Located on the top floor of 313 Somerset, Indorica is a popular stall within Food Republic. The waiting time was however acceptable as we were made to wait about 10 minutes after ordering.
Opting for Level 2 Extra Spicy, the Mie Ayam Rica was spicy enough to provide the much desired fiery kick among most locals who enjoy spicy food. The noodles were cooked to a chewy texture and the chicken pieces, marinated with spices such as turmeric, were flavorful. You get some extra fibre from then Napa cabbage on the side too. While the dish was executed well and it was a satisfying meal with a good enough portion size, I wish the noodles were a little less oily.
Of the dishes we tried, this was probably one of our favorite as the noodles were cooked to an al dente texture. Apart from the minced meat in braised sauce, there were also braised tofu cubes sitting above the chewy noodles. The sauce was however rather oily and they could have drained some of it away before serving.
While it looks quite similar to the fried rice from DTF, we found this dish to be slightly underwhelming. It wasn’t too bad, as the rice grains were chewy and there was fragrance from the eggs elevating it. However, it is probably a far cry from the fried rice you can get from DTF or King of Fried Rice in terms of the wok hei and flavor.
Famous for their pan-fried pork dumplings, we ordered a serving of 4 to share. Free flow chili oil and vinegar could be found at the side of each table and ginger slices were given with this dish. While the charred bits of the dumplings were slightly crispy, these dumpling were pretty ordinary. Cutting through the skin of the dumpling, there was some pork broth that oozed out and the amount of meat given was also decent. While nothing to really fuss about, we believe that there are nicer pan-fried dumplings elsewhere.
We visited the French Fold outlet at Orchard on a Friday evening after making a reservation on Chope. Having booked a table for 2 at 630pm, we were allowed to dine till 8pm, as our table was booked for 8pm. The place was cozy and the waiters and waitresses were warm, checking on us and asking how we find the food from time to time.
For the galettes, we ordered No. 13 ($23) and No. 10 ($20). No. 13 came with impossible meat in tomato chutney, a sunny side up and some Parmesan cheese. As for No. 10, a generous serving of smoked haddock was stuffed between layers of the galette made with buckwheat flour. The smoked haddock pieces were coated with herbs and cream. Baby spinach was also served on top of the fish slices, while a slice of lemon was given to provide the dish with a touch of acidity. While the fish slices were fresh, I found the cream to be a bit heavy towards the end and had to scrape the excess cream off. We liked that the galette made using buckwheat flour was crispy at the edges and went well with the fillings. While it may seem small to some, the galettes were surprisingly filling. The price is pretty steep but we would highly recommend this place to who haven’t tried, as the galettes are really well executed and not commonly found elsewhere. Personally, I would probably opt for a less creamy item next time!
We visited Keong Saik Bakery on a Saturday morning. It was a nice place to chill, with families and couples around us similarly having pastries and coffee for breakfast. For pastries, ordered a Miso Salmon Kouign-Amann ($7) and KSB Big Breakfast ($7). The Kouign-Amann had savory notes due to the salmon and the mozzarella layer above it, while the caramelized and flaky layers of the pastry below provided some level of sweetness. The amount of salmon given was decent given the price. If you have less of a sweet tooth, consider going for the KSB Big Breakfast. Cutting through the pastry, the runny yolk oozes over the pastry layers, as well as the chunks of potato cube and smoked ham sitting above. The potato cubes were coated with creamy Gruyère cheese; it didn’t make the dish overly cheesy but enhanced the savory notes of the dish. For those who enjoy dipping your Kaya toast in the soft boiled eggs, you’ll similarly enjoy the richness of the runny yolk in this dish as it coats the layers of pastry beneath. As for the pastry layers on the surface, they remain crisp and retained the flakiness much desired in regular croissants.
For breakfast, KSB offers a deal where you get a dollar off if you order a pastry with a beverage. You may also opt for regular milk alternatives such as almond and oat milk for your coffee. There was also an option to upgrade the coffee beans to Arabica beans at an additional cost of $0.50. For those looking for an additional protein boost, or are fond of having soft boiled eggs as part of your breakfast set, KSB offers 2 soft boiled eggs for $1.20, which are served in a metal cup. Just like Ya Kun, you’ll be able to pick up the soya sauce and pepper bottles at the side to season these soft boiled eggs to your liking.
Overall, it’s a nice place to have breakfast/brunch and you get to try out interesting pastries that have a local twist (e.g., otah baguette, otah danish, orh nee cube). While we ordered lattes, those who are fond of our local tea and coffee may also get their dose of caffeine in the form of Kopi O or Teh O. Would love to try their dessert items like cheesecakes and cruffins some day!
Located near Tanjong Pagar MRT, this ramen place is pretty popular and we were given a dining time limit when we visited on a Friday evening. The lobster dry ramen ($16++) features flat chewy noodles beneath spring onions, seaweed, minced lobster, an onsen egg and a claw croquette. The claw croquette was made with mashed sweet potato wrapped around a lobster claw and then breaded with Panko crumbs. The noodles were flavorful and mixing the onsen egg in gave it extra richness. However, I feel that the regular pork mazesoba may offer more satisfaction as the minced meat have more bite to it than the minced lobster given in this dish. This is nonetheless an interesting item you may want to try if you’re visiting. Water was complimentary at this establishment.
