The Wat Tan Hor was apparently Ipoh Tuck Kee founder's signature dish and it's not hard to understand why.

Like the moonlight horfun, their wat tan hor hits you immediately with the intense wokhei flavour, and is topped with crunchy and umami filled pork lard. The star of the show however is the gravy. Whereas most hor fun is starchy and either salty or peppery, the gravy at Ipoh Tuck Kee is silky smooth, lusciously savoury and reminds me of the traditional Cantonese 羹 (think sharks fin or fish maw soup).

This was an immediate hit. It's slightly more expensive than your usual tzichar stall but definitely worth it as it also comes packed full of sliced pork, vegetables and prawns.

I must add though that we had a rather lackluster experience at their Toa Payoh Lorong 8 branch in comparison. The wokhei treatment was remarkedly less pronounced and the gravy was watery and bland. Not to sure if it's a one-off or outlet specific but do note that it may be a little hit and miss!

You might just be as confused as I was, finding numerous stalls with iterations of the name "Ipoh Tuck Kee" around the island with similar sign boards and serving similar dishes.

I am not too sure if there is a back story invovled but the Ipoh Tuck Kee at Kelantan Lane is apparently one of those affiliated with the OG Malaysian Tzichar eatery from Ipoh and are led by the founder's descendants themselves.

Their signature dish is the Yut Kwong Hor or moonlight hor fun. The name apparently comes from the raw egg yolk which is placed on top of the dried fried hor fun just before it is served.

I love that there is a strong distinctive smokey wokhei taste in Tuck Kee's rendition and their pork lard is simply to die for. The sauce though was a little sweet and one-dimensional on its own own but do mix in the rich and creamy raw egg yolk to balance the flavours.

My one big complaint was that it took nearly 40 minutes for our food to be served and this was during a low peak period during the mid-afternoon. That said, it took nearly the same amount of time at their Toa Payoh Lorong 8 outlet during dinner!

Pajeon or Korean pancake is probably one of the more polarising dishes in Korean pancakes.

Some prefer it crispy thin whereas others prefer it moist and thick. Some prefer it savoury and light whereas others prefer it soft and chewy.

I personally belong to the former as it would otherwise feel too doughy and pizza-like. The seafood pajeon at Mom's Chicken ticks all the right boxes and gets a bonus point for being loaded with seafood.

One of the better ones in town IMHO.

I thought that I was ordering a Korean tonkatsu when I actually got a chicken cutlet instead. I mean the photo on Mom's Chicken does strongly resemble a Korean tonkatsu as it features a giant piece of fried chicken cutlet slathered in tonkatsu sauce for only $8.

Overall, I thought that it was good. The batter was crisp and the chicken tender. My only qualm was that it was rather dry and that's probably because I ordered a takeaway and they cut up the chicken cutlet to make it easier to pack in the bento box.

Definitely worth a try at this price when you are in the area!

Tasty Thai serves a nasty good green curry chicken.

For $7, you get a big bowl of creamy rich green curry topped with boneless chicken chunks, eggplants and long beans.

We love that Tasty Thai gives their sliced eggplant the wok treatment first as it nicely caramelises the surface of each slice and accentuates its subtly sweet flavours by drawing out the moisture.

The luscious green curry is also fabulous over rice. The spice level has noticeably been reduced since their shift to AMK which makes it even better!

We just popped by over the weekend and the friendly Thai couple at Thai Tasty told us that there is a slight increase in business since the market hawker centre closed for renovations. However, more will give them a chance since their food is really great!

I have previously posted about a wonderful little Thai stall in the S-11 kopitiam in Bishan Central. Miss K and I are big fans of their wonderful unpretentious Thai food and were disappointed to find the stall emptied abruptly at the end of last year with a simple notice telling customers that they have shifted to AMK.

We visited their stall soon after their opening after CNY and struck a conversation with the friendly Thai couple running the stall. According to them, the rent for the Bishan stall was more than doubled to nearly $12k, making it hard to sustain their business. They have therefore shifted to a kopitiam nearer to their place. The problem is that amk ave 10 is a rather old housing estate and unlike s-11 in Bishan, there isn't much of a spillover effect from J8 or the Mrt station. Whilst rent is lower, the number of customers have dropped drastically though they can still cover their costs.

