Pizz Please ~

There has been quite a fair bit of talk recently around the newly-opened Hill Street Chicken Rice Delights 禧街鸡饭 — these folks are located in the food court that is situated within Peninsula Shopping Complex. The stall should be relatively easy to spot considering how the signboard does come with an illustration of Hainanese-style poached chicken dishes; they are situated right beside the stall serving up Myanmar cuisine there — one would also be able to find Hill Street Chicken Rice Delights by looking for the display case in which they hang the poached / roasted chicken, fried chicken cutlet and crispy pork belly which are in-stock for the day. As an establishment that specialises in Hainanese chicken rice, Hill Street Chicken Rice Delights offers roasted chicken and poached chicken dishes; there is also Salt Bake Chicken Leg Rice on its menu that is rather atypical of stalls specialising in Hainanese chicken rice offerings as well. Hill Street Chicken Rice Delights also offers a few side dishes as well as add-ons to their various chicken rice dishes.

One thing notable about Hill Street Chicken Rice Delights is how it lists its chicken rice featuring different chicken parts as different items on the menu; we went with the Chicken Thigh Rice and went with the poached chicken as our choice of chicken. The Chicken Thigh Rice also does come accompanied with slices of cucumbers and pickled vegetables on the side — patrons can also help themselves to the free-flow soup, chili sauce and the ginger paste at the self-service condiment bar as well. Going straight for the rice, the rice does come with sufficient flavour from having absorbed the flavours from the chicken stock and being sufficiently moist without being too greasy — with that being said, the savouriness does lack a slight hint of ginger towards its finish; this does seem to have been easily fixed by adding a little bit of the ginger paste from the self-service condiment bar to the rice. The poached chicken does come with a slippery smooth skin that is doused with a little soy sauce for a bit of flavour — the thigh meat does comes sufficiently tender but a little bony towards the end; the addition of fried garlic does add a garlicky note that compliments with the savouriness of the light soy sauce well, while the inclusion of pickled vegetables add a sourish tang and a slight crunch to reset the tastebuds from the carbs and meat in the dish.

One of the F&B-related news going around quite a fair bit in recent months would be the return of Mom’s Touch into the Singapore F&B scene — having been previously brought into the Singapore market some time back by Hawker QSR which was a subsidiary under No Signboard Holdings, the brand had made its exit out of Singapore in 2022. The current iteration of Mom’s Touch is a franchise where the brand had partnered with Kopitiam Investments Pte. Ltd., which is in turn owned by the FairPrice Group — its new brand new premises is located at 18 Cross situated right across from Nankin Row taking over the former premises of the now-defunct outlet of Tanuki Raw there. Featuring both indoor and outdoor dining areas, the establishment is decked in a bright yellow store facade which is pretty eye-catching; also a colour that seems to be a theme colour chosen by the brand itself as well. The menu at Mom’s Touch is split into sections dedicated to Burgers, Boneless Fried Chicken Thigh, Sides, Drinks, Breakfast and Breakfast Sides; both the Breakfast and Breakfast Sides sections of the menu are available only from 7am to 11am and is exclusively available only at the Singapore location, alongside the Super Thigh Chicken Burger, Singapore Edition in the Burgers section as well.

The White Garlic Chicken Burger is one of the items listed in the Burgers section of the menu. One thing worth noting is how Mom’s Touch does give patrons a choice to opt between a fried chicken thigh patty or a fried chicken breast patty to come with their burger — we went with the chicken thigh option. The menu describes the White Garlic Chicken Burger to come with elements such as crispy chicken, chicken ham, melted cheddar, onions, pickles, and white garlic sauce. All of the elements come sandwiched in between a sesame seed bun; the burger bun itself does feel very typical of the usual sesame seed buns which comes with burgers served out of fast food restaurants; soft, pillowy and not too dense. It does seem that the fried chicken thigh patty does come in quite a substantial portion size at Mom’s Touch; coming with a crispy fried batter that comes in a beautiful shade of golden brown, it does carry a crunch while the juicy and tender chicken flesh does seem to carry a spicy and peppery kick within that tickles the tastebuds. The inclusion of chicken ham is a rather peculiar detail, though we did realise that it does provide yet another dimension of savouriness to the burger on top of what one would expect from the melted cheddar. Didn’t really quite get the pickles in here, though the onions did help to add a zing whilst the white garlic sauce provides a creaminess similar to mayonnaise with a garlicky kick to bind all of the elements together.

