Prawn Mee Not

This is the 4th day of Lunar New Year and I must admit that its simply feels great to be lazing around, doing nothing and nothing, spending quality time with my PS3, in-laws + families, TV, food and more food.

This happen some weeks ago on one of the lazy Sunday when me and my better half "Missy" was driving around the east, looking at potential "upmarket" properties that we can yet afford, unless of course, we become rich very soon or have the property market crash in a big way to $10 psf. 

Anyhow, by no luck and sheer chance, we came across this Beach Road Prawn Mee along east coast road with scores of people parking their cars illegally along the main road with just two lanes, so being a kiabo Singaporean, my first instinct was that we MUST try this "famous" prawn mee taking into consideration that there were so many typical kiasu and kiasi "friends" whom were willing to park illegal and risk paying a fine for $XX dollars by our trusted traffic warden who is about to rule the world with their ever worthy electronic summon device, we can't afford to give this dish a miss, else we will regret this for our eternal life, right ?

Upon entering this coffee shop, one will only two choices with the prawn mee obviously being the main attractive and the ngoh hiang acting as a secondary dish for those greedy souls like myself who can't stop ordering more than I can eat, however I must admit or even admired that this is an interesting combo that I have not seen before. 

Ring + Ring = Come $$$ come to DADDY

I reckon I would do the same if I too owned a business with $$$ rolling into the doorsteps with tons of FT working as cheap cost effective labors, just so that I made a politically correct statement.

Nevertheless, I must said that all the places are starting to look the identical with FTs running the F&B operations, makes me wonder where have all the locals gone to (or is our CPF finally sufficient for retirement, since no locals longer need to work in F&B anymore as cooks, servers or cleaners), or the other possibility is that the FTs are taking over Singapore slowly but surely.

In this case, I believe my photography skills did contributed to making this photo look too good

Lets us begin, the prawns to their credit was fresh without a doubt and it should have stopped there, however the pork ribs was solid like a stone or at least close to it, the noodle was noodle like any other stalls in any other hawker center or coffee shops with no surprises and lastly, the one thing that must be right but went terribly wrong personally for me was the soup, it simply tasted like water with some soya sauce added to it which is so uncharacteristic for a famous prawn mee. 

This was somewhat more decent

The ngoh hiang was undoubtedly more decent in comparison, ingredients were fresh and cooked to a nice crisp, but other than that you would be better off eating bread as it was just average and did I mentioned that the sauce was just below expectation, for it lacked texture, spice, taste and was a little watery, as if the prawn soup wasn't bad enough to deter me further. 

Stop looking at me fool, and eat your "overrated" prawn mee

  Verdict Out of Five (5*):

1. Quality of Food: 1 (Even my maggi mee may taste better, I said "may")
2. Ambiances: 1 (Illegal parking is way too much for an old man like me to take without a stroke)
3. Audiences: 2 (Mostly locals whom may have lost their taste buds or just curious like me)
4. Price: 0 (A bowl for $4.50/5.50/6.50 is more expensive than my combo meals at McDonald) 
5. Services: 1 (Cleaning can wait, we need more FTs)
6. Hygiene: 2 (Not the dirtiest I have been too)

So my overall conclusion is 1*, given that I believe this is simply a case of overrated food that is using their past reputation, and have foolish followers whom never had better prawn mee in their life.

Will I ever go back again, I reckon it will be a long long time like "Never" or till the cows come home from work in Mars whichever comes earlier, but do I wish to be take over as the owner, Yes please : )

Quote: "Eat, Money, More Money"

Where Nyonya meets Baba

Happy Lunar New Year to all my fans or fan out there.

Since this is a festival of thanks and giving maybe I will try to be nice and appear to be friendly with this positive blog entry, but... do not expect more, for I'm Mr. HamSome and not Mr. Friendly, unless of course, you meets the following criteria:

1. 100% women only, NO argument or discount
2. Minimum 1.72 meters above sea levels with +/-0.7 meters tolerance level 
3. Has live on this planet earth between 18 years to 19 years, unless well maintained 
4. Is a 36-24-36, with +/-2 +/-1 +/-2 tolerance level 

Is so, do not hesitate any longer and call me anyday, anytime, anywhere and anyhow @1800-BeMyOneYearStandOnly, T&Cs shall applies.

T&Cs: However, if you are super rich belonging to the top 100 money earners, earning no less than $1.1 million and $$$ spilling out of your Hermes handbag, please @$#@ the above criteria and call me instantly @1800-IamSugarMummy.

Anyhow, on one of those evenings out of these 365 days, this hamsome and soon to be rich "boy/baba" went to the west to meet Nyonya at Keppel Country Club to dine in his best 10 year old T-shirts, 6.8 years old bermudas and his trusted $1.99 flip flops that never failed to be slippy whenever it is ponding.

Foods don't lie, unlike human

Since the very first time I set foot into this Nyonya family restaurant, this place has remained one of my personal favorite joint which I throughly enjoy visiting and walking out belly happy almost every time, maybe it is because of the ambiance, or maybe it is the familiar faces, or maybe it is just me.

Let's talk about the dishes that I enjoy most, top of my list has to be their otak otak makanan laut which is so very good that the owner decides to repeat otak twice and do not be mistaken for this is  not your everyday otak where a piece of "brown" fish/otak paste is stuffed somewhat helpless between two banana leafs and left to BBQ, what sets it apart is that the otak is not BBQ but grilled to a impeccable crisp brown with sliced squids and sliced prawns that enhances its flavor to a satisfied mouth full. The second on my list has to be their mixed vegetables "chap chye", as earlier mentioned I am not a cow hence vegetables are not normally on my list at all, but their chap chye is just different, beside being soft and tender, it goes too well with rice, like a prefect first blind date. Lastly, on my list of favorites has to be their sotong panggang, which is marinated in spices and thereafter grilled, served with a dark sauce made from heaven, if that's how heaven taste like, or I am just blurred like sotong.

