Welcome to Ang Mo Kio.

EasyCut Curry Rice is an establishment that has been sitting around in our to-try list for a while — managed to learn about its existence whilst passing by the area; these folks are situated within the Coffee Sense coffeeshop that can be found at the foot of Blk 181 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 which is a short walk away from Mayflower MRT Station. Taking up a corner stall unit, EasyCut Curry Rice should be fairly easy locate considering our the signboards of each stall within the coffeeshop are rather large here — just look out for the stall that has illustrations of Hainanese-style curry rice on its signboard. Despite the signages suggesting that the stall serves up Hainanese-style curry rice in fixed combinations of elements that constitutes to a set, EasyCut Curry Rice also doubles up as a stall serving up Chinese-style mixed economic rice with patrons having the ability to mix-and-match the various dishes that they desire and without having to commit to the braised sauce and curry gravy as well.

Going for our usual order whenever we visit a stall serving up Hainanese-style curry rice, it was needless to say that our choice of order would be the Braised Pork + Cabbage + Egg. On first look, the Braised Pork + Cabbage + Egg is drenched with loads of braising liquid and curry gravy — so much that the dish was presented to us in a format that looked like a beautiful mess and was more then sufficient to go around all of the components on the dish. Digging into the gravy-loaded rice, we did notice how the curry gravy did come with a thicker consistency that one would typically expect out of Hainanese-style curry rice — rich but with a mild hint of curry spices whilst not being particularly spicy; something which would probably do well for those whom have a lower tolerance to spiciness. The addition of braising liquid provides more depth and another dimension of savouriness to the curry gravy. The braised pork here does seem to have absorbed the flavours of the braising liquid fully; the meat does carry a good balance of lean parts and fatty parts which gives sufficient bite without being difficult to chew — all that without carrying any undesirable porky stench. The braised cabbage does come with a soft bite and comes with a neutral note that keep things light from all of the meat, carbs and gravies on the same plate, while the sunny side-up comes with a fully-cooked egg yolk and does not carry any unpleasant hint of overused oil.

There does seem to be a bit of revamp going on at the basement of AMK Hub fairly recently considering how it has seen a couple of new tenants moving in in recent times — one such new tenant that had been recently spotted within the basement of AMK Hub located right across from the FairPrice Xtra supermarket there would be that of OmmaKase. OmmaKase had taken up a space of a food kiosk — whilst its operations do seem to be heavily based for takeaways only, it is interesting to note how the stall has installed some dine-in seating featuring counter seats at one of the sides of the stall for those intending to have their food on-the-spot. As one might have guessed from the name, OmmaKase is a concept that primarily serves up Korean fare — in fact, these folks do adopt a Korean “Cai Png” concept where patrons can pick-and-choose their desired dishes to be served with the portion of rice; there are also a few sets offered in which a fixed combination of items come together with the rice for those whom prefer a fuss-free experience.

For our order of the Korean Cai Png that we had went for, we went with a customised order featuring the Enoki Mushroom Twigim, Korean Chicken Breast Fillet (Sweet & Spicy), Kimchi Pancake and Spicy Cucumber Salad. Each order of the Korean Cai Png does come with a small portion of kimchi on the side — the short-grain rice also does seem to be drenched in a savoury-sweet sauce with Nori being sprinkled over the top; much like what one would expect from the same at establishments like TORI-Q. Thought that the various dishes that we have had at OmmaKase aren’t exactly gastronomical, though it does get the cravings for Korean cuisine settled — the Korean Chicken Breast Fillet (Sweet & Spicy) does come deep-fried whilst coated with a sticky sweet & spicy sauce that is typical to that of stalls serving up Korean Fried Chicken; the meat does come with a slight peppery note in its seasoning that adds a bit of spice to the chicken itself. We also quite liked the Kimchi Pancake; no doubt there are no crisp edges around the sides here, but it was still enjoyable being slightly chewy with a sourish tang and a slight kick of spice that should be manageable for those whom are tolerable to lesser than moderate levels of spiciness. Thought the Enoki Mushroom Twigim was less than ideal with the enoki mushrooms being a little difficult to chew apart despite the deep-fried golden brown batter still retaining its crispness; the Spicy Cucumber Salad was a little lacking in terms of spiciness, though it does carry a bit of a crunch — refreshing with a slight savouriness and tanginess from the liquid that it is marinated in.

Only got to learn about the existence of the new Nemu that had seemingly been in operations for quite a while before we got to know about it — these folks are located at Blk 532 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 occupying a rather hidden shop unit that is situated right beside the Sunday F&B coffeeshop there; this is also the same unit that MEADOWSBREW had previously operated from before their move to Cheng San Community Club. For those whom are familiar with the space, the space is tucked in a corner of the block in front of its lift lobby and can be quite unnoticeable if one isn’t paying attention to their surroundings as its facade is not flushed with the other neighbouring shop units there. With that being said, these folks had created a nice, cosy dine-in area using the space located right outside of the store unit, while the entire shop is set-up being naturally cooled with the espresso / food preparation area and counter being within the shop unit with two bar counter seats catered for patrons intending to dine-in. Nemu is an establishment that focuses more on its coffee offerings — do expect a beverage line-up comprising of categories such as Coffee, Traditional and Tea & Alternatives. A Food & Bites menu is also being served, with items circling around that of some bakes, rice dishes, pasta dishes and some light bites.

