Hiamjio

A love gift for those who itch for flirtation with oral danger – a highly citric flare blitz assaults your senses, the soup marvellously imbued with the essence of squid so thoroughly leached that the squid lies lifelessly shagged from all the flavour extraction. 4.1/5

http://secretlifeoffatbacks.com/2015/10/lemon-steam-squid-haha-thai/

The well-cooked pasta was professionally and evenly lubricated, with the tantalising aroma of oink notably present in the proceedings and (as I asked for extra spicy) a wicked, searing chilli padi heat, so delicious that the prawns admittedly tasted a bit deflated and self-conscious amidst all the aglio olio swag. 4/5

http://secretlifeoffatbacks.com/2015/10/spicy-aglio-olio-with-prawn-fresh-fruits-lab/

Essentially a most scintillating extra-marital jungle romp between instant noodle curry powder, mee rebus and green curry…if you request for it to be more spicy. The picture on the menu showed sliced red chilli in this dish, but said chilli was missing when the pasta was served. I tried the pasta anyway, and subsequently asked if I could add the chilli for an extra spicy kick in the pants. They added the chilli and more, and the pasta went from hmmm to HELLOOOOOOO. 4/5

http://secretlifeoffatbacks.com/2015/10/pasta-x-curry-x-green-curry-som-tam/

Essentially the now classic French concept’s laksa linguine pasta version 2.0 after some saviour of the souls of great food used Revive, Life Shrooms, Phoenix Down or similar revival item. This is by no means as good as the original – aside from the clumpier pasta and less magnetic lead actor(s), the distinctive Nissin-esque flavour is noticeably weaker, with the dish going for a more unequivocally numbing approach – but it’s a good step in the right direction, and proves that The Fickle Mussel still has it in them to deliver a smash. 4.1/5

This was a hosted meal, courtesy of The Fickle Mussel.

http://secretlifeoffatbacks.com/2015/09/laksa-linguine-pasta-the-fickle-mussel-2/

One of my favourite crab pasta dishes around – the generous quantity of happily salty crab bits provide substantial bite and the linguine is firm, springy, and slathered with a fragrant spicy oil in the same gratuitous manner as a Banana Boat enthusiast with suntan oil at Yishun Swimming Complex. I asked for extra spicy and phwoar, if you follow in my footsteps your butts had better be prepared for that pleasurably wicked searing flare. 4.3/5

http://secretlifeoffatbacks.com/2015/08/crab-aglio-olio-canopy-garden-bar/

Not my ultimate favourite tom yum seafood pasta just yet – Rise & Grind still holds the throne as of July 2015 with its strong seafood flavour – but the marvelously full-bodied sauce here is like boiled, reduced tom yum soup concentrate. Notable also is the presence of enoki mushrooms, which usually tend to crave entry into one’s tooth crevices but here add an annoyingly pleasant chew. 3.9/5

http://secretlifeoffatbacks.com/2015/07/tom-yum-seafood-pasta-collective-brewers/

The soup was suitably sharp and spicy, and should sufficiently satisfy all heat-seekers. The flames just kept on going and going, so you get the soup piping hot throughout the meal! However, the soup somehow lacked a certain oooooh, a certain umami that some of its contemporaries (ParaThai comes to mind) possess, so you’d just be riding the decidedly one-note tang train throughout. 3.7/5

This was a hosted meal, courtesy of Spicy Thai-Thai Cafe.

http://secretlifeoffatbacks.com/2015/06/thai-walking-catfish-with-spicy-lemon-soup-spicy-thai-thai-cafe/

I have had overrated interpretations of this dish elsewhere which left me cold, but here my breath (and all sensation in the lips) were taken away rapidly. The creamy tom yum sauce itself was positively exploding with seafood flavour, yet at the same time possessed a wicked spiciness that sears and numbs your smackers…and I loved every second of it. Phwoar. 4.2/5

http://secretlifeoffatbacks.com/2015/05/tom-yum-seafood-pasta-rise-grind-coffee-co/

Not something I would have a second round of – prawns and aglio olio share a relationship no hussy has any right to homewreck – but this was surprisingly satisfying despite my initial reservations as to whether lap cheong’s sweetness fits well into the aglio olio framework. The smoked chinese sausages and shiitake mushroom combination gave the aglio olio a most tantalising fragrance, the wilted spinach provided a grassy chewiness, the linguine was well-oiled and the chilli padi reliably provided a good level of spiciness. 3.8/5

http://secretlifeoffatbacks.com/2015/05/lap-cheong-aglio-olio-collective-brewers/

The sauce was thick, salty, and sharply spicy – the kind of life partner every rice grain dreams of meeting, someday. The marquee name almost feels like a supporting actor here but is itself commendable for its crunchiness, although you may have to excuse how the squid heads often squirt their liquid squid head goodness into your mouth in a most impertinent manner. 4.1/5

P.S. One needs to be faithful to the concept of street food, so the artistic direction is intentionally Bangkok backstreet alley.

[This was a hosted meal, courtesy of Long Chim.]

http://secretlifeoffatbacks.com/2015/04/stir-fried-squid-long-chim/

Delectably fatty and salty, and wickedly spicy of the slow-burn, mouth-numbing variety. Remarkably humble a dish (and humbly-priced at $10), yet it spectacularly kickstarts the meal on a supernova explosive note. 4.3/5

P.S. One needs to be faithful to the concept of street food, so the artistic direction is intentionally Bangkok backstreet alley.

[This was a hosted meal, courtesy of Long Chim.]

http://secretlifeoffatbacks.com/2015/04/chiang-mai-chicken-relish-long-chim/

These are my comments from my virgin experience a year ago: “Amazingly wok hei prawns, and wickedly value for money. It’s the PSLE top student of aglio olios seriously, why it doesn’t have its own Brands Essence of Chicken endorsement deal is beyond me.”

The quality has not changed at all. The pasta alone costs $5.70, with the adding of mushrooms being an additional $1, the squid $4, and the prawns $6. My pasta cost $16.70 nett. The review needn’t actually continue beyond this point.

I foolishly told the lady taking my order to “just spam” the aglio olio with chilli padi, and with a twinkle in her eye she cautioned me that they will accede to my request…if I was sure. I actually bought an apple pie iced coffee (!!) just to douse the flames, and it didn’t work, and I had to excuse myself to run my tongue below the toilet tap for forty-three seconds before the tears would stop flowing. AND I still love this mutha, and would do it all over again. 4.5/5

http://secretlifeoffatbacks.com/2015/04/aglio-olio-the-wicked-garlic/