For those whom have been following us for a while, perhaps the mention of Mr Sam Turkish Shawarma and Mediterranean Cuisine might be familiar to some — we had previously visited the establishment when they were still located in the 7 Stars Coffeeshop at Blk 498 Jurong West Street 41. Whilst these folks had ceased operations for quite some time there, they had since relocated to Golden Mile Food Centre within a stall unit that is at the lower level of the food centre — they can be found at the row opposite from where MareMyst is located; Mr Sam Turkish Shawarma and Mediterranean Cuisine being located just right next to the now-defunct Bosphorus Turkish Kebap. Mr Sam Turkish Shawarma and Mediterranean Cuisine had served up quite a variety of food during its run at Jurong West; it does seem that they had scaled down on the menu offerings a little with the move to Golden Mile Food Centre. Core offerings at Mr Sam Turkish Shawarma and Mediterranean Cuisine now includes their line-up of Pide and Pita, while one can also find other offerings like Donar Mutton / Chicken, Kofta Adana, Hummus with Pita, Baked Rice, Italian Bechamel Mutton / Chicken and the Claypot Turkish Lamb Stew with Butter Rice.

Recalling that we have previously had the Claypot Turkish Lamb Stew with Butter Rice during our visit to Mr Sam Turkish Shawarma and Mediterranean Cuisine when they were still at Jurong West, we found ourselves gravitating towards the Pide offerings instead — something which we had not tried previously. Mr Sam Turkish Shawarma and Mediterranean Cuisine offers three (3) different Pide offerings on the menu; the Pide Mutton and Pide Chicken which both features their Shawarma, as well as the Pide Pepperoni which we had ordered. For those whom are unaware, a Pide is a Turkish boat-shaped flatbread that comes almost akin to that of pizza — Mr Sam Turkish Shawarma and Mediterranean Cuisine does shape the dough and bake the Pides freshly upon order. Considering so, we liked how the Pide Pepperoni does come with a flatbread that is crisp and not too thick, yet carrying a bit of a bite whilst at it. Lined with stringy, melted cheese atop of the flatbread, the cheese adds a hint of savouriness whilst the choice of going for pepperoni brings it close to that of a pepperoni pizza that adds a saltish note typical of cured meats and cold cuts — undeniably a crowd pleaser on its own. Patrons do get a choice to drizzle chilli sauce and cheese sauce for their Pide orders whjch we opted for; no surprises here but these do add another dimension of saltishness with a hint of slight sweetness and a very light kick of spiciness which one would expect out of Turkish cuisine in general.

