Cat eats Hokkien Mee again at Eunos

Cat just had a wonderful breakfast / lunch / brunch at my Hokkien mee stall. It was delicious and totally value for money. Best of all, I took away all the prawns and sotong for that extra eggs and less seafood cholesterol and toxins, in doing so justifying eating more eggs. Besides, it's still early in the morning now.


Cat returned home totally full and realizing that reduced oil in any sort of zichar is always a great idea.

Remove the prawns and sotong, add more eggs to this...

In the mean time, Cat wants to write a chilli crab policy about eating crabs with Hweecat, because Cat does not really like crabs, esp not peeling them, but Hweecat loves them.

1. In general only one crab will be ordered, I do not eat crabs in general.

2. You may either peel the crab for me, or eat it all up yourself, take it as I am pampering you, but remember do not try to "offer" or "force" me to eat the crab by my own peeling. Exception, the crab roe or eggs, I will definitely help myself.

3. The chilli gravy with mantou or rice is what I am interested in. The main reason for me to eat chilli crab is this.

Chilli crab, perfect with fried mantou.

4. It sounds like I am giving you all the nicest parts which is not worth it for me when the bill comes. It is true, but I am not exactly so noble; the logic is, I take it as modern marketing strategy. I am interested in the sauce and not interested in the crab. I take it as I am paying for the fact that there is now someone to eat the crab for me. You see, previously I never ordered chilli crab cos there is nobody to eat the crab, so it is still worth it for me; this is modern marketing strategy, in the absolute and relative value of things.

5. As crabs are seasonal, please time your crab escapades properly so as to minimize costs. They are after all still rather expensive, whether in season or not.


Comments from Hweecat: Cat brought me to the above-mentioned Hokkien mee place in Eunos for lunch. It's actually the famous Kim's Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee along Jalan Eunos. This version of Hokkien prawn mee is drier and not too bad, though I prefer my Hokkien prawn mee to be a little wetter. Very generous with fried lard.

Anyway, Cat and Hweecat are planning a food excursion to feast on chilli crab. Any recommendations? (:

Katsudon at Ginza Bairin (ION Orchard)

Hweecat meow.

As our friends and loyal readers would know, Cat typically enjoys cheap and plentiful food and hence would rarely (if at all) introduce up-budget food to anyone. Cat had a rough day at work last Friday and was having cravings for donburi while at ION Orchard. Hence, he suggested having Katsudon at Ginza Bairin which he said was quite decent. Since any up-budget food that Cat considers decent would have to be really good food, I decided to give Ginza Bairin a try.

After much pondering, we ordered a bowl of Special Black Pig Katsudon (S$18.90 ala carte) to share, thinking that we could get cheaper snacks elsewhere if the portion is not big enough for two persons. After much waiting, we were finally served our Katsudon in a black bowl.

Special Black Pig Katsudon

The Special Black Pig Katsudon is special as it comes with a half-boiled egg on top of the tonkatsu (pork cutlet), which is already cooked with soft creamy egg. The half-boiled egg added more flavour to the Katsudon when the yolk is burst and mixed together with the tonkatsu and rice. Black pig (Kurobuta) loin meat is used for the tonkatsu, which tastes sweeter compared with typical tonkatsu. Although the black pig tonkatsu tasted juicy and tender, I feel that it could be a little bit more crispy (though frankly speaking, my sore throat wouldn't mind tonkatsu which is slightly soggy with creamy egg and sauce).

In short, Ginza Bairin at ION Orchard serves one of the best Katsudon in Singapore. The Special Katsudon is great for egg-lovers who love having egg yolk seeping through their katsudon for the extra taste. As the Donburi (including Special Katsudons) cost below $20, I can understand why Cat considers Ginza Bairin to be worth a visit. (:

Some honest comments by Cat: Cat would like everyone to note that I do not really like katsudon in general, due to their high energy content and processed nature, so this is a true exception.

Ginza Bairin

2 Orchard Turn

#B4-39/40/41/42

ION Orchard

Opening Hours:

Daily 11am - 10.30pm

Sushi Express - Giant Scallop!

Hweecat meow.

Today I'm going to write a short post about Sushi Express in Singapore. Cat and I are fans of Sushi Express; we visit any nearby Sushi Express restaurant whenever we feel like having some affordable sushi and seafood! :P

Sushi Express, also known as 争鲜 (zheng1 xian1, meaning "vying for freshness"), is a popular brand name in revolving sushi restaurants and aims to provide fresh and quality dining at affordable prices. It seems that the Taiwan brand name philosophy holds true in its Singapore branches, as the restaurants usually see long queues during dinner times.

The key attracting factor is that each plate is charged at a standardised price of S$1.50 each. This really helps speed up the decision process on which item is value for money; no more mental acrobatics over coloured plates! :D What is even more awesome about Sushi Express is that it's now the Giant Scallop season - and you can grab a plate of whole Giant Scallop for an unbelievably cheap price of S$1.50! *throws confetti*

Giant Scallop...yum!

The big and juicy Giant Scallop is a really satisfying treat. Drenched with teriyaki sauce at the side, the Giant Scallop tastes really sweet and fresh. Yummy! :P

Orange roe scallop and white roe scallop

There are two types of Giant Scallops which we spotted: the orange roe scallop and the white roe scallop. I prefer the orange roe scallop as the orange roe is sweeter than the white roe, but sometimes only the white roe scallop would be available.

As the availability of Giant Scallops depends on their supplier, there are limited quantities of Giant Scallops per day. The next time you visit Sushi Express, do look out for these juicy affordable scallops! :D

P.S. Cat and I tried having 4 Giant Scallops each before; we ended up having insomnia / feeling unwell. As scallops may contain toxins, do consume these delicious Giant Scallops in moderation (even though S$1.50 per giant scallop is indeed value for money)! ;)

The Sushi Bar Salmon Aburi Roll

Hweecat meow.

Today's post shall be relatively short and straightforward, just like the food place that I'm writing about. The Sushi Bar is located inconspicuously at level 4 of Far East Plaza. Nevertheless, this hole-in-the-wall Japanese sushi bar sees hungry crowds in the evenings.

Cat and I visited The Sushi Bar to try their signature salmon aburi roll. At 5.15pm on a Friday evening, we managed to get seats for two. We ordered the Salmon Aburi Roll (S$14.50) and Scallop Mentaiyaki (S$13.90) to share, as we thought that 8 pieces of salmon aburi roll with a plate of scallop mentaiyaki would be enough for both of us. How wrong we are!

Scallop Mentaiyaki

Scallop Mentaiyaki is pretty impressive. Imagine thinly sliced fresh scallops, topped with mentai and garnished with fish roe at the side. Perfect appetiser!

Salmon Aburi Roll

One word to describe the Salmon Aburi Roll: Shiok! The salmon is so well torched that I could feel it melt in my mouth in one bite and not feel guilty about it. After having 4 pieces each, we were left feeling hungry as it is just not enough to satisfy our tummies! In short, definitely one of the best salmon aburi rolls that we've had so far!

The Sushi Bar serves one of the best salmon aburi rolls in Singapore. However, prices tend to be mid-range, so we probably won't be visiting that often unless we have serious cravings for the salmon aburi roll. We'll probably also order 8 pieces of salmon aburi roll for each of us, if we have the money. Gotta pay more for sushi of such high quality, no? *shrugs*

The Sushi Bar

14 Scotts Road

#04-28

Far East Plaza

Opening Hours:

Mondays - Thursdays 12.30 - 3pm, 5.30 - 9pm

Fridays - Saturdays 12.30 - 9pm