The Galloping Geographer

Three snacks and a soothing drink in Taipei

2010-12-23T18:58:00.000-08:00

Snack Number 1: Omelette wrapped in "biscuit". This is good stuff, not oily and the egg is very well done- if a tad too salty.

Snack Number 2: Probably the best meat buns in Taipei. Sorry I didn't take a picture of how this particular one looks like. But I have talked about this in a previous post.
OMG. This is the discovery of the trip. A simple red bean paste bun but it is absolutely out of this world. The guy runs a little push cart stall along Hengyang Street, which is the street immediately outside Ximending MRT station exit 4. Look how crispy thin the crust is? And the filling is just pure goodness, not at all sweet. There are whole beans in the mashed paste, providing a delightful bite and textural sensation!!! YUMMY. I think I had at least one everyday. The guy sells four types of filling: red bean, custard, cabbage and radish (the latter two are of course savoury).

And this is my favourite bubble tea stall in Taipei. The competition for bubble tea is crazy in Taipei. This is good for us consumers as it tends to weed out the under-performing shops. So what's left are usually quite dependable. I like this stall because it sells jupu milk tea (jupu is a mix of pu er tea and chrysanthemum tea). It is so aromatic and delicious! I believe I had this almost everyday too!

Looking forward to my next trip to TPE!!!

Hot Noodles, Cold Taipei!

2010-12-23T02:19:00.000-08:00

A rich, thick and hot bowl of noodle is all you need to brighten up in a dreary cold raining Taipei. The noodles are hand rolled and the stock luscious and very savoury. I drank every drop in the whole bloody bowl! I forgot how much this costs but I know it was VERY WORTH IT! Pity they put my sworn enemy in it (xiao baicai).

Hungry....
Oh, you probably want to know where this is located. Here's the store name and location (it's fairly near ximending):

Hanoi KFC

2010-12-08T21:54:00.001-08:00

Long story short, Hanoi's KFC was probably the worse that I have ever tried. The Vietnamese name translates literally to Chicken Fried Kentucky. Apart from the nice environment/ambiance in the restaurant (they did not use paper plates/cups!)- which I unfortunately did not take any photos of, everything I tried was gross.

Here's how the fried chooks look like. What can I say? They were puny, cold, un-crispy and inexplicably bland. The fries were very soft and they did not taste anything close to potatoes! What a disappointment...
Not that you need it, but here is a close(er)-up view.

Two Tales of Hanoi Taxis

2010-11-26T06:03:00.000-08:00

First off, Hanoi's traffic is CRAZY. Everyone go whichever way they like, even against the flow of traffic sometimes, everyone honk at everyone else and there is seemingly an infinite number of motorcyclists! The blaring of horns does not make sense to me at all. What difference does it make when the entire population is doing it?

Tale of the Honest Taxi Driver
So the cab stopped at an intersection when the streets were suddenly blocked with makeshift barricades, I wondered what happened. He gestured his two arms, with clenched fists, a running motion. "WTF?", I thought, "a night marathon in chaotic Hanoi"? It turned out it was a train passing through- I would have thought they would use less flimsy barricades (and yes I also wondered why he gestured running to mean a train). So in the long wait for the train to pass (it wasn't a particularly long train, it was just slow-moving), I tried to make small talk. "Going to Saigon?", I asked him, pointing at the train. He nodded and replied "Yes". Few moments later, he started again: "No, this to Lao Cai", his finger tracing the direction the train was going. Pointing to the opposite direction, he said: "This to Saigon".

Now, he needn't have corrected himself, but he did and the world was a better place because of that. I left him a good tip off the fare.

Tale of the Non-Honking Taxi Driver
Imagine my surprise when two minutes into the cab ride, I haven't heard the cabby honking. Could it be actually true? That I have managed to board the vehicle of the only driver in Hanoi who does not honk incessantly? What luck! I promised myself to give him a good tip when I reached my hotel. Of course, when I reached the hotel, and paid the fare (with a good tip), I couldn't help complimenting the cabby: "You good. Never honk!". I gave a thumbs up with my left thumb and spread my five fingers of the right hand to gesture the honking motion.

He turned and looked bewildered, almost insulted. "No no no, I spoil. I "pah pah pah" and spoil". As he said this, his face turned maniacal as he demonstrated how hard he had pressed his horn. Ack. So not only did I not meet Hanoi's only non-honking driver, I probably met the most extreme honker who broke his horn.

I wanted to get my tip back but my Vietnamese language skills are limited to the words "doi moi", "pho" and "cam on" (respectively, reconstruction, noodles and thank you). FML.

Taiwan Treats 4: Danshui Old Market's Oyster Vermicelli

2010-08-19T00:21:00.000-07:00

Those who frequent Taipei would probably have tried 阿宗面线 (Oyster Vermicelli with Oysters and Intestines) near the Ximending area. I am not a big fan of oysters but will always make it a point to have this wherever I am in Taipei. 阿宗面线 is terribly touristy though. This last trip to Taipei, I chanced upon a cheap and excellent Oyster Vermicelli that is nestled deep in the Old Market in Danshui (淡水).

It is cheaper than 阿宗面线 (I think, cannot be sure since it's been a while since I patronised the latter). But one thing I can be sure of is that it is definitely more delicious!
The owner hard at work making my bowl. As you can see from the handwritten sign, this little stall is only opened three days a week (Friday to Sunday).
The oysters are really fresh, fat and succulent here. Even for a non-oyster person like myself, I thought it is outstanding. The vermicelli is soft yet miraculously keeps to its shape. An extra dose of vinegar and with the extra spicy chilli paste mixed in makes the dish truly outstanding.
Just like the oysters, the intestines are plentiful. The whole bowl is actually chokeful of oysters (at least 6 big ones) and countless pieces of intestines. Although I try to avoid intestines now (due to health reasons), this is really worth breaking my diet and health for.
The big bowl, which I ordered, costs NT 55 , or about SGD 2.50 or USD 1.80. It beats 阿宗面线 hands-down. Absolutely incomparable. YUM!

Dirt Cheap Taipei Japanese Lunch

2010-08-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

The title says it all. It's a dirt cheap weekday set lunch for me. This particular place is along Linsen North Road. Near Zhongshan Road Lane 83.
Yummy and fresh sashimi...and these are not those cheap salmon ones you get in Singapore too. I believe they are tuna and hamachi.
The rice, miso soup, braised radish, salad and green tea came with the set. Also, comes with chawanmushi and a desert (green bean soup). The latter is a nice touch because it was hot hot hot in Taipei when I visited! And all this for only....NT150!!! (That's about SGD 6.50 or USD 4.50)

Is that not the most crazy deal ever?!?!?

Siem Reap Chinese Food

2010-07-27T20:49:00.000-07:00

Although I didn't get the chance to try Cambodian/Siem Reap KFC, I did manage to have a Chinese dinner- a huge one at that! The place was very kitschy and obviously I have forgotten its name but all that matters was that the food was interestingly good.
The waitresses speak (some) Chinese but I believe they are ethnic Cambodians. The place was done up like some red bamboo hut (actually, I think the name of the restaurant might be just that: "Red Bamboo Hut"). You know the place is fancier when it has white table cloth. The peanut appetizers was salty but very crunchy.
I couldn't stop myself from taking them! Eeeks. The hot and sour soup was decent. And it was one whole big bowl. I was shocked. There was no way me and my guide could finish that- and indeed, we couldn't. :(
Next, we had a vegetable dish: stir-fried kailan stems with beef. I loved this. The taste was very rustic and home cooked. It was not too oily and the vegetables still had that bite to them.
I think we finished the whole plate. Or at least I finished the whole plate! I realized my guide is not really a vegetable person! Next up, prawns:
Talk about nostalgic taste. There was something about this dish that brought me back to my childhood days. I don't believe such a style of cooking prawns is common anymore, it is almost like 干煎虾 (sweet and spicy stir fried prawns) but with more sauce. And good thing there was quite abit of the sauce because it went perfectly with rice. I liked this dish alot but my guide ended up eating most of it. I try to limit my prawn intake because I sometimes have an allergic reaction to them. Let's see what else did we have?
Oh, this. Sweet and sour pork. I liked this too, even though they were more bones than meat! Very good to munch with beer! Finally, another green dish:
This was OK, but abit overdone and a tad too greasy. All in all, a very satisfying meal. The dishes averaged around 3 USD each. I would say very value for money- from a tourist perspective, that is!

5 time zones in 13 days (Fifth Entry): Donte's Restaurant aka "Airport Chicken"

2010-07-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

This is a family restaurant close to Cleveland International Airport and the best fried chicken I have had in a long long time can be found there. Here's one of the sidekick to the heavenly chicken, coleslaw:
It's good but paled in comparison to the chicken; also Long John Silver's Coleslaw is still unbeatable. The next sidekick:
Hot, chunky fries. Yummy. I loved these, but then again, fries are fries are fries, right? OK, the main event coming up....
I cannot describe how tasty this fried chicken was. Perfectly-seasoned, suitably salty, well fried, juicy and just all round incredible. My friends who brought me there call the place "Airport Chicken" because they can never remember its name- except that they serve up out-of-this-world fried chicken and is minutes away from the airport. The name of the restaurant is actually Donte's (not Dante's). They serve a whole bunch of food too (e.g. pizza, pasta and a range of main courses); but don't waste your time on those..it's the fried chicken that is tops.

Salivating thinking about it....

Taiwan Treats 3: Snacks galore

2010-07-19T01:54:00.000-07:00

A sushi-ish wrap. Chokeful of ingredients and only 2 bucks or so. From the Taichung night market.
Taiwanese style popiah. This was excellent! Fresh (cabbage-dominated) ingredients with excellent chewy skin. Very light but tasty. This was from one of those street stalls near Taipei Main Station- in the "tuition district".

Storefront of the nice meat buns from the Pengjia night market in Taichung.

Here's how it looked like. The filling- which I should have taken a picture of was just excellent. Peppery, juicy and fresh-tasting. One of the best "hu jiao bing"I have had in Taiwan (or anywhere else).

My cuttlefish being grilled. Yums.