There seems to have been quite a fair bit of talk on social media on King of Krapow lately. The concept is one that is newly introduced by the same folks behind the King of Fried Rice brand — the first location of the stall had debuted within the Hawkers Street food court within Bukit Panjang Plaza, though they have since opened another King of Krapow location within a coffeeshop at Jurong West. Their third and latest location at the time of writing would be the one situated within the City Foodcourt at Blk 27 Bendemeer Road that is within a stone’s throw away from Boon Keng MRT Station — King of Krapow having taken over the now-defunct MentaiKing concept that is located right next to the outlet of King of Fried Rice there. King of Krapow rides on the widely-successful concept of King of Fried Rice as well as the trend set by Basil King on the flexibility of going with multiple egg yolks for Thai-style stir-fried basil dishes — something that seems to be inspired by that of what Phed Mark had started in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Pork Belly with Minced Pork was one of the items being marked as “Powpow’s Favourite” — it is worth noting that patrons do get a choice to opt for either minced chicken or minced pork for the dish with no differences in pricing; we opted for the Double Egg Yolk option, though it is noted that the dish is also available without sunny side-up or with sunny side-up with a single egg yolk. Patrons also get to choose between spiciness level 0 (non-spicy) to 2 (spicy); our order came at spicy level 1. King of Fried Rice’s fried rice offerings are pretty on-point and considering how the kitchen at this outlet of King of Krapow is shared with King of Fried Rice, the quality of the fried rice does feel very consistent to what one would expect at King of Fried Rice. For those unfamiliar with King of Fried Rice, the fried rice comes in the form of Taiwanese-style egg fried rice; much in the likes of those served at Din Tai Fung with glistening short-grain rice and egg wisps within the fried rice for that l eggy note amidst the slight savouriness and light hint of wok hei it carries. The sunny side-up with dual yolks also features runny egg yolks and soft egg whites with crisp, brown edges — free from any undesirable stench of overused oil as well. With that being said, we weren’t too much a fan of the stir-fried pork belly and minced pork as well — there seems to be too much sauces used in the stir-frying process with the meats coming in a darker shade than what one would expect out of Thai-style stir-fried basil meat dishes; the amount of garlic added also gives a it a garlicky punch of flavours but does result in the dish being rather salty despite the spiciness level we had opted for which would be manageable for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness especially when one chews into the chili padi. For a Thai-style stir-fried basil dish, we also did felt that it lacked the fragrance of basil; in part due to the portion of basil leaves stir-fried with the meats that just didn’t felt quite about it for us for a dish where it should have been quite the emphasis instead.

Decker Barbecue has been a name that we had been hearing about for quite a long time — these folks had been around Robertson Quay for quite a while, though they have expanded their operations in recent times. Their second outlet had just opened their doors at Coliwoo Bukit Timah Fire Station — this would be the spot where the disused Old Bukit Timah Fire Station is located at the junction of Upper Bukit Timah Road and Old Jurong Road; Decker Barbecue takes up the space formerly occupied by the now-defunct Spruce there. It does seem like Decker Barbecue has had more plans with its Old Bukit Timah Fire Station location than its Robertson Quay location — this outlet does seem to be more ambitious where they also have curated an entirely new weekend brunch menu; all that whilst serving up Cinnamon Scrolls, Starters, Sharing Platters, Pizza, House-Cured Rilette & Pate, Sides, From The Pit (Ala Carte Meat), and Desserts. Apart from alcoholic beverages, the Old Bukit Timah Fire Station location also offers espresso-based specialty coffee, tea, refreshers & slushies, and free-flow ice lemon tea and soft drinks as well.

Noting that the entire line-up of Weekend Brunch dishes are newly-introduced and also exclusively available at their Old Bukit Timah Fire Station location, we went for the Shrimp & Grits which is one of the few items that they are offering in the Weekend Brunch menu. It is worth nothing that the Weekend Brunch menu is only served from 8am to 2pm on weekends; the menu describes the Shrimp & Grits to come with elements such as creamy corn grits, crispy prawns, poached egg, buttered corn, hot sauce and YouTiao. Giving everything in the dish except the YouTiao a good mix, this dish does seem to give very familiar vibes to local congee to a certain degree — for those whom are unfamiliar, grits is often classified as Southern United States soul food; typically made from coarsely-ground dried corn, it carries a slightly rougher texture than that of Chinese congee that is probably more similar to that of oatmeal porridge instead with a little more bite. Whilst the grits itself carries just a slight whiff of savouriness akin to that of millet porridge, the hot sauce does add just a tiny bit of spiciness to tickle the tastebuds — quite manageable even for those whom are not tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. The addition of buttered corns does add a hint of sweetness to the grits itself for a flavoural contrast for the dish; the poached egg featuring runny egg yolk and whites also giving the dish a silkier texture after being mixed in. The crispy prawns come lightly battered, giving a light crunch on the exterior before one reaches the prawn within that gives a good bite and a hint of natural crustacean sweetness; pretty fresh. The YouTiao was also especially on point; not too greasy but crisp and chewy without being too dense — just like how one would expect a good one that is served up in a hawker centre stall; definitely works as a great vehicle to be dipped into the grits just like how one would for Chinese-style congee as well.

