fish balls were leftover from the breakfast menu since it was already cold.

I was not sure how much it costed me. Anyway, my dad loves its fried fish, and he always gets that and some veggies also. I saw the signboard ad it said 1 vegetable + 2 meat = S$4, meanwhile 2 vegetable + 1 meat = S$3.50. We spent only S$12 for 2 portions of food and 2 packs of cold sliced fruits (@ S$2.00).

The drink station

I was not sure whether I have to pay for drinks, but I saw a lot of people just grab the drinks from the drink station, and some even went for a refill. So, i just did the same thing. Maybe it's free, or maybe the cashier had added the drink price to the bill, I am not sure.

They have hot drinks, such as tea and coffee, and cold ones, which they change daily. That day, they had bandung (rose milk syrup) and orange syrup. Some other times, they had banana and lychee syrup.

Cafe Mount E during lunch time

My father loves the food that sometimes he wants to eat there even though we do not have any doctor appointment at that time!lol

Cafe Mount E

Mount Elizabeth Hospital

3 Mount Elizabeth 

Singapore

Canton-i, Singapore

I just came back from my Singapore trip, and that got me thinking why don't I share some of my foodie experiences while I was there also? So for the next few days, I'm going to write about some of the food I tried during my Singapore trips in the last few months.

For a couple of different reasons, I have to visit Singapore quite regularly. However, I stayed at Orchard area since my businesses were around the area as well. Therefore, the restaurants that I went were limited to the ones in Orchard area.

Canton-i

Anyway, my family and I were shopping around ION and came across Canton-i. Caught by the cute pink accent and bright light, my mom was eager to try it out.

The Interior

We were there on an early evening on a weekday, so the place as quiet. I love its interior, it's a mixed of Chinese and Peranakan style but on the edgy side. I love how they use bird cage as lamp shade and painted it white to make it more stylish. The main color was white with hot pink accent.

The super cute tableware

I also adore its tableware with little traditional Chinese children playing around pictures printed on it.

Hot and Sour Soup with Scallops in Szechuan Style - S$8.80/bowl

I love hot and sour soup and this one looked yummy, such a nice appetizer I thought. However, it did not taste as good as its look. The soup was too sour and the taste just was not mixed well.

Stir-fried Rice Noodles with Sliced Beef - S$16.80

My mother is a big fan of stir-fried rice noodles a.k.a kewtiauw goreng, so she would order it whenever she had the chance. We loved the rice noodles here. It was tasty and not too sweet. The sliced beef was also tender.

Braised Dried Seafood in Casserole - S$48.80

My parents also loved sea cucumber, or more like they believed that it was good for our health. The pot consisted of fish maw, sea cucumber, mushroom, pacific clam, and broccoli. They gave out big pieces of sea cucumbers just like how my parents loved it. However, the taste was just okay to me.

Sauteed Chinese Chives with Dried Shrimps and
Shredded Dried Cuttlefish - S$16.80

I did not know what Chinese Chives was, but it was sure tasty! I loved it! The cuttlefish was shredded super thinly that it looked like a curly anchovy instead. I loved this dish the most, and I was not a vegetable lover.

Hong Kong Milk Tea - S$4.50

It was okay but I feel like I have to give a shout out for the super cute cup, even though the cup in the menu picture looked a lot cuter :p!

Jasmine Fairy (before and after a couple of minutes) - S$4.00 

It was a mixed of Marigold, Gold Amaranth, and Chrysanthemum tea. We had to wait for a couple of minutes before drinking it to allow the tea flower to "bloom." It looked pretty :)

Lantern Chandelier

Overall, I enjoyed our dinner here. The service was great and I loved looking at its cute decoration and tableware. I heard they served good dim sum, so we will probably come back to try it out :D

Canton-i
ION Orchard #03-14
2 Orchard Turn
Singapore
Ph: (65) 6509 8368
http://www.canton-i.com/

Bakso Akiaw 99

My cousin "kidnapped" me to Bakso Akiaw last week. I told him that they had a counter in Eat & Eat Mall Kelapa Gading 5, which I believe a lot more comfortable with air-con and all, but he insisted to eat at the original depot. So we went there instead. The place was crowded.

