Zion Road Char Kway Teow

 This is a story of how I tracked down Zion Road Char Kway Teow via my nose. Just to start off, I am well known among my friends as a blur sotong. So I found the address of the famous Zion Road Char Kway Teow from Google : 18 Zion Road. And when I arrived at the exact address using Google Map app, it was an old building that wasn't lit and looked haunted. Luckily, common sense prevailed in me not to enter it. Suddenly, there was a whiff of Char Kway Teow from the end of the road. The recognizable frying of the eggs was in the air. So my friend and I walked towards the direction where it was coming from. And tada! We found the famous Char Kway Teow. Turned out 18 was the stall number at this Zion Riverside Food Centre of which the address is 70 Zion Road.





While waiting for uncle to fry our Char Kway Teow, we ordered chicken wings and sugar cane juice from other stalls. The chicken wings were so-so but I loved the sugar cane juice. Think it's hard for sugar cane juice to go wrong, especially with oily food.



If there was only one last meal I could have, it would be Char Kway Teow. My rationale is since I were to die anyway, away with those second thoughts on high calorific food. And Zion Road Char Kway Teow would be in my list. Sweet and salty black soya sauce that coated on each kway teow or rice noodles were a culmination of uncle's experienced culinary skill at the wok. The fragrant fried eggs were to die for, and so were the big pieces of cruchy fried pork lard. And those fish cakes, they couldn't be more fresh. It might not be the most aesthetically pleasant mixture but it was certainly one of the most mouth-watering mixture. For the health conscious, I could not empathize with but say resistance is futile. One could not help but ask, "Could we have another serving?" Life is short so enjoy it. 5/5


And yes, I concur with the many newspaper cuttings that were proudly displayed that it is a die-die must eat!


Address:
Stall No. 18, 70 Zion Road, Zion Riverside Food Centre, Singapore 247792

Opening hours:
Closed on Alternate Mon, Mon to Sun: 12.00pm - 02.30pm and 06.30pm - 11.00pm

Hong Kong | Hui Lau Shan

I believe Hui Lau Shan requires no introduction. The spreading of outlets all over Hong Kong is a testament to its popularity. I would always get my tong shui and mango desserts at Hui Lau Shan whenever I am in Hong Kong, rain or shine.

Mango and Mango Juice with Mango Jelly (HKD 36, below). Every bite and sip was mango goodness. And I loved that the mangoes were sweet, not sour. 4.5/5

Mango with mango ice-cream and glutinous rice balls (HKD 52, below). This is a combination of my two favourite things - Mangos and Ice-cream. The glutinous rice balls gave this little dessert a chewy dimension. 4.5/5

Mango with pomelo (HKD 52, below), the zesty and pulpy pomelo cum juicy mango pieces is a favourite combination that I always order. 4.5/5

Bird's Nest and Honey Jelly in Watermelon Juice (HKD 36, below). A different type of offering apart from the mangoes. The "bird's nest" was smooth and together with the watermelon juice, it was a perfect thirst quencher for a hot day. 4/5

Address: Various outlets all over Hong Kong

Drury Lane

I've decided to do a break from the Hong Kong/Macau entries because I can't help writing about our yummy food in Singapore!

It's the weekend again! And this time round, I want to share a nice place for a weekend brunch - Drury Lane. Named after a road called Drury Lane in London, this cafe is located along our Tanjong Pagar Road.

Drury Lane is a cafe that is easy to fall in love with. It seems to have it right - an interesting and easy to remember name, shophouse in Tanjong Pagar, all day breakfast. And there's no way you can miss this red engine cafe along Tanjong Pagar Road.


Upon entering the cafe, I immediately fell in love with the cosy ambience. There are two storeys. The lower storey is where the kitchen is and also where the brewing of coffee is. There are some bar tables as well as some seats that were constructed from wooden crates. 

If you don't want to smell like your breakfast later, I recommend you head upstairs.



Loved the upstairs which felt spacious, unlike other cafes which made me feel like I am constantly touching my neighbor's elbow. Ok I exaggerate. The rustic and simple decor offers a respite from the stressful week. Time seems to slows down and you get some thinking sorted out. Nice place to hangout with your friends and loved ones too.


The menu is a simple one page comprising of breakfast favorites such as big breakfast, eggs, french toast and pancakes. I can't help but being curious about some of the names of the dishes, such as Big 94, Cloud 9, Cloud 9.4. I guess it should be something to do with their address 94 Drury Lane. They also served espressos, daily brews and teas. You place and pay your orders at the counter on the first floor and you are given a table number (in the form of a paper cup).

