Recently, I've been having my meals around the areas of Upper Thomson Road. I've never worked it into our itinerary, but somehow, my wife and I would end up there after driving around to look for food. This time, it's A1 Porridge.

Our first step into the restaurant nearly turned out to be a disaster! What in carnations were they playing these Chinese New Year Music (CNY) for? There was even a gawdy Christmas mix CNY music. Are they going for ambience? If they are, they truly have a very bad musical taste. My wife opined that all they had to do was to tune in to any radio station.

Music calms the savage beast, but not when it CNY music!

Anyway, back to the original topic of food. We shared a bowl of mixed pork porridge and a three-in-one meal. The porridge came piping hot and that's how I like my porridge. Totally tasty that I scrapped it to the bottom of the barrel (Claypot). Yumx10.

The rice with their mixed portions of pork, minced meat with egg, and diced chicken was not something that I'd crow about, no pun intended.

So my advice? Stick to ordering porridge and you'd be safe.

Situated in a far-flung corner (aka not near any MRT stations)of Upper Serangoon Road, the restaurant sits sandwiched between a couple of other restaurants.

At that point, the restaurant was totally empty (Sometimes we believe that the more people that are in the restaurant, the greater the popularity of it is). So we walked in with some skepticism.

The layout of the restaurant was pretty squarish equipped with replicas of old wooden coffee shop chairs. Though they should try to enrich the atmosphere by playing baba music instead of Gold 90FM. What's more, the signal was not that good and it just add to the pain of having a good dinner.

Ordering the food was painless though and since there was no one around, the food came in a jiffy!

We ordered:

babi ponteh - good portion of pork, except that there were a bit of fatty bits in there. Not that I mind when I'm eating my Peranakan food!

chap chye - The mixed vegetable's not too bad. Love the "taw kee" aka bean curd strips and black fungus.

hee peow soup - tasty meat and fish maw.

Worth going back for a second!

My wife and I were discussing about what we should have for lunch. We are getting older by the day and the metabolism is not getting any higher. But we thought, "C'mon, let's give the buffet a go". Lo and behold, we ended at this restaurant. It was pleasantly quiet for lunch but that's the way we like it.

It was truly a sumptuous spread bearing in mind the cost per pax. The food counters are as follows:- Sushi, Mushroom & Vegetables, Western, Eastern, Timsum, and Dessert.

To get a taste of nearly everything without loosening my belt, I'd to forgo rice and noodles and just took a nibble of food available at the different stations.

1. Sushi. Freshly sliced and good enough for me.
2. Beef steak. Tender. A bit of fats and muscle here and there but overall, a pretty good piece of meat.
3. Peking Duck. Can you believe it? My wife was so in love with the duck that she finished three plates of it and I'd to hold her back from bringing the entire duck to our table!
4. Fried Mushrooms. Nicely served and pretty good tasting too.
5. Tim Sum A piece of "ha kao" here, and "siew mai" there.
6. Black chicken herbal soup Among all the food, this is the only one that I disliked. Think they placed too much salt in the soup. Yelp!
7. Kuey Paitee The cups are from Redlips, so it won't go wrong.
8. Ice Cream It's all the La Classico flavours such as strawberry, corn, choco chip, etc.

The waiters were also pretty efficient, clearing the plates as we go along.

So I'd say that I had a pretty satisfying lunch. :)

We were celebrating my parent's 43rd wedding anniversary and had wanted to go back to our roots, so to speak. My sister suggested that we try out Kim Choo but I'm always hesistant when it comes to eating at Peranakan restaurants. The parents are very particular eaters and we'd receive comments galore if the food is not up to mark.

Firstly, we were wowed by the lovely interior layout. The owners must have spent much to do up the place. Marble tables, tiled walls and flooring, paranakan paintings and the works. They even had a stall selling all things Peranakan. There's even a small historical corner that shows you the scene of the past. Cool.

Then the food.

Sambal sotong: The taste was nice and not too spicy. My parents were talking about the tenderness of the sotong and the method as to how the sotong is all so chewable. Definitely a passing grade.

