Nong Geng Ji's Stir-Fried Beef with Tea Oil

This dish was featured prominently at the top of Nong Geng Ji's menu, and the idea of tea oil sounded interesting enough. Yes, it was a little nutty but not in a particularly strong way. It ultimately went well with the thin beef slices, garlic, and chili peppers, creating a salty and spicy mixture that facilitated easy rice shoveling. Interestingly, this seems to have replaced that other beef dish that was supposed to be one of their signature items. I guess the tea oil is more unique?

Udon Shin from Shinjuku in Singapore

This highly-rated udon shop from Tokyo has only two outlets globally, and that second one is here in Singapore of all places (391 Orchard Road #B2-32). It's naturally been drawing huge lines that have been so ridiculous that I have not been willing to wait for it. It turns out though that it was a breeze getting in on a Monday just before their 5 PM opening hour.

They offered a number of configurations that I wanted to try, including their tempura add-ons. But I went for that carbonara above given how unique it was. And it was pretty good given not just the quality of those extra thick and chewy noodles, but also the savory base mixed in with the cheese, butter, and egg. Sure, that thick bacon fried in tempura batter was fun too. It's quite a step up from Tamoya and Tsuru-koshi.

Korea's Obongzip Has Opened in Singapore

Here's a new Korean restaurant that I initially thought was independently owner-operated, especially given the signage in front mentioning "the taste of my mother's cooking," complete with a prominently placed photo of her (77 Tanjong Pagar Road). But it turns out that it's actually a big chain from Korea that got started during the pandemic, amazingly.

They're doing mostly large sets for at least two or three people, but fortunately they had some single-servings like that fire-grilled octopus above. Yeah, it was pretty good, as the octopus was impressively smoky and firm. It was tossed in a slightly sweet sauce that wasn't excessive, and the "hot" level of spiciness was just right for me. The bottle of sesame oil on each table made it fun and aromatic too.

The banchan were nothing to get excited about though, even if the kimchi was the fresh variety that I like. Their other specialty aside from the octopus was bossam pork, which I intend to try next given that it also comes in a single serving portion. There were quite a few other things available too, including a clam kalguksu, that might have some promise.

KFC Singapore's La Zi Ji Sichuan Mala Chicken

KFC Singapore launched a laziji campaign earlier this week in the runup to Chinese New Year. It kinda makes you wonder why no one else had thought of this before. Yes, they basically shower their fried chicken in dried chili peppers and peppercorns, just like laziji.

The main difference of course is the thick batter; those were the smaller popcorn "bites" above, but one can get full-sized bone-in parts dressed like this too. There was a bit of a goopy sauce underneath, but it wasn't excessive, even if it still made everything quite salty. That was separate from that extra Mala Mania Sauce above it, which was sweet.

They also offered some lotus root chips that were pretty potent. I ate the La Zi Ji Bites above quickly either way, and was even happy to nibble on the remaining pile of chili peppers afterwards. This was much better than their ghost pepper promo; I kinda hope that they make this a permanent addition.

Hakka Bond’s Hairy Fig Salted Chicken Leg

I'm still not sure if this was salt-baked or not, but the firm meat in that chicken leg from Hakka Bond above had an edgy amount of salt and fat that was delicious with a bowl of rice. Those swirled up wuzhiimaotao twigs underneath made it particularly unique, as they gave it a fragrant aroma that was woody, nutty and elegantly sweet. I'll definitely eat this again.

Miyu at Dempsey Hill in Singapore

This little bunker out on Dempsey Hill has a limited number of counter seats to serve rather pricey omakase meals (13A Dempsey Road). One generally got decent quality ingredients at that price, along with attentive service. But I didn't care much for their sushi rice, which was soft and very vinegar-heavy...so much that it was hard for me to pay attention to the taste of the fish. The venue was kinda cool, but at these kinds of prices, I'd rather go elsewhere.

Keisuke’s Grilled Shiokoji Chicken Set

No, I'm not on a tour of Keisuke's non-ramen shops. It's just that I needed protein and fiber quickly today, and his Hamburg Steak Keisuke shop was in front of me without a queue. I wasn't in the mood for ground beef though, so I went for this chicken, which was piping hot and tender, and had a savory shiokoji accent on it. It was nothing to make an effort to go back for, but I was happy to hit up that salad bar and get quick protein through his egg station.

The Kinmedai Ichiyaboshi from Grilled Fish Keisuke

I'm not sure if I missed it last time, but I don't recall seeing this on Grilled Fish Keisuke's menu previously. So that kinmedai above might be a more recent addition. And it was awesome with its overnight dried texture and briny taste. It wasn't particularly large, but I took my time to gnaw off as many little tasty morsels of goodness off those bones as I could, and was happy to part ways with twenty nine bucks for that. It was one of the more expensive items on the menu.

Dim Sum Club at Wheelock Place

It may be a bit hard to make out in the photo, but that's a gyoza-like fried skirt attached to some Cantonese har gow shrimp dumplings underneath. DaXi and Du Du Dumplings do their dumplings with a binghua skirt too, but this is the first time I'd seen it on har gow, which is otherwise steamed in a thinner wrapper.

It was kinda fun, I suppose. But I'm not too sure about where this restaurant Dim Sum Club comes from (501 Orchard Road #B1-01). It seemed legitimate at first given their XO chili sauce and paper order forms. But the wanton min didn't use enough kansui, making the noodles way too soft and tame.

An Outlet of Xiang Chi Mian in Singapore

This chain of hawker stalls has spread across the island, and they are surprisingly bold in seasoning their bak chor mee with a pretty hefty dose of vinegar and oil. It's normally a good thing, but this was a bit too much, especially when there was still a puddle of oil sitting in the bowl after finishing. But their cuts of liver are nice and creamy, and they give quite a few pieces. Plus, they are pretty darned fast and cheap.

Hakka Bond in Singapore

A Hakka restaurant from Sembawang Hills has been taken over and rebranded with a new outlet down at Funan, which made for a convenient lunch today (107 North Bridge Road #B1-22). There were a number of promising dishes on the menu, including a chicken leg (not sure if it was salt-baked?) and a pork with salted vegetable dish, which I definitely want to try next. But today I went for my hawker center favorites of leichafan and yong tau foo above.

Yes it was good, especially since the green paste was not just salty, but earthy, as if there were some ground anise in there or something. They give you a cute little flask of hot water to make a broth with, and those crispy bits of rice on top kept it fun. The yong tau foo was on point too, even if the chili paste was mostly raw garlic. Either way, the service was super fast. And it's nice to find more places doing leichafan in a non-hawker center environment.

Visiting Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice in 2026

I saw mostly tourists at Maxwell Food Centre this afternoon, but strangely there was no one in line at Tian Tian Chicken Rice despite the cordoned-off queuing system that they have. So I quickly grabbed a plate given that I haven't had it in such a long time.

The good thing was that the chicken was plump, firm, and moist, while the rice was not overcooked either. But it was a bit garlic-heavy, and I wish that they used pure sesame oil instead of that thick brown sauce. I also forgot that I have to proactively ask for scallions here.

Perhaps more interesting was the fact that they're using custom-printed cardboard trays along with disposable cutlery now, not unlike a commercialized fast food chain. Well, I guess they have since expanded to a few locations, and it's probably the first hawker stall that I've come across that takes credit cards.