Loving Cheetos!

A quick post here just to introduce my new favorite snack.

Cheetos.

Cheetos Crunchy. 

Honestly, never thought I would fall in love with this cheese-flavored snack as much as I do now, but it has now become such that it be the one snack I will now look out for when I am at the supermarket, and it be the one snack that I will want to buy, more so irresistibly when the price falls below the RRP of $5.35. 

Actually, come to think of it, new also not so new. 

At least three, four months already. 

First time I actually paid special attention to this snack was when I was at the shops in Kembangan looking for something to buy for myself. At that time I was trying to decide between the Lays Salted Egg or the Super Ring or the Ruffles. 

But then I spotted this at $4.70.

So pragmatic me bought it.

And guess what...? 

Fell in love at first bite.

Have not changed my mind since. 

Cheetos Crunchy is dangerously addictive. 

Why, exactly, I don't know. 

They might have the puffs, the Hot Cheetos, even the Jalapeno Cheetos, but to date I seem to favor only this one. 

It might be the cheese, the coloring, the additives, the cheese powder, the firmness of the corn crunch- just something that makes it exactly what it is- junk. 

But then so are potato chips, and to be honest, whilst I do appreciate a good flavor of potato chip now and then, I have since bought myself some Lays and some Ruffles and some other brands of potato chips, but I find myself drifting back to Cheetos Crunchy. 

The Salted Egg Chicken Downstairs

It is so very seldom, I tell you, that I'm not able to find the name of the cafe or diner that I have patronized.

Most of the time I manage to put the name to the place.

But with this place, I don't, and that, despite looking about on Google Maps and on Google itself.

Maybe I should try Grab, but really, there's no need to, not when I know where the place is, I know how to get there and I know roughly where to find it. 

We've been coming to this place a couple of times, and for almost all times the food has been good. 

Now, I'm not a good judge of Mainland Chinese food. 

As in, I don't quite know what's good and what's not. 

But this place- located somewhere between Marshall Road and Ceylon Road- sitting somewhere between the spaces of Cheeky Bee Hoon and Steak & Pho- has thus far served up dishes that are suited for my Singaporean palate at a quantity and quality happy to the purse. 

One of the first few dishes we had from this place was the Mapo Tofu. 

I don't have a picture. but it was one of those dishes that came served as really huge cube shaped pieces of tofu. When I say they were huge, I mean that they were of the size that you could cut with your spoon. Firm also were they in terms of texture, not the soft mushy kind that I've grown accustomed to. 

Did we like it?

Well, yes, and no. 

We liked the spice. 

But I think I'm more used to the mushy type that I can crush into my rice and eat it as a whole spoonful. 

Of course that's just one of the dishes that we have had thus far and it isn't the same as some of the others we've had. 

Like the Salted Egg Chicken which to date remains one of our most memorable dishes and one which we'll definitely order if we've got a craving for something sweet and salty there. 

The main thing that surprised us about this dish was the texture and the way it had been done. 

We had expected it to come served like how zichar places make theirs- huge chicken pieces slathered (drowned) with a thick gravy of salted egg covering the entire plate. 

But no, this plate was dry, no gravy, not one bit at all. 

What's funny is that we had begun eating immediately when the plate arrived at the table, and so it took us a while to realize that this were literally the non-spicy, for-kids version of the ubiquitous spicy La Zi Ji so common in Mainland Chinese cuisine.  

And right away we fell in love. 

So it might be that we haven't ordered it since the last time we had it here but it's not because we don't like the dish anymore. 

We just happened to have found new love for other dishes. 

Like their skewers, which we order about 8-10 every time we come, mostly alternating between lamb and beef but the other day my friend ordered for me a quail egg stick. 

I love quail eggs. 

I also love the way they grill their meat, with thick chonks of meat balanced with a single piece of fat (in the lamb)

Their skewers are ordinary enough for the taste that we prefer, but if there be something unique about this place, it is the vibe. 

This is not the kind of place where I will want to have three or four big dishes and sit for 3 hours. Instead this is the kind of place where I want to have 15 skewer sticks, one or two bottles of Wang Lao Ji drink, and if they have, some sort of dessert to close off the meal. 

Fingers crossed I'll get to have it soon. 

