Foodpanda SG Food Culture Contest

Blogger Seth Lui recently emailed us, inviting us to join the Foodpanda blogger contest which requires bloggers to post a picture of what they feel 'best represents Singaporean food culture' 

Without over-thinking too much, here's our entry which we feel captures the essence of what food culture in Singapore is today, especially for us younger generations.

Good or bad, you decide. Whatever the case is, food culture is becoming more and more strongly intertwined with our cameras and smartphones; be it to share our dining experiences with family and friends, to blog about them or to search up the web where to get the best eats, the list of relationships between the two is ever expansive.

Foodpanda Contest
https://www.foodpanda.sg/
http://sethlui.com/

Taan @ Liang Siah Street: Kushiyaki buffet with a characteristic charm

  As a new eatery some four months old at the point of this writing, Taan can be described as an unpretentious and quirky venture. The kushiyaki restaurant bills itself as being probably the first in Singapore to offer Chinese, Japanese and Local skewers; and does indeed serve quite a variety of meaty skewered treats originating from the aforementioned regions. Whilst variety is always a plus point when it comes to buffets, especially at such bargain prices as the below $30s offered by Taan, taste also ever important. So how does Taan fair in taste? Read on to find out...

Ambience:

  Taan presents itself as a small and somewhat outlandish shop-house along Liang Siah Street. Right upon entry, you are greeted by the likes of Godzilla and Ultraman in the form of simple toys and movie posters nostalgic of 60s Japan. 

The decors feel like a true fan's homage to the pop culture of the period and place. These are paired with the stores own adorable dinosaur like mascot characters painted onto the walls and a bit of local styled decorations here and there, including a mini fountain for fend shui. In a way, just as their the menu tries to blend a mix of different cultures together, so does the stores layout and decorations. On top of that, the staff provided an excellence service experience, offering what I could only detect as their earnest recommendations to our orders and displayed attentive and friendly attitudes. Together, they create a welcoming and charming atmosphere that gives the restaurant a uniquely memorable character.   

Quality & Taste:

  True to its respectful homage of Japanese culture, the store uses a charcoal grill designed specifically for kushiyaki grilling, giving most of their dishes an evenly spread, bare-smokey flavor, complete with a light char. This makes for a great dining experience especially with some beer which, kudos to Taan, is charged at reasonable prices of 6 dollars for a half pint and 50% off the second beer during happy hours.

The Chef hard at work

  Unfortunately, many of the meats were likely prepared naked-that is to say plain and in its natural flavor-without much seasoning, spices nor sauces; lacked a good oil brushing during grilling. Whilst serving food in such a way does indeed prove testament to the freshness of ones ingredients and provide a richly purist experience in some cases-such as in a steakhouse where the meat is preferably served medium rare to rare with a pinch of salt to bring out all the natural goodness of the beef cuts-the charcoal grilled style of cooking used in kushiyaki doesn't exactly pair well which such a practice as it tends to heat out a good chunk of the food's natural moisture and oils, causing some of the items to end up tasting too dry, almost like a drought in ones mouth. 

A slight char makes it all the more yummy

Beef, having lower concentration of natural oils came out especially dry

  Although the over-dryness does deal quite a blow to the taste of some dishes, it can easily be remedied with a light oil brushing or even simply providing some wedges of lemon to pair with their skewers. Considering that the store is relatively new at the point of this writing, I am confident that they will make gradual improvements over time as I am honestly quite impressed with their attention to customer satisfaction and providing quality services. Not to mention that despite the over-dryness, most of the meats were of good quality and freshness. Whilst some of the meat skewers now can only be described as mediocre, many of them could just as easily be described as great with but a few simple improvements here and there.

  Beyond that, there were some surprising highlights amongst the items we ordered. These included the Mouth-Watering Chicken, a Sichuan appetizer that whets the appetite and leaves you drooling for more-hence its name; Taan quite competently captured the fragrant spiciness of the dish and its balance between hot and cold as a spicy dish served chilled.

It even looks mouth-watering!

  Another must order would be the enoki mushrooms. Wrapped in foil and grilled with oyster sauce and some minced meat, the light saltiness sinks deliciously into the natural moisture of the enoki mushrooms and makes for quite a delightful flavor.

