Time To Say Goodbye

After exactly four years and three hundred blog posts, I'm calling time on Eat Noodles Love Noodles. Giving up blogging hasn't been an easy decision to make. After all, it's a hobby that's given me great joy, and one through which I've met some great friends, online and off, along the way. Big thanks to you all, especially to those of you who took the trouble to comment on the blog along the way. {Update July 2015 - I've made a kind of a comeback on my other blog - click here.}

Why now? The truth is I've been thinking about jacking it all in for the past year or so. The only reason why I continued was the proliferation of ramen shops in London and my travels abroad. But there's only so much I can blog about ramen, and my mad run of travel this year has come to a halt.

If there's one aspect of blogging I'll miss, it will be writing about food on my travels. I doubt I would ever have started blogging if I didn’t have the kick-start from a trip to China in 2009. And to the end, it's these posts that have given me most pleasure to write.

I won't miss writing about London restaurants so much, though. Despite all the new openings, I've not really blogged about too many places in the capital this year. It's not that I don't take an interest in all the big name chefs and restaurateurs. I do, and I even sometimes eat in their fancy gastrodomes. It's just that I feel the London restaurant scene is a bit like English Premier League football: an exciting and cosmopolitan spectacle, but one where the actuality does not match the hype.

Now I don't want to end my blog on a negative note (although I have been known to shake my fist at crap restaurants, awful food TV and incorrect food grammar), as I've always been passionate about promoting the food I love the most. So with that in mind, I thought I'd end my last post with my fantasy last supper. I've bent the rules a bit in that I've somehow ended up with a ten-course Asian seafood banquet.

My Last Supper
Sashimi selection
I love sashimi and it's the perfect start to my banquet. Of course it's going to be weapons-grade raw fish, with the only stipulation being the platter must include some of my favourite hamachi (yellowtail).

Steamed scallops topped with garlic & glass noodles
This classic epitomises all that is great about Cantonese cuisine: fresh ingredients, simply cooked. This is also the first appearance of noodles in the banquet.

'Chao Tom' - Grilled prawn paste on sugar cane
In this Vietnamese dish the sugar cane acts as a skewer and the prawn paste is eaten by wrapping it with herbs in lettuce and rice paper before dipping in nuoc cham.

Under the Typhoon Shelter pissing prawns
After a relatively healthy opening three courses, the banquet get dirty in the form of fried 'pissing prawns' aka mantis shrimp tossed in a violent mix of fried chilli and garlic. ('Under the Typhoon Shelter' is the poetic Chinese name of this Hong Kong dish more commonly cooked with crab.)

Singapore chilli crab with fried mantou
Things get dirtier still with this Singapore classic where the crab is almost an afterthought. I can foresee much dipping of fried mantou (Chinese buns) into the flavoursome eggy, tomatoey chilli sauce.

Clams in fish soup with rice vermicelli
Asian food is all about balance, which is why this course is a bit cleansing. Having said that, a big glug of rice wine should go into the soup. (Noodlewatch: noodles make a second appearance in the banquet.)

Shanghai-style river shrimp stir-fried with Longjing tea
The comedown continues with a delicate dish of river shrimp, coated with egg white and cornstarch, stir-fried with Dragon's Well aka longjing tea leaves.

'Pla Neung Ma Nao' - Steamed grouper with lime, chilli, garlic, lemongrass & fish sauce
I have to have a Thai dish in my top ten, and this whole steamed grouper (sea bass would do at a push) sat in an aromatic 'soup' is my choice.

Pak choi stir-fried with garlic
Although my last supper is being served banquet style, this simple vegetable dish will be brought out just after the fish. And for those carb lovers, now might be a good time to ask for some rice. Mind you, not too much though…

Lobster fried with ginger & spring onion on a bed of e-fu noodles
So this is it, the coup de grâce. Of course it was going to be Cantonese, of course it was going to have noodles, and of course it was going to be lobster cooked with ginger and spring onion! My apologies to dessert fans, there's no proper pudding but there will be slices of watermelon.

