Saturday, October 29, 2011

Nakhon Kitchen

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Do you enjoy Thai food? Wait a minute, I used that for the previous post :P This is my second Thai food post in tandem. Nakhon Kitchen has received tremendously favorable reviews for their authenticity; from the person serving you all the way to the food being served.


I made a mistake of visiting at around 7:30pm, and had to queue for approximately 30 minutes for it . In fact, around 8:30pm, there is still a long queue.


Ordered
Pineapple Fried Rice







For some reason, pineapple fried rice is my first order whenever I go to any Thai eatery, so Nakhon Kitchen is no exception.


There are raisins and pineapple bits inside to provide you with bits of fruity sweetness, but I guess those who hates the thought of fruits in their rice already knew. Of course the floss on top adds to more flavor for the dish. 


However, each grain of rice was... exceptionally grainy and tough. Perhaps it's the long queue, perhaps it's my luck, this dish was somehow marred by the tough rice.


Score: 3.0/5.0


Tom Yum Soup (Clear)


Why did I say clear? Cause Nakhon Kitchen serves 2 different version of Tom Yum Soup. One either with rich coconut milk, or just the soup itself. I chose the clear version for you can better taste the finer details of the soup. You can also choose between the catches of the sea, specific catches of the sea(prawn), or chicken. Seafood is depicted here.


Fresh and succulent prawns and chewy rings of squid, the seafood in this small bowl is fresh and tangy. 


Can I say that usually, I do not really appreciate Tom Yum soup. Most that I tasted either are too sour and just felt weird. "Spicy" and "Sour" is clearly distinct in the tom yum here, and it melds together in your mouth nicely here. The spiciness of the soup does not switch on your resistance immediately, but causes a consistent and growing riot as additional sips of this wonderfully balanced tom yum soup into your gut. The result: a constant flare in your gut, the kind that people who loves the kick in spicy food really enjoy.


Score: 4.25/5.0


Mango Salad






Thinly sliced mango, cashew nuts and a mild spicy feel to the salad gives a spicy and sourish jolt to your taste buds for the upcoming dishes. Since I ordered it, there is not much of a regret here but the mango salad is a little boring IMO and I can do without it.


Score: 3.0/5.0


Phad Thai


Springy and slim rice noodles fried to awesomeness, with crushed peanuts, lime and chili flakes on the side. The rice noodle here is slim, chewy and comes out of the wok with all the well meaning flavors intended; stirred with the nuts, a dash of lime and some chili flakes, the dish is just awesome.
The bottom is a tad oily. I do know that lots of food is oily, but Ignorance is bliss and I'd rather ask myself why the pants are suddenly tighter than to see it. Also, do slurp up the goodness while it's warm, the awesomeness goes down a notch or 2 when it's cooled though.


Overall, one of the best Phat Thai in Singapore I've tasted so far.


Score: 4.25/5.0


Pandan Chicken


Marinated chicken pieces squeezed into a the shape of a pandan dumpling. The chicken does not really taste nor smell of the fragrance of pandan and makes one wonder the use of the leaves in the first place, besides serving to lock in the juices of the chicken while deep frying? Maybe the strong marination here overpowered the slight pandan fragrance?


Either way, soft and juicy is what you get. The taste of the chicken here reminded me strongly of this. For $6, you get 4 pieces of this satay pandan chicken as a great addition to your mains.


Score: 3.5/5.0


Green Curry (Chicken)



Choices choices choices. Nakhon Kitchen provides you with the freedom to choose what you like in their soup and curry. Again, seafood, prawn and chicken is available for choosing. Just to go by my standard memory of what I see in a curry, I chose chicken here. I think there is no right choice per se here, just like the tom yum soup, for the main star is the gravy.


It comes in this little bowl with a flowery-edge. The green curry here is sweet, spicy and smooth that is provided by the streak of coconut milk on top. It goes really well with rice and is choked full with slices of chicken and greens amidst the green.




See that little pea-like thing? Try biting it and you'll know it ain't no green pea (despite looking like a large green pea) that you find in your fried rice. A google search turns out that it is actually a Thai eggplant called Ma-kuea.


Score: 4.0/5.0


Thai Iced Tea


Taking a shot at Gong Cha and Koi, Nakhon Kitchen have their own version of their milk tea. (Nope, not lemon tea) This iced tea is creamy and orangey(in color), and tasted smooth and very rich. Much richer than what you'd queue up for at koi. It might have been a little saccharine but the drink actually fits in nicely with the rich flavors of thai food.


Score: 3.75/5.0


Coke


Heheh, even the coke is from Thailand :D


Boneless Chicken Wing



Ordered this out of pure curiosity. The chicken wing was deboned and stuffed. Let's take a look on the inside shall we?

The taste is kinda~ like ngoh hiong with carrot bits. In fact, it looked like ngoh hiong shaped to look like a chicken wing. I guess I am a little disappointed by what it turned out to be.


Score: 3.0/5.0


Mango Sticky Rice


Looking for a sweet finisher to our meals, we decided to order sticky mango rice. The plate is a cutesy plate shaped to look like a leaf, with warmed glutinous rice, mango and sweet coconut  milk drizzled over it.

The warm glutinous rice is mildly sweetened and complements the mango beautifully. The dessert was a hit among all the fork wielders seated and was gobbled up pretty quickly.


Score: 4.0/5.0


Overall
Nakhon Kitchen is generally good with some dishes that disappoints slightly, but with affordable pricing with no GST and service charge, Nakhon Kitchen is probably one of the best place in Singapore for some authentic Thai food.




Oh, there is this cute little rattan holder for holding a roll of paper for you to clean your hand or wipe off your sweat.