Located in Northpoint City just beside the escalator that links you to Yishun MRT, The Kind Bowl serves
vegetarian Vietnamese food such as Pho and Bahn Mi. The stall is pretty small, with only around 10 seats available.
The Crazy Baguette (Bahn Mi) took a little longer to prepare compared to the noodles. A generous serving of pickled carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, cilantro, red chili, tofu and grilled seitan were placed on top of a well-toasted baguette. Apart from the savory black pepper sauce coating the crunchy vegetables in the sandwich, there was also mushroom pate spread across the inside layer of the baguette for added umami.
The dish was clean-tasting overall, with a huge serving of fresh vegetables to increase your fibre intake, but did not compromise on the taste - acidity from the pickled vegetables, spice from the chili and the savory black pepper sauce came together really well. The serving was huge too and we could only finish half of the portion given as we also had a bowl of their noodles.
There is also an option to have the mains (noodles or Bahn Mi) in a set that comes with a drink and a summer roll. The sets would cost $12.80, while having the mains a la carte would cost $9.80 instead. They did not accept paywave when we were there but you can pay via PayLah! and GrabPay.
Visited this place at Jurong Point on a Monday evening and didn’t have to queue for a table for two. Really enjoyed the thin noodles with prawn dumplings (4 dumplings were given); each dumpling had a substantial filling of meat covering a fresh prawn, which offered varying textures in one bite. The dumpling skin also had a nice bite to it, unlike some places that leave their dumplings boiling in broth for too long and the dumpling skin becomes overly soft. The dry version ($9.5++) of the noodles also came with some kai lan, as well as some sweet and savory sauce on the side that you can mix the noodles with. We really liked how chewy the noodles were and you could also mix in the chili oil from the jar placed on every table. A bowl of savory soup was also given if you opt for the dry noodles.
As for dim sum, we had a plate of chee cheong fun and prawns ($6.8++) and snowy char siu pau ($6.5++ for 3). The chee cheong fun was delightfully tender, with each piece (total of 6 pieces) containing a prawn each. For added umami, you could once again add some chili oil to these silky rice rolls. As for the char siu pau, while we wished that the outside had more crisp, the filling was decent. The “snowy” version of the pau had a layer of flaky sugar above each bun like what you would get from a polo bun but this is way less crusty as you can tell from the color. If you prefer a less sweet version of this bun, you may want to choose the regular char siu pau instead, since the filling itself already carries a decent amount of sweetness.
We both really enjoyed the HK milk tea ($3++ each), which came without sugar (but sugar packets are given on the side). The tea was really fragrant and smooth, with the ratio of milk to tea being just right. We strongly recommend you to get this together with your mains!
Visited Matchaya on a Saturday evening and it was rather empty. The matcha beverages remained warm for quite long as they were served in glass cups, which most likely helped to retain the heat of our drinks. The hot straight matcha was nicely bitter and was whisked to a smooth enough consistency. When reaching the bottom of the cup however, please do note that there will be quite a lot of matcha powder and it is recommended that you slowly sip the drink instead of gulping it down to prevent irritation to your throat. The matcha powder used for both beverages was of high quality and those who prefer a slightly less bitter version can opt for the matcha milk over the straight matcha, where you can also choose the sweetness level (no sugar, less sweet, normal) that you prefer.
Located at Venture Drive, this ice cream cafe is open from 6pm to 6am, offering a place for night owls in the west. The owner was really friendly and took the time to explain how the flavors are rotated in his cafe. He also gave us recommendations on the flavor of the waffle to get after we’ve chosen our ice cream flavors. Unfortunately, as we wanted the premium flavors, we didn’t get to use the Burpple vouchers.
The Tiramisu scoop was rather interesting, with some hint of alcohol but the coffee taste wasn’t very intense. As for the hojicha, the tea taste was prominent but I found it a bit too sweet for my liking. It was also a little odd that the rainbow and chocolate rice were added on top of the ice cream scoops, since they might not go well with all flavors. The addition of marshmallow bits was also a little odd.
The waffles were quite dense and had some crunch on the outside. However, I would have preferred them to be without the icing sugar above, especially since most things on the plate were already quite sweet.
For those who enjoy the combination of waffles with syrup, bottles of syrup are also available for each table. On top of that, we had access to free flow water, which was a huge plus.
Overall, it’s a nice place to chill if you want to find a less crowded space around the Jurong East area but it might not be the first place I think of heading to when I have cravings for ice cream and waffles.
Very interesting dish. Accompanying the hummus, we were given two slices of Turkish bread that were well toasted with butter. Slightly toasty on the outside and fluffy on the inside, the bread went quite well with the hummus dip. An egg was cracked in the middle of the hummus dip and the egg whites are still soft. It was nice dipping the bread into some of the egg as well. Apart from the egg, crunchy roasted chickpeas and juicy tomato cubes were sitting above the hummus dip. The crunch from the chickpeas offered varying texture in this dish and there was a hint of fragrance that these roasted chickpeas have over regular steamed/boiled chickpeas. The tomato cubes on the other hand introduced some acidity to the dish and were quite reminiscent of salsa, which went quite well with the bread too. However, this dish can be on the drier side for some but recommended to try if you’re there!
