Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Singapore Snacks

Some of my Melbourne pics can't be read in the file and I am waiting for someone to send another copy to me. Meanwhile, let's see what we ate in Singapore.

P1160864

I'm not particularly fond of Chinese cooling drinks (liang cha) and gwei ling gao (a kind of herbal jelly) is something I've avoided forever because I thought the gwei meant tortoise, and that the jelly is probably made from tortoise shell or something. So I was wrong, but I still fear that someday the truth will be revealed and it'll turn out to be tortoise shell after all. This was the 2nd time I've eaten gwei ling gao and I still didn't like it; it had a slight bitter aftertaste, even with all that honey.

P1160876
Now Turkish sticky ice-cream I like, especially this one, pistachio flavor.

My bro Clive and wife Lena brought us to one of their favorite restaurants, a mom and pop hole-in-the-wall type that serves Beijing food. I was clicking away as the food arrived and this man came to me and asked, not very nicely, why I was taking pictures. I asked if pictures were forbidden, and he said no, but he didn't like the way I took pics of everything. Now this is only the second time I've encountered opposition to my taking of restaurant food pics. The first time was last year in Zhouhai,China and it was in a hotel and the lady was very polite. This dour-faced guy was not. When I told him I was going to feature his restaurant, he asked for my card (I don't carry any) and grumbled that I should've at least asked permission. That really spoilt my dinner. But I'd still rate it fairly. Let's see.

P1160889
Their menu is basically everything in the picture, minus some if you are not lucky and they've run out. Prices are quite reasonable, from S$5 to S$9 per item.

P1160894
Minced meat and veg pancake. This was extremely good. If I ever go back, this is what I want to eat.

P1160895
Can you tell, this is guotie? Nah, I prefer it wrapped the traditional way. The shuijiao at the back was pretty good.

P1160896
Xiao long bao, little steamed dumplings. Okay but not earth-moving...

P1160892
Jajiang noodles. Not recommended. At all.

P1160893
Bean sprouts with jajiang sauce. Okay, crisp and refreshing but the jajiang sauce was very mediocre.

I also tried the hot and sour soup and tang yuan. Another so-so. Qun Zhong Eating House is located at 21 Neil Rd, open everyday except Wednesdays, 11.30 am to 3 pm, 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Tel: 6221 3060.

P1160941
P1160934

For dessert, we went to this famous/infamous soy bean milk coffeeshop. You must've read about this establishment infamous for its family feud. Apparently their parents started the business, then the sons took over and fell out with each other due to rivalry so they parted ways but maintained a shop each side by side. After a while it was hard to continue doing business next to each other, so one son moved away (doing well too) and a daughter moved in next door. Lena actually prefers the daughter's shop but they were out of yutiao/Chinese crullers so we went to the more popular shop next door. I later read a travel magazine that also promoted the daughter's shop. Somebody should tell the lady to change her (red) signboard. She has the names of her three girls in a scrawl and its hard to figure out what or how to pronounce. My opinion? No big deal. The soy bean milk tastes like other soy bean milk (okay, soybean flavor was strong) and I think the family feud thing is all publicity. I bet they still sit down together for their CNY reunion dinner.

10 comments:

ekeng said...

Mmmm..just had turtle jelly few days ago at Kong Wor Tong..but why singapore one is "Hong Wor Tong"? hehe...same logo too..haha :)

Anonymous said...

I heard most restaurants in Singapore do not let customers take food photos.

Precious Pea said...

Those jelly not made from tortoise shell la.....they are actually made from a kind of herbal plant!! Good for body as it get rid of heatiness.

Christina Kim said...

Haha...I used to think that too....turtle shell, scary right?
But I learnt that it was not real tortoise, and as Precious Pea said, it was made from a plant:)

Greg Wee said...

Oh when we were in HK, CK tried to take pictures of an old lady selling roasted chestnuts or something. She screamed & nearly frisbeed a plate at him! It's risky being in this business, and it doesn't pay well at all.

Denise ^ ChickyEGG said...

greg nee : wah..... SCARY!!!! Ok, I have to bare in mind next time if I go CHina, I CANNOT SIMPLY snap photos

Auntie:
(1) I purposely took a 45 taxi ride to 1 Utama (KL), just to eat the RM 9 Herbal Jelly. I even thought of why KK DONT HAVE SUCH NICE JELLY! =p~ and I found their herbal Jelly ( this brand) are the BEST ! (as compared to Yen Ai)

(2) Are u bz lately ? or U're eating Vege (on diet) lately? =p how come no cook Meat & post ever since u come back~ ;P~

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

ekenG: bad kaijai! its made of herbs, not turtle...or is it???

linda: is tt u, Pick Ding? :D haha, finally got it hah! Good! um, I think it's the kiasu mentality.

preciousp: i hope so or i'll have to de-tox!

christy: :)

gregwee: tt's so funny!no, it doesn't pay at all. somebody shd expose Nuffnang - has anybody out there been paid by them for all those ads they stick on our blogs??
About picphobia, if u go to Jiujaigo in Sichuan, there's this tribe who believe their soul will be eaten away with each pic taken. They rent their tribal cotumes for u to take pic but if u even take a pic of them from far, they'll shield their faces or turn away, or tell u off. so .

denise: i also do crazy things like race across the HK channel just to eat wontons...i love my hub who puts up with my silly antics. do u mean the brand i ate was the brand u ate at 1 utama? (tt 'Hong' is my hub's surname. It means healthy ho ho ho) I loved the texture of the jelly -so smooth it glides into ur mouth n throat but it was a bit bitter, something i'm not used to in jellies.Also i was uneasy about the turtle thing. I have been cooking (meat) but i want to get my Oz posts out before I forget everything or get lazy about it. bear with me pls? :0

Denise ^ ChickyEGG said...

eh Speak of Turtle,
u know my little nephew (3 yrs), the other day my mum cook winter melon soup with this Chinese Shiitake mushroom.
So, I scoope some soup for him, and I scoope together with the Mushroom for Him, and he said to me
" Wo buk yao na geh WU-GuI "
( I dont want that Turtle )

MY GOODNESS!!!!!! bcuz the back of the mushroom look like TURTLE SHELL! and he named that as WU-GUI! ! ! and HE SPOILT my appetite of drinking that SOUP with turtle?!

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

denise: tt's so true, the 'flower' shiitake esp. does look like wu gui! :D Your nephew is cute n very bright!

Blur Ting said...

Oh, that surly guy is from the restaurant in Neil Road right? He has a reputation for being mean but still people patronise his shop.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...