Tomorrow, maybe. 

Maybe I might even take beer. 

Oyster Mee Sua @ NEX

So, I am generally not the kind of person who has cravings for food of this or that. I eat as it is. Sometimes I go for a particular cuisine. Other times I just eat whatever comes to mind. 

But there are certain days, however, that I find myself needing warm, soupy stuff more than any others, especially after caregiving hours, and that's where the choice of meal becomes more ngiao than usual. 

It don't matter if it is a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

It don't matter if it is fried fish noodle soup etc. 

Just so long as it is warm and comforting and calming, that's enough for me.

We had not thought to come to Taiwanese eatery Eat Three Bowls at first. 

In fact it had not been on the plan at all, but then the queue at the Malaysian style eatery next door was too long, I was hungry, and tired, and didn't want to wait, so to Eat Three Bowls we came. 

I'll be candid.

It was an eyeopener. 

You can call me suaku, okay, but up till now I had not known just how popular this eatery was. 

For starters, I had thought this eatery was new. 

But no, they had actually been around for a while, beginning first with a stall at a hawker center opposite Vivocity, and now, with outlets at various parts of the island, including NEX, where this evening we were.

My meal today was the Oyster Shredded Chicken Mee Sua- with no intestines. I'm the kind of person who can take oysters and liver and spleen but I cannot take intestines. 

Never mind how they're cooked- stewed, boiled or fried. 

Doesn't matter. 

I just can't. 

I loved my bowl. 

I loved how the mee sua was soft and slippery and how every mouthful filled with noodle and rich, flavorful broth brought me a pleasant sense of warmth. 

I loved how the huge heap of shredded chicken soaked up the broth- it had hints of vinegar- and didn't taste nor feel dry at all. 

Better yet, there were the oysters, big, fat and juicy.

I shared them oysters with my friend who loves them in the orh luak style but can also eat them any style. 

He had the Braised Pork Rice, by the way, which he said had an appetizing gravy full of flavor with the finely chopped pork served up in a mix of fat and meat. 

Easy to scoop up the meat with the rice too.

But I will say this.

Had I not been needing something warm and soupy and hot and comforting, I might have gone for another dish else. 

There is (surprisingly) quite a lot to be had here at this place. 

Popular dishes here include the Braised Beef Noodles, the Pork Chop Egg Fried Rice and the Shredded Chicken Rice. 

So the last one might seem very very healthy, which it is, but maybe I might go for the first two instead. 

They seem more... fun?

Like this evening, I was actually keen on the Braised Beef Noodles. The broth, a soy-spiced concoction, apparently, seemed stimulating yet comforting and warm at the same time.

And then I did take a look at the Taiwanese Sesame Oil Chicken Soup, and the Huadiao Wine Chicken Soup where the first one had ginger and for the second, I've always wondered how Huadiao wine is like. 

This evening, as much as I hoped to, it would have been lovely had I been able to have the Pork Chop Egg Fried Rice and the Taiwanese Tomato Omelette. Taiwanese, after all, have a reputation for their skill in making fluffy, soft, fragrant, moist fried rice and a reputation for well-marinated, perfectly battered, perfectly fried pork chop fillets, which, had it not been for the need for a calm-me-down dish, I would have wanted to try. 

Perhaps another time. 

You know, I'd like to try their fried items then. 

Especially their night market faves of Fried Tempura, Plum Sweet Potato Fries, Fried Oyster Mushrooms, and Salted Crispy Chicken.

Would be a bit of waste not to. :)

K-BBQ Downstairs @ 1987

You know something?

I didn't think I would write about this lunch of a Korean BBQ this soon.

But life be such that you don't always write things in sequence, and so whilst I might have written this some time in end March or even afterward, I decided this a good time to write now.

It had been one of those afternoons where we didn't feel like going out far yet 

We had discovered this place quite by accident.

It happened to be one of those afternoons where we didn't feel like going out too far but yet didn't want one of them casual bites from Starbucks, so it was that we went to the mall Katong Square next door. 

Now, Katong Square is one of those malls that gives a strong go-downstairs, in-between vibe. It is one of those malls that you pass by, consider whether to enter or not, and enter it anyway. 

