we live to eat

Shun Feng is highly raved for its yummy crayfish soup. There was a long queue already at 11:30 am and we waited for almost an hour. We ordered the large crayfish soup ($10) and a sliced mackerel soup ($7) which almost wasn't enough for three people. Took a glimpse around and noticed most customers had a large bowl of soup to themselves.

We wanted to try the crystal horfun ($0.50) which came doused in soy sauce and crispy shallots. To our dismay, they ran out of horfun shortly before our turn, so we had to settle for the white rice (same price).

A closer look at the menu. Sadly, they don't seem to do lobsters any more, or else the $28.90 one sounds quite worth it. By noon, the abalone version was sold out!

Can't go wrong with chili padi / sambal and crayfish (:

Each large bowl came with three whole crayfish (small ones), homemade meat balls, sliced dory, tofu and tomatoes. The crayfish was fresh, tender and slid off the shell easily. It also did not have a fishy aftertaste. We also enjoyed the meatballs which were packed full of ingredients like mushroom. The soup on the other hand was a bit of a let down. We went in with high expectations as everyone was saying how rich and creamy it was, but it turned out to be much lighter in taste.

Close up of the huge chunk of crayfish flesh.

The mackerel soup came in the same broth but with two prawns, tofu, meatballs and a generous portion of sliced mackerel. The fish was more firm and tastier than the dory.

Overall a pretty decent meal. Not sure if we would be back to brave the queue again though.

Shun Feng Crayfish Delight
Address: 848 Yishun Street 81, Broadway Kopitiam, 760848
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun, 11:00-00:00
Damage: from S$6

Restoran Ya Wang is pretty hard to find because it's not on the main street. The easiest route from City Square Mall is to head to the curry fish head place. Once you are past it, you can then jaywalk to across the main road on the right. Restoran Ya Wang is located right in front of a parking lot.

For those who need to plan in advance, here's a snapshot of their menu! The zichar dishes look tempting hor, maybe should come back for lunch with the family some day!

A lot of customers were having their roast duck noodle (7rm). So as typical Singaporeans, we also had to try. The noodles were QQ but the sauce was your run-of-the-mill soya sauce concoction. Serving was on the small side, I think one person could eat like two of these plates.

Of course, have to order the signature herbal roast duck rice (7rm)! Restoran Ya Wang is supposedly the consultant for Dian Xiao Er. While the duck was decent, the herbal sauce was disappointing -- they barely drizzled a tablespoon of sauce over your rice lor. And it was quite mild. (You need to pay 5rm to top up the sauce) I think we still prefer DXE.

S wanted some roast pork because it 'looked good' hanging by the window. It was quite salty and totally not crispy at all.

Perhaps we will give it another try in a bigger group - ordering the whole herbal roast duck.

Restoran Ya Wang
Address: 28, Jalan Segget, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun, 08:00-18:00
Contact: +60 7-224 8624
Damage: from S$2

If you recall, we had an earlier post on Kim Dae Mun at Concorde Hotel. It has since been relocated, to the front of the hotel, which is much more visible. Hope it doesn't get too crowded :x Prices seemed to have gone up a notch -- Bibimbap now costs $0.50 more and the Steamed Saba went up by almost a dollar!

Even more spacious than before. Regulars will find the furniture familiar. Now there's even a queue ticket system (can't remember if this was already there haha).

There's another counter for drinks (incl. soju) & ice cream.

This time round S had to go for the Steamed Saba ($9) while Sher settled for the Bean Paste & Vegetables Soup ($7.50). Both dishes came with a bowl of white rice and a side of your choice (cabbage kimchi, cucumber kimchi or ikan bilis).

Lets talk about the Steamed Saba first! This dish is so unique that Kim Dae Mun is the only place we know of that serves it in Singapore. It's a huge & tender hunk of saba (mackeral) that's stewed with a rich, midly spicy tomato-ish sauce. Good enough for 2! This is a homely dish that goes perfectly with the rice. Also comes with a whole boiled potato. Sher likens it to Ayam brand canned tuna :')

Next up is the Bean Paste and Vege Stew which Sher opted for the non-spicy version. As you can see, the bowl was filled to the brim with plenty of assorted vegetables and seafood. The best part is the tasty (miso) broth which you'll definitely slurp every last drop.

We will definitely revisit Kim Dae Mun if we are around the vicinity! Maybe the Pan-Fried Sliced Fish next?

Kim Dae Mun Korean Cuisine
Address: #01-04, Concorde Hotel, 100 Orchard Road, 238840
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun, 11:00-20:30; Closed Mon
Website: https://www.facebook.com/KimDaeMun/
Contact: +65 9112 5910
Damage: $8/pax

On our previous visit to Alexandra Village Food Centre, the famous claypot laksa was closed. This time we're back again as promised. It was 12pm and the queue was far too long a wait for an empty stomach, so we decided to have a bowl of herbal Bak Ku Teh first.

