Healthy Food

Had Ampang Niang Toufu along East Coast Road and walked past this shop. Decided to try out due to the touted benefits of Açai Berries. Love the taste!

I have not visited this eatery in person before, but I have ordered food via Deliveroo a number of times. In fact, for the past two months, I have been ordering takeaways from Foodpanda and Deliveroo. There is one outlet that delivers consistently excellent (value-for-money) food and that’s Collin’s Grille.

This ‘Grilled Salmon Fillet with Pesto Cream, Pasta, Corn and Salad’ costs only $11.90. Look at the ginormous salmon fillet! Best of all, it tastes consistently good.

The salmon is perfectly cooked with crispy edges, the pasta al dente, the corn (OMG) superbly sweet!!! Don’t like corn? Try theirs! Their corn is life-changing!

If they are this good for delivered food, you can imagine the high standards of the food they serve at their outlet!

You can’t get anything of better value on Foodpanda and Deliveroo. Damn ‘tokong’! Highly recommend!

Back for more MSW!

Date visited: 7/7/2018 (Sat, 9:30pm)

It is definitely much more crowded at 227 Katong Durian on weekends. There are a lot of people waiting in line (for takeaway). It is actually a lot faster to just dine-in.

All other varieties of durians were sold out by the time we reached. There’s only MSW left.

So we tried 3 MSW durians ($16/kg). Came up to 5.5kg ($80) and 1 MSW durian ($20/kg).

MSW durians... good as always. For the $16/kg ones, the level of sweetness/ bittersweetness varies across the different ones we got. Some are more sweet than bitter and some are more bittersweet than sweet.

The $20 prob tasted like the one where it is more a bit better that the one that is most bitter(sweet) but more fragrant and creamy. Thicker flesh definitely. So good!!!

Date visited: 5/7/2018 (Thu, 6:15pm)

According to The Straits Times (5/7/2018), now is the best time to have durians (again) due to an abundant/ (over)supply of durians from M’sia (because of the hot weather). Cheap and good durians are definitely worth splurging one’s calories on.

There is a short stretch of (parallel) parking (lots) just right outside the shop, but it would be better to park nearby and walk a short distance instead.

Really love my experience at 227 Katong Durian (after an unpleasant one at Geylang). Humble, hardworking, reliable sellers who are not pushy at all. The (seating at the) shop is clean, air conditioned and comfortable. Like most other durian places, they provide (disposable) gloves, salt and tissues for your convenience (if you need).

Today, there’s only 2 of us. So, we told the seller to choose a durian for us and that we didn’t want something that’s too big (definitely not 7kg 🤣).

We prefer something sweet with a tinge of bittersweetness, but definitely not something too bitter. The red prawn durians they have are all slightly bigger, but at 2kg, they are perfectly acceptable. We had one of that.

The red prawn durian was smooth in texture, creamy, had a honeyed taste with a very slight subtle hint of bitterness. It still leaves a sweet aftertaste. Delicious! Most of the seeds are small as well.

The MSW durian chosen was slightly smaller at 1kg++. Opening up, we could smell the sweet aroma. The MSW is sweet (only slightly bitter) and the flesh is rich and mostly creamy. Most of the seeds are flat.

We also ordered two coconut drinks (fresh young coconuts) and the total cost for 1Red Prawn, 1MSW and 2 coconuts came up to $40. Worth it.

When I reached home at night, while searching for other reliable durian sellers online, I was pleasantly surprised to find 227 Katong durian on Makansutra’s list of (TOP) 5 reliable durian sellers.

This is a place I will visit again.

Went Geylang for dinner with my family. Decided to just swing by a durian stall nearby for durians since it is the durian season now.

Along Geylang, there is a stretch of durian stalls and this is the very first one.

I was browsing and looking at the red prawns durians when I realised the excited sellers had already gotten/ chosen/ opened two huge durians for my hub.

Weighing the durians, the seller showed us the scale. Over 7kg for two large durians. Then, he dropped the bombshell-more than $200?! I balked at the price, while trying to grapple with what was going on amidst the ongoing talking and excitement.

The seller did display the price of the so-called premium MSW durians ($30/ kg).

