Es Teler 77

When I think of Indonesian food, I immediately think of Es Teler 77. Apart from Singapore and Indonesia, Es Teler 77 has restaurants in Australia and Malaysia too. I started patronizing their restaurant back when I was working at Far East Plaza. Their food is not only good, the prices are definitely reasonable.

Last week, I visited their restaurant at Cathay Cineleisure Orchard. Located at the basement, it's tucked in a corner next to the food court. I would usually have their oxtail soup (sop buntut) which is pretty darn good. But I decided to try their chicken curry (S$5.50) instead. Boy am I glad I did!

I had three good size pieces of chicken (two thighs and one drumstick). The curry wasn't too spicy and it was full of flavour!

You might wanna take note that Indonesian curry is a little different from the Indian curry we get here. Indonesian curry is more like lemak curry that the Nyonya's and Malays prepare. Nonetheless, it's still good!

Other dishes worth having a go at when you visit Es Teler 77 is the Oxtail Soup , Mee Bakso (beef ball) and the Grilled Bread.

www.esteler77.com

Thohirah Restaurant

I'm sure many of you will agree that Jalan Kayu is a food haven! Parking may be a bitch but once you find a parking lot, you will be rewarded by great food. Two Sunday my wife and I along with my son, headed to Thohirah Restaurant for dinner.

We sat near the end of this food joint and we were served within minutes. In fact, while we were looking through the worn out and torn menu, three of their staff came by to ask if we were ready to order! It's either the staff don't communicate with each other or they are over zealous!!! But on some days, the service can be reaaaaally slow...

We ordered two mee gorengs with mata lembu (bull's eye egg) and a mutton chop. It's freaking hard to find a decent plate of mee goreng in Singapore these days and I'm glad to say Thohirah Restaurant mee goreng is excellent!!! The mutton chop was alright I guess. I'm not a big fan of mutton. Heh!

There was a satay stall run by an old Malay couple next to where we were sitting but we decided to leave that to the next time. There's lots of other dishes to try at Thohirah Restaurant too. They have Chinese styled halal dishes, prata, etc...We'll feature some of those dishes the next time we head out to that area.

Thohirah Restaurant is located at:
258 Jalan Kayu (S)799487
Operating hours: 24 hours 7 days a week!

Chicken House

Here's a dish that screams Uniquely Singapore! I am choosing to ignore Malaysia's claim that the Hainanese Chicken Rice among other SINGAPOREAN dishes belong to them. Childish right??? Bleh!!!

Ask Singaporeans about what they like about chicken rice and you'll probably get different answers. Some like the chilli, some like the rice and some just like the chicken. I like all of them! If a place can get all three right, then I'll be madly in love with the joint. In my opinion, Chicken House has got all three right!

I've been eating at Chicken House (also known as Kampong Chicken Rice) for so long that I don't know how many years it's been opened for business. Lunch is the busiest time the restaurant sees on weekdays and on weekends, it's always full-house during dinner.

I love how the chicken skin is yellow. It's really yummy! I don't understand people that don't eat chicken skin. That's the best part ain't it?!

We love the kai lan with oyster sauce too!

Another dish that is popular here is the cold mud crab. I've never tried it and I doubt I ever will. I like my crabs piping hot! But if you've tried their cold crab, please do leave a comment at the end of this post and tell us what you think. Thanks a million!

They charge $12 for half a chicken. That's definitely alright for a kick-ass chicken rice meal! The kai lan cost $4.00 and there is a charge of $0.60 per wet towel. Do note that this joint DOESN'T sell alcohol! Meaning...no ice cold beer to go along with your meal!!!!

Chicken House (Kampong Chicken Rice) is located at:
255 Upper Thomson Road
Singapore 574382
Tel: 6456 0698

So if you are ever in good old Thomson, here's another good place you can dine at!

Herbal Duck Soup

If you are into Chinese herbal soup, there is a stall in the western part of Singapore that I would recommend you to try for their range of herbal soups from Chicken to Duck to Pork.

This stall is located at Corporation Drive Food Center (Opposite Taman Jurong Shopping Center), #03-152.

For this write-up, I have ordered the stall's popular duck herbal soup.

What's so nice?

- The fragrant Chinese herbs in the soup

- Thick herbal soup you can get at a reasonable price

- Generous amount of Chinese herbs are used in the soup

So what's the price?

- The herbal duck soup itself cost $4. With steam white rice or yam rice, it's $4.50.

Herbal Duck Soup

If you are there, you can also try out their braised duck rice sets. It cost $3 for a single person serving to $5 for 2 person. And the soup that served with the duck rice is herbal soup, unlike other duck rice stall that serve soup that taste like water mixed with soy sauce.

Pasta de Waraku

On Halloween, we brought William to Pasta de Waraku for his post-birthday dinner. We chose their Changi Airport T2 outlet over the 5 other pasta restaurants they have in Singapore. I said 'pasta restaurants' because they have 6 other Japanese casual dining restaurants and one Mr. Curry restaurant. If you think that's impressive, wait till you hear this! They have ten other restaurants across the globe (USA, Hong Kong, Malaysia & Indonesia). Now that's impressive!

€I was a little skeptical because I have never had Japanese pasta before. When it comes to Japanese food, I really don't know what to expect. I'm not a big fan of sushi but I sure love sashimi. I love Asahi beer too! The waiting time to be seated at Pasta de Waraku was around seven minutes. The restaurant wasn't crowded but the lady manager wanted us to get a nice table where our little man Drayden would be comfortable. He got a complimentary toy car as well. I thought that was really sweet of her. Certainly a good start to the evening...

Shall we take a look at the food?

