Jinjja!! Chicken at Jewel Changi

Jinjja! Chicken is a Korean fast food company specialized in fried chickens.  I visited their branch at Jewel Changi early this year. 

You order your food at the counter, then you will be given a buzzer and you can pick your seat anywhere you like.  It was not meal time so the crowd was pretty thin.  There were plenty of seats available. 

I ordered their 6-piece chicken wing as an ala carte item for $7.00 as my snack.  The food was ready very quickly.  The fried chicken wings looked very much like those from 4 Fingers, but the color is different.  4 Fingers' fried chicken wings look much darker, like caramel, but this one has a lighter color.   I think both apply a layer of syrup-like sauce when roast, but in 4 Fingers' case, the syrup is completely crystallized. 

Jinjja!! Chicken wings are neither crispy nor soft.  It is somewhere in between.  The skin is not crystallized, but it is hard.  The type of chicken wing they use are quite small in size, so they have not much meat, and on the dry side.  In terms of taste, I could only taste possibly the taste of the sauce on the skin, a very strange taste.  Other than that, I was not able to distinguish any other distinct flavors.

I probably will give them my patronage once in a blue moon.  The taste is not very memorable, nor the portion size. 

Tingkat PeraMakan at Owen Road

Tingkat PeraMakan is located in the middle of Owen Road, near Farrer Park MRT station.  We went there on a Wednesday evening.  The entire road was devoid of any human traffic, and the restaurant was very quiet.  When we entered, there was one delivery man waiting for his order, and a lady customer.  That was it.  The entire place was handled by a single waitress and a cook. 

The interior is brightly lit and up lifts one's spirit.  There are some Straits China porcelains on display, reminding patrons of its Peranakan roots.   Peranakan, if you don't already know, refers to the ethnic group of descendants of Chinese and the locals in South-East Asia.  They have their unique language, culture, and costumes.  However, this group has slowly disappeared into the modern society, their unique food culture somehow still survives till today. 

They offer set meals at $10.70+/set, with a choice of one main, 2 side dishes, and a dessert. 
My friend chose the chicken set while I chose the pork rib set.

Chicken Set Meal, $10.70+/set

Pork Ribs Set Meal, $10.70+/set

They only have 4 types of side dishes, and we ordered two set meals, so we got to taste all their side dishes. 

For my pork ribs, it was very nicely done.  The meat left the bones the moment it entered your mouth.  The sauce was not spicy, so it was really good for my sensitive stomach.  My friend's Ayam Kleo was slightly on the spicy side, a ting of chili bringing up the taste, but the chicken itself was a bit too dry.  The coconut milk the chicken was immersed in gave a fragrant taste which lingered pleasantly in your mouth. 

I think the set meals are good value for money and if I need a Peranakan fix, I will definitely come back to this place. 

Nanjing Impressions Plaza Singapura

Previously, I visited Nanjing Impressions in Guangzhou (you can find the post here), as they also opened a branch here at Plaza Singapura back in 2017, I decided to give it a try. 

The Plaza Singapura branch is located on the 4th floor of Plaza Sing Annex, directly opposite Ya Kun Toast.  It has the same design as its Guangzhou branch, with a very traditional Chinese concept. 

Once you step into the restaurant, you feel like you have time-travelled back to Qinhuai River, Nanjing in ancient China.  The place is illuminated with yellow lanterns, each lantern bears the name of a dish on their menu.  The background music is Qinhuai Xiaoqu (秦淮小曲), it is a kind of Chinese opera popular in Nanjing, very soft and tender.  Qinhuai River and Qinhuai Xiaoqu were made famous by a Tang Dynasty poet, Du Mu (杜牧), in his poem Berthing at Night Along Qinhuai River.

泊 秦 淮

杜 牧

烟笼寒水月笼沙，夜泊秦淮近酒家。

商女不知亡国恨，隔江犹唱后庭花。

Literally, the poem means: 

In a foggy night, my boat berthed along Qinhuai River near the drinking places.  The resident singers  didn't care about the sadness that their home country had been annexed, they were still singing the song Backyard Flower. 

