Ah Loy Thai

I have to start by disclaiming that this is not a story about authentic Thai food. This is another story of how I found a gem by following the long queue. Ah Loy Thai located at the basement of Tampines Mall always had a long queue every time I passed by. Like always. Being the typical Singaporean, I made the assumption that the long queue means good food. I am a good follower.

The unassuming hole-in-the-wall that contains the gems.


The pineapple fried rice ($7, below) had a wok hei taste, and the pineapples, prawns and raisins were a great infusion to entice the tastebuds. The eggs were to die-for. Although it tasted more like Chinese Zhi Char fried rice, it made me wanted to go Bangkok immediately. 4.5/5


The Tom Yam seafood soup ($7.50, below) was really spicy. One sip and it set my tongue and belly to flames even faster than I could say "sa-wa-dee-kha". And I think they must have been best friends with their supplier because there were a lot of fresh ingredients: prawns, mushroom, lemongrass and chock-ful of squids. It was like a bottomless pot of ingredients. The soup brought out the essence of the ingredients and the spiciness was well balanced by the sourness. 4.5/5


Loved the Phad Thai ($7, below) which was well done : not too oily and had a wok hei taste to it too. Umani packed thin flat noodles were flavorful and delivered the punch. Again, generous amount of eggs, prawns and beanspouts. This is like my perfect Phad Thai. 5/5


And before we thought the meal would not get any better, the butter calamari ($8, below) arrived. Hail the butter calamari! Every bite was a burst of sweet and savory. Although it's sinful, it's addictive and tasty. 5/5


Meat is very important in a meal so we ordered the pandan chicken ($10, below). Hmmm the chicken was a little tough (frozen meat?). Would give this a miss if we had known. 3/5


Although the food was more like Chinese Zhi Char rather than Thai Thai in my opinion, it's really irresistible and tasty and had us swooning. These were really simple, nothing over the top dishes but that's all it takes to make us contented. And also make us work harder at the gym thereafter. And all these for only $13 per pax which is value for money! There is no service charge or Gst. It would have cost more if we went to other Thai restaurants. There is another outlet at Bugis Shaw towers but I haven't tried it before. Despite the long queues during meal times, this is stuff that I would not regret queuing for. Ok I need to wipe off the drool on my keyboard now.

Oyster Bar and Grill Wharf

My Halloween themed post. Erm yes, I'm late for the party. 

Anyway, this trip to Oyster Bar and Grill Wharf took place close to Halloween last month. Looked like they put their thinking caps on and were on the beam.

Did I mention they have 100 flavors of mojito? Wicked.

For the non-drunkards, there is the non-alcoholic version of mojito. I have only one liver so I am not going to try all 100 flavors. However, I thought the watermelon mojito ($15.80, below left) and the non-alcoholic peach mojito ($10.80, below right) were refreshing, bittersweet and sufficient to set the stage for the night. Now I'm thirsty. 4.25/5

Being seated at the bar meant an exclusive ticket to spy at the chefs preparing the food. However, we were too engrossed in our bitch session (hey it's Friday!) to care about what was happening in the kitchen. 

If there was only one thing we came for, it would be the oysters. After all, this is named Oyster bar. I am no expert in the field of oysters. From the poster on the wall, it seemed like Wharf got its oysters from Australia and US. The fried oysters ($9 for 2, $16 for 4) were a basic introduction. Succulent oyster meat hid within the breaded crumbs and above the slightly salty savory sauce. 4/5

Ajillo- a Spanish dish that's garlic and olive oil infused. The menu has a variety of Ajillos - prawn, sausages, oysters. We got the Scallops and Mushroom ($12.50, below) which arrived on our table sizzling and bobbling hot. The drenched scallops in the salty broth were bouncy, and fresh. Scallops are my thing and I am usually in charge of finishing them. I am not a big fan of mushrooms honestly and I had left the honor of settling them to my dining companion. However no complaints were lodged against the mushrooms. Overall, a dish slightly above average in my opinion. 3.75/5

Since we were seated at the bar, some bar food would be appropriate. The truffle cheese fries ($14, below) set the bar high in my food diary for truffle fries. I liked how it wasn't overpowering with the typical pungent smell of truffles, and also the lightness of the cheese flakes that decorated the fries. 4/5

We were surprised that our chicken wings ($14, below) arrived faster than the indicated cooking time in the menu of 20 minutes. These were sumptuous and addictive, but a tad too expensive for standard fare. 3.75/5

I was impressed by the efficiency of the kitchen and wait staff. Food was served rather quickly and the dirty dishes were cleared promptly, as if there was some hidden sensor in the dish that sent a signal to the waiter when the dish was empty. I like the chill vibes of this place and would not mind returning again to try more of its famous oysters.