Now I know some of you may be surprised at my choices. For instance, neither dim sum nor Cantonese BBQ makes an appearance. But that's OK, as I had both at my penultimate meal at lunchtime. Being a critic of the concept of pan-Asian restaurants, some may be surprised the feast contains a mix of different cuisines. However, I don't think it's an issue, as all of the dishes are bona fide classics and they will be served 'banquet-style' rather than in a blurry family-style free-for-all. And being a bit of an obsessive, I've also given a lot of thought to the sequence in which the courses will be served.

So that's it. I am now a former blogger, although I will continue to post food photos on Instagram. Thanks again for reading.

PS: Thanks for the good wishes and messages on Twitter - I'm very touched. For clarification, I will be keeping the blog alive but there won't be any new posts. And I'll still be on Twitter.

Singapore Noodles X 3

Following my trip to Bangalore, I spent a couple of nights in Singapore. While it really was a flying visit, I did have a spare Sunday to kill. This, of course, could only mean one thing: a noodle crawl. But this wasn't any normal noodle crawl, as Shu Han, author of Mummy I Can Cook, provided me with a list of noodle stalls I HAD to sample in Singapore. I couldn't visit all of her suggestions, but I thought going to three of them was feasible.  

First up on my itinerary was a famous stall called Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle. Having arrived just before 11.30am, I thought I might miss the lunchtime rush. How wrong was I. In the end, I didn't get to eat my noodles until 12.50pm. I was going to go for either the S$6 or S$8 priced bowl, but having queued for so long I went for the large S$10 bowl of bak chor mee (肉脞面).

Given the length of time I queued, I was kind of cursing Shu Han. However, any ill will I may have had towards her soon dissipated when I tucked into this sumptuous dish of springy broad mee pok noodles (面薄) in a spiky mix of chilli and vinegar. The generous toppings of ground pork, sliced pork, meatballs, wontons and bits of crispy fried fish were good quality. (I asked for no liver, as I'm not the biggest fan.) On the side was a bowl of seaweed soup that I used to loosen up the noodles that can clag. With hindsight I should've asked for more chilli, but overall this was the finest bowl of noodles I've sampled so far this year.

I was ahead of schedule when I left the hotel but I was now some way behind. Having heard that the Hill Street Fried Kway Teow stall often sell out early, I decided to change my plans and headed east on the MRT to Bedok New Town to sample their char kway teow (炒粿条). Yet again there was a queue, but mercifully I managed to get my noodles by 2.10pm.

I'll be honest. Char kway teow isn't really one of my favourite noodle dishes, but this version could change my mind. It really did have the breath of the wok (鑊氣 wok hei) with a perfect balance of smoky, sweet with a hint of chilli heat. I went for the small S$3 portion, so there weren't as many cockles and Chinese sausage as I might have liked. This version had some egg noodles as well as ho fun rice noodles in the mix, but my favourite part of this dish were the crispy bits of pork fat. Mmm, pork fat.

After this second helping of noodles, I was a bit full. And having travelled so far out to Bedok, I decided to go for a stroll around the town centre. This would prove to be a big mistake. I thought I had time on my side, but by the time I rolled up to the Old Airport Road Food Centre, it was too late, too late to try the noodles at Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee. The guys at that stall had sold out of stuff by the time I got there. I felt that I had failed in my noodle quest, but then a phoenix rose from the flames. Well, more precisely a crumpled bit of paper with Shu Han's noodle tips on it. On there were the words: 'try fishball noodles at Old Airport Road???' and that's what I did.