Zion Riverside Food Centre is a spot that rarely sees much turnover in the stalls operating within the food centre — it is definitely surprising for us when we got to learn that a new tenant had recently moved into the food centre. Located at one of the stall units that is situated rather close to Alexandra Canal would be Smoke Belly; a new stall that specialises in serving up charcoal-grilled meat bowls. The stall should be one that is fairly noticeable considering the use of a bright-coloured signage with modern, playful fonts for its namesake — all that with an illustration of the food that it retails. Much of its offerings revolves around the charcoal-grilled meat bowls that they have to offer — these do not only feature the usual suspects such as chicken, pork and beef but also includes that of seafood such as prawn and salmon; patrons also do get the choice to add avocados, onsen / fried egg, extra meat / seafood for their charcoal-grilled meat bowl orders as well.

The Lemongrass Chicken Bowl is a signature offering at Smoke Belly — Smoke Belly describes all of their charcoal-grilled meat bowls items as ones to come with balsamic cherry tomatoes, charred corn, charcoal-grilled meat and Japanese Short Grain Rice together with the choice of meat / seafood that one has opted for. Food is served up at quite a fast pace at Smoke Belly; no buzzers or queue numbers are assigned to the patrons of the stall and patrons do seem to receive their orders pretty promptly upon order. The highlight for the entire bowl here does definitely seem to be the Lemongrass Chicken; the Lemongrass Chicken here comes grilled over the charcoal grill and comes with a slight smokiness — still tender, juicy and also especially tasty with how it is seemingly marinated with lemongrass and turmeric that gives it a flavour that is almost akin to that of satay. It comes drizzled with a spicy mayonnaise that gives a bit of a creaminess with a slight tang and a subtle kick of spiciness manageable to those tolerable to lower levels of spiciness that binds the meat and the rice together. The accompaniments like the charred corn and balsamic cherry tomatoes helped provided a more wholesome feel to the entire dish; the charred corn coming smoky with a hint of sweetness with a bit of a bite, while the balsamic cherry tomatoes does seem to be buttered and came with a slight savouriness amidst the refreshing, tangy burst that it carries as one chews into it. Adding the Onsen Egg is highly recommended; the runny egg giving everything in the bowl and silky texture as one mixes it with all of the elements in the bowl.

Had been noticing Kali Kali on social media for quite a while before these folks had first opened their doors for business — Kali Kali is a new stall that is situated within the hipster coffeeshop named Local Chapter that is situated at CT Hub 2; the coffeeshop is most notable for housing a stall serving up specialty coffee named diff within its premises. Kali Kali takes up two (2) stalls spaces situated at a corner of the coffeeshop — they can be located right across from diff as well. Kali Kali has seem to have placed some effort in making the stall stand out from that of its neighbours — this includes decking out the frontage of the stall with pastel green tiles and the addition of an awning that is atypical of the usual coffeeshop stall. Kali Kali specialises in serving up their butter crust bagels — the menu is segmented into sections dedicated to Open-Faced Bagels, Bagel & Schmear Set and Bagel on Gelato; there is also quite a good variety of sweet and savoury bagels that one can also opt for to go with the Bagel & Schmear Set and Bagel on Gelato offerings as well.

For patrons going for the Open-Faced Bagel option, patrons would be able to opt for two (2) different topping options based on the items that are listed in the Open-Faced Bagel section — the price charged for the order would be priced on the higher one out of the two choices that is being chosen. We went with the Brie & Truffle and The Deli for our choice of Open-Faced Bagel and the one that impressed us more would be The Deli. Served as an open-faced bagel, the bagel is sliced into two halves with the underside being topped with other elements that are specific to each of the items being listed on the menu; The Deli comes with elements such as caramalised onion, cream cheese, pastrami and gherkin. Going for the bagel on its own, we did feel that the bagel does come with a fair bit of bite; the bread being dense, though the underside does come with a crispy, crusted layer from the butter crust. The pastrami that came atop wasn’t particularly dry; came with a peppercorn-lined exterior that also provides a hint of spiciness that should be manageable for those whom are tolerable to lower levels of spiciness to tickle the tastebuds; all that whilst the gherkin provides a crunch and a refreshing zing that cuts through the saltishness of the pastrami. The cream cheese is the element that provides a bit of moisture to the bagel and binds all of the elements together.