Address:
60 Robertson Quay
#01-01 Singapore 238252

The Royal Mail

With a name synonymous with the Britain postal service, it is natural to associate The Royal Mail with prestige, elegance, and hmm expensive. Thankfully, there was the bi-annually Restaurant Week which allows peasants like me to be able to feast like a royal without having to sell my farm. The Restaurant Week sees participating restaurants rolling out 3 course lunches and dinners starting at $25 and $35 respectively.

The Royal Mail restaurant is located in the CBD in Ascott Raffles Place hotel. Decor wise, I like its sleek and classic setting which oozes a contemporary touch. The tables were set pretty far apart which makes it conducive for an intimate dinner date or a confidential business lunch. 

The Restaurant Week menu was a mystery menu which means we did not know what we were in for at the time of reservation. So it was a gamble of whether a dirty old boot or a big fat fish ends up on our fishing rod. Honestly, I wasn't flattered by the menu on the actual day. The only thing which I was looking forward to were the desserts.

The bread served was an excellent starter. It was warm, fluffy and quite an appetizer on its own. Too bad the saying that "a good start means half a battle is won" was not applicable in this case because things went kind of down hill from here. My choice of appetizer, the Green Pea Soup with Semi-dried Tomato and Prawn, was bland and the prawn could not revived the dish. My friend had the Sous-vide Duck Breast which was glazed with balsamic and cranberry sauce, and came with mango and potato crisps. I hate balsamic so this dish was also no love for me. For me, it tasted like some pungent chemical mixture. Overall: 3/5

The Sous-vide mozzarella stuffed chicken breast (below) sounded delicious so we went with it. The thin layer of roasted skin was just enough to add flavor and moisture to the dry and somewhat hard chicken meat. We wondered whether the mozzarella evaporated during roasting as we barely could find it. However we were a bit surprised to bite into pepper seeds since we didn't recall it being a listed ingredient. And there were plenty of them and it was quite an annoyance to pick them out. That just killed the dish for me. 3/5


From such a place we would expect great desserts. The red velvet cake with cheese frosting and strawberry sorbet (below) redeemed the ticket price. Combining the light velvet sponge with the cold and smooth sorbet - perfect for the sweet tooth. 3.75/5


We were full of anticipation of the Trio of dessert, supposed to consist of passionfruit creme brûlée, raspberry financier cake and lychee sorbet. It was the only item on the menu that was made up of my favorite ingredients. However, the trio that greeted us was different from the menu. Turned out that the menu was not printed correctly after a long investigation by the waiter with the kitchen. It was actually the apple mouse with caramel drizzle, raspberry financier and red velvet cake (left to right). I quite fancy the raspberry financier. 3.5/5

And one more thing, we were kind of upset with the service staff who only offered us sparkling or still water instead of telling us upfront there was tap water provided. We overhead another customer who just cut to the chase and requested tap water instead of obliging to the waiter's offer of sparkling or still. So we spent $7 on still water. It was probably the most heart-breaking water I've ever drank. Sorry I'm such a cheapskate.

In all fairness, I must agree that at $25 per pax, it appeared to be a good deal for the amount of food for a three course meal during Restaurant week. Though I didn't think the food was great. Maybe it was the high expectation we had at the onset that let us down. Maybe it was the mystery menu that had quite a few items that we didn't fancy.  But if there was another Restaurant week, I would recommend you to try other establishments for a better chance at other restaurants, or at least one with menu available.

Address:

No 2 Finlayson Green

Singapore 049247

Blanco Court Prawn Mee

Have you ever eaten a bowl of perfect prawn mee?

I found the perfect prawn mee at Blanco Court Prawn Mee. However, its elusive opening hours from 7.15am to 4pm meant that it could only be a weekend affair for me. You see, for me, waking up early to drop by Blanco Court for a prawn mee breakfast before work on a weekday would be more difficult than solving a PSLE Maths question.


Choose from a hearty bowl of jumbo prawn noodles ($8/$10) which had bigger tiger prawns, or the smaller prawns (with or without ribs) version that cost half the price ($4.50/$5.50). For those who are repulsive towards peeling the prawns with bare hands, Blanco Court is considerate enough to half the prawns so that it is easier to extract that fresh sweet meat from the shell. Without using the hands of course.

We could not stop hankering for the broth, the most important component of any prawn soup. The broth packed a robust punch with bursting umami-packed flavors and the briny sweetness of the crustaceans. The fried shallots in the soup were infused to entice the taste buds. The best part? Free refills.



Somehow, it has become a non-obligatory yet mandatory thing to order some Ngoh hiang from the neighboring stall. Can't help it because the deep fried Ngoh Hiang was a savory and addictive appetizer to the prawn mee feast. The prawn crackers and fritters didn't leave much impression though.



So, do you have a perfect prawn mee soup in mind other than Blanco Court? Do share with me!

Address:
243 Beach Road
Singapore 189754

Location:Bugis, Hawker food