I don't know what Backyard Flower is in botanic terms, but it is a form of poetry invented by the last Emperor of the Chen Dynasty, which was annexed by Sui Dynasty. 

Ok, enough history stuff, back to the modern restaurant.  At first, I thought the Qinhuai Xiaoqu was from some recording, but hell no, there was actually a stage at the very back of the restaurant and a team were singing live! 

I ordered quite a bit of food, for one person, as I wanted to try as many as possible, but mostly were small portions. 

Wanton in Supreme Chicken Broth, $4.80++

I didn't have any expectation for the wanton with chicken broth.  It is such a common dish, but then it kind of exceeded my expectation.  The wanton skin was very smooth, and filling was fresh.  The Supreme chicken broth also lived up to its name.  I must give a thumbs up for this dish.

Celestial roast duck dumplings (left), $4.80++, Steamed shrimp and silky gourd dumpling, $5.80++

The celestial roast duck dumpling was kind of a strange combination.  The dumplings were steamed, usually steamed food goes for its freshness, and exhibits the ingredients original taste, but in this case, the filling was actually roast duck meat.  The fillings gave out a roast fragrance, there was quite a clash of tastes.  You should give it a try, it is unique.  But don't blame it if you don't like it. 

The steamed shrimp and silky gourd dumplings were average.  Somehow, it didn't bring out the freshness of the shrimps, nor the silky gourd.  I could only tell one flavor - salty. 

Braised Pig Trotters, $5.80++

The braised pig trotters should be a very 'safe' dish, as even the normal coffee shop stalls can turn up with finger-licking pig trotters.  Hell no, the pig trotters here were a failure.  The skin was hard, and the worse was I felt something spiky on the skin.  Go figure what it could be.  Take my advice, don't order this at this place. 

Imperial Scholar Spring Roll, $5.80++

The spring roll was ok, but it was a bit too salty to my taste, and a bit too oily. 

If you want to have a bit more privacy, you can reserve one of those individual rooms.  It is quite nice for a few friends gathering together to chitchat. 

Will I go back to Nanjing Impression again?  Yes, definitely, but not so much for their food, but for that atmosphere, that feel of traveling back in time. 

Pura Brasa at Tanjong Pagar Center

Pura Brasa is a new restaurant in the new Tanjong Pagar Center.  New in the sense that it is there for only about a year or so.  The interior is cosy, with all the warm lights around, it is very suitable for a couple of friends to sit down, chit chat over some Spanish food and a pint of beer.

I was there on a Saturday night, about 6pm.  The place was still quite empty, but after around 7.30pm, the place was almost full.  Groups of friends and some big families came here for their weekend gatherings.

Estreella Beer, 1-for-1 at $15.00++

They had this Estrella beer promotion, if you order a pint, you get another pint free.  It was perfect for friends gathering.   The beer was light, and smooth.  Even under Singapore's hot weather, it didn't turn bitter.  Thumbs up for the beer!

Charcoal Rice Paella, $36.00++

We ordered the charcoal rice paella to share for the two of us.  I asked the waitress about the portion, she assured me that portion was meant for two to share.  When the paella came, the portion was really small.  It looked quite a lot from the picture, but the rice was just a thin layer.  Probably the waitress meant was for two small eaters to share, not two pigs like us....haha....

In terms of ingredients, there were 3 prawns, 3 mussels, and some peas, tomatoes slices, etc.  The rice was cooked to the Spanish standard, which means it was wet, but the core of the rice grain was still hard.  I was sure I didn't have a blocked nose that day, but the rice didn't have any seafood smell.  It probably was a good thing.  And it was not salty!  But somehow this paella tasted very plain, but lacked the punch it should have.

If you are going to order many other dishes, then you can just order 1 paella to share for two; otherwise, better get one for one person only, especially for guys.

Grilled Iberico Secreto, $35.00++

On recommendation from some local food blog, we also ordered the grilled Iberico secreto.  The meat is from the armpit area of the pig so it is supposed to be very good.  Indeed, the meat was pretty tender, with lots of juice (fat).  The fragrance of the fat makes this dish almost irresistible.  However, they probably used sea salt as the seasoning for the meat, so it was on the salty side of the taste scale.