Taiwan Treats 2: 牛爸爸牛肉面

2010-06-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

Simply yummy. This family-run beef noodle place called Beef Daddy (牛爸爸) was one of the best I've ever had. The beef tendon was truly exceptional- at least for me. It was soft yet still firm to the bite and had a nice chew to it- I understand many would prefer their tendons stewed for even longer. My P.I.C. said that the shop is famous for stewing the meat together with the tendon yet successfully getting each texture perfect. I have my doubts about such claims though. Meat and tendon require very different cooking time and temperature, etc. I just cannot fathom how Beef Daddy pulls it off- if it is true at all.
I ordered the specialty bowl which consisted of beef cubes, minced meat sauce and tendon. It also included a piece of absolutely divine pig trotters. The latter is a fatless piece of prized gelatin. The stewing prowess of the shop is unmatched.
Ended the meal with their soft shivering mould of almond jelly- except the texture was less firm than the almond jelly we find in Singapore but more of a creme brulee consistency. This was delightful too. My only grouse is that this was not exactly a cheap bowl of beef noodles. My bowl cost 300 Taiwan dollars (or SGD 12). But notice from the menu that they have an noodle item that sells for 10,000 Taiwan dollars! That's more than 400 Singapore dollars (about USD 310)!! I wonder have they ever sold that bowl of noodles before?
Oh, the soup, it goes without saying, was exquisite and delicious too! I slurped till the last drop.

Taiwan Treats! 第一章: KFC

2010-06-09T05:51:00.000-07:00

It rained almost continuously the couple of days I was in Taiwan recently. Never mind though as the food must go on! I was mulling over what food to feature in this Taiwan series (yes, I know I haven't finished both my 5 time zones in 13 days series and the Siem Reap series but is not variety the spice of life?)

Anyway, let's begin with a classic: KFC.
Two pieces of original and one piece of hot and spicy.
The original chicken was nice and juicy and not too salty. The crisp chicekn was a notch above the other spicy chicken I haved tried before, because it has a real spicy kick to it! Both types were rather greasy but what do you expect from KFC anyway??
Anyway the advertisment above indicates that it costs NT189 for five pieces of chicken (promotional price only). That's close to SGD 9 bucks or USD 6. Cheap right? And so my KFC adventures continues...

Breakfast at Siem Reap V2

2010-05-26T08:27:00.001-07:00

Ahem, my breakfast on the second morning in Siem Reap. Dragonfruit (not so sweet), watermelon (not really my favourite fruit) and pineapple (quite tart). Of course there were other stuff.
This beef ball soup was good if abit too salty (and MSG-loaded!). It was saved by the homemade beef ball. It was bouncy but yet with meaty bite. The "main course" for the breakfast was fried rice. It was actually rather delicious. Moist yet well-fried but bereft of any ingredients apart from carrot, eggs and onions. Love their liberal use of black pepper!
Mohawk dude with funky necklace is thinking: Am I playing the banjo or the pipa?
Ah, bliss. Nothing better than ending a Siem Reap breakfast with pineapple juice, really good coffee and a nice pool view.
By the way, it must have been 35 degrees celsius when I was having this breakfast! Siem Reap was HAWT!

Siem Reap: BBQ Buffet for USD 3?!

2010-05-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

OK, I lied. The place that I went to was not the USD 3 BBQ buffet but a more upmarket tourist class one- which didn't cost that much more anyway, at USD 5.50. Let me elaborate. I was telling my tukuk driver that I've heard about the cheap BBQ buffet in Siem Reap and wanted to try it. He asked me whether I wanted the "local" type or the "tourist" type. Needless to say I've always gone for the most authentic, local kind of food. But this time round, I asked him which did he prefer and he promptly said the tourist kind. Was it because it was more expensive? Or was the food of better quality? I wondered. "Why?", I asked, "is it because the food is better?". He said the food was better and the environment/ambience nicer too.

I felt that he genuinely preferred the tourist kind (and not just because he thought that I would not like the local kind). So I said, let's go to the tourist one then. It turned out to be a good call on his part (especially after the dinner, I asked him to drive past a local BBQ joint so that I can see what was the difference). For one, the ambience was definitely better (read: cleaner) for the tourist class one. But more importantly, the tourist class one offered a good selection of cooked dishes which I didn't really see at the local joint we peered at. Here's one of those dishes: Khmer fried rice.
Er, I have no wonder why this was Khmer. It tasted like any decent fried rice, with mushrooms and kale. The plate below shows, clockwise, spring roll, saba fish stewed Khmer style, mango salad, some fish thingy and an UFO (Unidentified Fried Object).
They all tasted good and different, I particularly like the saba fish, despite the irritating small, soft bones. Here's what I had to wash down the greasiness: a Cambodian local brew, Angkor beer. This was very easy to drink, abit too sweet for my taste but perfect for a hot steamy night.

The innovative thing about the steamboat was the hotpot itself: a fusion of BBQ hotplate and soup base, You cannot see it very clearly, but beneath the ring of vegetables was a delicious soup stock that moat around the elevated BBQ pan. 2-in-1, very chic. In fact, because the BBQ section was so close to the soup stock, we got a nice smoky BBQ-et taste to the soup too! It was excellent but rather heavy handed on the MSG though. My driver loved this place and the soup.
Apologies for the badly taken pictures but the restaurant was kind of dark.

Running Amok in Siem Reap!

2010-05-18T18:18:00.001-07:00

A refreshing cold drink is the best antidote for the sweltering heat in Siem Reap. In this case, it is a ice lemongrass tea. I am not sure if they gave me the right drink because this tasted like lemon tea to me. Anyway, as long as it quenches the thirst and put out the heat right? I asked my guide cum tuk tuk driver (that's him in the background sipping his Coke) what is his favourite Cambodian food and he says "Amok". Here is Amok:
Apparently, "Amok" does not mean anything in particular in Cambodian even though it means something in English. This tasted like really mild lontong. It is sweetish rather than spicy. Very agreeable in taste overall. You can have it with different kinds of meat (e.g. chicken, fish, beef) and I chose pork. The vegetables in there were kangkong and French beans. We also ordered another soup dish (the guide likes soup).
This tasted like clear tom yum. It was spicy but not out of the world hot. I liked it too although there was way too much meat in there. This was a rather touristy place and of course not so cheap. The whole meal with drinks cost USD 7. We could possibly get cheaper fare but I suspect my guide thinks I rather prefer ambience (notice the table cloth in the picture below) than price or taste (I will revisit this point again in subsequent posts).

Siem Reap! Healthy start to an action packed hot day!

2010-05-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am taking a break. Taking a break from blogging about my 5 time zones in 13 days series. And also taking a semi-official break from Singapore. I am in Siem Reap now (that's in the Kingdom of Cambodia for those geographically challenged). In a nice cosy boutique hotel. I mean any place that serves you a luscious calamansi drink (with a ice cold towel to boot!) on check-in must be good.
So I resolved a few weeks back to lead a more balanced and healthy lifestyle. Here's what I did before my breakfast this morning:
Yes! I went for a morning run on the treadmill. At 7.30 am, no less! Notice that the gym faces the nice 18 metre pool?? I made sure that the hotel has a gym. After a nice rigorous run, I had my breakfast:
Yes, tropical fruit trio of mango, watermelon (which I don't really like) and dragonfruit. All nice and sweet. Hahah...who am I kidding!? My real breakfast was bacon, toast and oily omelette! I forgot to take a picture of that. Anyway, it is just as well that I did the 2.4 km run; hopefully, my greasy breakfast was neutralized.

5 time zones in 13 days (Fourth Entry): Bob Evans

2010-05-06T00:25:00.000-07:00

That's the blueberry smoothie from Bob Evans, a chain restaurant in the USA (but I think more popular in the Midwest). We visited one somewhere in Pennsylvania for brunch. Started off with the said seasonal, refreshing smoothie. It was delicious, not too sweet and with a discernible tartness. I ordered blueberries pancakes (you can probably guess by now that I love blueberries!).
As you can see, this is what they call "stuffed pancakes". In this case, it was stuffed with a subtle vanilla cream cheese filling. This was yummy if a tad too sweet. I like the thick yet fluffily light pancakes. Bob Evans is actually famous for their "sausage gravy", so we ordered one to share.
This might look really bland and ordinary but trust me, the taste was full-bodied. It was salty, hearty and homey. The specks of things you see in the sauce/gravy were sausage bits. The whole thing was just impossibly addictive, especially when moped up with Bob Evans' delicious biscuits (which came with the gravy). Oh, you got to pepper up the gravy too to maximize the oomph factor.
The home fries were just OK, not the worst nor the best that I've tried. Here's what my P.I.C. ordered:
Pulled pork sandwich with a poached egg, onion rings and toast. A really weird ensemble at first sight but this somehow was delicious too. I love Bob Evans but it is one of those places that you cannot go too often or your health will surely suffer!

5 time zones in 13 days (Third Entry): Ben's Chilli Bowl in D.C.

2010-05-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

So this is supposed to be some neighbourhood joint selling burgers and chilli dogs patronised by Bill Cosby and even the big "O" (no, not that "O" but "O" for Obama). As with all places hyped up by illuminaries, the experience was just ordinary. Granted the decor is very old school and quaint, but the real test of a restaurant is its food, no? Or is that such a shocking idea?
Actually, the decor looks like it could be a set in some movie where characters talk way too much on nothing consequential. Much like all of Tarantino's movies. Anyway, I digress. You know the food must be underwhelming when I spend so much time in the preamble. :)
We of course had to order the chilli dog. It was so pedestrian that I nearly feel asleep eating it. My last American chilli dog was way better. The chips that accompany the dogs were good though- surprisingly non-salty for an American joint. Ironically, the pancakes which did not have star-billing were deliciously fluffy, chewy and fragrant. I guess they added cornmeal to the batter (a very good idea that I will try the next time I make pancakes at home). We also ordered a breakfast plate of sorts, comprising home-fries and sausage.
Erm, let's just say that I can cook better than this and "Hello, Welcome to America- Salt Capital of the World!" The sausage patties were so salty that they were on the brink of being inedible (and to think that I was encouraged by the light-handed way they salt the chips). Come to think of it, the chips must be bought and not made in-house, so thank you Supplier of Non-Salty Chips to Ben's Chilli Bowl. You've saved the day.