Nemu does work with a home-based business named Kuali Tales for some of its hot food offerings such as that of the Chicken and the Akar — the menu at Nemu describes the Nasi Bakar Chicken to feature elements such as Java Sambal Bajak Chicken and seasoned rice that is wrapped in banana leaves. It is noted that the Nasi Bakar Chicken does come served within a disposable takeaway box which makes for a convenient dining experience as well — a thoughtful touch which we definitely appreciated. Unwrapping the Nasi Bakar Chicken, the shredded chicken does come mixed with Javanese Sambal Bajak — for those whom have not heard of Sambal Bajak, this is an Indonesian-style chili paste that comes with a sweet tang from the use of elements such as that brown sugar, galangal, tomatoes, lemongrass etc.; it also comes with a good kick of spiciness that tickles the tastebuds even for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. The shredded chicken does give a fibrous texture to the dish as well. Sitting beneath the Java Sambal Bajak Chicken would be the seasoned rice that carried a light hint of flavour from some aromatics as well as the banana leaves that it is being wrapped in.

One of the ice-cream parlours that has been around the local F&B scene for a considerable amount of time would be that of Lickers — these folks have already expanded their operations all across the island with multiple outlets situated in various corners of the island. Their latest location is one that can be found at the foot of the HDB block of Blk 157 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4; this would be within walking distance from Exit 3 of Mayflower MRT Station along the Thomson-East Coast Line — they are also located right beside the notable Gim Tim Restaurant there. Occupying a shop unit that is larger than the typical HDB shop unit, Lickers does feature a spacious interior with the interior decked in white walls with a mix of white paint and white tiles — all that with the use of bright pink neon lights that is pretty in-line with the look to most of its other locations across the island. The menu at Lickers’ Ang Mo Kio location is fairly similar to what they serve up at their other outlets including their founding outlet at Hougang which features not only ice-creams that are served in cups or cones or with waffles, but also cookies and fried finger food to compliment those offerings as well.

We found ourselves going for the waffle with a single scoop of ice-cream during our visit to Lickers’ location at Ang Mo Kio — Lickers names this the Waffle + Lonely here. Our choice of ice-cream would be the Honey Black Tea Sour Plum Ice-Cream; it is also noted that a small shot of maple syrup does come with the waffle by default at Lickers for patrons to drench their waffles with. Digging into the waffle, we liked the consistency of how the waffle is being made at Lickers; it didn’t feel particularly dense, but sufficiently plush so that it does come soft and fluffy with an aptly crisp exterior. It does waft of a slight buttermilk fragrance while the dusting of icing sugar over it helps to add a bit of an aesthetic factor to the waffle; the addition of maple syrup adds a floral note and an apt sweetness to the waffle as well. Our choice of the Honey Black Tea Sour Plum Ice-Cream does feature a fragrant note of black tea that was pretty dominant throughout the entire scoop; there are bits of sour plum flesh to chew on but we found it especially intriguing that the tangy, sour-ish notes of the sour plum was particularly more evident in the melted parts of the ice-cream, while the ice-cream itself is also noted to be not overly sweet despite the use of honey as mentioned in its namesake.

Still might be one of those names which is more familiar to those follow the local home-based business scene as compared to the wider local F&B scene — these folks had been operating as a home-based cafe for a while. It seems that these folks are now ready to shift their operating model of their business into a proper cafe set-up; they had recently made the move to a new brick-and-mortar commercial space within a shop unit at the foot of Blk 421 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10. This is the same shop unit in which that housed the founding location of Monday Coffee Bar previously — other notable establishments situated at this block would include the coffeeshop named Food Haus which is home to Tham’s Roasted Delights. Still occupies a shop unit that is half the size of a conventional shop unit found at the foot of a HDB block; the interior does sport a rather Japandi vibe with the use of dim yellow lighting to recreate a relaxed yet welcoming vibe — there is also an outdoor dining space that is located right across from the entrance of the cafe as well. An establishment that focuses on its coffee and bakes, the bakes available for the day are display prominently in the display case at the counter; mostly comprises of bagels, cookies and scones, while the beverage menu is split into sections dedicated to Coffee, Matcha and Others.

There are three (3) different types of bagels that Still was offering on the day that we made our visit — we found ourselves going for the Cheddar Cheese Bagel. Patrons can choose to go for the bagels as-is, or add a spread of either butter or cream cheese to go along with it — we went with the option of pairing our bagel with butter at an additional cost of $0.50 on top of the base price for the bagel. It is interesting to note that Still styles their bagels in a way that resembles a cat; there are parts of the bagel that are shaped to replicate the pointy “ears” of cats, whilst each bagel also features an cute illustration that gives a “face” to each bagel. The Cheddar Cheese Bagel from Still is a fairly simple offering in which it is a bagel that features a crusty layer of melted cheese on the exterior for an additional touch of savouriness to the bagel. The bagel itself was also pretty well-made; it carries a firm texture and quite a fair bit of chew; all that whilst being not too heavy. Felt that the spread of butter does help in adding another contrast of savouriness to the Cheddar Cheese Bagel; an option which we would recommend one to go for here.

(~ $11) dumpling noodle was quite ok but the broth slightly salty tbh. siew mai v nice as usual.

(Medium- $6.80) cannot be customised for sugar level. But the hojicha got mild taste as the coconut covered up. 😅

($6.80) v interesting concept for Indian and Mediterranean street food flavour. The spices was quite strong taste tbh. U can choose the ingredients (veg and sides and sauces) for each different burrito.

($5) under nam kee pau. the serving size was quite mild but the soup broth was quite a bit salty.

8.8 deals

($3) its quite sweet tbh giving yakult itself v sweet flavour.

($7.90) the serving size was quite enough for me but the sauce was mild and not spicy. Just sour and spicy in between to mix well with dry noodle and fried food.