I'm not sure how I came across the simply named Teochew Fishball 潮州魚丸 stall, but I do remember the fishball uncle asking me 'nei sik mat ye?' in Cantonese. Bowled over by his friendly greeting of 'what do you wanna eat?' I went through the various options with him: wet or dry? noodle type? fishballs or a mix of fishballs and fishcake? I plumped for dry fishball noodles (S$3). 'Dry' in this context means that the fishballs are served in a separate bowl of broth (by the way the broth is pretty flavourless, as its primary purpose is to loosen up the noodles). Springy is the word I would use to describe both the fishballs and thin noodles. Together with a zingy chilli dressing, this was a superior bowl of noodles.

Notwithstanding the Hokkien mee fail, the noodle crawl was a great success. If I were to do it again, I would have a late breakfast at Tai Hwa (I later found out the stall opens at 9am) before going onto the other stalls at Bedok and Old Airport Road. With a 9am start and allowing for travel time, I reckon you would be all done shortly after noon.

Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, Block 466 Crawford Lane, #01-12 Singapore 190465
Nearest MRT: Lavender

Teochew Fishball, Old Airport Road Food Centre, Singapore 390019
Nearest MRT: Dakota

Hill Street Fried Kway Teow, #01-41 Bedok New Town Food Centre, Singapore 460549
Nearest MRT: Bedok

PS: Thanks once more to 面妹妹 aka Shu Han, I hope I did you proud!

Singapore - Scratching Beneath The Surface

I'm a great believer in local knowledge, and I doubt that I would've ended up in the Tiong Bahru (中峇鲁) neighbourhood if local entrepreneur and blogger Eunice hadn't suggested meeting up there. Although only a short cab ride from Singapore's CBD, Tiong Bahru has a very different feel from the mix of skyscrapers and regenerated shophouses found downtown. That's due in part to some enlightened town planning in the 1930s that saw elements of art deco incorporated into the architecture of Singapore's first public housing project.

Anyway, enough of the architecture and history lesson; this is, after all, a food blog! The reason for visiting Tiong Bahru was to check out Sin Hoi Sai (新海山). In local parlance, this is a zi char joint (煮炒), one step up from a hawker centre but still quite casual. To use an Italian analogy, think trattoria rather than full-blown ristorante.

The food at Sin Hoi Sai is a bit like Singapore itself: a fusion of traditional and modern influences. Dishes like cereal prawns (麦片虾) where deep-fried prawns are tossed in an amazing salty-sweet-spicy mix of oatmeal, butter, curry leaves and chilli. This is a true Singapore original, with the key ingredient being a breakfast cereal called Nestum (thanks to Goz for the knowledge). Sadly, I don't think Nestum is sold in the UK, which probably rules out ever seeing cereal prawns on these shores. This is a shame, as they're SO damn good.

Another Singapore classic is deep-fried prawn paste chicken (har cheong gai 虾酱鸡). Sod Colonel Sanders and his mix of herbs and spices, these have nothing on the pungent prawn paste (har cheong 虾酱) in which the chicken is marinated in before it's deep-fried. Moreish doesn't even begin to describe the super savoury-umami attack on the senses unleashed by this dish.

Although Singapore's ethnic Chinese have gone down their own culinary path, there are still plenty of southern Chinese classics such as steamed egg (水蒸蛋) to be found on the menus of zi char joints like Sin Hoi Sai. We ordered a deluxe version that was made with bits of century egg and salted duck egg. It was good, with the savoury egg custard being properly silky, smooth and wobbly, but I couldn't help but feel the salted duck egg element was a bit muted.

While zi char, in general, is seen as a good value casual dining option, that doesn't mean you can't treat yourself. And as Sin Hoi Sai's calling card is its seafood, we went for steamed fish with coriander as the centrepiece of dinner. I can't remember what the fish was, but it was perfectly cooked. With some greens, rice, drinks, freebie dessert and, most importantly, great company, it was a cracking meal. So thanks again to Eunice for suggesting Sin Hoi Sai!