Overall, I think the food is decent, but tend to lack of some wow factor.  The beer is good, if I go there again, I will go there for the beer.

By the way, this restaurant is from a Spanish restaurant chain that seems like to be quite well-known.

The Lazy Garden at City Square Mall

The Lazy Garden is a new comer at the City Square Mall dining scene.  Currently it offers a main course 1-for-1 promotion.  You need to order 2 drinks to enjoy this promotion.  There is a 1-for-1 for their dim sum too, but it is only limited to weekdays 2.30pm to 5.30pm.

Hot Chrysanthemum Tea, $3.50+

We ordered two hot chrysanthemum tea to enjoy the 1-for-1 main course promotion.  The tea came with the real dry chrysanthemum, not just some artificial flavoring, it was a surprise to me.  Although the tea was from the tea bag, the real chrysanthemum was a plus point.

Prawn Rice Roll, $4.90+

Crystal Vegetarian Pau, $3.90+

We ordered some dim sum as appetizer as well, although we didn't enjoy the 1-for-1 promotion.  The Crystal vegetarian pau was not bad.  The filling was mostly carrots and radish slices.  It wasn't greasy, and had a pleasant vegetable taste.

The prawn rice roll, or chee cheong fun, was ok, but the portion seemed to be quite small.  The prawns they used most probably were those deep frozen prawns so it wasn't the most fresh you could find.

Unagi Claypot Rice, $18.90+

Unagi claypot rice was our main order.  My friend and I both ordered this as our main, so for this dish, we kind of enjoyed a 50% discount.  The dish was simple, a piece of unagi on top of plain rice.  The unagi piece was thin, and of course can't compared with those from Man Man or Uya.  The whole dish was all right, but tended to be rather plain.

The service was ok, and the dinning environment was cosy, felt a bit like in Malaysia though.

Just in case you were not aware, actually they offer western cuisine such as pasta, steaks, etc.  It is quite a fusion restaurant, not just Chinese.  I didn't try their western dishes, so I can't comment on them.

Dong Po Colonial Cafe

Everything seemed so unreal to me.  I was at Kandahar Street, near Sultan Mosque, the heart of Singapore's Arab and Malay culture, then there was this 'colonial' cafe, isn't cafe part of the western culture?  And the cafe is named after a famous Chinese poet back in the Song Dynasty, Su Dong Po (苏东坡).  So many different culture elements mixed together and reminded me Singapore is such a melting pot of different cultures.

The interior of the cafe is like a living museum.  Advertisement posters from 1930s and 1940s are displayed on the walls.  The tables are doubled as display tables.  Below the glass table-top, items from yester-yester years are on display.

The items are really too old even for my generation.  You have to live in the period before 1970s to have a nostalgic feelings, while for me, it was more like a visit to the museum, as many items are seen first time for me.

A museum it may be, it is still a business.  They have quite a selection of cakes on offer to go with their typical South-East Asia milk tea and coffee.   Some set menus are available too.

We ordered their set, two cakes with a choice of coffee or tea.  Both the butterfly cupcake and the aloe vera cream cake were good.  Not too sweet, perfect companions to the coffee/tea.  And they were very smooth.

When we were there, both locals and tourists streamed in to patronize the cafe.  The place is not very big and with limited seating capacity, so most people just finish and go.

Maria Virgin Chicken at Chinatown Complex Food Center

Maria Virgin Chicken, a famous stall hidden in the Chinatown Complex Food Center.  I decided to give them a try finally, because they came into news again recently.  The lady boss, who is already in his 70s, and would like to retire, now want to sell her secret recipe for her famed soy sauce chicken for $480,000.  Previously she asked for $680,000 but no takers, now she lowers the price hoping for a buyer.

When I arrived, it was still quite early for lunch, and it was a Sunday, a rainy Sunday, so there was no queue yet at the stall.  I ordered a $4.00 soy sauce chicken.

The chicken came with some leafy vegetables and bean sprouts, both covered in a thin layer of oil.  The part of chicken I got was chicken breast.  Oh my, that's the part of the chicken that I think is the most dry and tasteless.  However, this stall's version was actually not bad.  The chicken breast still managed to be tender and even with some juice.  It was pleasant to eat, and you could even have some hint of the freshness of the chicken.