City Bakery has opened to much hype at Mandarin Gallery; for those whom haven’t heard, the brand is one that was being first established in New York and had expanded their operations to Japan — whilst the brand has since ceased operations in New York, it does operate quite a number of outlets in Japan. The Mandarin Gallery outlet of City Bakery marks the brand’s first outpost in Singapore and also its first step outside of Japan; they had taken the premises formerly tenanted by The Providore there. The concept interestingly splits itself into two (2) different zones; one being the self-service area where patrons can get to pick and choose the various bakes that are being stocked behind the display cases, shelves and chillers at the counter and dine-in, while the other would be the dine-in area dedicated to The City Bakery Restaurant where the menu comprises of dishes segmented into sections such as Bread, Cold Tapas, Hot Tapa, Bread Tapas, Soup, Steak & Burgers, Pasta and Cakes & Pies. One thing patrons should note would be how the establishment disallows dining-in of the bakery items in the dine-in area of The City Bakery Restaurant which is a little inflexible in our opinion.

The Tagliatelle Kale Genovese Cream is a dish that is listed under the Pasta section of the menu at City Bakery; exclusively available only in the section dedicated to The City Bakery Restaurant. The menu describes the Tagliatelle Kale Genovese Cream to come with elements such as Yuzu Kosho-Marinated Chicken (Japanese Yuzu Chilli Paste) and Kale — this was also surprisingly the dish that left us with a stronger impression than their bakes, though it could be us giving the wrong bakes a try especially considering how there wasn’t much a selection to choose from when we made our visit during a weekday dinner service during its initial launch. Giving the pasta a good toss before digging in, the Tagliatelle Kale Genovese Cream can be described as a pasta that features a creamy Genovese pesto base — the tagliatelle does come with a slightly softer texture than al-dente, but still carries a springy bite and being laced with the a hint of herb-y, sweet basil note that comes with a little bit of depth with the use of cream. The highlight of the dish is undoubtedly the Yuzu Kosho-Marinated Chicken; coming in a portion size of just three (3) strips, the chicken does come tender and hints of a citrus-y tang alongside a kick of spiciness that tickles the tastebuds for those whom are tolerable to lesser than moderate levels of spiciness — very umami as well. The added Kale does seem to strike a balance between the meat and pasta elements of the dish; provides a hint of saltish-ness and crispness to the plate of pasta.

Was walking around Amoy Street Food Centre and got to notice the existence of Akazuki Ramen at the first floor of the food centre; these folks are one of the few new tenants whom have moved into the food centre in recent times. These folks are located at the stall unit right next to that of Lagoon In A Bowl. Whilst the brand name is one that seems to be new to the F&B industry, this brand is a new concept that is introduced by the folks behind Uma Haus at Chinatown Complex Food Centre. Whilst Uma Haus is a concept in which that serves up Japanese-style Ramen and Donburi, Akazuki Ramen is a more focused concept than Uma Haus where it specialises only in Tonkotsu Ramen offerings. With this much of an emphasis in Tonkotsu Ramen, Akazuki Ramen serve span a variety of Tonkotsu Ramen paired with various meat options such as fried chicken, beef, pork, Ebi etc. — they also do serve up a version of dry ramen which is dubbed the Abura Ramen. Aside from ramen offerings, Akazuki Ramen also offers a variety of side dishes as well that one can opt for to supplement their ramen order as well.