I won't say that there isn't anything interesting in the mall.

There is a pop-up type of booth offering lots of vintage stuff- beer bottles, soft drink bottles, entertainment pamphlets, postcards, the like of collectors. 

But there are also the cafes and restaurants, which, to one we headed today.

Some time back my friend had seen the offer of a K-BBQ buffet at restaurant 1987 Korean BBQ, so we decided to try. 

I don't know the history of this place; like how it started or what the story is, why it's called 1987, or who the place is meant to cater to, but there's a rich sense of tradition when one dines here.

You know how there are many different types of K-BBQ places that have different vibes? 

This one leans towards the cultural.

It is the kind of place that you must go if you want to experience the culture of having a K-BBQ, table setting, cutlery, all, without the casual riot of the street-side style. 

You could say that it be the presence of all the banchan that comes together when you order a main. 

You could also say it is in the tradition that steeps itself deep in the way they do their BBQ.

I'm familiar with the places that have their grill locked in right in the center of the table. 

I am, however, not familiar with the places that bring the grill to your table, with charcoal pot underneath, and a little curve of a smoke exhaust affixed to the grill's side. 

To be honest, it looked really cute. 

And it worked just as well as those that have their smoke exhausts hanging from the ceiling. 

What made this grill unique was that it was raised, and because the charcoal seemed to be better distributed, the meat cooked slower without the worry of an overburn. It also meant that diners had to pay closer attention to the grill even as they worked through their orders of meat.

This afternoon our orders were mostly on the beef and pork side. 

What's funny, however, is that out of all the meats we had, I have only one picture. 

I didn't take picture of the others. 

I don't know why.

What I did take, instead, are of all the banchan. 

Which, to my embarrassment, I can't even remember the names of all it is I had. 

One of the first few things they brought to the table was the pink radish and the bean sprouts. 

Yes, radish and bean sprouts are ordinary vegetables, not stuff you'll find big of a deal, but there's this thing called palate, and both vegetables effectively filled it close. The radish, soaked in vinegar with a satisfying crunch, made for a refreshing palate cleanser, and the bean sprouts, whilst a bit smaller than those I'd seen in Korea, had a nice, savory crunch. 

There was then a couple of dishes- the bean curd strips, kimchi, quail eggs and what I think is the smaller version of burdock root. 

The dish that surprised me most were the quail eggs. 

I had thought they be savory. 

Instead they turned out to be sweet- almost like a dessert- and after finishing my four, I sat there wondering if I would be able to have more.

But I didn't ask. 

It felt awkward to, so I just ate my kimchi and my bean curd skins and worked my way around the meats. 

But I did ask for another order of kimchi though. 

Kimchi is one of the best things to have when you're having a meal like K-BBQ. Not only does it help with the digestives (so you can eat more lol), the sourish vinegar adds an additional texture, creates additional crunch, yet softens the meat at the same time.

I am always surprised by how the juice bursts out of my mouth every time I roll a piece of kimchi inside the meat and take a bite. 

It really does make for a very refreshing eat, I tell you. 

And I imagine the meat itself digesting away so much better after. 

Was there a banchan that I liked the most?

No. 

I mean, they each had their own merits, and there was not a dish of banchan that I didn't take, nor didn't like. Maybe I might not fancy the bean curd skins as much as, say, the quail eggs or the kimchi or the small burdock root, but they make for a perfect bite all the same.

Come to think of it, I actually did like the burdock root. 

At least that's what I think it is. 

I was too embarrassed to ask. 

Maybe I'll ask next time. 

One of the best foods I managed to have this afternoon at 1987 K-BBQ was the ramyun. 

I know it's not that big a deal, like what, it's just ramyun, we're in 2026 and ramyun is everywhere, but I've never had the chance to have ramyun in one of them bronzy pots, so glad I was to have it here this time. 

It's actually quite fun.

Best part of using the bronzy pot is that the noodles actually do simmer in the retained heat without a stove, so, yes, it was perfect to have a pot of ramyun on the table whilst we worked through our meats. 

My friend and I could share the soup.

I could have the noodles bit by bit as we went along. 

I could concoct my own bowl of noodles with the grilled meats and the vegetables and the tofu and even the banchan. 

Which I did. 