We love their pad thai. For $7, you get a generous portion of rice numbers topped with four big prawns which have been shelled, butterflied and deveined them. Flavourswise, it is subtly sweet and savoury with a good helping of wokhei.

This is one of the best plates of pad thai in town and we would really hate to see them go out of business so please drop by and support them!

Located in the same kopitiam as Wano Niku, Mom's Chicken is a little gem that is often overshadowed by its neighbours.

The stall first started as Jeong Koryo Jokbal (pig trotter) but has since expanded its offerings to include fried chicken and other standard Korean fare.

I was craving tteokboki that night but wasn't expecting much from Mom's Kitchen tbh. Surprisingly their tteok was soft yet chewy with a nice bouncy texture. The sauce was also a good balance of sweet, savoury and spicy. It also came with a generous portion of Korean fishcakes and spam.

For those who fancy Tteokbokki, do check this out!

Unkai has been around for some time but I have only made a trip down to check them out recently.

They were pretty much sold out by the time I got there so I tried the comparatively "boring' salmon and teriyaki chicken bento instead.

I liked that the salmon was not overcooked and dry and the sauces was not saccharine sweet. The chicken was also tender and juicy.

Fresh sashimi, oysters and scallops are certainly not dishes you would find in a hawker centre. Hopefully I get a chance to try them the next time I visit Unkai!

Being a Michelin Bib Gourmand recipient, Lao Fu Zi often attracts a queue. It is also rather slow moving because each plate of CKT is made to order instead of in bulk.

I do admire the hawker for his dedication to provide each customer with a fresh plate of CKT. His CKT is the dry version with a decent amount of wok hei. It is also sweeter than most plates of ckt. Gerald from TeamofTwo stated in his review that it tasted similar to the kway teow you get from the economical beehooon stall in the morning. A little harsh IMHO but I can see why he described it as so as it is dry and rather sweet.

It is an above average plate of CKT though I don't really get the hype. It's definitely not a plate I would go across the island for or stand in line for 30 to 45 minutes. I will however gladly grab a plate if I was craving a ckt and there isn't a queue!

"Xin Mei Xiang Lor Mee in the day, Western Barbecue in the night (and Nam Xing HKM whenever it is open)" used to be my mantra when it comes to meals at Old Airport Rd FC.

Pre-COVID, I would usually visit Old Airport Rd FC at least once a month but this was my first trip in a really long time. It was kinda late in the evening but my chicken chop from Western Barbecue was sadly disappointing. The chicken meat itself was a little tough and dry and the sweet garlic sauce was watery, bland and simply meh. Hopefully I just caught them at a bad time because this was really far from what used to be one of my favourite plates of chicken chop!

I am probably not the only one confused but there is actually not one but two Korean restaurants by the name of "Myung Ga" in the Bukit Timah area. I usually frequent Myung Ga II at Bukit Timah Plaza but it was closed the night I visited so I decided to check out Myung Ga III at Beauty World instead.

According to the wait staff, Myung Ga II and III are separate restaurants whose owners are friends. They aren't related but have similar (if not the same) menu.

The good is rather similar. The tonkatsu is huuuuuuge as with all Korean style tonkatsus with a nice sweet sauce. I ordered a takeaway which was probably why the pork cutlet came in pieces instead of one huge slab. The meat was well marinated and the crust shattering crisp. I do prefer Myung Ga II's version because it was a little more tender and juicy but it might just be because I had their tonkatsu fresh instead of sitting in a box for the 45 minutes drive home.

I do want to know though... Is there a Myung Ga I?!?

I like to call Pork Belly with Red Beancurd (南乳炸肉), the porky equivalent of har cheong gai

To create this dish, red fermented beancurd (紅腐乳) is used to marinade the pork belly, enhancing its flavours, tenderising the meat and adding additional moisture. It also serves to 'cure' the pork belly of its 'gamey' aftertaste. Red fermented beancurd which incorporates red yeast rice also gives this dish a distinctive deep red tinge, flavor punch and aroma.

Wok Master's rendition of this dish was a little on the dry and tough side but still savoury!