5 time zones in 13 days (Second Entry): Nandos in D.C.

2010-05-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

Nandos is a roast chicken chain that has branches in Southeast Asia too (I've seen it in Malaysia and Thailand, but strangely not in Singapore edited: apparently a Nandos just opened in Singapore!). We arrived one cool rainy night in Washington, D.C. It was dark and windy and being strangers in the city, late in the night, we decided to not venture too far from our hotel for our late (9pm!) dinner.

Here's our appetizer:
Roasted red peppers, slightly spiced and with toasted pita bread. Maybe we were famished after a long flight, but I thought this was delicious. The pita bread was slightly crusty and the dip flavourful with a nice smokiness to it. And our main course:
Sorry for the badly taken photo but the restaurant was rather dim. We ordered a meal for two which comprised of a whole chicken with two choice of sides (we picked fries and coleslaw). First, note the huge pile of fries. These were perfectly fried, not greasy and they were served piping hot. Yummy! The coleslaw was decent but nothing compared to Long John Silver's coleslaw. The chicken which was partially hidden by the mountain high of fries was good, well seasoned and juicy.

The gimmick of Nandos is that they have a special Nandos sauce (actually a few types), which is a little tart and with varying degrees of spiciness. I forgot to take a picture of the different bottles of the Nandos sauce, but I tried the spiciest. Whoa, it was really spicy. So spicy that I had to mix the special sauce with some ketchup to tone down the heat. My concoction was the perfect condiment for the fries. I felt the chicken tasted good on their own.

Good food and reasonable prices (reasonable for Washington, D.C. anyway...), I must remember to try the Nandos in Kuala Lumpur the next time I am there.

5 time zones in 13 days (First Entry): Virgin Atlantic Heathrow Lounge

2010-04-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

By a series of (un)fortunate events, I recently managed to visit several cities/airports in less than two weeks. Six airports, four cities to be exact. I will be blog a series of entries about this adventure. They won't be chronological though. First up, the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse (i.e. Lounge) at Heathrow, which in my opinion is the best airline lounge in the whole wide world (sans those First Class Lounges which I never had the good fortune of visiting).

The Clubhouse is huge and best of all, the food served is amazing. And you pick ala carte from the menu! How cool is that? I arrived in the morning so only the breakfast menu was available. This is the traditional British breakfast (and you can see a plate of smoked salmon in the background).
It tastes as delicious as it looks, streets ahead of the last time I had a British breakfast. The toast (sourdough I believe) is particularly scrumptious. A pity baked beans are not included in the get-up. There are tons of other food available in the lounge, including mango smoothies! Yummy. Too bad I very rarely travel on Virgin Atlantic.

Longest Hotdog in Connecticut (and the world?)

2010-04-05T19:53:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make. Actually, right before me and my P.I.C. had that steamed burgers, we actually got some hotdogs! Yikes. That explains why my waistline is constantly expanding. But these hot dogs at Doogies' were worth it I think.
The place is very spartan as you can see from the picture. They serve only burgers and hotdogs with the latter being their forte. Before we talk about the hotdog, just look at the free-flow condiments:
There's the usual ketchup, mustard, raw onions and a surprisingly spicy relish. The hotdogs themselves were long and delicious.
This had peppers, chili and mustard on it. And we also ordered a burger which was very good too but not exceptional. The hotdog is definitely above average, it did not taste "artificial" (even though we know it has to be all artifice!). The chili topping was also tasty (with a pleasing meaty taste and rich tomatoey taste). I was very satisfied with the meal. Ooh, and the fries were nicely fried and chunky, I love them.

Really, this was a bit too much food for two people, especially when we proceeded to have this barely 30 minutes later.

Ted's Steamed Burgers in Connecticut

2010-04-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

Somewhat of an institution in the East Coast, Ted's Restaurant serves their famous steamed burgers in a tiny shack in Connecticut. Calling it a restaurant is a real misnomer. So in a windy winter night, me and my P.I.C. sauntered into the restaurant (we missed it the first time we drove past it and had to make a U turn back) and tried their famous burgers.
So how did it taste? Well, exactly how it sounded, steamed burgers with steamed buns and steamed cheese. It was OK but nothing to rave about after the initial novelty. They have a huge custom-made steamer just to make these burgers. I think at about four bucks each, it wasn't exactly cheap too. Here's another close up:
The gooey, sticky cheese was actually quite delicious when eaten with the not-overly-done meat patty. My verdict is: "Don't drive more than 30 minutes to dine at this place".

Somewhere in upstate New York is a Chinese restaurant

2010-04-03T00:12:00.000-07:00

This has got to be one of the most ornately decored Chinese restaurant I have been in the States. They usually look something like this. Another thing that is different about this place is this:
Chocolate flavoured fortune cookie. Cool right? I have had orange flavoured ones before but never chocolate. Unsurprisingly, it tastes the same as the regular ones with only very feint taste of cocoa. I had the usual for my main (General Tao's chicken) and I think the hot and sour soup (not pictured) too.
It was OK, not excessively greasy. The chilli paste was nice though, tart and quite spicy. As usual, even for me, I had to struggle to finish the huge portion of rice and chicken. This place is somewhere in upstate New York and I totally forgot which town it is- much less remember the name of the restaurant (hence the title of this post).

But perhaps, one day, you will wonder into this restaurant, see the decor and remember that The Galloping Geographer was there first.

Italian in Shanghai

2010-03-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

I am back in action! I know it's been a while, dear readers. But like they say, better late than never; better never than ever; better ever than Denver! Ok, they never said that but...anyhoo... Shanghai again. This time I found myself, along with my P.I.C. (partner in crime) in 田之纺 in Shanghai. This is a gentrified place that is not as chi chi as 新天地 but it is still replete with shops obviously catering to expatriates and tourists. We went to this Italian restaurant (sorry forgot the name, edited: just realized the restaurant's name was captured in one of the photos, it's called "That's Amore"- very tacky, I know) but it is on the second floor and it has a bakery in the first floor. Actually, the bakery is the reason why we had lunch there. Feeling peckish, I had one of their chocolate danish (something I will never ever say no to) and it was divine. Warm, flaky and with enough buttery silkness; the chocolate filling was also full bodied and semi-bitter. It was truly one of the best chocolate pastry I have ever had. Anyway, I am digressing....

We shared a pizza. This had sausage and rocket leaves. As you can see the crust was a tad overdone and dry, unfortunately. But the taste was definitely there and the ingredients were really fresh.
A pasta dish for me. Tagliatelle with sausage and cannellini beans. This was very clean tasting but my P.I.C. said that the sausage was too "porky". I liked it even though the (homemade) pasta was a little overdone (seems to be a common problem in this restaurant!), I just felt it was undersalted.
Yes yes, I know. Why did I talk about the mains before the starter?? Well, because I liked this starter the best. Marinated octopus with olives and vinaigrette. This was light in a way but still punchy in flavour. The salty savouriness of the octopus shone through the tart dressing. And how I love olives! So this was a very good dish for me.

See how cute their condiments holder is:
The place was done up in a rustic style. It was warm and bright in there- too warm in fact, even though it was winter outside. Interestingly, the servers were all from the Philippines!

Kuala Lumpur Singapore Hokkien Mee

2009-12-10T02:43:00.000-08:00

Was over at KL for a conference over the weekend. Managed to try some interesting food there (including its KFC, of course). This is a branch of a supposed very famous Hokkien Mee in Singapore (called 鸿泰). The branch in KL is at the basement food court of Lot 10 Shopping Mall along Jalan Bukit Bintang.

Their Singaporean branch (or at least the one that I know of) is located at Vivocity basement foodcourt. Honestly the one in Singapore is so overhyped and lacklustre that I was almost embarrassed to see it being exported to our northern neighbour! What a disgrace I thought. But I caught a glimpse of someone who ordered it and it looked so delicious, so different from the Singapore rendition that I had to try it for myself.

It was damn good! The broth to cook the noodles was delectable and very rich. The noodles were very well fried and there were alot of seafood in there!!!Notice how they fry the noodles with fresh red chillis. Oh my god! It was really unforgetable: every spoonful was scrumptious! And this coming from someone who does not really like Hokkien mee!!! YUM YUM. Another picture:

By the way, the chilli was very good too! Spicy, savoury and slightly tangy. Please go try it when you are in KL.

KFC Phuket Thailand

2009-12-02T22:19:00.000-08:00

Oh gosh. It's been a while! Just a short entry to ease myself back into blogging. And what best to write about than yet another KFC entry! This time it is in the Thai resort island of Phuket.
What can I say, the crispy spicy chicken was decent and the spicy drumsticks were salty and sweetat the same time. The fries were very insipid, unfortunately. The chilli was an epic failure, as you can see, it was very watered down and not spicy at all! Strange, considering this is Thailand we are talking about!

The saving grace was the Thai iced milk tea which was deliciously creamy and aromatic but it was also so incredibly sweet that I had to let all the ice melt before I drank it (and even then it was still a tad too sweet for me!).

Anyway, hope to post more in the coming weeks.

Pictorial Post: Healthy (?) Breakfasts in San Diego

2009-08-14T04:52:00.001-07:00

Had a whole batch of healthy diner breakfasts while I was in San Diego last year (yes, I know I am blogging something from last year!). The key difference I noticed between the breakfast diner food in Southwest (i.e. San Diego) and that in the East Coast is that everything here had some obligatory fruits in them. Err, that's the only reason why I call them "healthy".

Kolo in Kuching II

2009-08-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

Well, this is not really kolo mee but beef noodle. The noodles used tasted exactly like the kolo type though. This was really tasty in a very simple and homely way. It sure didn't hurt that it cost only 4.50 ringgit (about SGD 1.85)!!

The soup was clean tasting and full of beefy flavour while the chilli at the foreground was more sour than spicy. Of course, me being so Singaporean, I actually dumped the chilli into the bowl of noodles to make it spicy!

The noodles tasted delicious as they were though.

"Better Burger" in New York City

2009-08-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

The Big Apple is not just about unhealthy food. My P.I.C. and I went to this burger place that serves better, healthy burgers called, erm, "Better Burgers". I like the retro-bright decor of the place- should have taken pictures of the premise. The colour theme is orange- which is one of my favourite colours.