Skimming through the menu of Akazuki Ramen, the Salmon Ramen was the one that stood out to us the most. Just like how the Donburi and Ramen items are being priced at Uma Haus, the base price of their ramen offerings starts from $4.30 and goes up to $8.80 — the Salmon Ramen is one of the two highest priced ramen items on Akazuki Ramen’s menu. Patrons also get the option to choose their preferred spiciness level for their bowl of ramen; 0 being the non-spicy variant, and 3 being the spiciest — we specified Level 2 for our bowl of Salmon Ramen. Though Akazuki Ramen does not describe the elements that are included within their various dishes, it could be observed that our order of the Salmon Ramen includes salmon, tonkotsu broth, noodles, ramen egg, spring onions and black fungus. Opting for the spicy levels 1 to 3 also sees chili paste served within the bowl as well. Giving the bowl a good mix before digging in, we did notice that the Tonkotsu Broth does come pretty rich and thick here; with that being said, opting for it to come spicy also adds a piquant hint of spiciness that cuts through the heaviness of the Tonkotsu Broth. At Spicy Level 2, the level of spiciness is still pretty manageable for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness — the spiciness creeping up on the tastebuds towards the end of every single spoonful of broth that one slurps up. The noodles at Akazuki Ramen does come with a soft and chewy texture, while the ramen egg that came along with the dish comes marinated with soy sauce for a savoury note; also had a jammy egg yolk within. The salmon was the generic sort that one typically would expect to come with Japanese bento dishes, though we would say that they are pretty generous to serve up three slices of boiled salmon in a ramen dish at such an affordable price point.

Nice Rice was one of the establishments that have had their attention on social media platforms some time back; having first opened within a coffeeshop around the Lavender neighbourhood when they had first made their appearance in the local F&B scene, they have made their move to locations such as the Foodfare food court at AMK Hub before settling down for a while at the now-defunct China Square Food Court. Whilst Nice Rice had settled within Moonstone Bar for now, they have also opened their Nice Noodle concept that is located at the foot of Oxley Tower. Nice Noodle is located beside Meraki Salad Bar, having taken over the former premises of the now-defunct outlet of Pinhole Coffee Bar there. Considering the space it has taken up, dine-in seating at Nice Noodle can be a little tight and limited — there are only four typical dining tables that seat two (2) pax each, though there are two high tables situated in the space that can accommodate two pax and four (4) pax respectively. Visiting Nice Noodle during their soft launch phase, their menu comprises of noodles segregated into Broth (i.e. soup) or Silky (i.e. dry) offerings; patrons would need to pick their choice of protein, and can also choose to opt for Add-Ons for their order of noodles. Side dishes are also offered, while the drinks menu is limited to a choice of three (3) items.

Being one whom prefers their noodles to come dry than soup, it is needless to say that we had went with the Indoramen that is listed in the “Silky” section of the menu — we were recommended to go for the “Pig” as the choice of Protein to pair with our noodles. Another recommendation that we had taken was to opt for the Truffled Onsen Egg as an add-on; we also went for the Shiny Eggplant as a second add-on as well. The menu describes the Pig as a glazed braised pork belly item, while the Indoramen lists elements such as House Made Kecap Manis blend, cubed onion, crispy shallot and garlic and mushroom jam being involved in the making of the dish. We were told to give the dish a toss before digging in; the noodles do come smooth, slurpy and with a bit of a bite — the House Made Kecap Manis blend gives a deep savouriness, though does come less sweet as what one would expect out of commercially-made Kecap Manis which perhaps is an attempt to make the dish a little easier to eat as well. The Truffled Onsen Egg comes with a jammy egg yolk; also came with their Signature Nice Sauce that adds a savouriness to the noodles as everything else in the bowl is all tossed up together, whilst the aroma of truffle perfumes lightly throughout the entire bowl. The addition of mushroom jam adds an earthiness to the dish. Meanwhile, the l cubed onions does add a crunch and a zing to cut through all over the flavours of the sauces and the meat, while the crispy shallot and garlic adds a crispness for a textural contrast. The braised pork belly comes juicy and melt-in-the-mouth tender; doesn’t require much effort to chew through whilst being savoury — absorbed the flavours of the braising liquid, whilst doesn’t carry any undesirable porky stench with it either.

