Jackie Beer Garden

Changi Village always reminds me of a laid back village in some ulu region of Malaysia. Quiet, peaceful and unassuming, it’s a refuge from the noise and crowd of modern Singapore. What could be more relaxing than taking a leisurely stroll along the boardwalk in the cool, breezy evening?

Now, located at one end of the hawker centre (near the famous nasi lemak stall) is a highly popular seafood stall called Jackie Beer Garden. The place is packed by 6.00pm so either be there early or make a reservation. Prices are not really cheap, considering that it’s just a zi char stall, but the food is good. Wash it down with a jug a Tiger and you’ll have a really tasty meal.

This is one of my favourite vegetables dishes – Sweet Potato Leaves Fried with Hae Bi and Belacan. This is a light and sweet-tasting veggy that softens up easily when cooked and goes very well with spicy sprinkles of Hae Bi.

The Sweet and Sour Pork, coated with a subtle tangy sauce, was so tender. It literally melted in your mouth. I could see FT chomping away at the other corner of the table.

Mmmmm…BBQ Stingray with Sambal. This can give the one in Chomp Chomp a good run for its money.

Another one of my favourite dishes – Crispy Calamari with Curry Leaves. I love the exotic and fragrant infusion of the curry leaves in the light crispy batter.

The Creamy Salted Egg Crab was the stall’s speciality and the highlight of the meal. The flesh was sweet and meaty and the creamy gravy was thick and rich. Some salted egg crab recipes come with chunks of salted egg coated over crab, which I like very much. This one was a smoother, more blended version and the richness of the gravy more than made up for the absence of the egg bits.

Though the food was tasty, it was a bit on the salty side and I was extremely thirsty after dinner. The cook was probably too liberal with the MSG, which was quite a waste as the food was good enough without the added salt.

Mad Jack

Mad Jack is a cosy, affordable family restaurant. The lunch specials are a steal and if you are down for dinner, the mains range from about $8.00 to $20. They have quite an extensive menu which includes pastas, steaks, burgers, fish, fried chicken and  a wide range of sinful cakes. Essentially, there's something for everyone. Now, this is the kind of restaurant I like. There's nothing better than sharing good comfort food with friends. There's even a vegetarian selection though it's such a waste (to me anyway) to order items like mock fish and chicken.

I was there for a quick lunch and zoomed in straight for the steak with brown sauce (about $14). The meat was well-seasoned and the sauce was light. Surprisingly, what really tickled my tastebuds was the mash potato. The sauce was really addictive with subtle flavours of chicken and pepper.

AS ordered the Grilled Chicken Cutlet. Doesn't it look juicy? It's on the top of my list of things to try the next time I visit Mad Jack.

Definitely a place that I'll take FT and JT

Mad Jack Cafe

242 Jalan Kayu

Tel: 6483 1202

Makan Wish List

There are so many eating places to try, yet so little time (not to mention so little stomach space too) to do so. As I plan the next eatery I wish to visit, here's a list of restaurants that I really want to try.

Cafe La Chateau - Valley Point
Tampopo - Liang Court
Tetsuya - Tanglin
Heart Bistro - Palaise Renaissance

Nara Japanese Restaurant

The gang and I were scouting around for a late dinner when we drove by Nara Japanese Restaurant along Maju Avenue at Serangoon Gardens. As PT had generously offered to give us a treat, we decided to give this place a shot. Parking in Serangoon Gardens is madness. It's almost impossible to find a lot and worse still, almost every lot is a parallel lot (shudder). Luckily, PT managed to grab a lot just metres from the restaurant.

Nara's a quiet, spacious place with warm cosy lighting and comfortable booths. Service was excellent, and a new waiter who served us was attentive and friendly.

Once we sat down, a raw veggy salad and a tasty miso dip was served. Not bad, I thought, until I realised that I was charged $4 for this dish. Kena conned!

PT, as usual, wanted MEAT and so ordered the Beef Bulgogi. These well-seasoned slices were lightly grilled to melt-in-your mouth tenderness.

I wanted something fresh and since PT was paying, what the heck, I ordered a plate of Sashimi Moriwase.
Even at 8 plus, the sashimi was fresh and firm and the tuna slices were fantastic!

FT ordered the Nara Ramen. It wasn't as good as I had expected as the soup was quite diluted, unlike the rich, thick stock we have come to expect. No pics here as all you would see would be whitish soup with several floating leafy vegetables.

The Tempura Soft Shell Crab was so-so. I tasted lots of batter but hardly any crab.

JT's chicken porridge was interesting and tasted quite different from the usual chinese congee. It was made from the Japanese sticky rice, so that alone enhanced the taste. It arrived bubbling hot in a claypot, which gave it a deep smoky flavour. JT complainted about it though, preferring the lighter flavour of the Chinese congee.