So this place has a system of making their fries that essentially involves baking them in a way that makes them taste like they are fried. "Better Burger" calls these fries "Air Fries". These were truly guilt-free fries. They tasted really close to "normal" fries.
As you can see, the bun was whole wheat, with very fresh vegetables (lettuce, tomatoes, no onions because I hate raw onions). The burger was distinct because the meat was not cooked to death (check out the nice rose pink!). I have resolved not to waste my stomach space, my health account and my (ethical) conscience eating badly done meat, but "Better Burger" was definitely worth the meat indulgence. (For one, I hope the little critters were treated well enroute to becoming meat patties since the company claims to source only organically raised beef, poultry etc). Although the average price of USD 8 per burger is not cheap at all, I feel it is still worth it.

They have several locations in the Manhattan area. I will definitely return again when I find my self in NYC again.

Kolo at Kuching

2009-08-04T03:44:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the very blur picture. I was in Kuching recently and discovered the pleasures of kolo mee. The noodle is famous for being slightly eggy, very springy and tasting fabulous even with minimal sauce (as far as I can tell, just oil and soy sauce are used). The picture was taken in a random coffeeshop which served the mee. It appears that kolo mee is everywhere in Kuching. I was actually near an alleged "best-in-Kuching" kolo mee stall but the queue was crazy.

This was very nice already, for me. By the way, the char siew tasted bleah. I could just eat the noodles plain.

Great Lakes Brewing Company, Cleveland

2009-08-02T17:03:00.000-07:00

This is one of those places which I often see featured on the Food Network. So when I ended up in Cleveland last month, I had to try it. Great Lakes Brewing Company is probably the most famous brewery in Cleveland. A side track: it is on the same block as the West Side Market which is definitely worth a visit for its fresh produce and other goodies. The market is opened early till 4 pm or so.

Anyway, since I am new to the brewery, I ordered their sampler. What this got me was all of their available beers for the day in tasting size (about 3 shot glasses worth). On that day, there were 8 beers being sold, so I had 8 (heheh). I liked most of them except one which tasted very strongly of some weird herb.

You can tell I am hardly the beer connoisseur. All I know is that I like clean, sweet but strong tasting beer.
Anyway, that was a good night out with three of my friends from Cleveland (you can see all of their hands/elbows in the picture above).

KFC Breakfast in London

2009-07-24T03:06:00.000-07:00

So this was the KFC breakfast that I had in London. It's one of their signature fully loaded set meal. It was also one of the biggest disappointment I have ever had of KFC! The chocolate croissant was terrible. It was actually inedible. Cold hard and with very little chocolate filling- which perversely was a good thing because the filling tasted like chemical. The hash brown tasted stale, like bad oil; the bacon was extremely salty and didn't taste like meat at all. To make matters worse, the coffee tasted like industrial sludge. I am surprised I survived this meal!

There were only two saving graces: The baked beans were nice and hot; and the bread (French toast) was tastily sweet and fluffy.

Messy Plate from Rochester

2009-07-22T18:32:00.000-07:00

Made a quick lunch break on the way to Cleveland and found this random family restaurant called "Peppermints". My P.I.C. had this thing called a Messy Plate, which according to the nice waitress, is something commonly found in the Rochester area (upstate New York). This had macaroni salad at the bottom of the plate, with chunky home fries, two grilled cheese meat patties and topped with a meat sauce. I initially thought the meat sauce was chilli but it was not. It was some curry-ish meat gravy, redolent with spices. Not spicy at all but still very delicious.

This was a "messy" plate not only because of the seemingly random ingredients thrown together, but the macaroni salad was served cold and when contrasted with the hot and warm burgers and fries, the taste was just wonderful. We were told to eat all the ingredients together and not separately.

It was quite an experience and really scrumptious.

Diner food (with a big difference)

2009-07-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

It's amazing what gems (I think!) one can find in Worcester. Passing by Worcester very quickly two weeks back, we had an early afternoon brunch by West Bolyston Road in this diner whose name escapes me right now. I had the "Mega" breakfast (or something to that effect). The sausages, home fries, etc that came with this were all unremarkable. The selling point of this diner is that they serve girnormous pancakes, 13 inch wide.

Anyway, the above (including the coffee and cranberry juice was only USD 7.50). Needless to say, all of us (me and my two P.I.C) could not finish the pancakes. Here are more evidence of our epic failure to consume the pancakes. Your mugshot gets up on their wall if you managed the feat though.
You can feintly see three pancakes (all three of us ordered the same set). The thing about the pancakes is that they are very thick as well. So, it is quite impossible- unless you are starving- to finish them. Not making excuses for ourselves though. Anyway the consolation for me is that I did the best out of the three of us, almost finishing half of mine:
And no, we didn't know their pancakes were going to be this big when we ordered; otherwise, we would have only ordered one to share (and even then we wouldn't have finished it!).

London Chow

2009-07-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

I realized I have't posted a (Western) Chinese food review in a while. I was recently in London and tried a Chinese place in Chinatown. London's Chinatown is pretty close to the West End where musicals are played. Anyway, this place is called "Mr Kong", it has slightly better ambience than the rest of the Chinese places in the vicinity and the prices are comparable too.

So here's what me and my P.I.C. (partner in crime) had.
Hot and sour soup. This was quite decent (except it cost 2.40 pounds for a tiny soup bowl!). I like how they've added fresh cut red and green chillies in the soup. It was spicy and sour (from the vinegar)- which really should be the whole point of this kind of soup.
You cannot really see it but my P.I.C. had the wonton soup which he pronounced to be "very nice because it contained alot of MSG". Errr, I will take his word for it. The pickled cabbage appetizer was very crunchy, slightly sour and faintly sweet (just in front of my bowl of soup). Very good too.
As we've not really had (cooked) leafy green vegetables for days, I ordered the Chinese stirfry vegetables. This contained two kinds of vegetables: Chinese kai lan with the yucky xiao bai cai. The highlight of the meal was the stewed beef brisket. I know it looks kind of sad and ugly in the picture but this was delicious. THe brisket was stewed just so, nicely soft but still retaining a bite. The taste was wondrous too, not overly sweet or salty. I loved it. We also had the mussels fried with black bean paste.
I felt this was nicely done too. Thge mussels were fresh and most were fat and juicy. The black bean paste did not overwhelm the dish at all. I loved the delicate flavour. My P.I.C. aka "Carbo King" had to have the fried rice. So we ordered a house fried rice too.
The fried rice was competent. Nice and fluffy and clean tasting (as opposed to American fried rice which tends to be much greasier). The portion was pathetic though, especially when compared to the USA size. Although this picture was taken after we had some of the rice, the actual portion was only about double what you see in the picture. In fact Mr Carbo King ordered an extra bowl of white rice just to mop up the sauces of the stewed brisket and the mussels. Finally, a complimentary sweet end to the meal.
I find that the Chinese food in London is less anglicized; price-wise, it is definitely more expensive here than in the States. This entire meal cost us 40 pounds. I am glad the exchange rate is slight better for us now than a year ago. Overall, this was a satisfying, albeit pricey, meal.

Smoked goat cheese from Poland

2009-06-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

That's smoked goat cheese from the "mountain people". Up in the highlands of Poland, there are apparently people who are not really ethnic Poles doing all kinds of secretive things- I think chiefly making smoked cheese from goat milk. The cheese itself is hard, slightly chewy and abit fibrous- basically not the usual kind of cheese texture we are accustomed to. Come to think of it, its texture is nothing that I really have tasted before!

Anyway, these little snacks (they come in big chunks too) are quite delicious, especially freshly grilled. The problem is that I think those who don't take to salt (like me) will find them way too salty. Thank heavens there's the homemade sweet-sour cranberry sauce to dip these little suckers in. The sweetness of the sauce cuts through the saltiness perfectly.

I find it not too cheap, with a freshly grilled one costing 2 to 3 zloty. (About SGD 1 to SGD 1.50).

Pieriogis in Krakow

2009-06-08T11:29:00.000-07:00

OK, not really Chinese but these dumplings are close to being Chinese dumplings and certainly taste better and are more inventive (in terms of their filling) than Chinese ones. First, this hole in the wall (called Vincent's Pieriogis, along Josefa Road in the Old Jewish District in Krakow) is so quaint and tiny! The picture shows half of the restaurant already. It can probably seat 12 people at its maximum. Figure that!

Anyway, the traditional filling in pieriogis is saurkraut but this place has many inventive ones. I went traditional and got the sauerkraut and mushroom, while my P.I.C. did the mountain smoked cheese and potato ones. They are both delicious!

Oh, the yellow furry thing is Lemon Meringue. He's hungry for pieriogis too. These dumplings were inexpensive too, costing 10 zloty on average (about SGD 4.50) for ten pieces. YUMMY!

Junk food in Vegas Casino

2009-05-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

I think the title of this post describes this "meal"/snack completely. The hotdog is monstrously huge and surprisingly palatable. It was inexpensive too- I think less than USD 3.00; you can have it slobbered with chili (a.k.a. meat sauce) and onions too. In the background are Krispy Kremes peeking out at us. I really never understood Krispy Kremes and why people go ga-ga over them. I like my donuts chewier, and definitely much much less sweet than Krispy Kreme. My P.I.C. for this Vegas trip loves them though...

Los Angeles French Dip Sandwiches

2009-04-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

Ack. It's be a while. Been quite caught up with work. I have a ton of places to blog about. But let's start with Los Angeles. The years that I was in the States, I was a complete addict of the Food Network. I have forgotten the number of times this place, Philippe, has been featured in the numerous shows of Food Network. So me and my P-I-C (partner-in-crime) had to visit this place when we were both in Los Angeles.