Have always been a fan of Hainanese-style curry rice all these while — Golden Scissors Curry Rice has been a stall that had caught our attention for some time ever since we had started to frequent Old Airport Road Food Centre for lunch. Situated at a corner of the stretch of stalls located at the back-most row of the food centre, these folks occupy the stall unit that is at the corner from the extreme end of the same stretch as stalls which Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee is located. Golden Scissors Curry Rice is a stall that serves up Hainanese-style scissors cut curry rice; with that being said, they do also serve local Chinese-style mixed economic rice though albeit with limited variety of dishes — patrons can also opt to add those dishes to the pre-determined sets that are listed on its menu as well.

The Pork Chop Curry Rice is one of the sets that comes with pre-determined elements which is being listed on the menu at Golden Scissors Curry Rice — the Pork Chop Curry Rice does come with elements such as fried pork chop, braised cabbage, sunny side-up and white rice; all that drenched with braised sauce and curry gravy. We had also added a braised pork belly to our order — this is priced at $2 on top of the default price of the opted set as an add-on. Between the braised pork belly and the fried pork chop, it does seem that Golden Scissors Curry Rice specialises in their Pork Chop more — the pork chop does seem to have been tenderised to achieve a thin texture; deep-fried seemingly with the use of soda biscuit crumbs in its batter, there is a crispness that comes on the exterior while the pork chop itself wasn’t particularly dry either. In retrospect, the braised pork belly did feel a little dry and leathery — the portion served to us seemingly being a little bit on the leaner side, though was still nonetheless savoury with a deep flavour from having absorbed the notes of the braising liquid that it was stewed in. Whilst the sunny side-up does come with a fully cooked egg yolk, the sunny side-up was void of any undesirable stench of overused oil; the braised cabbage providing a light savouriness that pairs up well with the braising sauce and curry gravy whilst the cabbage also features a soft bite — the curry gravy being the thick, gooey and rich sort that hints of a fragrance of curry spices, while the braised sauce provides a bit more depth of flavours with its savoury notes.

Was passing by Maxwell Food Centre and got to find out about a new establishment named Rustic Coffee & Bread that had recently moved into the food centre. Located around the second last row of food stalls situated nearer towards Kadayanallur Street, Rustic Coffee & Bread can be found right beside the notable Hock Lai Seng 福来成 that serves up stellar local Teochew-style minced pork noodles. Rustic Coffee & Bread is an establishment that follows the trend of local Nanyang-style Kopi & Teh stalls which are run by Vietnamese. With that being said, whilst most such stalls are limited to offering local Nanyang-style Kopi & Teh alongside some Vietnamese coffee offerings, local Nanyang-style breakfast toasts and Banh Mi, the menu (and especially more so for the beverages offered) served up at Rustic Coffee & Bread does seem to be much more extensive than stalls of similar nature that are found at other hawker centres — their beverage offerings are categorised into Coffee, Tea, Yuan Yang, Healthy Tea, Milo & Chocolate, Honey Series, Refreshers, Rustic Matcha and Espresso Bar (brewed using the espresso machine). The bread menu in the meanwhile comprises of the usual selection one would expect at stalls serving up Nanyang-style breakfast and a couple of more Vietnamese options.

The Pate Stick Baguette is one of the lesser-seen Vietnamese-style bread offerings that Rustic Coffee & Bread carries on their menu. Otherwise known as Banh Mi Que in Vietnamese, this would be a skinny bread stick that is thinner than that of the usual Banh Mi that is being toasted and spread with meat pate — something that is more commonly consumed as a snack and is especially affordable in Vietnam. The Pate Stick Baguette is priced at $2.20 ala-carte at Rustic Coffee & Bread; it is also freshly prepared upon order. Considering so, the Pate Stick Baguette is absolutely crisp and packs a crunch as one chews into it; there is this slight hint of garlicky aroma that lingers at the back of the tastebuds whilst one can taste the savouriness from the meat pate that is being spread on the stick baguette itself. The Pate Stick Baguette does go especially well with their Rustic Sapa Coffee on the side; something that feels creamy, almost frothy and rich and hints of a strong kick of coffee amidst the sweetness that was simply paradise for caffeine-lovers out there — definitely something that is not to be missed if anyone decides to give Rustic Coffee & Bread a try!