Sin Hoi Sai Seafood Restaurant, Block 55 Tiong Bahru Road #01-59, Singapore 160055
(Tel: +65-6223-0810) Nearest MRT: Tiong Bahru, Outram Park

Another locals' joint I visited was the modestly named Sin Kee Famous Chicken Rice & Fish Porridge stall that's located in the Mei Ling Market & Food Centre in Queenstown. While I have no doubt that their fish porridge (congee/juk 粥) is excellent, I was here for the Hainanese chicken rice (海南雞飯).

As we were a large group, we ordered a whole chicken, which came on two separate plates, with the rice served in separate bowls. The chicken was nicely done to perfection, juicy and tender (although to some heathen western tastes, it may seem undercooked). And the rice (cooked with chicken stock) was so tasty that I ordered an extra bowl. This chicken rice was really good, and I can understand why people travel miles to this corner of town for it.

To bulk out our meal we also ordered some fried dumplings (guo tie 锅贴) from a neighbouring stall serving Shanghai-style dim sum. These were bloody tasty, with their crispy exterior and juicy pork filling.

All in all, it was a fabulous lunch! And for that I am thankful to my long suffering Singaporean colleagues for taking me there, as I wouldn't have otherwise known about the food centre at Mei Ling Market. So much so, I feel really guilty that I had, occasionally, got hacked off with them for not always taking me to places serving local food.

Sin Kee Famous Chicken Rice & Fish Porridge
Mei Ling Market & Food Centre, 159 Mei Chin Rd, Singapore 140159
Nearest MRT: Queenstown

For more Singapore tips, albeit from a couple of years ago, please check out my posts on the restaurant scene and the cheap eats scene.

Rasa Sayang Express

{Update Apr 13 - Rasa Sayang Express is now closed and has been replaced by a branch of Noodle Oodle}

Rasa Sayang is one of the more interesting eateries in Chinatown, specialising as it does in the Straits cuisine of Malaysia and Singapore. Notwithstanding the odd rogue dish, most of what they do is pretty decent; favourites of mine include fried fish rice vermicelli (魚頭米粉) and beef rendang.

So I was quite excited when I came across Rasa Sayang Express on Oxford St. As the name suggests, this is a stripped-down version of the original that aims to serve food swiftly to time-poor shoppers, wage-slaves, and tourists alike. The menu is a lot shorter when compared to the parent restaurant, but classics such as Hainan chicken rice, nasi lemak, and laksa are all present and correct. These dishes, and in fact all of the 'one-dish' meals, are uniformly priced at £5.99.

Now for this sort of price, I didn't expect five-star cooking and my roti canai with curry chicken was OK without pulling up any trees. It should also be pointed out that much of the food seems to be pre-cooked and merely dished up to ensure express service.

That said it's good to see Straits cuisine become more common and as fast food goes, Rasa Sayang Express is a cut above the 'shit-in-a box' merchants.



Rasa Sayang Express, 50 Oxford Street, London, W1D 1BG
Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road

Dim Sum & Rare Noodles @ Dragon Palace

A walk along Earl's Court Road is quite soul-destroying if you're a food snob (or even if you're not). Wagamama, Masala Zone, Zizzi, McDonalds, Nando's, Costa, Starbucks and KFC – the usual chain suspects that blight the streets of London are all present and correct.

So it's a pleasant surprise to see a decent Chinese restaurant in this corner of the capital. Dragon Palace might look like a regulation High St Chinese but scratch beneath the surface and you'll discover some very interesting dim sum and noodle dishes. This isn't a new opening; it's been around for a few years but it just hasn't caught the eye of many bloggers or critics.

Joining me for lunch were fellow bloggers Su-Lin and Gourmet Chick, we all live out west so this was a handy spot to meet. Unbelievably, both of my dining companions had previously been to this restaurant, albeit off the blog and not for dim sum. And there was me thinking that I'd found somewhere far from the blogging crowd!