Our favourite herbal bak ku teh ($6) (: We were quite lucky there was no queue. If only the soup was refillable.

After filling our tummies, we went back to queue for the laksa. The queue was still long but at least we were half full. 45mins later, S finally came back with a medium ($4.50) bowl of laksa. We counted exactly 2 prawns, 2 fish cake, 2 taupok and 4 cockles. Very miserly portions. The sauce and chili was flavorful and rich though. S slurped up every drop of sauce.

Lesson learned: if we are going to queue so long, might as well go for the biggest size.

Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa
Address: Blk 119, Bukit Merah Lane 1, #01-75, Alexandra Village, Singapore 150119
Opening Hours: 09:00-15:30, Mon-Sat; Closed Sun
Damage: $3.50 (S), $4.50 (M), $5.50 (L)

S heard of this IKEA crawfish party from his colleague and insisted we had to get tickets. So we managed to book a table for the 8pm slot on Friday. Tickets were going at $25 apiece, but if you are a IKEA member (which we weren't), you could get a $10 IKEA voucher. Little did we know that registering for the membership was free -- this meal could have been $15 only la.

Lucky we were there early, the queue behind us stretched all the way down the stairs and into the first floor. Actually it made sense to be kiasu, because it was 8pm already and we were all starving. Might as well be the first in line to the food!

The moment they started letting people in -- chiong ah!

Tables all lined up with party hats and bips.

Standard IKEA fare. The vege meatballs is actually quite good. There's like corn and carrots inside for some textural contrast. The meatballs on the other hand were okay la..

Along with the microwaved food, were trays and trays of freshly defrosted crawfish.

Whatchu looking at? S said the crawfish was freezing, and his hands were numb from peeling. The Chinese couple in the table next to us actually brought their own sauce (looks like homemade chili beanpaste) for dipping haha. Kudos for being well-prepared.

Our first serving! After that we went back for one more plate of salty crawfish because S liked peeling it. After that we realised we missed out on the dill mayo for the crawfish!? Maybe it wouldn't have tasted so horrible if we had that sauce.. Apparently the Tampines outlet had chilli crab style crawfish also.

Did we eat enough? Probably not ): We won't be back next year.

Sher won us a pair of tickets for a cooking class ($118 each) at CulinaryOn. We only had a few classes to choose from as we were reluctant to top-up, so we went for the Sea Club: Warm Octopus Salad (above), Squid Ink Risotto and Pumpkin Pie.

The class was more appropriate for corporate team bonding events rather than an actual class as most of the ingredients were already prepared for you. But it was fun because there's lots of food and drinks! All the best things in life are free (:

Before the class starts, you get to snack on some lovely cheese & fruits and mingle with the class. There was also freshly baked mini pizzas and a juice bar.

Rather than cooking your own portions, the whole class worked together to put together this octopus salad. Some were chopping veges, some were searing the octopuses, others were plating up. The octopus wasn't chewy and it tasted more of chicken. Definitely this over squid any day! Unfortunately, this was the best dish of the night.

The main course, squid ink risotto! Actually this was so-so only and a tad salty.

By the time we came to the pumpkin pie, we were pretty stuffed. So we had to dabao about half the pie. The pie was decent -- sweet & salty with a touch of cinnamon. But the crust was a letdown, felt airy and not buttery enough.

All the equipment were top of the range and almost brand new. It's a home cook's dream come true to work in such a well-equipped kitchen.

Cool bar seats where we sat and ate dinner. Can even watch the chef cook -- if only it was just him cooking and us eating ;)

Octopus was already cooked and we just had to slice.

Making the pie was probably the most hands on. Although it was group work and each one of us only had to do one thing. Like cracking eggs or blending pumpkin.

Another shot of the open kitchen. Imagine having one of these in your house ^_^

A lot of angmohs attended the class and they were a lively bunch! There was even music for us to dance along while we cook (:

Pumpkin pie (with a smiley face) in the oven!

Using the leftover pie dough to make cookies. Spot Sher's huge star of the day. Who's Ben btw?

Don't be sad, you are just as delicious.

3-in-1 stand mixer, food processor and blender from Kenwood!

Using tablets to display the recipes. We hardly used them though as the chef made us do a lot of shortcuts to get the food out quicker. Eg. not blind baking the pie crust, pouring all of the stock into the risotto, liquid nitrogen to cool the pies. Not that we mind though, if not by the time we finished, it would be midnight already.