I was happy that I could try this dish before the lady boss retires, and I wish her good health and wealth!

Xing Hua Lou at Heartland Mall Kovan

Xing Hua Lou is a newly opened restaurant at the humble Heartland Mall at Kovan.  When I dined there on 18 Sep 2018, their credit card POS machine had not even arrived, only cash and NETs payment were available.  The cashier told me that the credit card POS machine would only come the next day.

The interior design is simple but elegant.  The size of the restaurant is quite small, mostly 2 or 4-person tables, with a few big round tables for bigger parties.

Pork Belly with Garlic, $9.90+

We ordered pork belly with garlic as out appetizer.  The way they make this dish is different from others.  You can hardly see any garlic in the plate, but when you pick up a slice of the pork belly, the taste of garlic is obviously there.  I suspect they soak the cooked pork belly into a garlic sauce.  The overall taste of this dish is good, especially if you wrap the pork belly around a slice of cucumber.  Cucumber is fresh and light in taste, matched with the stronger flavored pork belly, in particular the fat portion, it is a pleasant combination.

Spinach in Supreme Soup (Small), $10.90+

The spinach in supreme soup is good too.  The best part of course is the supreme soup.  It is rich in flavor, and importantly, fresh.

Fried Xing Hua Vermicelli (Medium), $16.90+ 

While at Xing Hua Lou, you just can't not to order fried Xing Hua vermicelli.  Xing Hua (兴化) is a small place in the city of Pu Tian in Fujian Province, China.  Their vermicelli is famous for being the thinnest vermicelli, and it is naturally sun-dried, compared with machine-dried.  Once you mention Xing Hua, people naturally will think of Xing Hua vermicelli.

The vermicelli here is fried with a lot of ingredients, including prawns, vegetables, mushrooms, eggs, etc.  The medium portion is actually quite big, even for two guys.  If you order some other dishes, you may consider ordering just a small portion.  The taste is not bad.

Chinese Cabbage with Tofu and Lala Soup, $16.90+

Last but not least, we also ordered a pot of Chinese cabbage with tofu and lala (cockles) soup.  A big pot of milky soup arrived at our table, and the smell spread all around.  I, in general, don't like to have lala, or anything to do with lala, as it might not be fresh, and prone to cause diarrhea or food poisoning.  Luckily, the lalas in this restaurant are mostly fresh.  The soup is super tasty, with the sweetness of the lala, and the Chinese cabbage.

Overall, it is a satisfying meal at a reasonable price. In total we paid $64 for the two of us, with very full stomach.

Peach Garden at Miramar Hotel

This is the 4th time we came to this place for their ala-carte lunch buffet, which is having a 50% discount.

We came pretty early, just at the very minute that they opened for business.  The menu was already on the table for us to place our order.  Sorry the menu in the picture is a bit dirty, as I took this after we started eating and obviously we accidentally dirtied the menu on the table.  Anyway, you can take a look at the menu for what they have in offer.

When we arrived, the place was still pretty empty, but it was Teacher's Day, so later on, almost 80% of the tables were filled.  As a result, the time it took for the dishes to come was a bit longer too.

Deep-fried Fish Skin with Salty Egg Yoke

We ordered the deep-fried fish skin with salty egg yoke as our appetizer.  It was good.  The fish skin was very crispy, but not very salty.

For the rest, just take a look at the pictures.  A picture is worth a thousand words.

Roast Pork 

Jelly Fish

Deep-fried Soon-Hock Fish

Prawns

Braised Beef Brisket with Raddish

Steamed Pa-Ting Fish

Chilled Osmanthus Jelly

All the food was very good.  The prawns were fresh, the Pa-Ting fish is worth special mention.  It was cooked perfectly, and suits the Cantonese taste buds.  The portion for the braised beef brisket was quite small, but we were thankful, as we specially requested to have a small portion.

The staff there were friendly, although it was a very busy day for them.

The cost was about $40/pax.  I think it is very good value for such a sumptuous ala-carte Cantonese lunch buffet.   And that's why it was already our 4th visit here.