Honey pork: I know this is not a peranakan dish, but my young girl does not fancy spicy food (Not sure if any young kid below the age of 5 fancy spice). Still, the pork turned out quite nice in appearance and taste.

Egg Omelette: Another dish for my girl though I myself love eggs too and had ordered it on the pretext that she likes eggs! OK I'd say.

Then came the powerhouses.

Bawan kepinting soup Clear soup with meatballs that were pretty tasty, and they were not your normal meatballs. Each meatball is made up of mushroom, crab meat, minced pork and a couple more ingredients. Passing grade.

Sayor lodeh Spicy mixed vegetables with a great helping of coconut and jackfruit - nostalgic jackfruit. This dish, with it's spice and all, really helped to whip up our appetite! Pass!

Ikan assam manis Alamak! This is another mouth watering dish to die for. It's assam fish-head curry. But my dad did not want fish-head, and thus, they changed it to fish meat instead. The assam curry really leaves a nice tingling feel in one's mouth.

After all the spice, we ended off our meal with chendols and yam paste. The chendol, though nice, was too overtly sweet. They need to go slow on the sugar bit.

All in all, my parents did not say much, and that to me, was their sign of approval. Phew!

Sometimes, you just wonder if this is a "lao zhao pai" or translated, meaning an old brand. I've scoured the entire internet world but found no mention of it's history.

But c'mon, it's about chicken right? So let's do the funky chicken and start wringing the neck of the fowl to get some answers!

I arrived at 11.50am and the restaurant was pretty much empty. For once, I felt so smart for beating the Novena working crowd to earn the rights of sitting at the air-conditioned corner. One step slower and I'd be dining "Al Fresco" style. Anyway, that's a nice way of saying that you "kena" sit outside!

Ok, this is all about food right. A few years back, my wife and I were crazy enough to order one whole white chicken for two. For sure we didn't chicken out and we nearly got our feathers plucked! We barely managed to walk out of the restaurant.

So being a few years wiser, we chose to eat in moderation just to enjoy our food. White chicken for two. The meat was pretty chunky but tender. Then came the roasted meat. you'll know if it's a real deal only if you the top of the meat is crunchy. The verdict? Pass with flying colours.

To balance the totally unbalanced meal, we asked for Fried Spinach.

Sauce-wise, the chilli is a must-try. Couple it with ginger and dark sauce, and wahlah! You have one of the most unhealthy meal on the planet. Not!

When we got the bill, everything was in order other than the fact that the vegetables cost me $6.80. Didn't know that inflation has hit our greens so quickly.

So remember to visit the restaurant early to get the best seats unless "Al Fresco" dining is your kind of thing.

It's been a month since I last went on a date with my wife. She was all excited as she'd been cooped at home with the recent birth of our son. We just wanted to have a nice quiet dinner away from the maddening weekend crowd. Well, my wife always has this knack of choosing the most suitable place for dinners. This time, she'd suggested that we visit Bliss.

I reckon that the entire "go slow" mood rubbed into the way I drove too (For sure, the ah pek on bicycle could go faster than my car)! Parking was not an issue as there were lots available.

You can either choose to sit indoors or do an al fresco. We chose the former as we were not in the mood to fight the mozzies, be it one or many.

I like the indoor mood lighting as it created a pretty cosy feel to the place. Outdoors, tea lights were used. Pretty romantic too I'd say.

Food

The set meal that we had ordered came with a soft drink and a bowl of cream of mushroom soup each. The soup tasted pretty creamy but would have been much better if it had been warmer.

For the mains, my wife has the Chicken speghetti in cream sauce while I, wanting to be a carnivore for the day, chose a medium-well Gratin steak. The speghetti, though billed as creamy, was not creamy enough (Creamy seems to be the word of the day). Maybe we did not put in the extra cheese. As for the steak, I'd initially thought that I'd made a bad choice as it was on a hot plate, coupled with smoke and oil splatter. On top of that, I was wearing a beige top. If not for my expert dodges, I'd have gotten slattered all over! Just kidding! The beef was pretty tender though the portion could have been more. There was even a slice of cheese on top of my steak, but it did not really add much to the taste though.

