OINK

Constantly thinking about this mad delicious Slow Cooked Pork Soft Bone ($14.50) that I had previously at @dailyaffairscafe. Essentially a rice dish, it comes with pickled radish, chives and onsen egg with a side of mustard.

The glistening pork comes in relatively sizeable portions and is really tender, and free from any porky stench or gaminess all thanks to the slow cooking process, featuring mouth-watering properties such as melt-in-your-mouth fat and gelatinous soft bones that go easy on the teeth. The rice is blanketed beneath the pork, absorbing some flavour from the sauce of the meat, while the pickled radish works out to give a refreshing bite and cleanse the palate. Along with the 'Orh Lu Lu' pasta, I'd gladly return for this in future. 😋

This is part of a tasting at @dailyaffairscafe.

The Nasi Campur Babi ($12.88++) is the go-to for indecisive pork lovers! Featuring a variety of pork items served with really fragrant and flavourful rice, you'll find char siew, roast pork, sweet pork satay, siew mai, ngoh hiang and braised pig ears, along with a hard boiled soy egg and cucumber on the side. I love the char siew so much; best char siew I've had in a while with its slightly sweet marinated flavour and oh-so-tender meat that's well balanced off with some fat content. This was truly the standout item of the bowl, and I would gladly just order their Nasi Cha Sio ($7.88++) - rice with char siew - in future! Coming in second would be the satay which is also really tender and charred to real smokey-savoury goodness.😋 The pig ears were something new to me but as I am not a cartilage eater, it was tough to appreciate this, though it's quite alright where taste is concerned.

Want a sampling of the satays here? Go for the Sate Babi (10 sticks for $15.88++) where you can select from sweet and/or savoury marinated pork satay, as well as pork liver, intestine and/or skin satay. The satay are served in a row according to flavour profile, and you are encouraged to start from the sweet satays to savoury! I personally favour the sweet ones more because I like the balance of the sweetness over the charred flavour as opposed to the savoury ones. 😊

If you're looking to stay out past the wee hours and chill over some drinks, Kota88 might just be your place because it opens till 3am everyday! Gave the Daiquiri ($15.88) a try; served like a slushie tower, there are three flavours including lime, strawberry (last picture) and peach, with the last being my favourite because it is the most identifiable and refreshing despite the alcohol content.

These dishes are part of a tasting hosted by @kota88restaurant and @brandcellar. Thank you for the warm and generous hospitality! Shoutout to @henrychua for the invite as well! 🙏🏻

Found another new place to add to my list of favourites; Dumpling Darlings is a new addition to Telok Ayer's food scene, and it serves up signature dumplings - traditional and fusion-style - as well as noodles, such as this Braised Pork Noodles ($6). I expected chunks of fatty pork belly but alas, it was actually pulled pork ragu, the dish garnished with soy tare, fried shallots, spring onions and bacon sofrito.

Without really reading into the ingredients of the dish, I thoroughly enjoyed this dish; the noodles are so QQ and smooth without feeling oily, while the simple condiments flavour it really nicely, along with tender pork ragu. Then I realized the bacon sofrito on the menu and felt that could do with more prominence, either that or it fused too well with everything else. 😅 Regardless, with its reasonable portioning and delicious slurp-worthy taste, this is a bowl of noodles that's really worth its price point! I'll gladly return for it again! ❤️

Pork ribs have always been one of my least favourite meat dishes but then I took a bite of this Coconut Chutney Pork Ribs ($26++) and my mind blew all over the place!

Comprising of four pieces of ribs that are already cut upon serving, each one is mad tender and succulent! It is incredible how the meat is already so tasty but the coconut chutney seriously changes the taste game!

I think it's funny how I thought I was going to eat from the menu at Meat Smith Telok Ayer, not realizing there are two outlets, but I have no regrets at all after having had this. I seriously look forward to any pork rib that can beat this because I really could not get enough. 😍

Also, if not for the Entertainer App I might never have gotten the chance to check this place out, so yay! 🤗