😇 Family Approved Grub

Sama Sama by Tok-Tok @samasamasg brings about quite a diverse range of Indonesia’s home-style comfort food in a modern yet cosy setting.

Get the Ayam Bakar Taliwang.
Its signature marinating process is done Lombok-style where the whole chicken is spiced with freshly pounded black peppercorns and purified sea salt.

Once well-seasoned, the chicken is grilled whole until fork-tender juicy.
It is best paired with Plecing Kangkung, a steamed water spinach side dish topped with tomato chili sambal.

Check out the other food here: bit.ly/samasamabytoktok

#DFDSP

For a quick and satisfying lunch, make a beeline for this Halal-certified Lanzhou beef noodle house. Expect a complex and robust broth (simmered with more than 15 spices) with fresh noodles hand-pulled on the spot. Pick your noodles (ranging from thick to flat) for the flavourful Signature Beef Noodles (from $8.90). Spice fiends, the Mala Spicy Beef Noodles ($9.50) with that extra kick is made for you.
Photo by Burppler Jonathan Lim

You can choose from 3 levels of spice for your chicken — mild, extra and insane.

Read more: https://www.misstamchiak.com/chix-hot-chicken-nashville-fried-chicken/

🔥LIT!🔥You do not want to mess with the spice here. Their sliders ended up as one of our favs with juicy boneless fried chicken, slathered in pink mayo, coleslaw and pickles, you’re not leaving without a mess on your hands. All their chicken here is given the good ol’ southern hospitality; serving up Nashville style buttermilk fried chicken.

Their signature Nashville Hot Chicken also comes in three levels of spice; mild, extra and insane. I found the extra was just within my heat tolerance, but the aptly named insane had us frantically chugging milkshakes and profusely sweating, definitely not for the faint hearted. 😅

This tartare was my favourite dish here and I implore you to order it. With chef Haikal Johari (of one Michelin-starred Alma) at the helm, this was the standard I was hoping to see.

Fresh lean tuna and soft beetroot cubes come tossed in a punchy Thai dressing (think fish sauce, palm sugar, lime and chilli). I loved the smooth avocado purée that offered relief from the heat and the freshness from the crisp green apple slivers. The tomato water rounded up the umami nicely, while the edible yellow flowers had an unexpected anise-y bite.

Eat this on its own or use a saffron rice crisp as a vessel to transport all the goodness, for an added crispy element to tie it all in.

With all the dainty playing and tweezer attention to detail of the previous dishes, our jaws dropped when this massive mound arrived on our table. While I'm glad that you can definitely see the whole crab that went into this dish, I wouldn't recommend getting this for a date night as you'll definitely need to get your hands dirty (tbh, we were expecting picked meat considering the setting).

Taste wise, imagine black pepper crab with al dente spaghetti slicked in the same sauce. Note that the default level of spice is quite fiery, so if you're wimpy (like me), do try to request for less red chillies.

While this was flavoursome, we probably should have opted for one of the steaks (even though this came highly recommended), on hindsight.

If you want good and satisfying fried chicken wings — those sporting a perfectly crisp outer coat while maintaining juicy insides — go to Sticky Wings. Taking over Four Fingers in Westgate, this casual chicken restaurant serves wings, burgers and light bites. Choose from three different flavours for your wings — sweet-savoury Kecap Manis glaze mixed with garlic and gula Melaka, fiery Spicy Flamin' that is a blend of chillies, or have it Naked, simple but still finger-licking good. For a satisfying meal, opt for the Knockout ($8.90), which comes with a drumstick, two wings, two mid-joint wings and a side. Of all the sides that we tried, we enjoyed the Fries with Minced Beef Rendang and the My Butter Half ($1.50), a portion of tasty butter rice.
Avg Price: $10 per person
Photo by Burpple Tastemaker Marc T.

If it's time to cheat, cheat right. The Halal-friendly offshoot of burger bar FatBoy's, this Muslim-owned joint on Bali Lane is just the place to load up on hearty burgers and decadent milkshakes — do yourself a favour and leave all thoughts of calories aside. Choose from eight pre-selected burgers (from $11.80) or go crazy with a DIY — ingredients range from $1 to $8.80. All patties here are cooked till well done, and burgers are served with a side of fries. According to Burppler Alvin Wang, the signature Wimpy ($15) — a thick beef or lamb patty set on sesame seed buns and topped with turkey bacon, melted aged cheddar and fried egg — is as good as the version at FatBoys. Burppler Riny Wan even found an off the menu burger Beef-Ucken (turkey bacon, beef patty and fried chicken, $22) served with truffle fries. If your heart and gut can take it, seal the deal with their luscious, sinfully good Gula Melaka Ten Dollar Shake ($10). Pro tip: There is typically a long line at dinner, so make a reservation before heading down!
Avg Price: $20 per person
Photo by Burppler Riny Wan
*Muslim-owned

This Singapore Botanic Gardens stalwart suited for special occasions has recently been Halal certified! Dine on smart Asian-inspired European plates in the chic resort setting — the light-filled room is perfect for celebratory brunches (sit alfresco if it's cool enough) but come dinner time, the ambience turns romantic and screams "date night". Halia's Singapore-Style Chilli Crab Spaghettini ($26) is a long-time favourite, thanks the balance of sweet, spicy and tangy; while the Paperbag Oven-Baked Halibut Fillet ($33) sees perfectly cooked fish slicked in a umami-packed soy and ginger broth, served with rice. For something lighter, consider the Lemongrass & Ginger Prawn Salad ($16). The base of glass noodles makes it substiantial enough for a light meal, while the ginger flower dressing keeps it fresh. Drinks-wise, Halia boasts a menu of comprehensive infusions, many with purported health benefits. Sip on their Cumin, Ginger, Cinnamon 'CGC' ($7) at the end of the meal — the honey-sweetened spice house brew is a natural digestif and also regulates blood sugar.
Avg Price: $50 per person
Photo by Burppler Shaowei Ho
*Halal-certified

[Halal | Invited Tasting, 1/6] So the other day, I was kindly invited to an eat-up at Hyde & Co to try out their new items. Their new menu, titled 'Take Hyde Out' is designed to cater to the pro-takeout and pro-delivery crowd.

Here is a half-and-half pizza of Geisha (left) and The Bomb (right). Not your conventional toppings for sure, with ingredients such as mentaiko mayo and bonito for the former, and Sambal Cincalok and omelette, chye poh for the latter. But it still manages to not alienate the pizza-nomming experience.

My favourite was The Bomb definitely. The thin veil of sambal cincalok packed a spicy punch, and the prawn + chye poh omelette had a nice bite to it which actually felt intrinsic to what a pizza should texturally be like. And oh boy, did I relish this. Funny thing was, I was expecting to hate it knowing how pungent the smell of cincalok usually is, but wow I can safely say that I'm a straight-up convert!

It is expensive though, with half a pizza going for $14 and a full-sized one going for $27. But if you ever get the chance to, really, I recommend that you give this localised flavour its deserved try.

(Geisha: 6.6/10 | The Bomb: 7.3/10 | Overall: 7/10)

Portion is just nice for a big eater like me and my friends. And it is tasty! Price is reasonable for that kind of portion and definitely coming again! 😊

😍 Yes, I need this now!🤤🤤🤤