Corn Edamame ($4.80)

Calamari ($4.80). I love how this tastes. It's damn good!

Wafu Eel & Egg Pasta ($14.80) - My wife loves her unagi!

Wafu Prawn Mushroom ($14.80) - I woke up the next day craving for this!

Pizza Salami Toma ($12.80) - I didn't quite fancy the pizza but my two companions sure like it.

For those taking note, William had the Seafood Curry ($12.80). He says it was mighty good. William, would you like to leave a comment and let everyone know what you thought of the Seafood Curry?

I think Waraku has got something good going here. Great food + Great Service = Happy Customers. It took five minutes or LESS for our food to arrive. That's super duper fast! If you have not tried the pasta at Waraku, make them your next dinner date. They have my vote of approval!

Pasta de Waraku
Changi Airport Terminal 2
Level 3, #036-057
Tel: 6214 1121

Visit www.waraku.com.sg
for more information

Sakunthala's Food Palace

The wife and I love the Nasi Briyani at Sakunthala's Food Palace. I would rate it as one of the best I've tasted in Singapore. It's rich in flavour, not too spicy and the free-flow of rice is definitely a plus point.

Our favourite Sakunthala's Food Palace outlet is conveniently located next to 24 hour shopping mall Mustafa Centre at 88 Syed Alwi Road. All that walking and shopping in Mustafa gets me hungry all the time!!!

Here's the chicken briyani I'm raving about! It's $8.00 per plate.

Other dishes worth trying is the butter naan bread, chappati set (must order keema) and tandoori chicken. I hear the fish head curry is pretty darn good too!

There are three outlets altogether in Little India. Instead of listing them here, visit their website to view their address, menu and for other information.

www.sakunthala.com.sg

Sari Indo Authentic Indonesian Restaurant

anyone that stays in thomson would agree, you'd be spoilt for choice when it comes to food. there's a wide array of cuisine available to feed any taste buds: chinese, western, italian, indian, and many more!

on our many hunger-filled trawls along upp thomson, noel and i have always noticed this authentic indonesian restaurant, but never found the opportunity to dine in. we made time one night, after my team chelsea won a match, to have a celebratory dinner at this inviting restaurant. heh! as always, the smell of their rendang is a true pull factor.

we came with our very hungry tummies, lots of space for a big meal, so it goes without saying that we ordered quite a few dishes to feed our growling tummies.

the food looked as delicious as they did in the menu!

ayam gulai (or chicken in coconut gravy)

sotong bakar (or BBQ squid)

bagedil (or potato cutlets)

fried sambal eggplants - my favorite!

as the photos will atest, the food was scrumptious. i strongly recommend the ayam gulai. it was just right. not too spicy that i could feed our 18month-old toddler, and the gravy was good enough to slurp even after the chicken was long walloped!

i wasn't a big fan of the fish asam pedas that we ordered. the gravy was a tad diluted. the eggplants were awesome, and the potato cutlets too. some stall owners load their potato cutlets with lots of flour to cheat with the sizes and cut back on potatoes, but not these ones! they were so yummy i could have more than one to myself!

the sotong bakar (or BBQ squid) is another dish worth raving about. the squid was cooked to perfection, and not rubbery at all. it won me over, and i'm not a big fan of squid because i've fallen victim to one too many rubbery ones!

we came back another time and tried the mutton rendang, and this is something i would recommend as well. and don't forget the sambal goreng! this is must-have dish with every nasi padang meal!

price-wise, we thought it was reasonable. for all the dishes pictured above - which were enough to fill two and half hungry tummies (hee!) - the damage was only about $25 (drinks included). and the service is good too. i was quite impressed that when i went to get the baby chair, the staff stopped me halfway and insisted on carrying it for me, although our table was a short distance away. most other outlets' staff would leave you to it, since you've already got it in your hands, as i've experienced other times.

so if i've got you salivating already, check out this awesome authentic indonesian restaurant the next time you're in upp thomson! i would recommend, though, that you come by before 8pm, otherwise all the delicious food will be gone and you will have few choices left.

Sari Indo Authentic Indonesia Restaurant
is located at:
215R Upp Thomson Road SIngapore 574349

For Reservations:
Tel: +65 6544 756
Email: indorasa@yahoo.com.sg

Bak Kut Teh & Lok Lok Steamboat

Ann, William and myself made a trip to Toa Payoh to check out a new Bak Kut Teh restaurant. Shyanne couldn't come as she had a wedding to attend. Well, a not so nice food court made way for this restaurant. I doubt you'll ever have to worry about getting a table because there are two floors!

We had lok lok steamboat along with bak kut teh. The lot lot steamboat cost us $36.00 for three people. To be honest, I didn't quite like the steamboat. I seriously expected more for the amount we paid. They could have given more meat and seafood. But I'm not the boss and if I was, I doubt my profits will be anything to shout about.

Yup, that's what we got for $36.00

The term 'lok lok' stems from Malaysia. You'll find these mobile steamboat vehicles outside clubs in Kuala Lumpur. Food are skewered on bamboo sticks and you have to cook them in pots of boiling water before eating. Quite an experience I must say.

Anyhow, I love the spicy bak kut teh soup and the pork ribs were of a good size. It's $8 per bowl but it's worth every dollar. The lady boss recommended we try their signature Herbal Pork Ribs the next time we swing by. That folks, sounds like a plan!

SLURP SLURP SLURP!!!

So if you are ever in Toa Payoh and you feel like having some good old pork, you now know where to go thanks to the Eat Squad!

PIN JIA
Blk 117 Toa Payoh Central #01-124/01-126
Singapore 310177
Tel: 6734 8173 Fax: 6250 0569