I heard a lot of good reviews about it, but had never been there myself. My mom was actually a fan. Since it was really famous, I set the expectation really high.

The waitress asked whether I wanted it with vermicelli, rice noodle, or egg noodle. I picked the vermicelli. When the order came in, I was a bit surprise since they gave me two bowls. Apparently, one was for the meatballs and sliced beef, and another for the vermicelli. The vermicelli was a lot since they gave us a bowl full each. Furthermore, I did not expect to get sliced beef in my meatball bowl. However, they were really good! I actually am drooling over my keyboard right now by looking at the picture. yummmmmm.....

Anyway, I was surprise again when we paid. The bill went for about Rp 70k for both of us, mind you each of us ordered just a bowl of meatball and ice tea. In my opinion, it was quite expensive considering it was just meatball and the place was not nice either. But, I am a big fan now regardless!


Bakso Akiaw 99
Jl. Mangga Besar No. 2B
Jakarta Barat

Din Tai Fung

I had a meeting at Senayan area last Tuesday. There were not so many of us. And since most of us felt a bit unwell, Din Tai Fung sounded quite healthy to me.

Crab Meat, Roe, and Chicken Dumpling
(Xiao Long Bao isi Kepiting dan Ayam) - Rp 68k for 6pcs

While waiting for another person to come, my brother ordered the crab meat and chicken xiao long bao. I used to hate eating xiao long bao, because I always ended up making a mess. But that's was before I read the placemat at Din Tai Fung. It told me how to eat xiao long bao properly! Geez I was really thankful, now I could eat xiao long bao neatly =D

Din Tai Fung was known for its xiao long bao. I would say they were good, but not overly delicious. yes, I love the juice in the little bao, but overall it was just okay to me.

Bubble Tea - Rp 22k

Have I told you how I miss good bubble tea so sooo baaddd?! so can you imagine how excited I was when I read that they had bubble tea. I ordered it instantly, not even my sore throat could stop me. and I did not regret it at all. They were good. The boba (bubble/pearl/whatever you may call it) were chewy and sweet, generally just like how I love it. It was not perfect, but it was more than good enough to satisfy my craving. The only downside was it was super small in term of portion that ordering one glass would not enough.

Chinese Tea - Rp 9k

The waiter would give you chinese tea automatically if you do not order any drink. Well, since the bubble tea was super small, and my sore throat was calling for hot drink, so I also got the Chinese Tea.

Ja Jang Noodle w/ Spinach Noodle - Rp 46k

For the main dish, I got the Ja Jang Noodle. Basically, you can choose the between the regular or spinach noodle. I picked the spinach noodle. Overall, the noodle was good. I really love the sweet sauce.

Din Tai Fung
Plaza Senayan
3rd Floor #318C
Jl. Asia Afrika No. 8
Jakarta Selatan
Ph: (021) 5790 0163


also available at:
Pondok Indah Mall, 3rd Floor
Pacific Place, 5th Floor
Plaza Senayan Arcadia, Ground Floor
Plaza Indonesia, L3
Mall of Indonesia, Ground Floor

Social House

I took a day off to accompany Mr. Foo applying for a US visa. After finished with the US Embassy, Mr. Foo felt very hungry, since he got up late and had to skip breakfast. So, we decided to go to Social House in Grand Indonesia, or GI for short.

Food goers must be familiar with Social House. It was under Ismaya Group management. Being located in GI, Social House was one of the "IT" hang out place in Jakarta. It was always fully booked on weekend, and it was spacious.

It was located on the First floor right at the end of Level One, inside Harvey Nichols. Now that the department store had closed, the athmosphere at the entrance of SoHo was not as inviting. It did not give the exclusivity vibe it used to, it was actually a bit horrid. However, once you went in, you would forget about the entrance!