Philippe is famous for its French Dip Sandwiches. Nothing fancy actually, these are just meat filled sandwiches that is literally dipped in a meat jus. We ordered the beef and the pork (they sell lamb and turkey too).
This is the beef. The loaf seemed dry but it was really dipped in the jus, resulting in a slightly soggy sandwich (you can request for double dipping too, which I imagine will result in a meat sponge). And here is the pork one:
Now, you can see the soaked bread more clearly. I was a little underwhelmed by the sandwiches honestly. I mean, it's not nasty or bad, it's just very ordinary. Note that the sandwiches came bare with no condiments although you could spice it up with their in-house mustard. Be careful of the mustard though, it really packed a punch- more burning than wasabi. We tried the chilli too, since I can never see chilli on sale and not buy it to try:
BAD mistake. It was yucky. It had this overpowering cheap curry powder taste and was inexplicably bland as well. This had to be one of the worst renditions of the humble chilli I have ever tasted. I know even I can make a better bowl of chilli.

Overall, it was disappointing. Doubly disappointing if I took into account how expensive this mid-morning breakfast was! Sad.

ps: The coffee which tasted OK was only 10 cents per mug.

Shanghai Sloth

2009-03-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how work has so consumed me that even after a second recent trip to Shanghai, I've still not finished blogging about my last Shanghai trip! Gulp.
Well, this was taken last November. I believe we visited Starbucks at least once daily when we were there. It helped that the Starbucks was just across from our hotel. My PIC (partner-in-crime) was obsessed with that sausage roll. He had it very time. Anyway, Starbucks is Starbucks which means it is gooood.

2009-02-19T03:21:00.000-08:00

KFC. How can I not have KFC in Shanghai? Nothing much to write about, it's clearly sub-par compared to other KFCs that I have tried. The chicken pieces were tiny and the texture of the meat tough and too chewy and fibrous. Here's how they look like:
They looked good but tasted very very average.

Chinese food in Maine, USA

2009-02-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

Arrrrgh. Sometimes, I wonder if I am sick. Why do I keep doing these things? Why do I like to stop at random shack-of-a-shack Chinese takeout and feed myself bad Chinese food? I think there must be others like me. We should start a support group or something. Here's what I had:
This was their lunch special. I think it's beef with vegetables stir fry, wings and fried rice. Arrgh. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (but that's no consolation- considering that I've tried some really, really bad "Chinese" food before). The wings were so seriously underseasoned, I can literally taste the air of the factory farm in which the chook was (cruelly) raised. The fried rice tasted "BLEAH"; its only consolation was that it was piping hot. Piping hot food ranks high on my list, particularly if the weather outside is -14 C.

I had to take a picture of the take-out restaurant too:
As you can see, very spartan. I suspect it used to be a diner. Don't ask me where this takeout is, not that you will ever want to try it. But I think it's somewhere in a town that's midway between Portland and Freeport, Maine. The name could be Golden Chinese Takeout or anything similarly tacky. I really don't know. Everything was done in a daze. Before I knew it, I was inside the takeout, munching on freaking oily "Chinese" food.

I need to get professional help soon.

Shanghai Xiaonanguo 小南国

2009-01-29T17:21:00.000-08:00

Kylie Kwong, is a multi-hyphenated Sydney-based restaurateur. I love watching her cooking/travel shows because it's just so stylized without being too pretentious. I like the way she plays on her Chinese heritage- even though, as far as I know, she's a third generation Aussie.

Anyway, in one of her cooking travel show (called "Kylie Kwong- My China"), she visited this restaurant in Shanghai called xiaonanguo (小南国) which is this upper-middle class chain in China (with many locations in Shanghai). I was in one of their newest branches in my last visit to Shanghai. This particular xiaonanguo is located in Shanghai xintiandi (新天地) which is really this rejuvenated and gentrified enclave for expatriates with serious money.

In a word, xiaonanguo is excellent. Here are what me and my P.I.C. had:
This was the egg plant cold dish that we had. Shanghainese cuisine is known for its fascinating array of cold appetizers. This was excellent! You would think it impossible to make such a simple dish taste outstanding but this was a perfect blend of sweet, savoury and (mild) spicy! Actually, this was so good that we immediately ordered another plate! We had a hot appetizer too.
I love this pan fried meat bun. Its texture was soft and chewy and the filling sweet and moist. My P.I.C. said, however, that the Shanghainese have gotten the recipe for these meat buns down to a pat such that any roadside stall would have tasted this good too. Oh well.

We followed this with the requisite "Lion's Head"
Essentially minced pork with crab roe sauce. This was decent but the sauce was very seafoody and salty (from the crab roe). It was perfect with rice though! Let's see, what else did we order?My P.I.C is a sucker for carbs. So we had to order this noodle dish (in addition to rice!). This was well executed but it was abit difficult to be wowed by noodle tossed with chilli minced meat dressing. All the oil and richness of the food were getting to us by now, so we ordered a vegetable dish to assuage our guilt. Our version of palate cleanser if you like.
Oh, by the way, if I haven't made it clear before: I simply detest xiaobaicai (小白菜). That's the green bulbous vegetable in the picture above. Luckily the braised bead curd skin was delicious (that's the thing that I held up with the chopsticks). The assorted mushrooms tasted fresh and had bite too. Anyway, this was not the best dish of the meal. Behold!
Ahhh. 东坡肉! Clearly, not the most healthy meat dish. But this braised pork belly dish was just out of this world good. How do I count the ways that I love thee??? The skin was firm yet not hurt, the seasoning was just the right mix of sweet and salty. The meat had a meaty texture and bite yet was soft enough and succulently moist. I think I am running out of food adjectives/superlatives. Just try it. And with a bowl of rice please. Here's another shot:
Notice how pearly the rice was? The thingy on the left was beancurd skin tied into a knot (for that extra bite). Ah, so good. Freaking good, considering the bill was reasonable and service was excellent (notice how the pu'er tea we ordered, at 60 yuan, is more expensive than the东坡肉 at 58 yuan! LOL) .

Chinese in San Diego

2009-01-19T18:29:00.000-08:00

Hail, the most acclaimed Chinese restaurant in San Diego. So I've read from their free weeklies, etc. After much detour, we finally located the restaurant in some apparently Asian suburb of San Diego. The restaurant was huge but we came in just after lunch and during their lull period before dinner. Nonetheless, my P.I.C. (partner in crime) and I were served with enthusiasm by the auntie waitress. We were rather hungry. The first dish that came out was fried rice. A mountain high plate of fried rice, to be exact.

This was not too bad (I've decided to use the past tense to describe the pictures henceforth- as it should be, I think). There was generous use of ingredients like shrimp and char siew. The taste was delicate, not vulgar. It was not exceedingly salty (which was a welcome change from typical Chinese food in America) but it lacked a certain oomph. I feel it should have been left frying in the wok for a minute or two more. But no matter, can't complain about this when you are craving Chinese in San Diego! The next dish was even more comfort food than the fried rice:
This was tofu with chicken and salted fish in a claypot. It looked pretty bland and ordinary but I actually liked it quite abit. My P.I.C. was only OK with it though. I like the soft, smooth chicken meat and the overall salty sweet (probably from MSG!) gravy/sauce. It was very good with the rice. The last dish we ordered was a vegetable dish:
This was stirfry green beans with Chinese cured sausage, sweet pickled radish, dried chilli and peanuts. I love the combination of the ingredients: crunchy (from the pickled radish), soft (from the vegetable), chewy (from the meat). The taste was wonderful too: sweet, salty, spicy and just all round delicious. But as with the fried rice, both P.I.C. and I thought that it should be that much more well fried.

So ended our first Chinese meal in my coast to coast travelling of USA.

Jackson Hole Burgers at NYC

2009-01-11T15:31:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long hiatus. I apologize to my readers (all four of them) but I've been busy and traveling. Oh, can you believe it? It's already 2009 and I still have stuff that I haven't blogged from my Shanghai trip!

Anyway, I think it's OK to write about other stuff since everyone must be bored with the Shanghai posts by now. So I present to you, Jackson Hole! Me and my P.I.C. descended upon Jackson Hole in a comparatively warm January afternoon in New York City. I ordered a "Soul Burger", and I think he ordered something that came topped with a fried egg.
I've been trying to cut down on my meat intake but this stuff is really too good to pass. My "Soul Burger" consisted of a 7 ounce beef patty, bacon, ham, cheese and sauteed onions. Actually, all their burgers come with a girnomous 7 ounce piece of meat and hand-chopped, not minced. The burgers here cost about USD 8 to 12. Pretty reasonable if you ask me, considering their size! Here's a closer look at my burger:
I ordered mine cooked to a medium. Oh, the fries were wonderfully crisp and flavourful too. Do visit Jackson Hole when you are around NYC. They have several locations in Manhattan.

Shanghai Tang (Chao): Pardon the pun

2008-12-03T03:33:00.000-08:00

Tang Chao is a Crystal Jade like chain which I have visited first in Taipei. It was a wonderful experience and an excellent recommendation then by my friend TT. So imagine my excitement when loitering in a bland-looking Shanghainese mall, waiting for the rain to stop, I saw Tang Chao! It seems to be the real deal (you can never be too sure about copy-cats here in China), so I dragged my p.i.c. (partner-in-crime) for a little brunch.

I remembered in Taipei they have the most exquisite "mala cake" in Tang Chao, so I had to order that. You know, for comparison:
The mala cake here is very soft and fragrant indeed. It tastes almost as good as the one in Taipei- with the same melt-in-your mouth texture. Except, this is abit too sweet- because oddly enough, there is a sugary filling in the cake. I don't remember the Taipei version having any filling. Here's another view of the cake:
I would really prefer it plain. The second dish I remembered from Taipei was the simple fried noodles with soy sauce. So we ordered the same dish here:
Very big portion as you can see from the picture. It is tasty but rather oily and a tad too salty. Not bad, but the Taipei version is definitely better. On to our next dish, siew mai:
Siew mai is siew mai. That's what I always say. This is slightly above average though. It's got a good crunchy bite to it and the meat tastes fresh. It's quite a mouthful too. The next dish is simple porridge (with pork and century egg). It also happens to be the best dish of the meal.
The porridge has the perfect consistency- the hallmark of having slowly cooked for hours. It is not too salty and the flavour of the meat shines through. The only problem is that the century egg tastes exceedingly alkaline. I can live with that but my p.i.c. cannot stand it. Next dish is chee cheong fun.
It is tasty but the texture of the wrapping is thick and mushy instead of thin and chewy. I guess it's a personal preference. I did not like it, but p.i.c. was OK with it. Finally desserts: bean curd with lily petals and glutinous ball with sesame filling.
Sorry I almost finished the beancurd before I remembered to take a picture of it. It's very good bean curd indeed. Fragrant and silky smooth.
The glutinous rice ball is just perfect. Right bite, excellent filling. I love it. I think I can eat 50 of these suckers. So ends sweetly this very affordable meal at Shanghai Tang Chao. I wonder if Tang Chao will be brought into Singapore anytime soon?

