Bahn Xeo

This is the only outlet in HCM. So make sure you might need to give the correct address to get to this location. This was a hidden gem for vietnamese pan cake lovers. When we arrived we initially thought the restaurant wasn't open but realise that they cater more to the dinner crowd. 

Its an easy going in and out place to dine. They are popular for their Bahn Xeo (Vietnamese Pan Cake). Locals flock here to have their Bahn Xeo fix. Set like a food court dining restaurant, you basically just come here for a quick meal and go. 

Designed like an outdoor food court with options to dine inside for the aircon lovers...

Cooking on a hot iron skillet over immense charcoal flames

Thin crispy pancake

Bahn Xeo with abundance of bean sprouts, pork and prawns

Plenty of vietnamese vegetable leafs to wrap your bahn xeo

Deep fried spring rolls

Overall the food here is definitely a thumbs up. Who can imagine a simple pan cake can taste so great that lets you beg for more. Fully recommended if you are in HCM. Remember to order seconds! =)

This restaurant is located at:-
Quan 46A Dinh Cong Trang
District 1

Tel: +8408 38241110

Opening Hours: Daily (10am - 9pm)

Cuc Gach Quan

This place is one of the unique places we managed to check out in HCM. Its situated in district 1. Albeit it is situated in the city but the roads in HCM can be a maze to get around sometimes. This beautifully decorated restaurants is so tastefully done, it makes you feel welcomed when you step into the restaurant. This restaurant prides themselves serving fertilizer-free and organic food. Prices are on the upmarket side but I guess you can assure quality.

Beautiful al fresco area

Interior fish pond with a floating staircase

Lovely unique traditional decor carefully selected to appeal the customers eyes.

Pineapple juice 

Claypot peper pork slices

Stir fry vegetables

Fried Spring Roll

Whilst the food presentation and decor of the restaurant are great, I felt the food and taste were a little under our expectation. Maybe we are so used to non-organic food perhaps? =P.

Overall food is decent but the decor and ambience of the restaurant makes up for it! =)

This restaurant is located at:-
10 Dang Tat
Ward Tan Dinh, District 1

Tel: +8408 38480144
Opening Hours: Daily (10am - 11pm)

Al Forno

On a rainy night, the best place to be is obviously indoors. And a place with a nice wood fired furnace will definitely do the job perfectly to keep us warm and cozy. Heard a lot of rave reviews about this place from a mate of ours and thought we check it out for ourselves.

As you walk in the restaurant you automatically feel so cosy and its such a like a family diner place where locals around East Coast Rd frequent.

Procciutto & Buffala - 

Thick generous cuts of their Procciutto! First time I see such plate presentation. Nice work! Felt like we just received a bouquet of yumminess!

Spaghetti Al Nero-

This was my favourite dish through the night. Full of seafood flavour and the spaghetti was done al dante the way I like it too! =)

Pizza Con Carne-

This was the top favourite between the children. They totally enjoyed every single bite of it. I reckon its because of their homemade tomato sauce base on the pizza. We couldn't get enough of it.

Pizza Primavera-

When I am in an Italian restaurant, I normally love to order their parma ham and procciutos because I know the Italians take pride in providing the best quality of meat. And so they did with this pizza! Also their crust is soft and sponge like but the best part it was crispy at the same time. I reckon its probably the best pizzas I ever had in Singapore!

Tiramisu Cake-
This tiramisu cake dessert was ok. I think maybe because we had such a huge feast from the previous dishes made us too full to gobble this one up.


This restaurant is located at:-

400 East Coast Road

Singapore 428996

Tel: +65 63488781

Opening Hours: 

(Lunch)

12:00pm - 2:00pm daily

(Dinner)

Mon-Fri 6:30pm - 10:00pm

Sat-Sun 5:30pm - 10:00pm

Best of Klang's Finest Bak Kut Teh

When we talk about Klang BKT, you can be sure every Klangite person you talk to will be very proud of their heritage. To be honest there is not much to debate about until one actually truly taste and enjoy what Klang BKT has to offer.