One of the best dishes here looking sweet and juicy

  Some other dishes we tried include their selection of satay and seafood items which were decent though not wowing. The two deserts though were quite the treat. Both their cheesecake and creme brulee had a decent balance and just enough sweetness to satisfy ones sugary cravings after a filling meal. 

The Cheesecake wasn't too rich, but it was smooth and silky in texture

Value:

  Priced at no more than 30 dollars per pax, Taan is great value for money when considering the dishes they offer for the buffet, which include slightly more costly items like beef tendon and saba fish, which many other buffets within the price range choose not to include. Not to mention the huge variety of both skewered and non skewered items on the buffet, including a range of starters and deserts. They do normally charge for water which may be a slight turn-off for some but their green tea is a good alternative with free-refills and does help in quenching one's thirst after too many skewers of barbecued food.

Conclusion:

  Taan is a great addition to the buffet scene around the bugis area and holds its own with a unique character against the other established steamboat and grill buffets around the area. Although, it has room for improvement like many other stores, it seems to hold quite a bit of potential and I will definitely be visiting again sometime soon. The place is quirky and comfortable to dine in with a commendable selection of buffet items, most of which fall in the slightly above average to above average range of taste. Paired with a reasonable price tag, I can definitely recommend Taan to anyone looking to satisfy their Kushiyaki cravings or just trying it out for the first time.

FOODIE’S RATING
Quality & Taste(75%)	7.4	A little shy of great but good stuff nonetheless
Value (15%)	8	Very reasonable pricing for the quality offered
Ambience & others (10%)	8	A charming place with a character of its own and great service nets Taan much deserved praise
Total	7.5	A good buffet with lots of potential to be a great one

Taan is good for: 

• After work colleague gatherings over beer
• Gathering for friends or introducing Kushiyaki to friends
• Anyone craving Kushiyaki and wanting to make the most of their money 

Address: 

30 Liang Seah Street

Singapore

6837 0085

Opening Hours:

4:00pm - 2:00am

Price: 

~$30 per pax

Godzilla seems to have eaten too much good meats and cant stand up on its two legs anymore...

Good o'l satay

marinated wings: one of the juicier options on the menu

chicken with leek: a kushiyaki classic done just right

creme brulee with coconut

Qiu Rong Ban Mian -Great noodles, great price

Intro:

While most of the food we typically cover on this blog fall within the mid-range price category, there is an undeniable case to be made for enjoyable food on a budget. Singapore is blessed with its hawker culture, making great-tasting food accessible to all, regardless of socio-economic background. Although hawker food usually lacks the more refined presentation and sophisticated taste of more expensive options, they do not detract from their core strengths of deliciousness. This is definitely the case with Qiu Rong Ban Mian, a humble ban mian store in the basement food court of Roxy Square II.

This way to great ban mian!

Ambience:

Being located in a small food court, Qiu Rong Ban Mian doesn’t have much of an ambience to speak of. At times, I do feel that the food court is an extension of the stall instead of the stall being the food court’s component, upon looking at the sheer percentage of customers eating from orange or pink bowls of noodles, which signifies its popularity. During peak periods, this stall enjoys long queues, while the rest of the food court’s stalls appear to be looking forlornly on.

Sterile food court environment

Quality and Taste:

Mee Hoon Kuey ($3.00)

What’s most striking about this bowl of noodles is its deceivingly simplistic exterior. It really doesn’t look like much. The cloudy soup (a hallmark of a well-done bowl of ban mian) however is the first indicator that beneath its unassuming façade lies a dish of truly potent proportions. The ikan billis is flavourful, strong and crispy, and remains crunchy for a surprisingly long time while submerged in the soup (do try to eat it as soon as possible though –nobody wants soggy ikan bilis). I particularly enjoy digging for the egg yolk, and with its similar colour, find it akin to digging for gold. Indeed, it’s one of the highlights of my meal, with its tendency to explode in mouths of hungry customers, filling them enjoyably with warm eggy goodness infused with a fair serving of tasty broth.

My mee hoon kuey looking good for the camera

It’s a rarity these days to find stalls making their own noodles, with most preferring to buy them from suppliers. Qiu Rong Ban Mian does this however, with their own noodle-making machine in the stall. The noodles (or in my case, mee hoon kuey pieces) turn out nicely supple and soft (which isn’t to be confused with the effects of overcooking them).

