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Generous and quality portion of chicken
And what make it perfect is the rice is cooked well and fluffy
$5 for a plate

Residents living near to TAM CHIAK Kopitiam is in luck as the specially curated hawker stalls in the kopitiam will leave you spoilt for choices when there. We had breakfast there and ended up ordering 3 mains for the 2 of us, just to indulge our “tamchiakness”. Redhill Pork Porridge will definitely be part of our orders with the addition of the egg to create a creamy and smooth porridge consistency. San Dai Prawn Mee has the traditional prawn mee flavour that is hard to find these days and we were glad to have tasted it here. Mr Mee Pok is the modern interpretation of the hawker classic with the addition of onsen egg and wuxiang.

Celebrated Father's Day dinner with my family, and what better way to do so than with a good old Mookata in the heartlands. Bangkok Street Mookata has several branches across Singapore, but I've always felt that the one in Ang Mo Kio is the best. I used to visit frequently, and when I returned last Saturday, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the coffee shop had been renovated for the better. There are more seats, better spacing, improved lighting, and cleaner facilities, including a much-improved toilet. Overall, the atmosphere has significantly improved following the renovation.

The mookata was as good as ever, with generous portions at reasonable prices. Their garlic chicken remains the superior go-to dish and is a must-have. Other recommended dishes include bacon, quail eggs, luncheon meat, and, of course, tom yum maggi. What truly sets them apart and elevates their mookata experience are their two chili sauces. One is a thick, sweet chili, and the other, my personal favorite, is a wetter, spicier chili that resembles chicken rice chili sauce.

A new addition is their collaboration with the Thai cuisine store, allowing customers to place orders from them as well. We tried the Moo Ping, which was excellent—rightfully so, as it is run by a Thai family. I look forward to trying more of their dishes, such as basil chicken rice and tom yum soup, on my next visit.

The staff are nice and attentive, always ready to help change the gas or refill the soup. It can get quite crowded, with long queues on weekend dinners, so be prepared to wait a bit. Nonetheless, it's worth the wait, and Bangkok Street Mookata is a great place to gather with friends and family for a hearty meal. Highly recommended!

@nasilemakayamtaliwang has hopped over onto Singapore’s shores to hawk their Michelin recommended nasi lemak, but it wasn’t until they set up shop outside the open air mental asylum known as Yishun that I finally got to try their food. I got the Nasi Lemak Ayam Sambal Kecap ($7.50, additional $1.50 for begedil) because it was spice rated at two chilies instead of three chilies, but I soon found out how woefully under equipped I was to take this plate on.⠀
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The Sambal Kecap on the grilled ayam (chicken) leg was murderously violent, and I found myself having to throw in the towel & scrape it off the chicken after a few bites. I really should’ve turned up with a bottle of milk, but hindsight is twenty twenty. Although the sambal kecap was shockingly spicy, it was still pretty flavourful. The chicken leg was supremely smoky, but a little dry in some parts. It wasn’t too bad when dipped into the more mellow regular sambal served on the side, and the less spicy sambal had a nice subtle sweetness to it.⠀
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The coconut rice was aromatic and noticeably fragrant, and the grains were well cooked and appealingly fluffy. The fried ikan bilis & nuts were incredibly crisp and delicious, but what really got my attention was that perfect fried egg. Look at that subtle white colouring. The tasteful crisp edges. Oh my God, it even has a runny yolk…yeah that settles it, Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang fully deserves the Michelin recommendation and the Netflix hype.

Speaking of second chances, @flakyhaus also managed to pull off a redemption arc with their appealing Apple Turnover ($3.50 nett). It was everything the croissant failed to be: airy, flaky and downright enjoyable. The apple filling within earned the ultimate Asian accolade of ‘not too sweet’, with the sweetness accentuated by the cinnamon mixed into the sweet & tart apple mix. Down it with a remarkably excellent coffee from the Yeo Yeo Huat coffee stall, and you have yourself a delightful dessert.