Some will say that their chendol is a must have, however I often run of out of space for anything more than a good smoke though my better half till today hates me for that disgusting habit but love me enough to bear with me, ... I hope.

However, there are certain dishes that I would need to be paid to adore, such as their ayam buah keluak a dish where chicken is braised with the black pulp of Indonesian black nuts known as buah keluak, which I suggested giving it a miss although it comes highly recommended, for my stomach just doesn't agree with the taste despite the two times I did tried to love it, like an ex-girlfriends. The other dish that didn't go too well with me is their beef rendang which one would expects to be soft and juicy when you set your mouth on it, very much like a first kiss, however the beef is just too hard to chew before swallow and I don't swallow, it could be that their cows are not as young as the ones that I am used to.

Almost like family

  Verdict Out of Five (5*):

1. Quality of Food: 4 (Mom's cooking that give's one a "mmm...")
2. Ambiances: 5 (Mom's place, except it is much better organized and without the nagging)
3. Audiences: 4 (Weekends are most likely to be packed with locals, made an effort to call for reservation as tables are limited)
4. Price: 3.5 (Decent enough for me not to bitch too much about it) 
5. Services: 3.5 (Manageable, without having to wait forever)
6. Hygiene: 4.5 (Clean enough to lick food off the floor)

So my overall conclusion is 3.5*, and will be back when I miss my Nyonya mom/mistress/girlfriend/lover cooking.

Quote: "Eat Happy, Live Happy"

Journey to the East for the Art of Mee Pok

On a Saturday Morning, this handsome boy wandered from the North and end up in the East to eat..."Mee Pok" which many considered to be truly a national dish that uniquely belongs to Singaporean.

First and foremost, I must say that I am not a big fan of Mee Pok in general, for I personally deem that most sellers have over complicated the dish with too much ingredient and definitely way too much vinegar, but coming to think about it, isn't our country is built very much like this now and getting way too complex for a commoner like me to understand their outstanding scholars intention anymore...

Anyhow back to the subject, I know some of my closest friend would differ, however my argument is that if you want your noodles to taste like vinegar, why waste good time, good money and even taking up the already limited space at your friendly or unfriendly stalls, whereas you can probably buy a bottle of vinegar from your nearby super/min/hyper mart or whatever they called it nowadays and drink it together while having a pack of instant noodles, the chances are that you will probably not notices much difference, and it will be much easier on the pocket too.  

This where the Art of Mee Pok does it different and is not your everyday Singapore "mee pok" style noodle, for the owner has kept it relatively simple with its fish ball & cake, minced & sliced meats + some "optional" prawns + vegs.

"No editing, what you see is what you get"

Let's talk about what I thought about this dish, the noodles has and hopefully always be Q to a "spring", that goes very well with the fish balls which I reckon is good enough to be used as ping pong balls for our "FT" national player to use for their competitions, and lastly the minced and sliced meat are fresh enough without tasting too frozen and dead, though I cannot say the same about their prawns, for starter it is small which is fine since it is not supposed to be an imitation of prawn noodle, but its texture is way too soft, unQ and tasted too jelly for my liking at least.

If you are wondering about the veg, it taste veg enough and if you like, the grass outside my house taste veg too... and it is for FREE

I have given some thoughts about what I don't like but simply cannot come out with anything majorly wrong about this dish, unless one considers that this stall is now primarily run by an army of FT mainly PRCs with very limited locals contribution, and their price ranges $3.50 for a small bowl to $5.50 for a large bowl but they do provide you with wet towel with any noodles purchased, which is rare to see.

If you are ever or still confused about the stall that I been talking about, see below for the name of the stall, located along Bedok Road.

The Art of Mee Pok Pte Ltd

Unlike some "famous" food critic, I will not simply tell you that everything is divine or die die must try, and further try to confuse you by giving a 3 bowls rating for almost everything with a different comments.

However, that's because these reviews are my personal views and unbiased, but if you can pay and provide free food, I am willing to comments as "fair" to the proportion of hangbao received with t&c.

Verdict Out of Five (5*):

1. Quality of Food: 5 (Comfort food that bring's one internal peace and happiness while eating during and after finishing it)
2. Ambiances: 4 (If you like the roadside kampong feel)
3. Audiences: 3 (Most likely to be crowded by locals, unless you have an unique diet timing from the rest of the world or simply can't stop eating till the cows come home)
4. Price: 3 (Although not the cheapest in town, but still very much affordable) 
5. Services: 3 to 4 (Depending on who is serving but don't expect hotel/restaurant quality)
6. Hygiene: 3 (No rats or dead bodies found...yet)

So my overall conclusion is 4*, and will "definitely" be back for some more quality Mee Pok.

Quote "To eat is to be happy"

A Fairy Tale Begins...

A Long Time ago...

There is a boy by the name of Ivan Tan aka "IT"... he is an average boy except that he is shorter, fatter but of course, better looking than the average men on the streets, equipped with a wicked senses of humor that most normal people will consider crude, but "Hell Yeah", cos life is a already a bitch and why shouldn't one be happy just being himself.

IT's life ambition is to be rich, very rich and disgusting rich.

Do not worry, if you are still confused after reading this long, for you are not alone.

The intention of this blog will primarily focus on unbiased great glorious food review including overrated food that will be slammed to bites and any other other things in life that entreated the eyes and bring comfort to the soul.

WARNING: If you do not like what you see, get out and get lost with love of course.