AMK Coffeeshop Char Siew Rice SMACKDOWN - Blk 531 Roast Paradise vs Blk 532 Yat Lok

Just had Char Siew Rice at Yat Lok for lunch and confidentially had similar a couple of days ago at Roast Paradise which form my basis for comparison.

Let me start with saying that both are delicious and more than satisfying.

Both are new relatively players in the area with Roast Paradise operation previously at their famous Old Airport Road Hawker Centre store and Yat Lok (having multiple branches) taking over another old roast meat store.

Roast Paradise 531 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 Char Siew was charred nicely, very tasty and tender Pricey at $4 per packet/plate for a starting price Long Queue, short hours, open at 11am and close at 4pm Best time to go before 12pm to avoid the queue Often sold out by 2pm  Have Hor fun to go with Char Siew, something different Roast meat is not bad as well Do check if ordering the combo as had been shortchanged before that when I ordered Char Siew/Roast Meat rice, they gave me only Roast Meat, probably mixed up due to long crowd Just added Roast Chicken to their menu as well

Yat Lok Roast Delights 532 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 Char Siew was nice and fatty, tasty and tender Standard price at $3 per packet/plate, adding other meat was another $0.50 only   Almost no waiting time. While there appears to be quite a few orders, the staff was fast and efficient Good variety of food, they sell Roast meat, Roast duck, Roast Chicken and Soy Sauce Chicken as well for the meat variety  Have Wanton and Shrimp dumpling soup completing the menu list for a full fledged roast meat store as expected

Conclusion: While Roast Paradise is undoubtedly the more famous and popular store, the slightly better quality does not make up for the long waiting time and higher price. I will not especially patronise Roast Paradise and will probably go to Yat Lok for my Roast meat cravings should I need to next time.

No photos as too ad-hoc a post, will make up for it with the next post.

BBQ Chicken @ North Point

Was not really in a good mood as waited fairly long for my wife who is almost always late, however seeing her after usually cheer me up for no reason and bygones are bygones fairly fast.

Well, back to review, she thot chicken will cheer me up since she feels I was always happier eating KFC.....(REALLY REALLY don't know how that thot ever came into her mind)

suggested BBQ chicken at NorthPoint, never tried it, didn't have high hopes but then no harm trying...

Food was not really that bad, had the charbroiled chicken, quite good really but was disappointed that the side I wanted French Fries was not available,....

Wife had the Olive Chicken (Really fried chicken), quite tasty, at least we felt more balanced that we paid so much more for chicken when we might have just turned around to KFC

Won't really return unless really in a craving for chicken but wasn't as bad as expected...

Interesting fact:- looks like some malaysian chicken chain but BBQ chicken is really from Korea and I think more than 5 outlets in SG already.....:)

Kowloon Cafe @ China Square

One of the better HK cafes in SG amongst the many which opened following the HK cafe fad

Have went a couple of times in the last few weeks ordering different stuff each and time and have to say that it has seldom disappoint.

Try the XO Carrot cake for an appetiser and the fried rice with scallops, char siew etc... or the dry beef hor fun etc... etc.. etc..

Yumz...

#01-02
China Square
51 Telok Ayer Street
Kowloon Cafe Opening hours: 7am to 10pm (Mon-Fri)
11am to 9pm (Sat)

Local Food at Hong Lim

Seems to be blogging about this place more often, guess cos it's near and the food is not bad.

Had the Roast meat from Xiao Long Roast Meat (fellow is a big fan of Bruce Lee) yesterday, it's fairly Hong Kong style which is not bad, a little different from the usual singapore version in that the sauce was more tasty and the char siew a little better, not so the roast duck though, that was quite average, although not bad.

Will retry this store from time to time but not regularly.

This morning had the wanton mee from the famous ji kee (i think), previously tried the fried chicken noodle and found the chicken ok but not so the noodles, it's the same thing this time round... Most wanton mee store should really change to sell Char Siew Rice.... their char siew was fantastic and will put most famous roast meat store to shame, unfortunately not so the rest of their items, the noodles was not too my taste, neither was the sauce, the wanton lacked prawn which I felt will have added to the crunchiness... it was full of meat, far be it for me to complain about meat but sometimes.....hehe

Thai Express North Point

As my photos for the dinner at St Regis is not ready, will do this post first.

Was too hungry to take photos and realised our mistakes after dinner.. hehe... well, no remorse. Ordered a set meal for the wife as she wanted something different from the regular Curry Softshell Crab which she often have. To compensate we ordered the Fried Softshell Crab from the appetizer section as I have read some reviews that it was not comparable if not better then the curried version. I ordered a Seafood Green Curry for myself (if you had read my other post, you will realised that it is one of my fav thai dishes.