I’m all about second chances when it comes to F&B vendors, and I’m glad to announce that Ru Ji Fishball Noodles at @tamchiakkopitiam has bounced back from their lacklustre first impression to leave me satisfied. I’d like to think that they shaped up after reading my last review, but they probably just served me fishballs from the day before on my initial visit.⠀
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This time I got the Combo Set ($6.50 nett), which is just bak chor mee (minced meat noodles) with Ru Ji’s famous balls. The fishballs are finally as superb as I remember them to be, with a decent bounciness to each ball without being rubbery like the last time. I’ve never had the meatballs before, but they were decent & inoffensive tasting, and had a nice loose texture that proved their handmade status. The minced meat & mushrooms were seasoned well with the spicy & savoury sauce, and at six bucks a bowl, this was decent eating.

Front: fish & chick set @ $8.90
Back: full house set @ $10.90

It was not bad, quite average and nothing that shouts out in particular. So the price point feels a bit steep for the quality.

Between the two sets we got, the only difference is the full house has an extra prawn. So a prawn for $2? Quite a big difference in our opinion.

There are five types of curry to choose from: Singapore Hainan, Japanese, Thai yellow curry, Malaysia Spicy Tumeric and Indonesia rendang. We wanted Singapore and Japanese, but they didnt have Japanese anymore. And it was only 12.45pm, or maybe they didn't prepare that at all?

It's a fancy coffee shop, a bit too fancy for our liking. Feels strange that the drinks stall is tucked away in a corner unlike traditional coffee shops. And no caifan stall, which is like a staple in most coffee shops cuz they are meant to be economical right? Also don't understand why need so much lights when it's daytime. A bit waste electricity eh?

scrambled egg is moist and flavourful.
luncheon meat is normal. smaller cubes may be better.
rice is just plain rice. maybe fried rice would alleviate the dish

kpt has a hipster vibe and extravagant lighting that may hinder the eating experience
most stalls are manned by young folks.

As for @flakyhaus butter croissant, it was a bit of a letdown. While the croissant was well layered, the flakiness was completely absent. It was kinda dense and stodgy, and for almost three bucks a croissant, I expected it to live up to the marketing hype. Oh well, maybe next time.

They had my curiosity when it was announced that @misstamchiak was opening @tamchiakkopitiam in partnership with @chewchormeng, but they got my attention when they announced that Ru Ji Kitchen was opening their first (?) outpost outside of Holland Drive Market. Ru Ji Kitchen has been a firm favourite for fishball noodles for both my dad and I, but we did notice that they seemed to be falling off in terms of the quality of their fishballs.⠀
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Ru Ji Kitchen are one of the few remaining hawkers who still make their own fishballs, and my dad has sworn by them for decades now. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, their fishballs seemed to have declined in quality, and that decline doesn’t seem to have been arrested since I last had their fishballs. Sure, Ru Ji’s fishballs are tastier than the average, but the texture has been changed for the worse. It’s probably a change in ingredients or recipe, bur we’ll never know.⠀
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The easiest way to tell a handmade fishball from a mass produced one from a factory has always been the texture. Good handmade ones tend to give after an initial resistance, and retain a bounciness akin to a pudding. Ru Ji’s fishballs used to be that way, but they’ve been constantly been getting more rubbery. Unfortunately, in 2023 at Tamchiak Kopitiam, Ru Ji’s fishballs were a bit on the rubbery side.

It ain’t all doom and gloom for Ru Ji though, as they still remember how to cook noodles perfectly, and their chili is as sweat provokingly violent as I remember it being. To be fair, at just $4.50 flat a bowl for fishballs, fish cake slices and noodles, I can’t pipe up all that much.

That Aroi Mookata, which serves some of the best and most authentic Thai dishes in town, promises only the finest ingredients that will transport you to Thailand without the need for a plane ride. Looking for a place to satisfy your cravings while also catching up with friends or family? Mookata steamboat provides a variety of ingredients that will sizzle and boil their way to your stomach and heart.

Consists of signature sauce pork belly, garlic pork collar, sesame chicken, black pepper chicken, green curry chicken, tom yum pork collar, crabstick, hot dog, cheese tofu, mushroom ball, Thai fish cake and luncheon meat.
Marination of meat were great, flavours were pretty well-absorbed while some needs more but lucky got their homemade Mookata chilli sauce to enhance the taste. I like their sour and spicy sauce the most as its helps in appetising my tastebud.
The grill was great as it doesn't stick much, leave little char and fast heating too. Great for hungry people.
The soup originally was pretty tasteless but after a long while of cooking, flavour improved.
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🚩Phuket Town Mookata AMK, Deli Kopi Shop, 340 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1, 01-1697, Singapore 560340