Shanghai Snacks I: sweet whachamacallit

2008-11-30T18:02:00.000-08:00

I don't remember what this is called. But I bought it at some random street vendor. It's got a caramelized top crust that is sweet and sticky. The dough is nice, soft and chewy while the red bean paste is not too sweet and has good bite. All in all, a surprisingly satisfying sweet snack.

Shanghai Sumptious: "M on the Bund"

2008-11-27T23:00:00.000-08:00

This next place in Shanghai has pedigree. So I am both excited and apprehensive. When the hype is too much, the fall will be harder. So despite it being ranked as the top 17th restaurant in Asia by a food guide, I went there with zero expectation. My partner-in-crime went with that same measured attitude.

Here's the front of the colonial style building that houses the restaurant. It's on the top floor (7th). The restaurant itself is beautiful and classy with a nice outdoor seating area. I didn't bother to take many (non-food) photos, unlike my partner-in-crime who is a cam-whore.
It's great to have someone to dine with because then we get to try more things. The cheapos that we are, we had the lunch set. Basically, the few starter choices are priced similarly (RMB 58); as are the mains (RMB 118) and the deserts (RMB 48, the desert selection is somewhat paltry). Anyway, here are our starters.
This is my p.i.c's (partner-in-crime) starter of "salad of warm asparagus and rocket leaves tossed with fresh mint, smokey paprika and red chili" (I just copied the description from their online menu, my memory is not that great). I like this: the contrast of flavours is intriguing, a little bit of heat from the chili and the peppery undertones of the rocket leaves, and the sweetness of the asparagus. The latter is juicy and full of bite. There is also a sourish hint, which I thought is some cheese of sorts (or maybe the onion slices are pickled)...But, ultimately, we were like "Eh, this is the top 20 restaurant in Asia?? Asia must be very deprived". I feel that you need to "wow" people not just satisfy people- which was what this salad did to us. Maybe my starter will have better luck:
This is "Slices of rare roasted beef topped with a creamy celeriac remoulade". Together, the tartness of the remoulade plus the cruchiness of the toasted bread and the meaty meat (?!) work like a charm. Again this is decidedly tasty but without that extra oomph. I felt the beef is a tad over done too. Moving on...
"Confit of duck leg on a bed of frisse lettuce, crispy lardons and a seeded mustard dressing". Actually, you cannot possibly go wrong with duck confit. I thought it is nice, but my p.i.c said that it is awfully salty. I think it's those "crispy lardons" that are to blame. Heehee... "lardons"...This word just induces the giggles in me. I shall not degrade this blog from G to RESTRICTED. Here's another picture of the cut-up duck:
The skin is nicely crisped, the meat is plentiful and tender; but it is just OK. Zero "wow" factor here. I thought there is a little too much sauce/liquid/gravy too. Oh, there's no carbo/staple in this dish. On to my main dish:
"Braised then roasted lamb flank served on soft polenta, slow roasted tomato and fennel roasted olives" (ps: They ran out of flank and substituted it with a rack). Looks delicious right?? It is actually quite delicious, except I have a few complaints. First the meat is overcooked (I ask for medium and it came out to be medium-well to almost well-done). That's unforgivable. Also, the fennel roasted olives are very bland. I don't detect any fennel at all. Finally, the slow roasted tomato has none of the roastiness/smokiness that I expect from a roasted tomato. Here's another picture to show how overdone the meat is:
As you can see, the tomato is barely roasted. Nonetheless, the whole dish tastes good. The meat is fresh and of a superior quality but like I said "HUH?! Top restaurant in Asia??". After this series of small disappointments, we did not keep our hopes high for deserts:
"Layers of nougatine and rich chocolate ganache coated in dark chocolate, served with a raspberry coulis". Yep, good thing we kept our hope low. This desert is so ordinary, eating it, I feel like going out to look for Ben and Jerry's "Cherry Garcia". The dark chocolate so "unwow" me. Even the coulis tastes weak. Where is that burst of tart raspberry flavour?! Sad. Another picture of the desert:
Sigh, the chocolate ganache is just very very weak and bland. No creaminess, no richness, barely a tinge of chocolatey-ness. ZILCH. Oh, and did I just pay RMB 48 for this (which I did not even finish eating)?!? My p.i.c. was smart to skip desert. Sad, we thought the meal was going to end on this sorry note but something saved the day....something very common...something that rhymes with "Sophie":
Why not coffee? My p.i.c asked. And the coffee junkie that I am never ever refuse coffee. So we did coffee. And the coffee is excellent. We each had almost three cups of the coffee. That French Press can really hold them coffee in! So finally, it was a good, simple ending to a nice, albeit underwhelming, meal.

Even though I tried to go in without expectations, I inevitably came out disappointed because it was difficult to shake off the fame of the restaurant. If only we did not know that it was ranked 17th best restaurant in Asia!

"Going/Moving Forward": my recent peeve

2008-11-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, this has nothing to do with food. But recently I have been increasingly irritated by a particular phrase that one sees very often in Singapore-Civil Servant speak; as well as in the hallowed pages of the Straits Times. That phrase is "going/moving forward".

I detest this phrase so much because of the way it is used by the two-bit press and government officials. This phrase invariably appear in one of the last paragraphs in an article or speech. The article/speech is invariably about something that has not been done right, something that has incurred the public's displeasure and wrath.

The article will invariably pontificate on the issue; try to consider all aspects of the issue; adopt a "I-know-better" posture and profess an understanding that borders on condescension.

The phrase "going/moving forward" is used to signify the argument/issue has been resolved: We know what to do; lets close ranks and work for the good of everyone else.

I deeply resent that. Don't even assume that things have and will "move/go forward". Don't even pretend that you have addressed all concerns and woes. Don't even think that just because you use the phrase "going/moving forward", those who refuse to "go/move forward" are trouble makers who have not logically/rationally considered the issue carefully.

So I say enough of "going/moving forward". What we desperately need is to "look inward".

Shanghai Surprise! Beiwanxin Bao

2008-11-23T22:08:00.000-08:00

Shanghai, as with other Chinese cities, is a place of extremes. The poor-rich gap is astounding and this can be evinced none too clearly and intimately than the food options we (me and my partner-in-crime) have. This is the first of a series of posts on eating in Shanghai.
I have chosen to start small and humble. This is literally a hole in the wall place selling a variety of steamed baos, but as you can see from the number of workers, it is really popular. You got to love this place, it's right smack in this fairly fashionable street in Shanghai (Huaihai Zhong Road- you can see a little of the address in the first picture above) selling meat baos for about SGD 0.20 each. All kinds of people queue for their baos...did I mention that its neighbours are a clutch of luxury watch shops. I think Rolex (the real deal) is just right beside it!

Anyway, enough of the boring stuff. here's what this stall is famous for:
It might not look very appetizing but this is actually really good. The pastry skin is especially outstanding. Soft and chewy at the same time. The filling is fatty and flavourful- probably because of the high fat-meat ratio. Even though this particular baby was served lukewarm, it tastes fantastic. I can only imagine how much more delicious it would be if it was served piping hot. YUM. Then there are others (how can I only try one type?!):
Vegetable bao. Nice. The usual vegetable filling we get in Singapore for such baos is turnip or cabbage based. This is unusal for me as it is spinach/caixin based (I can't really tell!). It also has a slight tangy flavour. Very well done indeed- especially with that (same) excellent pastry skin.
This is their take on siew mai with glutinuous rice filling. What can I say but "siew mai not nice". It's just plain weird. The skin is rather thick and the rice very heavy (both in substance and in seasoning). Very unmanageable even to finish this one piece. It's nonetheless good for the experience.

I also tried the sweet bean paste bao, it was served inexplicably cold and understandably nasty. I wanted to exchange for hot ones but I think those bao-making aunties look too fierce to trifle with. No photos of the sweet bao; they look just like what you can get in Singapore.

Joe's Kitchen

2008-10-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

Joe's Kitchen Thai Cuisine is this no-frills restaurant along Alexandra Road, opposite Alexandra Hospital and very near to AIA Building.

I've always liked Thai food and I find Joe's Kitchen to be an inexpensive and homely dining option. The fact that it's reasonably close to the university is a big bonus. So, I over-ate (what's new?) the last time I was there.

The portion for the Pineapple Rice is ginormous! It is tasty but not out-of-this-world good. The fried vegetable is very good. Nicely fried and has a hot savoury kick to it. Good portion too. The minced meat dish is really delicious too, the gravy makes an excellent sauce to the rice. I did not get to order soup, but would love to try their tom yum soup in my next visit. Oh, and the best dish of the place, is this:

Stuffed chicken wings! The stuffing is so fresh and clean tasting- with lots of water chestnut, corn kernel and minced chicken. Very very good. I think I can eat a bunch of these easily. Very sinful!

I forgot to note the prices but I think the minced meat is $8, the rice is about $4 and the vegetables is about $6. The stuffed wing is $2 each which seems a tad expensive but, trust me, it is truly worth every cent of that $2.

Cornered by Corner Lunch, Worcester

2008-10-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, this is not the healthiest way to wake up to. But the Corner Lunch, as I have mentioned before, is the place for diner grub in Worcester. My visits to Worcester are never complete without a visit to the place. Here is my breakfast called "Fuel for the Day". As you can see, it has toast (Sourdough! Yeah!), eggs (Over-easy! Yeah!), freaking oily sausages and home-fries. The latter, not often seen in Singapore, is really just cubed potatoes pan fried, seasoned with salt, pepper and oregano. But oh-my-god, home-fries tastes divine! Not forgetting the piece of buttermilk pancake that comes with all these and coffee. The one bad thing about the place is its quite horrid coffee. But I can easily overlook that, especially with some of these to stuff myself sillier than ever:
Yes, this is corned-beef hash, fried extra crispy. This shit is good (and I meant shit almost literally because god knows what "meat" corned beef is made of). I really don't eat corned-beef (or any canned meat) very often, for many reasons too laborious to elaborate upon. But the occasional indulgence (especially if it's Corner Lunch take on corned-beef hash) is well worth it.