I love the decoration of Social House, or SoHo for short. I found that it was really comfie and cozy with the wood pantry atmosphere; and the most interesting part is it gave totally different vibes during afternoon, evening, and even at night. In the afternoon, the place would be really bright, since the restaurant was surrounded by mirror overlooking "Bunderan HI." In the evening, they would open some of the windows so that you'd feel the wind breeze passing through your face as you were enjoying your mid-day cocktails or tea. At night, they would dim the lights and it was usually really crowded. You could hear people talking and laughing while they enjoyed their boozes.

Anyway, we went there for early lunch and it was not that busy. We were quickly seated right in front of the open kitchen. I had been here numerous times, and I just realized that they had open kitchen.

Mr. Foo was really really hungry, while I was too full after my breakfast at McDonald's Sarinah. So here's what he ordered:

Fresh Oyster - Rp 20k each (Rp 100k for 6 pcs)

Mr. Foo LOVES oyster. However, he just ordered one because he already ordered a lot of other food. He said it was really really delicious! He even considered to order more before the other food started to come out.

Dragon Roll - Rp 70k

I decided to share the Dragon Roll since it looked so good! Extravagant food presentation was one of my weakness. Anyway, it did not taste as good. It was soggy in my opinion that I did not finish my part.

Bibimbab - Rp 75k

I tried a scoop of the Bibimbab and I didn't like it. However, Mr. Foo said that it was good, at first. But it might be because he was really hungry, because later on he said that it was not good.

SoHo had always been a hit or miss to me. It could be really good and it could be really bad. It was bad for our visit this time. I would stick to the waiter's recommendation next time. If you plan to go here at night or on the weekend, reservation is highly recommended.

Oh, and they have a bunch of different promotions for those who use HSBC credit card. For this visit I got 20% discount on food, since it was on the weekdays. On the weekend, I usually get a free dessert of the day.

Social House
Harvey Nichols at Grand Indonesia
East Mall. 1st Floor
Jl. Jend. Sudirman
Jakarta Pusat , Indonesia
Ph. (021) 2358-1818

Begging a Beggar Chicken at Chicken Village

Imagining Madcon's song: Beggin'. lol I am just kidding. I hate that song actually.

After dimsum-ing (if the word even exists :p ), I watched Sammy's Adventure with my cousins. The movie was entertaining to me, but somehow they dragged it too long in the middle.

Then, one of my cousins suggested to get dinner at Gokana. While walking there, we passed by Chicken Village, which heavily promoted its Beggar Chicken.I had been curious about it for quite a long time. While we were debating over which restaurant we would have dinner at, I saw a promotion banner! They had a 50% off for food promotion, if one spent Rp 200,000 or over on food and pay with HSBC credit card. It did not take long lime for us to decide where we would have dinner! money talks haha

Beggar Chicken - Rp 168,000

The  beggar chicken was indeed unique. They served it by the side of our table on a tray with a hammer next to the chicken. Then a waiter came up and smashed it right in front of us. All of the people around us turned their heads and watched the free smashing-beggar-chicken show.

What;s inside

So basically the already-cooked chicken was covered in leaves and aluminium foil. Then they covered it with chicken shaped clay. It tasted blah.. I did not like it at all! Moreover for the price, and we had to order the whole chicken. To meet Rp 200,000 we also ordered dim sum.

Lumpia Kulit Tahu Goreng Isi Udang - Rp 13,800
Pictured with Nasi Hainam - Rp 7,800

Wotie Isi Udang dan Sayuran - Rp 13,800

Sweet Village - Rp 19,800

The dim sum was ok, but if you consider the price after discount, it was awesome.lol I mean where else in Jakarta one could find dim sum at Rp7,000 per portion. The wotie with vegetables was not good, but it might be caused by my childhood hatred towards veggie. The drink was ok too.

Will I come back again? I might come back again for the dim sum (moreover, before Nov 14, when the promotion will expire), but not for the beggar chicken. The experience was awesome, but I just need it once in my lifetime.

Chicken Village

Mall Kelapa Gading

Jl. Kelapa Gading Boulevard Raya 

Ground Level

Jakarta Utara - Indonesia

Summarecon Mall Serpong

Downtown Wal Unit #20

Serpongm Tangerang - Indonesia

Supermal Karawaci

WS Floor Unit 10

Karawaci - Tangerang

Dim Sum Sunday at Golden Jade Kitchen

As usual, my family and I had dim sum after church. We went to Golden Jade Kitchen in Mall Kelapa Gading 3 that was just a couple miles away from our church. There were just a few people other than us in the restaurant, it was usually packed though.