The Noodles
星州炒銀針粉 Fried 'Needle Noodles' Singapore style (£5.80)
'Needle noodles' originate from Southern China and are also very popular amongst the Chinese communities of Singapore and Malaysia. Their proper name is silver needle noodles (银针粉) and they're also known as rat noodles (老鼠粉) because they're tapered like a rat's tail.

These noodles are rarely seen in the UK and I was curious as to their sourcing. Stupid question really, as the noodles are hand-made on the premises. I'm not sure how they manage to make them so translucent, as these noodles are usually made out of rice flour.

We ordered the fried 'Needle Noodles' Singapore style, which is essentially that old classic, Singapore noodles. This dish is a guilty pleasure of mine and you can't go far wrong with it. Reassuringly yellow-tinged from the curry powder, these noodles were a fine accompaniment to our dim sum feast.

The Steamed Stuff
家鄉魚米粿 gar herng yee mai gor Village dumplings (£2.50)
蝦餃 har gau Prawn dumplings (£2.50)
帶子蝦餃 har dai tze gau Scallop & prawn dumplings (£2.60)
花枝片 fa ji pin Steamed squid & garlic (£2.20)
叉燒包 cha siu bau Honey roast pork buns (£2.20)
Weekend Special - Steamed pork belly & taro bun (£3.20)

Village dumplings

All of the steamed dumplings were well made and generously filled, with my favourite being the village dumplings. I've not come across these before, and unusually for dim sum, they were filled with fish in the form of red tilapia amongst other bits and bobs. The wrapper was a bit too sticky but the filling was delicate, juicy and flavoursome.

Squid & garlic

Pork belly & taro bun

The steamed squid was also interesting and I really enjoyed the very garlicky dressing. That said my inner-Homer prefers his squid deep-fried. Both types of steamed bun were of decent quality and the weekend special of pork belly & taro buns were reminiscent of Taiwanese gua bao (刮包), albeit a stripped-down mini-wraparound version. If I was being ultra-critical, it could've done with some pickles but really it was fine as it was.

The Rest
芋角 wu gok Yam croquettes (£2.40)
墨魚餅 mut yu beng Squid cakes (£2.30)
Weekend Special - Red bean paste dessert (£3.20)
蘿蔔糕 loh bak goh Turnip paste with wind-dried meat (£2.20)
豉油王煎腸粉 ci yau wong tsin cheung fun Pan-fried dried shrimp cheung fun (£2.50)

Yam croquettes

Squid cakes

The fried offerings were every bit as good as their steamed counterparts. The yam croquettes were very fresh, as my burnt mouth can testify. I also liked their version of squid cakes, which were unusually wrapped in tofu skin (腐皮 fu pi) before frying. This gave them a crispy shell whilst retaining a springy interior – highly ingenious!

Red bean paste dessert

We didn't order the red bean paste dessert, which arrived because of a mix-up over which special we'd ordered. After sending it away, it earned a late reprieve due to Su-Lin's intervention. You'll like it if you like red bean paste.

Pan-fried cheung fun

I'm not a big turnip paste fan but it was well made as was the pan-fried cheung fun. Despite being a very popular street food dish way out east, few dim sum joints sell the latter in the UK. I love the crust that forms on the bottom of these otherwise silky smooth rice noodle rolls. This dish was packed full of flavour from the soy and in particular, the dried shrimp (蝦米 har mai).

The Details
Dragon Palace looks very ordinary from the outside and by the standards of Chinese restaurant design is quite minimalist. The service was good in an unassuming way and they didn't rush us out of the door when we finished.

The presentation of the lunch menu is highly praiseworthy being in English, Chinese characters and transliterated Cantonese. It also has pictures and a brief description of each dish. In addition to the Cantonese dim sum, the menu has a definite Straits Chinese influence with the likes of char kway teow and nasi goreng making an appearance.

