Shiooook Halal!

Muslim-owned, this is a great place for casual office gatherings! While a lot of the items on the menu wasn’t available when we went down, the food was generally satisfying and value for money.

Their noodles are all made fresh and you can really feel it in their smooth, QQ noodles. However, the soup did feel lacking (add in some of their dry chilli spice to heat things up) and the beef itself was tough. Their other bowl; the dry noodles with minced meat fared much better!

Portions here are pretty crazy too and we felt as though this could pretty much feed the both of us.

Featuring a small menu of bar bites (expect things like popcorn chicken, sotong balls...), we ordered their chicken wings and drumlets.

This tastes exactly like you’d expect – ordinary but still satisfying. It is a really nice place to chill and catch up with friends, but do come after you’ve had dinner. 😂

Gamelan – a traditional Malay music ensemble. With flavours representing different aspects within the gamelan arrangement, you’ll get to enjoy a refreshing, uplifting notes from the juices and mint while remaining grounded with earthy flavours from the black tea, cinnamon and cloves with this mocktail.

This is what you need to order if you're going in with a group! Packed with loads of veggies like eggplants, lady fingers and much more, that alone was satisfying. Add on the meaty fish head and you've got an epic meal on your hands. 🙌

Breakfast at the bustling Serangoon Garden Market. The queue at this popular stall only told me that breakfast was probably gonna be pretttty good. 😂

Added on an otah for good measure and didn't look back. Meaty and thick, I loved how moist the otah still was! The rice ain't the most fragrant but I was slowly won over by the texture and perfect firmness of each grain. In general Aliff manages to bring together a really good nasi lemak thanks to their well executed sides like the oozy sunny side up and freshly fried ikan billies – a pretty shiok breakfast you wouldn't mind getting up for.

Currently at a promotional price of $15 till the end of August, the DIY pizza buffet where you get to create you own little pizza masterpieces is a pretty fun experience where you get your own little oven! It comes with toppings like cheese, ham, olives, tiny prawns, onions, capsicums and a few other common items. The pizza bread itself seems thick, but it was surprisingly light and crusty so it didn't end up as heavy as I expected. It does get jelat after a while though.

Besides the pizzas, there's also mushroom soup, spaghetti (like those you get back in your secondary school days!) and complimentary two pieces of hot drumlets (tastes like Pizza Hut's! 😝) The space itself is pretty small so they currently claim to only accept reservations, so make sure you do so to avoid disappointment.

Pro tip from Jayson: Change the pizza sauce base up by using the meaty chicken bologna sauce for a light but meatier sauce.🍝

Who woulda thought that this Halal zi char place would have such awesome dishes! My favourite of the night was this little claypot of crispy chicken tossed in a wonderfully fragrant and slightly sweet sauce that is a must order when you're at here. 😛

Ridhuan's signature dish, it's a simple but staple for any zi char stall to have a good fried rice. Essentially sambal fried rice but with refreshing notes of heat from the green chilli, I'd definitely be happy to have this anytime of the day (food coma be damned)! The portion is pretty ridiculous too and I'd say more than enough for two small eaters. 😛

This zi char stall hidden away in Joo Koon's industrial area sports a steady queue of hungry lunch-goers for their tasty Halal nosh. The man behind this; Ridhuan, has been cooking Chinese zi char for years back when he was known as Alex before he converted to become a Muslim to be with his wife. ❤️

This Butter Cream Chicken is one of their best sellers and it was easy to tell why after just getting a bite in. Despite being doused in that creamy, curry leaf-kissed sauce, the chicken skin still retained a nice crisp crackle to it! The chicken was tender and the sauce was addictive despite being slightly heavy (I really shouldn't be eating all this alone 😛).

A simple one but a great side dish to go along with Sinn Ji's Hainanese chicken rice. 🍚A pretty huge hunka crispy tofu drizzled in the familiar sweet and sour Thai chilli. If it ain't spicy enough for ya, add some of their chicken rice chilli as theirs packs a pretty good kick! 😝

Latest food craving satisfied! Almost every table here at Hjh Maimunah Restaurant had a plate of this and you'll know why when you tear apart the tofu to a delightful crackle!

The crispy top and substantial tahu portion was shiooook, especially when dunked into the dark sauce. While the generous gravy was slightly gloopy and sweet, it still was one of the better tahu telurs I've had. 😛