The table number - Not for drinking

I got the daily specialty brew of Bokasso Ethiopia ($5, below) which had a good balance of bitterness and acidity, and tasted of jasmine and citrus fragrance. This small cup gave the perk needed for the morning. 4/5


For tea lovers, kick start your day with English breakfast tea ($6, below), which came in a pot. Tea was from The 1872 Clipper Tea Company and it was full-bodied and robust. 4/5


The 1935 Toast ($8, below), a French toast with peanut butter jam and two bananas. While the banana were sweet, it was well complemented by the saltiness of the peanut butter in the toast. Nice comfort food on a lazy weekend morning. As for the name 1935 toast, its been rumoured that a hearty peanut butter french toast used to be the king of rock and roll's, Elvis, favourite food. Hence Drury Lane decided to name the toast after the year he was born as a little tribute to him. 4/5

The Cloud 9.4 ($12, below) might look like ordinary pancakes but a surprise awaited as I bit into it. There was pieces of ham embedded in the pancakes, making the pancakes a little salty. And the pancakes were very fluffy, just like their name. If there was a Fluffy Index from 1 to 10, I would give it a level of 10 and McDonald's pancakes a 2. So you get the idea. If you love your pancakes to be fluffy and soft, this is the one. However, I find it a bit too oily for me and by the time I finished my first pancake, I was too overwhelmed to start the second one. Perhaps you can request them to make it less oily. Also, the turkey bacon was too hard for me. 3.5/5

Ham in the pancakes

The cafe has free wifi and the password is stated on the receipt. Service was attentive and rather fast. Did I also mention that there was no service charge and GST? I don't usually frequent cafes because of their overpriced food. I mean, $20 for a eggs, sausage (and GST and service charge on top of that) which I could whip up myself? So I'm glad that Drury Lane's breakfast menu looks affordable (food prices range from $8 to $12), and it makes a good laid-back place with a chill vibe to hang out on a weekend. I don't mind going back to try their other food soon.


Address: 94 Tanjong Pagar Road Singapore 088515
Telephone: 6222 6698
Opening hours:
Monday to Friday - 9am to 10pm
Saturday and Sunday - 10am to 6pm
Closed on Tuesday

Hong Kong | Bubba Gump Shrimp Company

Imagine you are at the Peak Sky Terrace staring at this view. You take out a camera and ask a passer-by to help take a photo of you and your friends. Suddenly a wind blows and you are eating your hair. With the winds that do not stop wrecking your nice hair, it's really impossible to take a nice photo at the Peak, don't you agree?

Sometime ago, I discovered a "one stone kills two birds" solution : Bubba Gump restaurant. 1) You get the view, and 2) You don't eat the hair. You eat good food.

Located on third floor of the Peak Tower, you can't miss it if you are taking the escalators to the Sky Terrace. It's just probably 2 to 3 levels (can't remember) below the Sky Terrace.

They have the main dining room and a smaller dining room. I was seated in the smaller dining room which had a partial view. The main dining room has the full view and ceiling to floor glass windows. My recommendation would be to get a reservation at the main dining room.

Main dining room picture from Bubba Gump website

The smaller dining room's view

As the restaurant name suggests, it specializes in shrimps and you would expect a wide variety of shrimp dishes. In fact, they were two pages of the menu dedicated to their shrimp dishes. We ordered the Cajun Shrimp (HKD 76, below), sautéed shrimps in Cajun spices and butter served with garlic bread. The fragrant garlic bread was crispy and make a good complement for the fresh and savoury Cajun shrimps coated with Cajun spices. It's a bit of saltiness cum sourness taste which was interesting. 4/5

Want something more than shrimps? Get the Forrest Seafood Feast (HKD 198, below) which comprise of fish and chips, fried shrimps, and coleslaw. Dip in the accompanying sauces - tar tar, cocktail and remoulade. Though it's fried stuff, it isn't overly oily or salty. Very addictive and it was wiped out pretty quickly. 4/5

To call for the waiter's attention, flip the board provided on the table to "Run Forrest Run". Service was attentive and our food was served pretty fast after we placed our orders.

My verdict: Definitely beats squeezing with others on the Sky Terrace. Head down to Bubba Gump. Life should be this way - immersing yourself in the lovely night lights, and chilling comfortably and indulging in good comfort food.

Address:
Shop 304-305, 3/F, The Peak Tower, 128 Peak Road The Peak, Hong Kong