Singapore Makan Spots

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

04. Kim's Place Seafood: Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee

After a few days of eating rice meals at lunch, I decided to try noodles today. A colleague suggested this place along Ubi Road 1 called Kim's Place Seafood. It supposedly served good Hokkien Mee. We found the place at the ground floor of a flatted factory, surrounded by car workshops all around. The eatery has very few tables for dining in, and some on the walkway. There are a few other shops stretched along the ground floor. We took a seat outside.

We ordered and sat down to wait for the food to be cooked. It was quite warm, and the smoke from the cooking wafted outside. The place is quite noisy, what with revving car engines from all the modded cars at the nearby workshops.

The meal I ordered was the Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee. The service is quite rushed; it seems that the eatery is quite popular. The waitress is ok, but not exceptionally polite as were those from the last few days. The meal, whilst ok, was not as tasty as I was expecting after the build-up by my colleague. In fact, I found it quite bland, even with the sambal chilli and the lime juice. The prawns were very dry, obviously prepared far in advance, and just thrown on after the noodles were fried. The portion is large; I had a hard time finishing it. The sambal was generously given, as were a large portion of lard on the side. Cost: $4.00.

Taste: ~~Poor~~ | So-So | ~~Good | Excellente!~~

Presentation: ~~Poor~~ | So-So | ~~Good | Excellente!~~

Service: ~~Poor~~ | So-So | ~~Good |~~ ~~Excellente!~~

Cleanliness: ~~Poor~~ | So-So | ~~Good | Excellente!~~

Price: ~~Cheap~~ | Fair | ~~Pricey | Not worth it!~~

Overall:

Monday, June 27, 2011

03. Bujang Lapok Nasi Padang: Nasi Padang

Continuing the gastronomic adventure, here's a third review of a different place. This time, it's along Ubi Ave 3, at 50/52 Frontier building. The eatery is called the S&R Eating House. There are about 10-12 Asian food stalls here, including a Thai-type stall. The canteen is quite airy and cool, even on a hot day.

The dish of the day is the Nasi Padang meal from the Bujang Lapok Nasi Padang stall. This stall is manned by a three people: and elderly man and woman, and a very young lady. The staff are rather friendly and helpful.

I selected to have beef rendang, a fried egg and and tempeh & tahu goreng (mixed vegetable dish), with a bit of sambal belachan on the side, with white rice. Cost: $3.50. The food was not as tasty or fresh as the previous occasions, and the fried egg was especially hard and expired.

Taste: Poor | ~~So-So | Good | Excellente!~~

Presentation: Poor | ~~So-So |~~ ~~Good | Excellente!~~

Service: ~~Poor | So-So~~ | Good | ~~Excellente!~~

Cleanliness: ~~Poor~~ | So-So | ~~Good | Excellente!~~

Price: ~~Cheap~~ | Fair | ~~Pricey | Not worth it!~~

Overall:

02. Yong Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice: Chicken/Char Siew Rice

Today I decided to try a new place, this is the sister building of the previous location. This one is at 33 Ubi Ave 3, but the food shop is along Ubi Road 2. It's called the Hoha Eating House. It's pretty hot during lunch time as the sun is shining very brightly. There are large awnings to prevent the noonday sunshine from entering the eatery, but this also has the unfortunate side effect of trapping the heat within. Eating House. There are about 7 stalls of various standard varieties here.

The dish of the day is the Chicken Rice dish from the Yong Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice stall. This stall is manned by a 2 people, and the serving lady is very polite and friendly.

I selected to add char siew to my meal. And what is chicken rice without the sambal chilli?!. The meal came with a plain but tasty soup. Cost: $3.00.

01. Makan Inc.: Malay Rice

The first review! I'll kick off with this place along Ubi Ave 4, called the U-10 Eating House. It's just after the ComfortDelgro Driving Centre, on the opposite side of the road. It's a relatively new building and rather clean, as far as industrial area kopitiams go. There are a few food stalls catering to the usual variety of dishes, including western food.

The dish of the day is the Malay Rice dish from the Makan Inc. stall. This stall is manned by a few friendly people and serves a variety of malay dishes, including some tid-bits like epok-epok (curry puff) and kueh-mueh (variety of sweetmeats).

I selected to have a begedil (potato dish), ayam lemak (curry chicken) and tempeh & tahu goreng (mixed vegetable dish), with a bit of sambal belachan on the side. Cost: $3.50.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Welcome to a brand new Food Blog: Singapore Makan Spots!

This is my first food blog. Yeah, yeah, you've probably seen lots of them around, and with this one being so new, I guess there's not much to compare yet. But, I am going to have a go anyway. This blog will have a theme, Makan Spots around the Workplace.. I intend to serve the workers amongst us, looking for good food during lunch time. For the beginning, I shall concentrate in the Ubi industrial area, 'cos that is where my office is. So every lunchtime or so, I shall take a walk around the area and visit an eatery, have my lunch and then blog about it!

I shall rate the food on a few different criteria such as taste, price, service quality, presentation and cleanliness. And then give an overall grade upon 3 stars (hopefully similar to Michelin! ha ha!)

Well, the review shall be as honest as possible, and subject to my tastebuds. Readers are free to object and post their own comments to the reviews, as everything is open to debate and discussion; but, please be civil, thanks!

By the way - I wish to categorically state that I am not affliated to any of the shops that I shall be reviewing on; it's all done voluntarily, and without fear or favour; I pay for all the meals myself, and these shall be impartial reviews.

I hope, soon, with a nice collection of reviews, this blog would be helpful to everyone in this area who may be sick of the usual places to eat, and wishes to try something new.

So without further ado, let's makan!