Nara Japanese Restaurant
10 Maju Avenue

Auntie Kim's Korean Restaurant

It's been a long while since I last embarked on a makan adventure. So I rallied the usual gang and we set off for Auntie Kim's Korean Restaurant.

Numerous reviews have already been made on this restaurant and the common grouse was that the quality of the food was inconsistent. Fortunately for us, the visit turned out quite favourably.

The decor was bright, spacious and simple with cosy corners if you want more privacy. The restaurant was pleasantly quiet. Surprisingly, it was also rather empty, with only about one-third of the tables occupied. I wondered  with some trepidation if it was a sign of the food quality.

The menu, though limited, carried the usual Korean fare - soups, grills, rice and noodles. In fact, all the Korean restaurants that I'd been to seem to carry only a limited number of dishes. Is this the norm? Anyway, with FT and JT with us, we decided to play safe and order the usual favourites.

What I look forward to when eating at a Korean restuarant (besides the kimshi) is the interesting sides that are served at the start of the meal. No two restaurants serve the same dishes.  Over at Auntie Kim's, 6 different dishes were served. My favourite was the dried beef jerky with dried chilli. The thin chewy slices were packed with meaty flavour  The kimchi, too, came with good kick.

PT, as usual, went for the meat dishes. The Dak Bulgogi ($14.50) or bbq marinated pork was juicy and delicately flavoured with a hint of sweetness and spiciness.

Next came the Marinated Grilled Short Ribs ($27) which was a hit with FT. I dipped the slices in sesame paste, sprinkled some garlic and red chillis and wrapped the meat with green leafy lettuce. I don't quite know what was put in the marinate, but it kept us coming back for more.

After checking out what the table next to us was eating, I decided to order the Egg Pancake with Seafood ($16). It was a huge serving, enough to feed 4. This was quite a filling dish with a heavy batter. In fact, it tasted like a giant version of the small round oyster pancake that one finds at pasar malams. I couldn't really taste the seafood and I felt that I was just eating a really huge piece of carrot cake.

On the whole, the food was not bad. It did not have the usual heavy handedness of seasoning (and msg) that is frequently found in Korean restaurants.Service as friendly and attentive and prices are reasonable.

Auntie Kim's Korean Restaurant

265 Upper Thomson Road

Tel: 6425 2112

Prata @ Serangoon Gardens

PT discovered this Prata joint at Serangoon Gardens and brought us all there for breakfast one Sunday.

Now what do I consider to be good prata? Well, firstly, the prata must be served piping hot. Secondly, it must be crispy on the outside and fluffy inside - got to have that little crunch with every bite. The prata served here meets both criteria. Even the prata with egg was light and airy. Unfortunately, I was almost done with my pratas before I realised that I forgot to take the pictures.

Luckily, I still had the tissue prata. It was crispy and light, right down to the edges. And the generous sprinkling of sugar on the inside made this a hot favourite with JT and FT.

A cup of Teh Tarik was a wonderful, aromatic complement to the meal.

Macau Day 4 (Dim Sum)

On our last day in Macau, we went all out for our Dim Sum Feast. Portas do Sol at the Lisboa Hotel serves one of the best dim sums in Macau. What differentiates this restaurant from the rest is its novel take on traditional dim sum dishes. Service is exceptional too. Tucked away in an obscure corner of the East Wing, it was a tough restaurant to fnd. Nonetheless, it's a highly popular restaurant and be prepared for a long wait if you do not make a reservation.

There were so many interesting items on the menu that we over ordered. Just look at the spread.

The most interesting dish (and one of the tastiest too) was the curry crab tartlets. Fresh crab meat was cooked in creamy delicate curry and served in crumbly little cups of sweet pastry.

The little cubes of steamed brinjal topped with seafood pate was also delicious. The heavy seasoning of the fish masqueraded the taste of the brinjal and PT, who absolutely hates brinjals, was popping the little fellows into his mouth with gusto.

Unlike to usual fried wantons, these came with a refreshing orange dip.

The roast goose was one of the best that I've ever tasted. There was a smokey intensity to the juicy meat. The waitress was concerned that the half goose that we ordered was too much for the 5 of us. Ha! I polished off almost half of the bird on my own.

Just like the East Ocean Restaurant, selected dim sums are served in cute animal shapes. One such dish is the custard bun. Shaped like little porcupines, these little creatures were almost too lovely to eat. (But we ate them anyway)

JT and FT loved the fried rice. Though it was cooked simply with mushrooms and chicken, each grain of rice was coated with flavour.

The glutinous rice was surprisingly tasty. The rectangular pieces of rices were stuffed with sweet meat filling was fried until crisp. I really enjoyed crunching through the crispy exterior and taking a mouthful of gooey rice.

This was one of the best meals we had in Macau. A great end to a fastastic holiday!

Portas do Sol

Hotel Lisboa

2/F East Wing

(853) 8803 3100