Munch Munch Munchies

In addition to the rice bowls, you should really order some sides that will surely bring back memories of the Taiwan night market! Personally, I can never resist salted crispy chicken and I am so glad that the one here didn’t disappoint. Considerably sized, each piece of chicken was lightly battered, fried till crispy and dusted with some chili powder for a hint of heat. Neither overly salty nor spicy. And although I thought the addition of fried curry leaves was more South East Asian than Taiwanese touch, I more than welcome the extra herb.

Probably one of the more affordable donuts and bombolinis around with an assorted box of 6 priced at $16.90. Depending on the flavour, it can come in either a donut or a bombolini. It is indeed true that the donuts and bombolinis here come across as greasy, and instead of the usual fluffiness that I was expecting, the texture resembled closer to a bread bun. Personally I enjoyed the pistachio ganache which many reviews raved about, filling was extremely rich and carried the roasted nutty notes really well. Expectedly the peanut butter jam was really sweet, Milo Oreo crunch and donutella were the usual chocolate based for chocolate lovers while the honey vanilla cream was contrastingly subtle. Definitely for sharing with a bunch to avoid the jelakness.

If you have never tried the Mushroom fries from Burger Buddies, what are you waiting for?! It is one of the most ingenious fries flavours that I have ever come across, possibly an expansion from their mushroom beef burger. Generous portion of mushroom ragout loaded on a bed of freshly fried thick cut fries, finished off with some shredded Parmesan. Earthy and creamy all together, super tantalizing!

One of the recommended sides, although slightly pricey, was this golden fries with uni dip given its portion. Uni dip? Real Uni, really? For just $16? Curiosity got the better of me that led me asking what do they use in the house-made Uni dip. We heard that Uni powder was used but not to the details as the chef preferred to keep it as a secret. I thought the consistency was a little too thick for my liking, not the smooth flowing kinda dip. It has a generic savory taste with a slight fishiness, possibly from the uni.

•HOSTED TASTING•

Made using Vietnamese crystal pomelo, fresh tiger prawns and fresh herbs, the pomelo salad indeed was a refreshing entree to start off the dinner with dishes that were heavier on the palette. I enjoyed the sweetness of the pulpy pomelo with the tiger prawns which had already been cut into pieces, although I would have preferred them to be juicier. The sprinkling of chopped peanuts, fried shallots and coriander elevated the overall aroma.

Thank you @burpple for the invitation and @mrspho for hosting us!

•HOSTED TASTING•

To be honest, I had difficulty picturing how the young jackfruit turned into nuggets like these. They may look unassuming, but these deep-fried nuggets of shredded young jackfruit seasoned with five-spice powder were actually quite tasty as an entree. Slight hint of sweetness as the batter uncovers, but don’t expect the creaminess of the raw fruit. Perhaps with the five-spice powder seasoning, it became rather savory than sweet although I am not surprised to see a young jackfruit used in this culinary manner. Served with sweet and sour dipping sauce by the side.

Thank you @burpple for the invitation and @mrspho for hosting us!

We had high hopes for this side, only to be disappointed. Served in a hot frying pan, the thick wide cuts of steak fries were supposedly embellished with cheese, gravy and truffle emulsion. However, the steak fries were firstly unevenly coated with cheese; those at the bottom were just plain without any coating, hence resulting in simply dry thick cut potatoes. They could really do better with way more cheese and gravy. Next, there’s neither any aroma nor taste of truffle at all, even if it’s just a truffle emulsion stated on the menu. Definitely not worth trying, it’s nothing but plain carbs overload.

The defunct CMC or YY Kafei Dian usually comes to my mind when I am craving for Kaya toast. Until lately when I got to try the hainanese toast at @thehainanstory, apart from the newspaper hainanese curry rice that they are also famous for.

Not so much of the toast, in fact, the firm bite was something that I didn’t really prefer although it was quite fluffy. It comes across dry. It was the homemade Gula Melaka Kaya that stood out; the earthy smokiness of gula melaka was distinct, while complementing the deep caramelised, butterscotch taste. Definitely a good match to the thick slab of oily butter. Comes with soft-boiled eggs, sachets of pepper and soy sauce and a big cup of hot beverage. In our case, a gao yuan yang.

Tucked away in a coffeeshop in the Bukit Batok neighborhood, @bestin_sg is your wallet-friendly western good stall with a touch of fusion element on the menu.

As a snack priced at $5.50, we thought the pulled pork cheese fries was probably good for 2 to share since we had only a main. But look at the portion, what a wishful thinking. 😂 It was, in fact, good for 3-4 people to share! Not only were they generous with the shoestring fries, but there were also substantial chunks of tender pulled pork loaded on the nacho cheese and mayonnaise-drizzled fries. While the pork wasn’t heavily marinated, its savory, smoky flavours rounded off the cheesiness nicely. Gotta eat it quick before it turns soggy with the amount of sauces! Sinful, or not?

Intrigued by the name Tufei chicken, we decided to give this a try. Unfortunately, it was nothing too extraordinary except that the mid wings were marinated with some spices such as black pepper and sprinkled with some black sesame seeds. While the wings were rather juicy, but it would be difficult to justify them at this price point.

Pretty mild taste of the sliced pork belly, feels like they were simply doused in dark soya sauce and sesame oil. The proportion of mashed garlic to the amount of pork belly slices was also not right; the dollop of mashed garlic was too much for the pork belly, hence the entire appetizer was full of garlic pungency, overshadowing any other taste that was supposedly present.

Nope, not worth it all sadly. Despite being deep fried till golden brown, we were really disappointed by the amount of Mentaiko sauce given. Some cubes didn’t even have enough of it. It also appeared like the torching was hastily done, because of the uneven charred edges. Really not worth the price.