I tried to tell them there’s only 4 of us (we just had dinner btw) and we don’t need 7 kg of durians. Maybe we will just take one. (In fact, I didn’t even want to get a durian from the $30/kg stack of durians. There’s a stack of MSW durians going for $22/kg. Can choose from there what... but, oh well!)

Market price varies but even Combat Durian MSW durian prices has dropped from $22 (when I last ate 1-2 wks ago) to $15/ kg now.

Anyway, hurriedly, the sellers ‘threw in’ another half a (small) durian and a Thai coconut and sealed the deal with my hub.

I’m not a durian connoisseur but the $30 MSW durians tasted like all other average MSW durians I have tried in terms of aroma, sweetness, texture, and flavour.

To be fair, I can’t say we were cheated since the price was clearly displayed and we were shown the weight of the durians on the weighing scale. Yet, I can’t help but felt we were fleeced in a way. Sort of.

Being hurried into buying such overpriced durians clearly shows that it is all about maximising profits/ money here.

A very very unpleasant experience.

Duke Bakery breads don’t look exactly amazing and are pricier than breads from other bakeries, but their breads are all made using yeast from fermented fruits and good quality ingredients. A quick scan at the photos posted by people who review their breads will show you that their some of their delicious breads are chocked full of ingredients, making them worthwhile buys.

The honey & walnut bread is fragrant, soft, chewy, subtly sweet and has a very light yeasty taste.

Altogether lovely!

Duke bakery has been around in Singapore for quite a while, but I have not tried their breads before. The prices of their breads are certainly not cheap and furthermore, paying a premium price for a big-sized bun with ‘no filling’ (or so I thought) isn’t exactly appealing to me. I walked in once after lunch, but left without buying anything. My hub was not even interested in trying the samples out.

It wasn’t until I read reviews praising their breads being healthier and delicious that I changed my mind.

It was about slightly after 9pm (they close at 9:30pm), when I walked past the Duke Bakery at White Sands, but most of their breads were already sold out.

I eyed the last roll of (black) sesame bread. I had read excellent reviews raving about their sesame bread. But their breads are not standard sized buns that just serve one. So I have to consider carefully. Healthier breads alone doesn’t appeal to my hub. It must tastes good. I prayed that it measures up to the taste of barcook’s cheese and walnut loaf before I took the plunge and paid for the last roll of sesame bread. The staff behind the cashier counter asked if I wanted my bread sliced, and i agreed. I was pleasantly surprised.

This bakery baked their breads using yeast from fermented fruits. Interestingly, their European-Japanese-style breads has a soft and light texture, unlike the typical European-style breads with a slightly/ much harder crust. On top of that, their breads are chocked full of ingredients, making them so value-for-money!

By the way, the black sesame paste was absolutely delicious. Like the bread, the filling was soft, had a nutty fragrance, was not too sweet! Awesome!

My hub, who isn’t even particularly interested in their bread nor (black) sesame (flavour, except for black sesame Ah balling), actually took the effort to tell me, in an excited state, with eyes wide opened, that the sesame bread was VERY good! He was so impressed that he actually suggested going down again to buy their bread! Yay!

After much dilemma, we decided to try Mao Shan Wang (MSW) durian out even though this is not the peak season for MSW. The staff chose 1 for us and the durian weighed 1.6kg+. At $22 per kg, the (whole) fruit costed us about $35. Not the cheapest time to have MSW.

MSW durian is also commonly known as Butter Durian, Musang King or Cat Mountain King Durian. Till today, it is still the favourite variety of durian in Singapore.

It has a creamy texture (though not as creamy as the red prawn durian), beautiful yellow flesh, and is sweet in taste with slight bitter notes. Absolutely yummy!!!

In Singapore, most 'cheating' cases revolve around MSW durians, for the rest of the other varieties of durians are sold at much lower prices, making it not so worthwhile for the sellers to con people. Knowing how to spot a Mao Shan Wang may up your bets of getting good MSW durians at good prices, but many dishonest sellers have many (underhand) tactics or may even coerced/ intimidate you into accepting their deals. The safest bet, to me, is still to go to an honest durian seller with a good reputation.