The bill was a mere £41 between the three of us including tea and 12.5% service – that's less than £14/head. In comparison, Chinatown prices are about the same but you'll be hard pushed to find the same quality. Whilst a similar sized feast at one of the more heavyweight dim sum joints such as Pearl Liang, Phoenix Palace, or Royal China might cost nearer the £20/head mark.

The Verdict
Dragon Palace deserves plaudits for doing things a little differently. I think it's brilliant that they go to the trouble to make their own noodles as well as knock up weekend specials. This is an accessible and affordable option for quality dim sum, especially for those with a W in their postcode.



Dragon Palace, 207 Earl's Court Rd, London SW5 9AN (Tel 020 7370 1461)
Nearest tube: Earl's Court

Gourmet Garden - Malaysian Chinese in Zone 3

Although the likes of Rasa Sayang and Kiasu have opened up in recent years, you'd think there'd be more Malaysian eateries in London. Especially given the number of Malaysian Chinese that work in the catering industry. However, most tend to either follow the Cantonese restaurant formula or the Pan-Asian canteen model.

That's why I was intrigued when I came across Gourmet Garden (膳園) in Hendon. On the outside, it looks like a suburban Chinese restaurant but among the everyday Anglo-Chinese offerings, its menu features a wide selection of dishes from Malaysia and Singapore. Most of these are Malaysian Chinese with the odd Malay dish.

The Big Dish
馬來棧焗蟹 Fried crab with sambal belachan (seasonal price apx £20)

Visitors to Malaysia and Singapore will be familiar with the likes of chilli crab and black pepper crab. However, I've never seen crab prepared this way before despite belachan, a pungent fermented shrimp paste, being a common ingredient in Straits cuisine.

Frying belachan with chilli, minced garlic, shallot paste and sugar makes sambal belachan, the basis of the gravy in this dish. And what a gravy, already fiery and shrimpy, it was further enhanced by a generous helping of dried shrimps (har mai 蝦米); an ideal accompaniment to the perfectly cooked sweet fresh crab.

Gourmet Garden's boss explained that as well as being their signature dish; this style of crab is quite unique to her restaurant as it is their very own creation. Served as an intermediate course, it was the highlight of the evening. Looking back, I should've asked whether they had any deep fried Chinese buns (mantou 曼頭) to dip into the rich gravy.

Teochew ngoh hiang

Kweh pi tee

The Starters
潮州五香 Teochew ngoh hiang (£4.30)
香脆金杯 Kweh pi tee (£4.30/4pcs)
阿榨 Achar - Malaysian pickled mixed vegetables (£3.80)

My favourite starter was the ngoh hiang, minced pork & prawns wrapped in beancurd skin then deep-fried. This was served sliced and was liberally laced with five-spice powder (五香粉) from which the dish's name is derived. Kweh pi tee are dainty crispy pastry cups filled with vegetables and topped with a prawn and these were OK. I wasn't that impressed by the achar but I'm not really a pickled vegetable kind of guy.

The Mains
海南雞 Hainanese chicken w/house chilli sauce (£5.80/qtr)
干咖哩牛 Rendang beef (£6.90)
椒絲腐乳通菜 Fried kangkong w/fresh chilli & fermented beancurd sauce (£6.50)
叻沙 Singapore laksa (£6.00)

I fear that my impressions of the Hainanese chicken were spoiled by the recent memories of eating this dish in Singapore. This dish demands that the bird be just cooked and whilst it wasn't overcooked, it just didn't seem as juicy and moist as the version at Boon Tong Kee.

The spice level of the rendang beef hadn't been dumbed down and it had a reassuring kick. Unfortunately, the meat wasn't as tender as it could be but this is a common problem with 'slow-cooked' dishes in restaurants. The kangkong (morning glory) was perfectly adequate but with hindsight, I would've preferred it stir-fried with belachan rather than fresh chilli & fermented beancurd.

