These cheese-stuffed ravioli look and tasted mass-produced and the zucchini as well as seawater marinated tomatoes added absolutely nothing to the dish.
-
Griglia
139 East Coast Road

These sad sliders cost a bomb and deliver absolutely no value. I rarely criticise this harshly, but I can't get over how unanimously bad all the finger food at Griglia is, especially given its price point.
-
Griglia
139 East Coast Road

"Canta" be here again because my tastebuds and wallet would revolt. Miserly portions and an absolute butchering of even the simplest of dishes. This item doesn't even involve cooking and it still tastes subpar. I could make better in under a few minutes at home with lower quality ingredients.
-
Griglia
139 East Coast Road

Faring slightly better (but not by much) than the prawn tartare, this at least looked visually intriguing, only to be immediately let down by its blandness. With mortadella I expect a salty, porcine fowardness of flavour, which was lacking in this rather bland mistake of a mousse. The Parmesan biscuit further added to the disappointment with its dense dryness.
-
Griglia
139 East Coast Road

This has got to be one of the most disappointing dining experiences of 2024. We were off to an insipid start with this horror of a hors d'oeuvre that looked like it came straight out of a third rate corporate events caterer. $7 for a tiny smidgeon of prawn tartare atop a disproportionarely large and stale square of puff pastry. Incredulous.
-
Griglia
139 East Coast Road

After having savoured their great Hokkien Mee, I had to return to sample their other dishes. The char kway teow was just as enjoyable, boasting the stall's signature smokiness that's a common trait across all their offerings. With an indelible balance of sweet, salty and savoury, the flavourful noodles were al dente and not at all oily. Pro-tip - go ahead and add fresh cockles for an additional $1.
-
Kopi Soh Eating House
Tampines St 81

This was a surprisingly good plate of Hokkien Mee from a chain restaurant. Of the saucier variety, the egg-streaked noodles were veritably swimming in garlicky umami. A generous amount of squid and firm and fleshy prawns were also given, and chunks of sinful lard were peppered throughout the dish. My kid absolutely loved this, and we will definitely be back to try their other dishes.

As with most stalls at Tampines Round Market, the food here is average. There're 2 places selling lor mee in this hawker centre (the other being Botak Lor Mee), and this has the heavier sauce, and less variety of ingredients. It comes with lots of battered fish (mostly batter), and half a braised egg. The lor is agreeably garlicky and vinegary, but otherwise unremarkable.

Off-menu and off the charts, this brought me back to KL with its intoxicatingly smoky fragrance and aggressively rich flavour very reminiscent of Malaysian-style Hokkien Mee. The thick, sinuous noodles were stained glossy in a sweet and salty dark soya sauce and were delicious on their own. Add a liberal handful of freshly fried crisp and crunchy pork lard cubes though, and this stuff becomes thoroughly addictive. The bouncy, chewy abalone complemented the noodles in terms of texture well enough, but wasn't particularly necessary when the core elements were already strong enough on their own.
-
Thanks @kevin._.ngan for the invite and gracious hospitality!

Some might argue this is too plain and simplistic, but I thoroughly enjoyed the subtly rich umami permeating the well-cooked grains of Taiwanese pearl rice from what must have been liberal amounts of lard oil used. The glistening sunny side up drizzled with soya sauce was just adding fuel to the artery clogging fire, but I more than welcomed it. This rice pairs especially well in combination with any of @fattchoyeatinghouse 's side dishes.

Translucent strips of Iberico pork belly greedily soak up the umami mixture of black bean paste and chilli garlic oil, the combination of salty and spicy really amps up the appetite, making this a good appetiser to start the meal with.
-
Thanks @kevin._.ngan for the invite and gracious hospitality!

Karaage makes perfect bedfellows with beer, and mala takes that pairing up a notch with the numbing spice combined with the juicy crunch of fried chicken to make the subsequent sip of an ice cold one feel even more refreshing. They use chicken thigh here, which I favour over breast simply because it's more succulent, and the shrimp paste marinade adds a pleasing underlying funk to each bite.
-
Thanks @kevin._.ngan for the invite and gracious hospitality!