Combat durian may not be the cheapest but at least we got good quality durians and every cent we paid was well worth it!

Will definitely recommend/ go back again.

Date visited: 26/6/2018 (Wed, 5.45pm)

Visited on a weekday at an offpeak hour to avoid the crowds.

Parking was no issue either at this hour. Turn left just BEFORE the shop to access the carpark.

Decided to try one (whole fruit) out. The staff chose 1 for us and the durian weighed 1.3kg+. At $12 per kg, the (whole) fruit costed us $16.

Service was very good! 👍🏽👍🏽
From the staff who recommended us durians, to the staff taking photos for us, I have nothing, but good things to say about them; friendly, helpful, humble and hard-working.

They offer free plain water, free tissues, free gloves for those who don't want to eat durians with the bare hands, vacuum packing services for those who want to takeaway or even bring overseas, and even OZONE water for washing your hands after eating durians!

BTW they sell (Thai) coconut juice too, for those who want to 'flush out' the 'heat' after bingeing on durians. Chilled and sweet!

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Red prawn durians, also commonly known as Ang Hei (dialect) or Hong Xia (Mandarin), are in season now. Rich pickings! Yay!

The red prawn durians usually take on a dusty brown colour though the one chosen had a more greenish tinge.

The shells are generally thick, as with the core, making them a challenge to open. So, it is good to have them open the fruit there for you there than to buy the whole fruit home and struggle with it.

The flesh of the red prawn durian is usually (more) orangey-red though the one we had was a little more of a subtly orangey colour.

Still, the durian was awesome. Love red prawn durians as they are one of the sweetest durians you can get. No hint of bitterness here. That creamy, sticky, honeyed flesh was simply yummy!

After we were done with this fruit, we knew we had to get another fruit! MSW or red prawn?!

Date visited: 9/6/2018 (Sat, 9pm)

Managed to reach in time to place our order for the grilled set meals before the kitchen closes.

If you come in slightly after 9pm, there's only soup left.

The grilled sets come with two sides; chose buttered corn and potato salad.

The grilled salmon was fresh. Accompanying sauce was alright. Couldn't really tell what type of sauce it was though.

Buttered corn was very oily and rather salty for some parts. I gave up trying to finish the corn after a while.

Potato salad was ok. Potatoes soft, but not mushy. Creamy, savoury but not overly rich. Nice in an average way.

Norwegian Salmon fillet with butter sauce, served with potato salad at only $17.20. A value-for-money dish. Well worth the price given how thick that chunk of salmon fillet was.

Salmon was fresh and well-cooked. When I saw the salmon, I was worried that it wouldn't be fully cooked in the middle given the thickness of the fillet.
(This happened a number of times at Aston, though their fillet wasn't as thick... And when you returned it, the whole dish came back warm, including the PLATE! It only means they just put the whole thing into the microwave).
But fortunately, my fear was unfounded.

Potato salad was rich, creamy and delicious.

I topped up the dish with a Japanese steamed rice, but it really wasn't necessary. The potato salad was more than enough for an Asian lady with an average appetite.

Date visited: 1/6/2018 (Fri, 7pm)

Fortunately we took a Grab car there. Carpark was full.

Not too populated inside the restaurant. Can get a table without reservation. It used to be much more crowded.

Tom Yum Goong was more sweet than spicy, unlike the description given on the menu. This soup was just way too sweet. Prawns were fresh though. But at $14, it just isn't worth it. No sotong/ squid or other seafood. Just 2 fresh prawns and a couple of mushrooms. In short, not nice and not worth it, unless you enjoy sweet soups.

Sambal Kang Kong was good. Serving size was good, Kang Kong tasted good, had hae bee hiam (spicy dried shrimps), but not too oily. At $8, it isn't unreasonable.

IMO, some items on the menu are overpriced.
Jasmine white rice costs $4. It was nothing special.
Fruit juices cost $9-12. Even if the fruits are organic, it doesn't justify the price tag.
Perhaps, they are trying to discourage people from having rice or drinking juices.

They could have offered/ allowed customers the option to top up their dishes with a small rice/ soup.