The tips from foursquare was to avoid this branch as their service sucks big time, we read only after we set down but apparently the staff might have read as well since they were actually quite all right, prompt in service and such, only complaint was that the wifey's set meal and softshell crab came a lot earlier than mine curry and we had to wait a while but what's a short wait with great company... :-)

Food was all right, the set meal thai pan cake was great with the sauce, the tom yum soup was clear and deceptively spicy, not my fav as I liked mine in-between. Softshell crab was nothing to rave about, the curried version was definitely better, the green curry was avg which makes it disappointing to me...Overall I guess 3 stars, will go back but won't order the green curry again.

Food Courts

Been eating food courts recently so not much to blog about but guess will do a simple comparison of a few of those I had over the last few days.

Kopitiam, seems like it's almost everywhere but I might be mistaking other food courts for it since it's so nondescript and commonplace, guess that's one of their success as a brand, however, nothing much to recommend except for the many outlets. Food is common and about same standards as the local coffee shop or hawker center, paying the premium simply for the air con and seats are less even.

S11, a few around, food in general better as it is a semi hawker, great gathering place as they are often open till the wee hours of the morning, not many have aircon though so be prepared to sweat it out on a hot night.

Food Republic, food is good but so is the price, quite a few specialty, loves the smoked duck in suntec and the hargao (shrimp dumplings) at most of the food republic, easily comparable to restaurant standards for the dim sum and might be pricer than some considering the har gao comes at $4 per 3 pieces.

Dinner last night @ A Loy Thai Shaw Center

No interesting food in-between, had a birthday celebration in A Loy Thai at Shaw Center last night.

Good food but long queue, was made to wait despite reservations. Ordered and paid and was told the food will take 30 mins, luckily they got it wrong and it came in 15...

Ordered the Papaya Salad, Tom Yum Soup, White Basil Pork and the Pandan Chicken for a table for 4, was worried that the food might be insufficient but guess it's good for me (been meaning to go for a diet for the longest).

Not a Salad or Tom Yum person but got to say the tom yum soup was the best I had in a while, at least it suited my taste, not too spicy yet tasty. The white Basil Pork was nothing to rave about but the Pandan Chicken was to die for.

Will definitely go back if just for the Pandan Chicken but have to make reservations ... 4 stars

Breakfast @ Nanyang Kopi Smith Street

Hmm... seems like I only notice breakfast, well guess is that lunch was always rush and dinner was a simple affair (too tired).

Had food at Nanyang Coffeeshop, remembered the coffee was fantastic there, in the end, had tea... haha... irony.

Well, not too good the tea, will stick to coffee although not really a coffee person next time. Chee Cheong Fun was the mains of the morning. Interesting to merge it with Bak Chor or minced meat and mushroom but too strange for me. What was really wrong was that if you don't want that, there's no sweet sauce alternative. Think I will come for Bak Chor Mee (minced pork noodle but skip the Chee Cheong Fun next time. 2 star for the experience but can't forget their wonderful kopi (coffee) so will probably come back still.

Breakfast @ Ya Kun Far East Square

Not much interesting food these days, had a simple breakfast at Ya Kun, what strike me was the no menu offered rule, apparently most of the customers were regulars, only time a menu was presented was when whole bus loads of tourist was discharged and told to experience the authentic Singapore Kopi Experience (in this case Ya Kun).

Wondered if the menu price were the same though....:p

Dinner last thurs night - Ramen Play @ Bishan

Wet cold and Rainy night, HOT RAMEN, perfect Combi

Not sure if it was the weather or just the moment, totally enjoyed the ramen at the new ramen play at Bishan. This is the play just beside the MRT and away from the main shopping mall.

We were given a seat on the 2nd floor but wifey was not too happy that it was very close to the other tables, end up we opt for a seat at the corner of the first floor, just beside the entrance, it was a table for six, being the totally inconsiderate young couple, we happily took it up and remarked that how comfortable it was while the queue formed outside the restaurant.. hehe...

http://www.ramenplay.com.sg/

Ordered a Sanpon Shoyu Ramen and a Tonkutsu Ramen, both was quite good, maybe not really outstanding food but the combi of weather, atmosphere, company.. well you understand.

Hehe, sorry about the images, started eating before we thought of taking photos... still getting used to blogging I guess.

Enjoyed myself and will be going back:- 3 1/2 stars