There was plenty of chicken, fried tofu, prawns, fish balls, and rice vermicelli in the Singapore laksa. So it was quite ironic that this generosity slightly spoiled the dish as the noodle-soup balance was all wrong. With so much 'stuff', there just wasn't enough spicy coconut soup to go round. That said, I thought it had the right level of heat and I shouldn't really complain about big portions.

The Bill
With two bottles of wine, rice and a pot of tea, the bill racked up to £116.30 including 10% service charge between three. This may seem expensive but we probably over-ordered and did have two bottles of Chablis (£20.50 each). If you strip out the booze, the food costs apx £24/head, which is damn good value.

What The Others Thought
Joining me for dinner was Kake and Bellaphon. The latter has been dubbed in certain circles as a misguided self-important contrarian rebel. Personally, I think 'narcissistic iconoclast' sums him up better. I'm also not sure why he's been singled out, as some of us work bloody hard to be contrary (but not misguided or self-important) and for Bellaphon to earn that reputation without really trying, sticks in the craw. For this meal though, it was his expertise in his native Malaysian cuisine that I was seeking out rather than his perceived character flaws.

There was much consensus around the table but there were a couple of points of disagreement. Being more of a spice-fiend, Bellaphon thought the laksa was a bit tame and he needed some extra chilli sauce. Whilst Kake is a big fan of fermented bean curd and was quite happy with how the kangkong was prepared.

About The Restaurant
Gourmet Garden sits aside six lanes of traffic on the A41 and is accessed from Hendon Central station via a piss-streaked underpass. However, don't let that put you off visiting this fine restaurant, as it's only 25 minutes by tube from Euston.

The boss, who like the chef is from Kuala Lumpur, has run Gourmet Garden for the last eight years and her pride and passion in the food they serve is clear for all to see. I was impressed with how she dealt with the multicultural clientele in English, Cantonese and Mandarin. Overall, service was a cut above with that personal touch, which is characteristic of quality local restaurants.

The Verdict
The suburbs have been a happy hunting ground for me lately and I really enjoyed Gourmet Garden. The fried crab with sambal belachan was simply amazing and whilst the other dishes didn't quite hit the same heights, there's a lot to like about this restaurant. If you're a fan of Malaysian Chinese food then it's well worth checking out.



Gourmet Garden, 59 Watford Way, Hendon, London
 NW4 3AX (Tel: 020-8202-9639)
Nearest Tube: Hendon Central

For more on Malaysian food, I highly recommend that you go to 3 Hungry Tummies, Test with Skewer and House of Annie for their 'Muhibbah Malaysian Monday' feature. Each month, they take it in turns to round-up the best of Malaysian on their respective blogs.

A Break

I'm taking a break for a few weeks. In the meantime, if you've come across this blog for the first time, there are a few recent posts that I'd like to draw your attention to.

Cha siu

As well as recently celebrating its 1st birthday, the blog also celebrated its 100th post with a guest recipe from 3 Hungry Tummies. I've also had the honour of writing a guest post on The Grubworm where you can read about my efforts at making cha siu.

In recent years, Chinese regional cuisine has taken off in London and whilst Sichuan cuisine has broken through, could the food of Hunan province make a similar impact? Check out what I thought of traditional Hunan cuisine at Golden Day and in its Americanised guise in the form of General Tso's chicken.

I love eating on my travels and I really enjoyed the food in Kuala Lumpur and in Singapore, where I enjoyed the cheap eats as much as the restaurants. Closer to home, The Golden Noodle Awards 2009-10 celebrates some of London's finest restaurants and noodles.

See you in September!

Singapore Part 2 - Cheap Eats

I love Singapore's hawker centres. There's something great about checking out the different stalls and buying a snack or two, as you decide what to eat next. One of the most famous hawker centres in the island state is Lau Pa Sat, which means 'old market' in the local vernacular.