Anyway, we were so hungry that I did not get a chance to take any picture, but one! To be honest, the food that day was a bit disappointing. I'm giving a benefit of doubt here, but they casually mentioned that the suppliers were still closed due to the Eid holiday. So, probably the ingredients were not as fresh as usual. and they did NOT have my favorite tofu pickles -.-' My brother and I were getting grumpy for a while because of this. Silly I know, but it was the best pickle ever!lol

The highlight of the day was:

Honey Glazed Baked BBQ Pork Bun

I am sorry but I was too hungry to remember the price -.- But it was not expensive though. Its Baked BBQ Pork Bun was super delicious and it was the main reason why my dad always wanted to go here. I had never found any baked BBQ pork bun that could be compare to it.

If you are curious, you may just go there and try it yourself :)

Golden Jade Kitchen
Mall Kelapa Gading 3
Ground Level Unit G 15 B-C
Jl. Kelapa Gading Boulevard
Jakarta Utara - Indonesia

Foek Bakmi Karet

I love noodle, and Bakmi GM is one of my favorite. However, a best friend dared to tell me in the face that there was one that made Bakmi GM tasted like a sh*t. Ok, I exaggerated it, but the comment was along the line. I felt challenged, for the love of Bakmi GM.lol

So today, after a slow gym session, due to the lesser than usual calories burned :(, I requested him to take me to the famous noodle shop. Noted that I was reaallllyyy hungry.

Foek Bakmi Karet

You can see from the picture that the sign was so small, and also the opened door. I thought it was closed. It was so hard to find a parking space, since it was located in housing area, just right behind Wisma Gading Permai Apartment Complex. We had to park a little further, and my stomach was about to growl.

It was not really a restaurant. It was actually a house, and we ate at the terrace. I was shocked once I stepped inside, it was full and we were there at 2 p.m., I believed it wasn't lunch hour anymore. Despite the enormous amount of people inside, they were still able to manage its cleanliness. Anyway, we waited in line. And I thought my stomach just cannot stand it anymore, moreover with the view of people eating noodle voraciously. So when the waitress offered to join in other people's table, we accepted, whole-heartedly.  I was THAT hungry.lol 

Bakmie Karet Suikiaw + Daging Campur - Rp 17,500

Pangsit Goreng Jumbo 2pcs/pax @ Rp 5,000

Bakmi Karet Suikiaw was the most ordered, so I got that. Once they put the bowl in front of me, I just could not wait to put it into my mouth, but I had to take some picture to be posted here -.- Anyway, the noodle was good, but that's it. It was not extremely good, it was not to-die-for good; it's just ok. But important to notice, I do NOT eat spicy food, so I did not put any chili sauce or chili or any spicy sauce whatsoever to the bowl. I guess that affected the flavor, since I saw ALL of the people put a lot of chili sauce to their noddle soup. I did not have high expectation for the suikiaw since I was a little disappointed already with the noodle and I did not like wonton. Little did I know, it was the BEST wonton/suikiaw that I had ever tasted in my life! It was perfectly mixed of saltiness and sweetness; which I think the sweetness came from the pork meat it made out of. 

And just FYI, they offered Bakmi Suikiaw, Bakmi Wonton, and Bakmi Pangsit. I didn't get the differences, but Bakmi Suikiaw is the most expensive. My friend, who was a regular, ordered the Bakmi wonton. He told me that the suikiaw was better than wonton, but he ordered wonton just because he ate suikiaw too often.lol

So if you are around the area, you can try it yourself and share whether it is really better than Bakmi GM :) To me personally, I still like Bakmi GM more. But I have to admit that eating here is a different experience.

Foek Rumah Bakmi Karet

Jl. Gading Elok Barat 2 CF 1 No. 1

Kelapa Gading, Jakarta Utara

Indonesia

Ph: 021 4522473