Taiwan Food: Causeway Bay Taiwan Xiao Chi 铜锣湾台湾小吃

Before this Taiwan restaurant, it was a Hong Kong restaurant which I've also tried once and it was just normal. So again I returned to this same store space at Causeway Point (right beside popular) to try their Taiwan food. 

I'm a big big big big big fan of Taiwan. I totally love Taiwan and the food. I was kind of skeptical about this place because it was completely empty when I went for dinner at about 7pm but then again, empty doesn't always mean not nice. So I decided to give it a try.

Quite a thick menu so I was kinda lazy to take every page.

After flipping through, I decided to order some Si Chuan Spicy Noodles. (It wasn't too spicy, I could eat it without drinking water)

My mum ordered this San Bei Chicken (direct translate means 3 cup chicken)

It's quite a big set, if I'm not wrong it's about $17 or $18 for this. My mom complaint that the chicken tasted like pork. Lol!

The main dishes are.... Normal. Edible but nothing fantastic or 'wow'.

I totally love blackball and this, is a complete disappointment. I thought blackball was expensive because it was $5.40 now, it used to be $4.90. But this bloody plate was $7.50 and it tasted horrible.

Looks good? No. It's horrible, don't waste your money. Go get better desserts at blackball instead. 

I spent about $40 for everything shown here.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, ice water are charged at $0.70 (really? I thought $0.30 was the rate).

Well, you probably saw it coming, I won't have the urge to come back again.

No wonder the previous business closed down....

Penang Food: Gurney Drive

Personally, I have not been to Penang but I've always heard about Penang Laksa. I wanted to try it but in the end I dropped the idea because my colleagues told me it was sour. (Meeeeeh, I do not like sour stuff in general)

Currently Gurney Drive has about 7 outlets in Singapore with 1 at Suntec currently closed due to renovations. This one that I went was located at Jubilee Square, Ang Mo Kio #01-07 to 10. 

Here's their valuable set lunches you can order. Else, their a la carte menu is here.

Basically you look at the menu, write the numbers before heading over to the counter to order and make payment at the same time. 

We all ordered the $9.90 set meal that comes with a drink. They don't charge for service but they do charge for GST.

We had soursop (which was too sweet according to my colleagues) and pink guava which I found it a little sour but it was fine after a few more mouthful of it.

Additional side dish is $2 each

This is their Lor Bar which was pretty good.

Rojak @ $2

This is pretty good, I love the fried youtiaos (it's super cripsy) but the pineapple and mango were way too sour for me to take it. 

Here's the Penang Laksa that was good (as feedback from my colleagues) I tried the sweet, it was sourish spicy.

Nasi Lemak

Here's my fried kway teow. It's not bad, I like the lupcheong but I still prefer the black ones.

If you can't think of what to eat for lunch? Here's a quick fix for you. Set lunches at $9.90 with drink, reasonable aye?

Cafe: The Tiramisu Hero

The other time while dining at Burger Bar at Far East, I saw them selling the tiramisu hero cake in a jar. I didn't try it back then. So here I am today at their cafe located at a quiet street nearby Jalan Besar Stadium. 

From the google map if you try and find via their address, 121 Tyrwhitt Road, you won't be able to see this store front. So don't panic if you can't find it. It's pretty prominent when you walk pass.

I would say that their menu for main dish is pretty limited... Though they aren't too bad. But not much choices.

I was there on a Saturday about 7pm, it wasn't packed when I arrived but shortly thereafter the cafe was packed.

So out of the menu.. I really didn't know what to do. I don't exactly fancy baked salmon (I prefer raw) so I had a hard time trying to decide what to eat.... And finally, I chose this Bangers. Sausages and a choice with either mac & cheese or mashed potato, I chose mac & cheese.

Bangers @ $17

The mac & cheese isn't as nice as Aston's. It's a little blend but maybe because I prefer heavier flavouring. So you prefer something lighter, this would be good.

Baked Cheesy Chicken @ $17

This serving is definitely too small for a guy. But it's the best out of the 4 dishes we ordered. 

Bangers @ $17 with mashed potatoes instead.

Well... My mac & cheese seems more value for money. 

Thai basil pork rice @ $12.50

Feedback by a thai food fanatic says it's nothing fantastic so.... Your choice.

Well, the main purpose was to try their tiramisu so....

The most unfortunate thing happened to us. There were so many bottles, but all milo. 

*big fat sigh*

I was looking forward to trying the original one. But since we came all the way here, we decided to go with the milo, with no choice.

This little jar cost $7.50. (really? We finished it within like 10 mouthful or something.)

Here's some milo for you.

Of course before leaving... here's a shot with me and Sir Antonio!

You know where is this amazing place with balls?

Ask for the toilet, you'd see it.

Well... I'm not a tiramisu fan, neither am I a expert in dessert but to me... This is just. Normal. Really, normal and I feel kinda unfair that I had to travel all the way and no more stocks! (It was just 7pm! Okay, I'm being unreasonable because it wasn't their fault. Probably the business was too good) 

I would say... I won't return to the cafe, cause there's nothing really awesome about the main dishes, plus it's pretty out of the way. And, I would rather just get them off shelve from their exclusive retailers.

But.... $7.50. Not really something I would want to pay for. But it's worth 1 try.

Dim Sum: Swee Choon Tim Sum

This is one of the famous dim sums you can find around Singapore. Although famous doesn't always means best, but still most tourist would know about this place. 

I guess I don't really need to tell you much. I'd just let the pictures and the prices do the talking. I will try my best to name the food correctly, apologies if I get any wrong.

Here's a brief menu of what they have.

手撕饼 Onion Pancake @ $3.30 (This is pretty awesome too)

豆沙铜饼 Red Bean Paste Pancake @ $4.80

烧麦 Siew Mai @ $1.80 for 2

酸辣宋城萝卜条 Spicy & Sour Carrot @ $1.00

奶黄流沙包 Steamed Salted Egg Yolk Custard Bun @ $3.60 for 3 (I love this to the max)

My happiest food. Hahahhahaa.

虾饺 Har Kow @ $2.40 (which I don't think is worth it.)

葡式蛋挞 Portuguese Egg Tart @ $3.00 (These are good)

凤爪 Chicken Claw @ $2.50

豉汁排骨 Steamed Pork Ribs @ $2.80

上海小笼包 Shanghai Xiao Long Bao @ $4.00 

瑞春招牌面丝糕 @ $2.00

萝卜糕 Carrot Cake @ $2.00 (This is pretty awesome)

四川红油拉手 Sichuan Chilli Oil Wanton @ $4.00

If you want to eat, you've gotta prepare to wait for seats. They do have proper waiting system and tons of chairs for you to wait outside their restaurant. Though not everything is fantastic, but if you need a quick fix of cravings for dimsum in the middle of the night, this is where you probably can go.

Credits: Thanks 'upthere' for allowing me to take photos before they commenced eating.

Other links to dimsum:
East Ocean Teo Chew Restaurant
Victor's Kitchen @ Sunshine Plaza