Nakhon Kitchen 
(Kovan MRT exit C)
212 Hougang Street 21, #01-341


Nakhon Kitchen
BLK 136 Bedok North Ave 3, #01-166
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Sunday, October 23, 2011

Enjoy Thai Food

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Far east plaza is a mall that has a strong emphasis on clothing. It is also the home to  quite a number of eateries. I chanced upon this shop with a quirky name called "Enjoy Thai Food". With a minimalistic setting, the price is kept to the lower range of what you can find in town.


The seating in the shop is pretty cramped and really offers nothing more than a place for you to sit and have your meal, not really for a chat after.


Ordered 


Phad Thai
I never really like kuay teow(rice noodles) for some reason, but Phad Thai, one of Thailand's national dish, is right up my alley.
The stir fried kuay teow, mildly spiced with red chilli pepper and lime on the side, crushed peanuts all mixed together actually makes for a refreshing dish.  The Phad Thai here is pretty enjoyable and with a price tag of $4.50, this is one more choice in town if you are on a budget and want to avoid fast food.

Score: 3.5/5.0


Pineapple Fried Rice



Another ingenious dish from the Thais who build upon it from a chinese dish. The pineapple fried rice here is mixed with bits of sweet but ever so slightly tart pineapples bits you can taste and topped with meat floss. The meat floss is actually a nice addition to the fried rice. It is again no 5 star fried rice but is actually pretty decent fare at an affordable price of $5.00.




Score: 3.25/5.0


Overall


Do you enjoy thai food? Perhaps if you are ever in town and am craving for some affordable thai food, you can head over to "Enjoy Thai Food" to enjoy their Thai food.



Enjoy Thai Food
Far East Plaza

B1-20
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Monday, October 17, 2011

Parklane Zha Yun Tun Mee House

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Featured in many magazines and TV shows as one of the best wanton mee in Singapore, "Parklane Zha Yun Tun Mee House" says everything from their name.

Ordered

Fried Wanton Mee



Being a repeat customer, the above picture is not the usual representation of what you'll normally get. Normally you'll get a mix of fried and "wet" wanton. But I prefer their fried ones so I asked for a change to an all fried wanton noodle.




Each of these fried wanton is so light and crispy that you can really pop them one by one. Although it is deep-fried, it does not leave a greasy feel in your mouth. If you are looking for meat, they placed a teeny weeny amount of meat inside. It is essentially Fried 95% Wanton Skin and 5%meat but these fried wonders are pretty addictive and can be ordered just by itself.


The char siew here is not the standard char siew you find in some wan ton mee stores but is roasted to a deep red on the edge. The char siew here is lean and sweet, so if you love fatty char siew, you might be disappointed.


Noodles used here is the thin and tangy egg noodle variety, or known as "幼面"(you mien). Among my many visits, they always make it firm and was never soggy. The noodle is stirred in their special sweet black sauce that they can really give too little at times. Do ask for more sauce when ordering. 


Score: 4.0/5.0


Parklane Zha Yun Tun Mee House


91 Bencoolen Street #01-53 
&
470 North Bridge Road, North Bridge Commercial ComplexOpposite Parco Bugis Junction)
&
21 Boon Tat Street 


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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Medzs

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Phew~ We have seen this concept locally first with Marche, then with the now defunct Shokudo in Raffles City Shopping centre, and now another eatery is now taking this concept again: Medz. Opening in basement 2 of the ghostly Orchard Central, this is hardly a place you'll stumble upon unless you're looking for it.

You know the concept - Get a card at the entrance, your table is there, so go ahead and walk around the food court, take your order and wait for the beep.



Ordered


Seafood Paella 







A little disappointed when I received my paella, it was served on a plate and not in a mini pan. I kinda felt the mini pan is part of the experience of having paella. Anyways the paella is pretty decent and was finished pretty fast, thanks in large to the tiny serving. 


Score: 3.5/5.0


Hot Plate Chicken Cheese Mushroom,
Pita Bread








This is just a simple dish of small cuts of chicken kebab with cheese melted in and mushroom slices, all on a hot plate.





I can hardly taste the cheese that I can clearly see. Again, though the meat is tender, the flavoring weren't there and makes it a pretty forgettable dish.





The accompanying Pita bread I got for the meat proves to be slightly~ better with a nice chew and crisp.


Score: 3.0/5.0


Burgul Rice






Incorrectly described to me as tomato rice by the waitress, Burgul Rice is not rice but a pre-cooked wheat cereal which has a lower GI and nutrition than white rice. In other words, healthy rice substitute. The tomato part is correct though. This is my first affair with burgul and I am not very impressed. It is pretty oily with a rough chew that makes me regret for letting curiosity take the better of me.


Score: (-_-")


Apple crumble












There is a large selection of sweets for you to choose from after your meal, all standing in the wind. I can only manage to snap a picture as I was stopped by the staff there.


Hoping that the dessert can save the day and cheer up my slightly disappointing meal. I find the filling a tad sour and the overall apple crumble looking better than it tastes.

Score: 3.0/5.0

Medzs
181, Orchard Road #B2-01/02/03, Orchard Central Singapore 238896
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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Le Cafe Confectionery & Pastry

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Ordered : Bean Curd Tart






This is somewhat of a surprise to me. Introducing the Bean Curd Tart, Singapore's 1st(?) as claimed by the shop. Anyhow, I took a bite into this without knowing what it is initially.






Definitively soft and silky bean curd pooled in a fragrant buttery pastry. The bean curd is really smooth with a light touch of sweetness without saturating your tongue. However, the taste can be a little too light for some, refreshing taste nevertheless.


There are other variety of the bean curd tart such as grass jelly, white fungus, red bean and such. I will go for the original over the other variety though.


Score: 3.75/5.0


Le Cafe Confectionery & Pastry



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