But the other best food that we both liked?

The tofu stew.

My friend doesn't mind a good tofu- soft, silky, wobbly those big chonks of bean curd were- and neither do I.

I love tofu when it doesn't taste like tofu, and what better way to get my share of vegan protein when it is all bobbing about in a stew slightly thick, very spicy, and full of flavor (think gochujang) that doesn't make the tofu feel like plain, boring tofu at all? 

Pepper Lunch (Again!)

I honestly dont' remember when it was that I had Pepper Lunch before we began patronizing their Parkway Parade outlet at the beginning of this year. 

So long it must have been that it would probably have been years and years ago. 

Why it is that I stopped having their meals, I can't recall. 

Maybe it was at a season where we were heading more into having protein than carbs, and with Pepper Lunch, well, what they serve really does have a lot of rice.

My longtime friend tells me that we stopped having it because they used to be prepared in a very oily, greasy way that did not make good the dollar nor the diet.

But they've since changed, she said, so after donkey years, goodness knows how long, back it was to Pepper Lunch again we went.

If both plates look the same to you, well, they are- almost, anyway. 

Pepper Lunch serves up meals with the main ingredient of Salmon, Chicken or Beef. 

I'm not so huge a fan of chicken when it comes to the grilled style- give me steamed or fried- but salmon and beef, yep, I can. 

Coming here, we could take Salmon- the slice looked substantial- but what with it being so long a time since we last ate, we decided we'd restart our meals here with beef.

Here's the funny thing: What sort of beef it is, I don't exactly know, 

I don't pay attention to the names of dishes we order but if I'm not wrong, the first time we ordered a Striploin Steak, and the second time, we had the regular Beef. 

Beef, in and out of itself, will of course be just what it is, but of course, one has to consider the texture, the marbling, the richness of taste, and the chew. 

Can I say I like one over the other? 

Maybe. 

The striploin, of course, had a lovelier texture in terms of the chew as compared to the regular beef, but mixing it all up didn't make the regular beef have any lesser a taste nor texture. 

I actually like the accompaniments that sit on the same plate as the main. 

The striploin had rice and mushroom and corn and broccoli plus mashed potato, and we added egg. 

The beef had rice and corn and we added scallops. 

Between one and the other, which do I prefer? 

Honestly, I can't tell. 

The beef pieces might have been smaller in the latter plate but mixed together with the rice, the slight smoky grilled BBQ made every spoonful feel full of gentle, satisfying warmth.

Perhaps at another time I might try see if I can have additional pieces of beef- the portion seemed to be a little small if it were for two.

But I'm also interested in the other dishes I saw on the menu. 

Like the Beef Sukiyaki.

And the Beef Pepper Yakiudon.

I like Udon. 

Thomson's Basil King

We were in the Thomson area, my colleague and I, and what with it being evening after having finished a meeting, decided we'd have our dinner close by. 

There is a lot of food to be had here in the Thomson area. 

Whether it be you're going for Asian cuisine, Indian cuisine, Teochew porridge, brunch-like meals, pastries, or whatever it is you might feel like having that day, the Thomson area is no short of choice. 

But us still being a bit of a noob to the place- despite having come here quite often over the last few months- weren't sure this evening what we ought to have. 

We could have had the wanton noodles or the curry rice Thai style, but this evening I didn't feel like having a big bowl of curry with a pork cutlet soaked inside out. Neither did I feel like having dishes to go with smooth rice porridge. 

So there we were, wondering what else we could have this evening when my friend- through the Grab app- discovered that there was a Basil King nearby. 

So we went to try. 

At first I wasn't very sure- there have been a fair bit of mixed reviews about it- some say it's good, some say it's not, some say it's not that big a deal to be getting such good reviews, others however say that there's enough of spice and enough of the meat to make one feel the meal is enough. 

Much more however has been raved about the egg, or eggs. 

And, after trying it, I have to say, yeah it's true. 

Okay, I can't say whether or not it brought me back to the smooth, familiar vibes of BKK, or whether it made me think of the one place I went to almost a year or so ago, but it was comforting to see Thai characters on the circumference of the plate, it was nice seeing the bright colors of the customized plate, and the food looking full and shiok right in the center of it. 