Mixed satay

Lau Pa Sat satay stalls

You come here for one dish above all others, the satay. You know when you're getting close to Lau Pa Sat when you can see the plumes of smoke coming from the outdoor grills. First up bag a seat outside and watch the satay being grilled but try to not to get too close to the smoky grill.

We ordered a combo of chicken, beef, and mutton satay. I thought it was all good although some thought that the honey baste was too sweet. I didn't mind so much as the accompanying zingy sauce counterbalanced the sweetness.

BBQ stingray w/chilli sauce

fried bee hoon

We also ordered bbq stingray w/chilli sauce and a dish of fried bee hoon (rice vermicelli). I really liked the chiili sauce that came with fish; so much so, I stirred it into the vermicelli. My hosts were truly mortified when I told them that in the UK, curry powder is added to fried bee hoon to make 'Singapore noodles'.

We then went inside this fine Victorian building for more food. To be honest, other than the satay, I don't think the stalls at Lau Pa Sat are the best in Singapore. I had trouble finding a decent laksa stall so I played it safe and went with an old fave, a bowl of shrimp dumpling soup noodle (sui gow mein) – a mere S$3.50 for a giant bowl including six plump dumplings.

Bak kut teh is another iconic dish found in Singapore and the name literally translates as 'meat bone tea'. Originally introduced to the region by Hokkien Chinese, there are many different versions of this pork rib broth found across Malaysia and Singapore. I'd previously tried the darker medicinal version but this was the first time that I'd sampled this lighter peppery variant.

bak kut teh

We sampled the bak kut teh at Outram Park Ya Hua Rou Gu Cha located on the ground floor of the PSA Tanjong Pagar complex on Keppel Rd. This was like a hawker centre stall-restaurant hybrid in that it had its own seating – we even reserved a table – but the ambience was very much like a hawker centre.

you tiao (fried dough stick)

I adored the bak kut teh, as the fatty meat fell away from the bone full of the flavour of the 'tea' (you can order lean rib but really what's the point in that?). This peppery version was quite different from the medicinal version I'd previously tried but enjoyable nonetheless. Some of the guys thought that it was too peppery but I didn't mind. I also liked dipping the you tiao (fried dough stick) into the 'tea'.

Whilst the bak kut teh may look like a meagre portion, there are unlimited top-up's of the 'tea' throughout the meal. We also shared loads of different dishes in addition to our individual bowls of bak kut teh and rice.

fish slices in broth

liver & kidney in broth

My favourites included separate bowls of fish slices, liver & kidney, and watercress – all served in broth. Oh and I managed to sneak in a crafty bowl of mee sua noodles! This rustic home-style food was a great counterbalance to some of the richer fare I'd eaten during the course of this trip.

The bak kut teh was my last lunch in Singapore and during the afternoon in the office, my thoughts started to drift to what to have for dinner. Although like many a Friday night, my plans for dinner were interrupted by an excursion to the pub. For a change I was vaguely sensible, as I still had to get to the airport that night. I stopped drinking, said my goodbyes and took a cab to the Maxwell Rd food centre.

I'd already had some nibbles at the pub so I didn't have room for a big meal. I went for an old favourite, chicken murtabak at a stall I vaguely remember visiting a couple of years ago, Hajmeer Kwaja Muslim Food. To the uninitiated, murtabak is a roti filled with meat (usually mutton or chicken), onion, and egg that's served with curry sauce.

This dish was introduced to Singapore by Tamil Muslims and you can't really get it in the UK, so I was glad that I managed to squeeze it in before I left. It was as good as I remembered, the flaky filled roti combining really well with the curry sauce. It was just what I needed before picking up my bags at the hotel. Now that I come to think of it, my last meal in Singapore was a curry after a few beers on a Friday night! Some things are universal.

As I left for home, I realised that there were so many other dishes I hadn't got round to sampling on this visit. In particular, nasi lemak, prawn noodle, laksa, and fish head curry. Next time, I hope there'll be a next time.