Assuming when you read this article, you are probably from Klang and have heard their history or have been to most of these restaurants mentioned below. This list is based on my preference and I try to adopt more of the healthier version of Klang BKT by ordering lean meat only. As more and more times I order the same lean meat cut I realised that are probably more people like me out there whom 'tries' to eat the healthier side of BKT rather than the greasier side of it! Haha

I know you must be thinking I must be a fool to just go to a BKT restaurant and just order lean meat. But I guess each to their own I have to admit. =P

This article only acts as a guide and based on my preference of how these different BKT outlets taste in terms of their broths and meat. I know there are like hundreds of BKT restaurant in Klang and you don't know which one is good and where to try. Hopefully this guide helps you narrow your choices and decide which one to visit to tickle your fancy! =D

*Broth Thickness Level Indicator 1 - 5 (The higher the number, the thicker and herby it gets)

- The meat texture is very smooth, fragrant and soft

- Broth level 3 (Good balance of herbs and not overwhelmed with fat oil) 

Price: RM 12

- Meat texture slightly on the tough side and not as fragrant. Maybe because of volume of patrons and how long they have time to boil the meat. (FYI, this place is popular for PJ tourist patrons)

- Broth level 2 (Soup is slightly diluted almost close to the taste of PJ or KL style BKT)

Price: RM 12 

- Meat is very tender and falls of the bone

- Broth level 4 (Thick and stronger aroma of herbal taste)

Price: RM 13.50

- Meat is very tender and can feel it has been boiled through a long process. They only serves with claypot so for the single bowl serving consumers please note.

- Broth level 3 (Great balance of herbs and meat taste. It wasn't too salty either)

Price: RM 12.50 for the lean meat and stomach

- Meat was slightly on the tough side. Warning for folks that does not have patience as this place will make you wait for you food if you don't come early

- Broth level 5 (Very thick and herby taste. Comparable to Yeoh's BKT but lesser in volume that makes the soup taste meatier)

Price: RM 12.50

- Meat is soft and tender but very small portions given

- Broth level 2 (Taste is bland. Maybe its because of their commercialisation and franchise that makes their standard drop?)

Price: RM 12

- Meat was tough. No need to say more...

- Broth level 2 (Lighter soup but tad bit salty. Good alternative if you are looking for late night BKT where every other competitor shops are closed)

Price: RM 13

- Meat is very tender from hours of boiling. Generous chunks of meat served

- Broth level 4 (Thick with a lot more meat taste compared to herbs. FYI strong garlic after taste if you are not an extreme fan of garlic)

Price: RM 12

- Meat was slightly tough. Maybe because they use the cool concept of try and let you feel like you are cooking on a candle burner bowl. Thumbs up for creativity! =)

- Broth level 3 (Felt it was tad too salty and MSG and being used)

Price: RM 11.50

- Meat was slightly soft texture and very fragrant without any porky smell to it. Only opens from dinner onwards but make sure to go early to avoid crowd.

- Broth level 4 (Thick nutty and creamy taste to the soup. Not much herby taste. Beware: They do not do refills on your soups so don't bother asking)

Price: RM 9

- Meat is slightly tougher than their Ah Her outlet. 

- Broth level 4 (Taste consistency with Ah Her is there but slightly oilier)

Price: RM 9

The Clan

It was the missus birthday dinner treat and I decided to find out where is a great place to take her to sample and enjoyable meal and of course not burn a hole in the wallet! =P

Had a look around and stumbled upon this one around the quaint Chinatown area. They are well known for their 6 set dinner courses. I was trying to steer away from doing set courses as I was sceptical about the quality. And since it was a birthday dinner treat, I did not want to waste the calories and disappoint. This place totally surprised me and am now convinced! =)


Chef's starter

The starters were served on a flat rectangular stone plate which I thought was a great presentation. The waiter even explained to us which starter plate we should actually start off with and work our way to kick start our gastronomic palates. And so we did and in the particular order of the photos below.

Pan fried scallop

Prawn sushi rice with sesame seeds

Foie gras miso pudding

Cold Dish

My favourite out of the 2 was the Beef Carpaccio. Maybe it was because of the truffle teriyaki sauce but I think I reckon it was the simplicity of the dish and how much flavor it packs into it.