Honestly, the plate made me think of a tattoo. 

Food wise, well, it might not seem that fantastic for those who know how to wield the wok and the spatula and control the fire and the time, but if you be anyone like me who is clumsy in the kitchen and has zero estimate of sauce portion and heat portion etc etc, to get fried eggs with whites all fluffed up and yolks so big and orangey, well, that be a blessing. 

I can't remember how exactly it was I ate my Pad Krapow basil beef rice this late afternoon. 

Did I eat the minced beef all by itself? 

Did I scoop up the beef to eat with the rice by the spoon? 

And the egg; did I have the fluffy fried whites together with the rice, or did I eat it all on its own by itself? 

All this, I now can't remember.

What I can, and do recall, is me breaking the yolk to eat it together with the rice. That was something I had always wanted to do. It always fascinates me just how something simple like egg yolk eaten with rice can be made so appetizing and delicious. 

This plate, the bright big orange yolk had been skillfully kept runny- despite it being fried- and I remember the quiet joy in my heart as I watched the orange yolk flow all over the heap of soft rice grains, giving them a color so appetizing and cheerful it enhanced the meal.

As much as I rave about the egg, of course, I wasn't there for them both themselves.

The basil beef was just as well-fried too. 

I had worried it might be too dry, or too oily- two extremes that some places make their Pad Krapow to be- but no, this one was moist, only slightly oily, yet full of flavor and very rounded in the taste. 

I'm glad my friend chose the non-spicy.

Think that is how I'm also going to make it be. 

Heng Long Cooked Food

A bit hard to imagine but I had this only very recently, literally, on the 1st day of February, only about three weeks ago. 

Today was one of those weekend evenings where we wanted to take a bit of walk but didn't want to go anywhere else other than nearby, so, between the enclave of Joo Chiat, and the enclave of Tanjong Katong, we chose the latter. 

There wasn't much in the Joo Chiat zone we wanted for dinner this evening anyway. 

I can't say that I know offhand what it was we wanted to eat over there at Tanjong Katong, but to the very least there was a Punggol Nasi Lemak, a wanton noodle place, and this Heng Long Cooked Food that we had in years prior come many times before. 

There're many dishes to be had when one comes here for Teochew porridge. 

There're people who go straight for the steamed fish- various kinds of it, prepared different ways. They're the customers who choose either the sliced fish, or the whole fish steamed with ginger, light soy sauce and garlic (maybe).

Us however we like the variety, and so today, to go with the smooth sweet potato porridge, we got ourselves dishes up to five. 

First up was a steamed egg- a dish familiar to me and my friend, a dish warm and mushy and soft and great to eat either on its own, or with the soft rice grains. Today's egg came with a single portion of otah. 

What's interesting is that my friend didn't use to take the otah- he wasn't very keen with the spice- but this is one solid piece of (what I think is) Nyonya style otah, and he's since begun to appreciate this piece of mushed paste of a chili fish more. 

After that came a plate of steamed pork patty. I'm not a very huge fan of the salted fish on top- tried it once and it didn't taste too good on its own- but I fancied it with the porridge when eaten together, or when dipped inside the water. 

There was a plate of stewed, or braised chicken. 

This is a familiar dish- I used to have it when my grandparents cooked it for our family dinner- and I continue to like the dish still, although, like always I'm nervous of the small bones that sometimes get chopped up in between. 

And then finally there was the stewed brinjal. 

Actually I've no idea whether this brinjal is shallow fried or stewed, but it comes nicely oiled with a sweet, savory kind of gravy that is thick and smooth both at the same time. 

What I like best about this brinjal (or is it eggplant) is that it comes with a most lovely chew that doesn't collapse in your mouth, yet is not so hard that it makes eating the vegetable uncomfortable. 

That's quality.

Some places I've been to either give me a brinjal that is so soft I'm literally eating only the skin, or not otherwise, so hard that I wonder if it has been cooked at all. 

There're many more dishes here at Heng Long that one will find attractive, never mind whether you eat it with porridge or rice. 

In a very odd way, it makes me think of other places too, like Thomson Road near Thomson Plaza, like Kovan near the Teochew enclave, and like North Bridge Road right at the junction of Jalan Sultan.