Overall, a pretty good experience in terms of food and locale except for one thing, it would have been much better if their three waitressing staff had not have their meeting at the table just beside us.

Things are different from what it was in the past. No more old indian uncle who serves the food. No more British Air Force personnel. Still people flock here to have their pratas. Agreed that their service is not even worthy of a mention, still I'd visit the joint as the prata still tastes like well, prata.

What I like about the restaurant is that it's located along Jalan Kayu, a quaint community that mushroomed in the 60s to cater to the British community at the Seletar Air Force base.

Food-wise, I'd go for their pratas. Ensure that you get the freshly-made pratas. What I'd do sometimes is to make my order, then walk towards the kitchen to catch sight of the pratas that the server picks. If there's a stack of pratas, I'd ask them to give me those that are still being cooked by the chef. That way, I'll always get piping-hot pratas!

The gravy tastes pretty good with it's sourish spicy tinge too. Overall, an ok place to dine, if you're not bothered by the service, or for a matter of fact, non-service.

More reading about Jalan Kayu.

I really don't know if it's true or I've been had. When I went to the Friends counter to get our members meal and free drinks coupon, I was curious to understand why it had stated that I only have 8 more coupons that I can use till March 2010.

When I asked the counter staff at the restaurant, the lady mentioned that the company is only offering 10 coupons per year. I was thinking that this must be some recessionary action that the company has taken. There goes my unlimitless cups of coffee and soft drinks (Can anyone verify?).

Still, I love their swedish meatballs (This is the closest I can get to Sweden, I guess!), and their chicken wings are to die for. As any good foreigner, they have localised their food serving to suit the local tastebuds. Set meals such as nasi lemak, laksa and curry chicken with rice.

Other than the food, I like their kids-friendly environment. The place-house and other kiddy play equipment keeps my girl entertained while we have our food.

People who dine here at this Mt Alvernia hospital cafe are either visiting patients, or like me, waiting for my wife to deliver our second child.

I stepped into the place at about 9am and the place was totally crowded. I'd never thought of doing an al fresco, but well, it was just meant to be on that very day since there were no more seats in the air-conditioned section. After ordering myself a bowl of mee rebus, I went into "stoning" mode as I'd not had much sleep since I checked the wife into the hospital.

The view in front of me was pretty heartening. It's the same highway that I'd use to get to work daily, and now, I'm just an observer of the maddening crowd. It felt so good, so ecstatic!

Well, I can't just live on pure ecstacy alone right? It was only when the waiter placed the mee rebus on the table that my mind snapped back to the real reason why I was at the restaurant. I was hungry!

The mee rebus was served in nice porcelain. The gravy surrounded the mount of noodle and garnish and for presentation-wise, everything was quite nicely laid out. One important factor for a nice tasting mee rebus is the gravy has to be piping hot. So yes, it was served with piping hot gravy here.

Overall, the mee rebus was great, but the price ($4.20) could buy me two bowls of mee rebus in most coffee shops.

"You gotta be outta your mind!" I said underneath my breath when my pregnant wife mentioned that she wanted to have carrot cake for breakfast. There's nothing wrong with having carrot cake, but at Changi Village? She lent credence to the stall by saying that they serve good tasting carrot cake. Ok, For my lovely wife, I'd do anything.

The stall was manned by a couple. The lady first made small talk with my daughter. I like the lady already. The guys, who is the "wok master" was less smiley (He even stared at me when I took a picture of him from a distance. Nearly cracked my lens with his intense stare). His look is of one film producer who made 12 storey.

I orderd two plates of carrot cake - one white and one black. My daughter refused to call it "white carrot cake", insisting that it was yellow (It made sense as it was fried to a slight brownish tinge and also, it's also topped with egg).

Hmm...not only was the carrot cake soft enough to melt in your mouth, the "wok master" ensured that a thick layer of egg lined the top of the carrot cake.

The carrot cake was indeed tasty and I'd definitely visit the place again...only if my wife has her craving again. Long drive leh!