A very satisfying and sinful meal. Love it!

"China Lantern" in Worcester lights up!

2008-10-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

I remember my first Chinese meal in Worcester, Massachusetts when I first arrived in 2002. It was late August and the day was particularly chilly for August. I had only arrived two days earlier in Worcester and the thought of spending the next 4-5 years in this dreary place depressed me somewhat. I didn't really know anyone then and was feeling uncharacteristically lonely.

"China Lantern" is a Chinese takeout a few doors away from the University Bookstore. After that first meal (of beef and string bean over rice) there- which was decidedly awful- I was to visit it countless times. I was there again recently.

So I had this for lunch. They have a special deal for lunch where you pick your own food from the buffet table (with warmers) ; your food gets weighed and you pay by the pound. This costs about USD 4.50 which is quite decent for the amount of food.

The red meat thing is General Tso's chicken. Something like sweet and sour chicken that I only find in the East Coast. When I was in California I don't see this dish in the menu. This General Tso's Chicken happens to be the only good dish that "China Lantern" does. The hot and sour soup (which I forget to take a picture of) is generally good too.

The couple running the restaurant are calling it quits soon. Their children (a boy and a girl) have both graduated from college and have well-paying jobs. I think it is time for them to enjoy retirement. No clearing of tables at McD's for them!

Worst beer in Manchester- probably the entire world

2008-09-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

Arrgh. Lukewarm temperature, CHECK. Plastic cup, CHECK. Flat tasting, CHECK. Expensive, CHECK. Wet outdoor seating, CHECK.

This has got to be the worst beer on earth. The only consolation is that I don't remember the name of the beer. Yes, nature has that mechanism to prevent us from reliving nightmares.

This is quite fun

2008-08-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

Andrew, an English food writer and also the co-author of the blog called Very Good Taste has come up with a list of food that he feels all omnivores should at least try once in their life. He calls this list The Omnivore's Hundred. Saw this being done in other food blogs, I thought it's quite fun to do it myself. If you want to play this, just copy the following instructions and of course, the 100 item list too.

Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

TA-DAH! I got 53 out of 100. And there's only an item there that I will never really try and that's ROADKILL!

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs' legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (what are elephant ears??!!)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (OH, I'll NEVER HAVE ROADKILL unless I'll die if I don't eat it.)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (Eeeks, it's sweeter than sugar!)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse (Yes, in Vietnam- it gave me serious headache)
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (I was in a SPAM craze once, a couple of years ago)
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

The Best Chinese Restaurant in Boston

2008-08-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Best fried rice ever. Fluffy rice with fresh condiments and good "wok hei". Very generous portions too. This is truly one the best rendition of fried rice- not just in Boston but in most other places I've been to (including Singapore, of course). The "General Tso's Chicken" is peculiar to the East Coast only, it seems. It tastes somewhat similar to "Orange Chicken" that I often see in the West Coast, but spicier. The version here is delicious. The chicken is tender but yet retaining flavour and the outer layer is nice and crispy.

The dish on the right is beef stir fry with broccoli. Everything is tasty and the meat is not over-tenderized. Anyway, the picture was taken this April. The restaurant name is Grand Chau Chow in Boston's Chinatown. Look for it, it's the best ever.

Oh, and I cannot remember the exact cost but the meal was definitely less than 30 USD (and the portions are more than enough for three persons!)

Yiwu: The frontier town

2008-08-20T04:59:00.000-07:00

Last May, I had the opportunity to visit Yiwu, Xishuangbanna in Southern Yunnan. This is a mountain town, a frontier town that is built upon the tea trade. Conditions were pretty bad there. There were construction everywhere and the air was very dusty. It was an eye opening experience for me.

Here's another photo of Yiwu:
For a town that seems very dependent on the tea trade, I wonder what will happen to this place if the price of tea collapse?

Sieben auf Manchester

2008-08-16T23:50:00.000-07:00

Another Chinese place in Manchester, somewhere in Chinatown. This is actually quite good and freaking spicy. It's beef with (green) chillies. The dish is salty, oily and very spicy. Somehow, the elements work very well together and I had one of the more enjoyable meal in Manchester here. The beef is unfortunately over-tenderzied. I don't understand why tenderness is so sought after in meat. I love meat with bite and some chewiness to them.

Of course, that's not the only dish I had. I ordered a 鱼香猪肉饭 too. It's really a spicy stir fry pork with rice dish.

Again, this is very tasty. It's not too oily and although it has the somewhat cheap ketchup taste, I like that faint "wok hei" in the dish. The bamboo shoots and the cloud ear mushroom are both very fresh and crunchy. I love it.

The only thing I hate about this meal is the price. These two dishes plus a very flat tasting coke cost me 42 SGD. Looking at the meal now, I cannot believe I paid that much. Sigh, should have stuck with supermarket sandwiches.

Snowy thoughts

2008-08-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

I spent a year living in a tiny room in this pale yellow green house. When I looked out from my little attic window, I could see a run-down church diagonally across the road. It was a small church and it was a very narrow road.

I have never seen anyone entering the church, not even on Sundays. Maybe it had been shut down but you could not tell from the outside.

Now in the blistering heat of Singapore, thinking about the cold winters then and that little church across the street, I wonder about the things I never really knew.

Oh, oh, Olympics!

2008-08-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

I caught the Opening of the Beijing Olympics. It was spectacular- never mind that some of the fireworks were later confessed to be pre-recorded. What really peeved most people was that the Omimepics, I mean Olympics, organizers made a pretty girl "sing" to the angelic voice of an uglier girl; the latter presumably such a hideous looking beast that she has to be hidden from public gaze.

But to my surprise, the beauty and the beast look like this:
Hmmm... I kinda prefer the "ugly" one- she seems more real (and not the least bit ugly) than the too-good-to-be-alive look of the pretty one. Ms Pretty-in-Red reminds me of the smiling N.Korea children we often see in documentaries. Something like this:

I wouldn't say that the smile is forced but it just seems a little unnatural (and there is a difference between forced and unnatural). Anyway, what is my personal opinion on this fiasco? I actually think that they can do whatever they want to do, but they need to be consistent about it. I don't see why they disallow the "ugly" girl to be on camera but have no qualms putting HIM on:

Aiyoh, I think this is the real Beauty and the Beast!

Manchester 6

2008-08-09T22:14:00.000-07:00

Do I want to be Upper Crust or totally crass? I struggled for about 2 seconds before deciding on my lunch one random afternoon at Manchester's train station. So I made my way to the second floor of the (very nicely designed) station...to:

Yep! KFC. My first taste of KFC in England! YES! I was very psyched. Picture above shows the good old Colonel (who, by the way, was never really a Colonel in the army; just like Elvis' manager who was called Colonel was never a Colonel) and a Random Red Haired Lady.

RRHL looked kinda of sad when she was eating her KFC- that should have warned me for what's heading my way. Here's what I ate.

The chicken looks nice and crispy but is totally flat in taste. It was one of those times when I wished someone load up the MSG! It is such an under-seasoned piece of disappointment even the flour batter is too thick. It is like biting into a piece of biscuit. Undeterred by this, I trudged on:

Strips! These are just as bad, if not worse than the drumstick. I feel cheated. Again, the taste is flat and the batter is very grainy this time. It is not even crispy, it is just plain hard. So hard to swallow this experience of KFC. This has to rank as one of the worst KFC I have ever tried- and heaven knows I have tried many KFCs around the world.

Now I am wondering if it's just Manchester KFC or it's the entire country. Perhaps this is what Britons like in terms of fried chicken? I don't know- all I know is that the meal (comprising two pieces of chicken, three strips, fries and a drink) cost me 6 pounds!

"Corner Lunch" in Worcester, Massachusetts

2008-08-07T02:42:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Corner Lunch, with a random guy posing in front. Corner Lunch is my absolute favourite diner in Worcester. It is barely a five minute drive from my university and serves the best ever breakfast. On weekends, they always have specials- and their Mexican style omelet with hot salsa is sinfully delicious. Whenever I reminiscence about my days in Worcester, Corner Lunch would be one of the places I remember fondly of.

By the way, don't ask me why they are called Corner Lunch when all they serve is really breakfast.

Uniquely Singapore in Manchester (Manchester 5)

2008-08-06T03:04:00.000-07:00

I think I've been talking too much about food. Caught this London (shouldn't it be called Manchester?!) cab along the road leading to Manchester Piccadily train station. I guess with a daily direct flight from Manchester to Singapore, it is worth a shot to advertise. I think the design is somewhat crowded and confused.

Yum Seng at Yang Sing (Manchester 4)

2008-08-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

One evening, the whole bunch of us at the workshop gathered at Yang Sing restaurant in Manchester's Chinatown (along Princess Street) for our Official Workshop Dinner. It was great fun and the food was all round excellent. Yang Sing served Cantonese-ish food and what we ate were mostly pretty authentic.
The picture above shows fat juicy fresh prawns sauteed lightly with seasonal greens. The dish beside this is stir fry chicken strips with fried crunchy seaweed. The picture also shows Clayton (a nice cool guy who has done studies on MTV!). To his left, is Sue Roberts (a professor of geography at University of Kentucky)- another great and affable person that I met in the workshop.

Actually, speaking of the Workshop, it is so amazing to get a group of fairly diverse people who has interest- to varying degrees- in Economic Geography in all its different shades. I met some wonderful people there and I am sure our paths will cross again sometime soon.

Here's another picture of the banquet:

A hotplate beef dish that sizzles! This looks great and tastes wonderful too. Honestly, the food here was just assured Chinese food- with some slight variations to cooking techniques and ingredients. We had an assortment of dim sum as appertizers too. The food was fantastic, the company was even better. The booze kept flowing (we have four bottles of wine per table) and beer was BYO (i.e. Buy Your own) at the bar. We left the restaurant close to midnight and many adjourned to more partying along Canal Street.