Alaskan king crab with seasonal greens in Homemade Karashi Dressing

Beef carpaccio with truffle teriyaki & Horseradish sauce

Side dish

Side dish? By the time we reached this stage we were almost full from the Starter and Cold Dish! But we told ourselves we have to plough through and not let our mind play tricks on us! haha. I was very Kurobuta Pork belly because of the simplicity of the dish and unique passion fruit sauce dressing. The pork cracker added a nice touch to make it look sophisticated! =)
As for the Potato gratin, I was not too convinced but the flavour was still good. Maybe I am more drawn towards the dish presentation? haha

Kurobuta Pork Belly Confit with Pork Cracker & Passion Fruit Sauce 

Potato Gratin Marinated Crabmeat with Aged Balsamico & Pumpkin Sauce

Soup


Glad that they had provided a soup course because it helped us clean our palates for whats to come for our mains. It was just no ordinary soup but I was really happy with it. Practically slurped everything up in 2 gulps! My favourite was the Mushroom truffle soup because if its strong truffle flavor which I am obviously drawn one sided to if you can't tell by now. =P

Seafood Soup with Pernod Dash

Cerpes Mushroom with Truffle Paste

Mains

When the mains arrived, boy I tell you I literally sat there and just told myself can I actually stomach more food from all the earlier dishes we had?! My mind was telling me no but my body......
And so not to look overly too full I suck me stomach up and just chomped on. To be honest, the Prime Beef Short Ribs was way too pretty to be eaten. I just wanted to let it sit there and stare at it sizzle over and over the hot lava stone. The flavour was awesome with minimal seasoning/ marinating which you can taste the beefiness and tenderness of it. The Hoba leaf adds a great touch for a fuzionistic experience.

As for the Iberico pork, I reckon it was patiently and carefully prepared slow cooked in the kitchen to gives it that such tenderness. The meat literally just falls off the bone when you slice into it. Th flavour was a right balance between sweety grillness (if you get what I mean). Thumbs up for both dishes and because they tasted so good, we forgotten that our stomach were full.... haha =P

Prime Beef Short Ribs on Hoba Leaf with Peppercorn Sauce on Lava Stone

Iberico Pork Dressed with Sauteed Fresh Vegetables & Cinnamon Pumpkin sauce

Dessert

We didn't want to give up and of course you can't end the night without desserts. This was probably the only dish we could not finish as it was way too much food to consume in one night! To be honest I felt the cheese cake was maybe a tad bit dry but maybe its because of the batch that was prepared. Other than that, it had tinge of saltiness to it to give you the sweet savoury feel. Nice!

Home-Made Cheese Cake with Dehydrated Pistachio Sponge

*Our degustation menu for this 6 course dinner only cost us $69.80 per pax. I think this is probably one place you will find great value for your money. For this price and this quality of food, I doubt you can find another place that tops it. Thumbs up!

This restaurant is located at:-

20 Bukit Pasoh Rd

Singapore, 089834

Opening Hours: (11.30am - 2.30pm & 6pm - 11pm)

Tel: +6562222084

Wild Rocket @ Mt Emily

For the missus birthday, I decided to throw a surprise party for her by gathering some of her closest friends to celebrate it. It was a challenge trying to find a location that could fit all of us 23 adults and 6 kids! And finally I did. It was also a challenge to find a place that serves great food too! :D

Wild Rocket has been around for many years but just recently gone throw some major revamp and enhancement on their restaurant and menu. Chef Willin Low's whom has been pioneering his creations in Wild Rocket for more than 9 years. He is well known for localising the true singapore flavours in his infused dishes.

Because of the large group we had coming to the restaurant, he crafted a more affordable lunch course for our party. At $40++ per pax for a set course lunch is certainly well affordable to accommodate our large party. =D

Starters

Pomelo Salad with Tiger Prawns & Frozen Coconut Dressing

This is probably arguably the best appetiser I have ever tasted in Singapore. The Chef has definitely created something so unique that sets us and our party all wondering what was in this dish?! The flavours blended so well together. For the way it was presented, you would actually had the impression that they might have mistakenly brought the dessert out first before your mains! haha. It was very hard to describe the perfect concocted dish because I could not find the right words for it. Just perfect? Also refreshing!

Mains

Krapoa Basil Minced Pork Bee Tai Bak with Onsen Egg

This dish probably reminded me more of a the version we have back in KL "Claypot Loh Shui Fun". I guess the Onsen egg made it a slight tad different.

Tau Yew Bah Soy Sauce Pork Ragout Rigatoni

The way it looked was probably more standard but it definitely tasted better than it looks! Such a cool technique Chef has done with the Tau Yew Bah sauce. To be honest it did not tasted anything like Tau Yew Bah as far as I can remember it traditionally. This was definitely made more westernized to infused our confused palates in this day and age.

Dessert

Pandan Infused Panna Cotta with Salted Gula Melaka

VERY NICE! - my short and sweet comment on this dessert. 

Just go there and have a great time. Cheers! =D

This restaurant is located at:-

10A Upper Wilkie Road

Hangout Hotel

Singapore 228119

Tel: +65 63396448