The dinner was obviously paid for and the kaypoh that I am, I had to peruse Yang Sing's website. My investigation suggests that this dinner cost at least 39 pounds per person (surely more if we include the wine). That's nearly 110 SGD!

So what is the lesson learnt: good Chinese food can be had anywhere- if you are willing to pay!

Chinese buffet in Manchester (Manchester 3)

2008-08-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

Another day, another tale of Manchester food. I have had countless Chinese buffets when I was in the States. These are mostly over-the-top places with way too much food: most of them fairly tasty but few of them really Chinese. My favourite is "Imperial Buffet" which has a mega-restaurant each in Connecticut and Massachusetts (it could have expanded by now, I am not sure). The great thing about American Chinese buffets is that they are relatively inexpensive. "Imperial Buffet" for example charges about 10 USD for lunch and 15 USD for dinner- and it is considered the higher end of such buffets already.

Anyway, the Chinatown in Manchester has quite a number of these Chinese buffet places too. You know I just have to try this once. And you know I just have to pick the worse of the lot. Here is the stall front:

I have no idea why the picture came out wobbly and distorted. It's OK if you don't really see which restaurant this is because after this review, I am sure you will have no desire whatsoever to visit it. However, for the record, it is called "Beijing Chinese Buffet". Got to love them creative types!

Here is the first plate of whachamacallit that I took from the pithy buffet counter:
I am sorry the photo is so blurry. But I had sweet and sour pork, fried rice, some meat thingy and a stir fry beef and some fried bee hoon (i.e. vermicelli). The rice was passable (in the sense that you won't die after eating it) but I suspect overconsuming the beef thingy is positively hazardous to health. It has a very weird synthetic taste to it. Maybe it is pretend meat. I don't know. I almost thought that they have forgotten to fry the bee hoon because it is really dry and hard. Probably left sitting in the buffet counter for too long- which is really not a good sign, considering how most other food taste really bad too. Moving along, the pork was very mushy and the tomato sauce must have been made from the same secret recipe of "Happiness Cafe"'s "chilli beef". Maybe it came from the same bottle. I think with further tweaking and research, this tomato sauce can be elevated to a cheap form of biological weapon.

So, I am a complete sucker for hot and sour soup. You see the soup at the far left of the picture above. But here's a closer look:
Sorry, it's closer but just as blurry. Looking at the picture now, I am proud of myself- the length I go to in the name of scholarly research- how could I have brought myself to finish a whole bowl of THAT?. The plus point of the soup is that it is not bland (compared to the rendition by "Happiness Cafe"); the bad thing is that it is exceedingly salty. Like not just very salty, it is literally a bowl of lukewarm soy sauce with no tartness and no spice. I give this an unambiguous F. This means that I was probably too harsh with Happiness Cafe's hot and sour soup; the latter would probably get a D in comparison. Got to curve the scores!

Anyway, as if my body has not suffered enough, I went for a second round of the buffet counter. I don't know why I did that, maybe the chemicals in the first plate of food got into my brain and messed it up pretty bad.
As you can see, I took some more of the fried rice, because it was practically the only edible food there. I tried the sweet and sour pork again to give it another chance. Alas, red porky squandered this second opportunity to impress me. All it did was depress me further. In the plate are some stir fried sliced chicken thingy; some sweet and sour chicken thingy and some fried thingy which I absolutely cannot recognize now. I want to say something good about "Beijing Chinese Buffet" but I really cannot.

Oh wait, the dessert is pretty good, the coke light is exquisite and the canned longan is wonderful. Here's a picture of the desserts I had:
The fresh cream cake is light and not overly sweet, It is quite good actually. The strawberry cheese cake is rich and delicious too although it is completely frozen and I had to wait for it to warm up. So, another disappointment in Manchester (although to be fair, I perversely sought this fate for myself). I think next post, I will talk about some nice (read: expensive) Chinese food in Manchester.

Speaking of expensive, the buffet meal at Beijing Chinese buffet cost me 9.25 pounds (with a drink). That's 25 SGD!

Deep fried whachamacallit in tomato sauce (Manchester 2)

2008-08-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

Continuing with my foodventures in Manchester. I visited this Chinese cafe/restaurant which is in the same building as the University of Manchester's bookshop. It's called "Happiness Cafe" but everything is very sad there. Whilst the place is spacious, the decor has a faded 1970s Hawaii look to it. Why is this even Chinese, I have no idea; though I suspect that it used not to be a Chinese eating place. Anyway, they have 2 course lunch specials with drinks. Here's the lunch special menu:

Yes, the lunch special costs 5.50 pounds!! That's about SGD 15!! We get to pick a "small dish" and a main. Of course, I have to chooose the "Hot and Sour Soup". Here's the soup:

As you can see, I took out the food to eat because the decor of the cafe terrifies me. Anyway, the soup is not sour, nor is it hot. Actually, I don't even think it can be called "soup". It is bland, tasteless, yet strangely greasy. One of the worst hot and sour soup I've ever had the honor of drinking. I thought things could not get worse, but it did. Presenting my main of "chilli beef" with rice:

Ok, this is so bad that it's actually bordering greatness! The "beef" has no meat taste to it at all- much less a beefy taste. And it's been cut into strips and maniacally deep-fried like there's no more hot oil left in the world to resemble card board strips. I really didn't know what I was eating then. The sauce is tomato sauce with chili sauce with (I am guessing) 10 tablespoons of sugar. Oh, and the rice is undercooked too.

There ends a disappointing (yet paradoxically satisfying) Chinese food encounter in "exotic" places. I would love to say that this is the most terrible way of spending SGD 15 on food in Manchester, but at the point in time, I actually have not hit rock bottom yet as far as food is concerned.

Nasi Briyani at Manchester (Manchester 1)

2008-07-31T05:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long hiatus, dear readers (both of you). This is the first meal I had when I arrived one dreary Sunday morning in Manchester. It's one of those many simple, no frills mom and pop shop that sells kebabs, etc in the Rushholme area of Manchester. It's also called the "Curry Mile" because of the number of curry restaurants along the main drag. Anyway, this is called Roast Chicken with Rice (but I call it Nasi Briyani). The chicken is nothing to shout about but the rice is so fragrant and tasty! You cannot really see it but it's got raisins and nuts in it too. Delicious.

Because of this early success fooding in Manchester, I thought I was in for plenty of treats...unfortunately, food here was eventually more misses than hits for me. Sad. Stay tuned.

ps: I must get a proper camera or a better phone camera. This Samsung camera phone sucks.

Chinese food in Krakow

2008-07-11T02:47:00.000-07:00

Sour and spicy soup from a Chinese restaurant (they call it a "Chinese Bar") in Krakow. Although it is very tomato-ey (hence very un-Chinese), it is actually very tasty! All the Chinese places in Poland are gaudy red and have red signage with yellow letters.

Should have taken a picture of the nice signage.

Here's a dish called Chicken Vietnamese Style. There is really nothing very Vietnamese about it. It tastes abit bland too, although the nice crunchy vegetables is very much appreciated. The bull iron cast hotplate is such a novelty....until I realized every single Chinese place in Krakow serves most of their food in one of these plates!

Bielsko-Bawa

2008-07-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

This is a shot of KFC in Bielsko-Bawa, a largish city in Southern Poland. I did not have dinner at this particular KFC, but at the Chinese restaurant above it (called "China Town"). Me and some Polish friends tried a couple of dishes (sorry no pics to show) and they were all delicious, even if only one seemed Chinese-enough. Chinese food in Poland is called Chinska (Poland's Polish name is Polska).

The KFC in Poland on the other hand is absolutely delicious when I tried it in Krakow. Singapore's KFC pales in comparison. The chicken (and indeed all kinds of meat) in Poland seem to taste meaty-ier. Nice! It is really expensive though, with a meal for two with 6 pieces of chicken and drinks costing up to USD 20!

The Poles love KFC- so I have been told.

Auschwitz

2008-06-16T06:55:00.000-07:00

Reporting from Auschwitz, Poland. That is the infamous gate to the biggest Death Camp complex used by Nazi Germany. The history of Holocaust is something quite alien to many Asians, but the scale of that atrocity should shock even the most unconnected person. Anyway, it was a cool, sunny day in Poland.

I just wish more people would actually visit the beautiful quaint town of Oswiecim too, instead of just heading for the concentration camp, in-and-out.

Cuppa at Sapa

2008-06-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

Last July, I went to Northern Vietnam. This is a picture of Sapa. A mountain resort which was a legacy of the French colonialists. Sapa was cool- literally and figuratively. Not sure whether I can live there for more than a few days though. There is only so much panoramic views of mountain green and so much Vietnamese (very strong) coffee that a caffeine loving urbanite like the Galavanting Geographer can ingest.

Going up the mountain was quite the bitch though. It took forever up dingy little mountain passes. I was reminded by Sapa again because of the Szechuan earthquake in China. There really is very little hope for such mountain towns when the cookie crumbles.

That's the tyranny of geography.

They taste only slightly better than they look

2008-06-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

Let's see, I was treated to lunch by the highland minority when I visited Jinghong in March. The menu consisted of wild boar's meat, wild vegetables (including a rather delicious wild winter gourd soup) and other stuff that I cannot remember. Some of the dishes were quite unidentifiably foul, but I am polite so I said everything was "hao chi!" They served mountain rice too, which they grew themselves. It was very interesting, the rice. Both in its texture and the taste. It tasted "rougher" and more starchy; the actual grains are larger too- like a cross between rice and barley. Not bad. Anyway, they told me they were going to stop growing the wild rice- and buy commercially grown rice- from next year because rice-growing is too tedious. Perhaps with the sharp increase in rice prices recently, they are rethinking this?

Trivials, travels and travesties

2008-06-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

These three Ts will fit this blog to a T.

The picture is not of Pasir Ris, Singapore. It is a new residential development in Jinghong City, Xishuangbannan, Yunnan, China. Looks pretty, right?

Anyway, the reason why these buildings are no more than seven floors is because the developers need not install lifts/elevators if the buildings are seven or less floors. Guess living in the penthouse here is not so attractive then?