Freshly-made noodles

Although it’s unelegant-looking, the minced pork meat is well-marinated, and has a nice texture to it. That being said, it does taste much better the longer it’s left in the broth, as it soaks up its flavours as well as lends the broth its own. Consequently, I like leaving mine alone until the end of the meal when it’s at its best, flavourwise.

The soups of ban mian stalls tend to belong to either of two extremes –being rather diluted and flat (some of which are barely differentiable in taste from tap water), or having copious amounts of MSG added to them. Qiu Rong Ban Mian’s however is extremely robust, tasting like a hearty blend of what I’m guessing to be pork, anchovies, tapioca, and a whole lot of ingredients undiscernible to me. It has an undeniable character to it, one which thankfully isn’t derived from MSG. While it’s understandably not as heavy as the broth of a good Ramen, I’d rate it right up there in terms of taste.

Murky soup, a hallmark of great ban mian

I also ought to mention that in the 5 years or so of my patronage, the ban mian’s taste has not changed one bit, which is an impressive testament to the dedication as well as masterful cooking of the China owner-chefs.

Value:

If you can look past the lack of a classy ambience, I’d say that $3.00 is money very well-spent, considering the sumptuous meal you get at this very low price. I often leave the food court feeling very satisfied and bloated even, with the generous portion of ban mian.

Conclusion:

Qiu Rong Ban Mian is one of those fabled hidden gems, being located in the basement of a shopping mall that has seen better days, and a gem it truly is, with its unpretentious, delicious ban mian. I’d go so far as to say (and I’m sure that its band of loyal patrons will agree) that it is the quintessential ban mian, worthy of anybody’s visit.

FOODIE’S RATING
Quality & Taste(75%)	8.0	Tasty and filling, this is definitely a meal worth having
Value (15%)	8.5	A true steal for the price
Ambience & others (10%)	5.0	At least the food court looks reasonably sterile
Total	7.8	Great taste, great price, it's tough to ask for more

Address:
#B1-01, Roxy Square, 50 East Coast Road

Opening Hours:
Daily, 9:30am to 9pm

Wing Stop @ Bedok Mall: A worthy stop in anyones fast food journey

Intro:

Bedok Mall has been semi-open for a while now and in it hosts a variety of delectable eateries.  Some are established and some are newly opened franchises I'm eager to try all of them.  On the menu today is Wing Stop, a popular franchise from the states that has just started its first outlet in Singapore. 

Ambience:

There isn't much to say here about the ambience.  Wing Stop's design is typically fast food place like and as expected, it has a well maintained and clean image.  The place is rather small though be prepared for a long wait for seats on busy days or opt for take-away instead.  

Simple fast food styled furniture

Decent lighting and wooden theme

Quality and Taste:

Wing Stop serves fresh, made to order (you guessed it) chicken wings that come in both boned and boneless variations. There is quite a wide variety of marinates to choose from and as far as I've experienced, most are quite good. 

You gotta wait for good food!

Wait over, time to eat.

I tried 2 different marinates that day:

Original and Garlic Parmesan 

The chicken served were extremely tender and chock full of natural juiciness.  There isn't too much oil used which but rest assured, the wings are indeed properly fried for drool inducing purposes. They were also served pipping hot for maximum goodness although allowing it to sit for awhile will allow for a more collected flavour due to the numbing effect when there's too much heat on our palates. 

So hot there's mist on my camera

Natural oils and juices~

Smells and tastes great

The original marinate is your bona fide buffalo wing, carrying a lightly spicy-sour taste with a hint of buttery goodness.  The spiciness here shouldn't be too much of a kick for most Singaporeans but the lingering sweetness will likely be enjoyed by most. 

The Garlic Parmesan rub was especially fragrant.  The mix of the cheese and crispy chicken skin was irresistibly appetizing and the garlic helped to add a subtle zing to the food.  If you are not adversed to garlic or Parmesan cheese, I would highly recommend this marinate. 

The set I ordered also came with a potato salad which was better than average but not any better than that.  It was fresh and was seasoned with some spices and herbs but still lacked the punch to make it stand out amongst the potato salads I've had at other places.   

Looks a little messy

Value:

I spent a total of $10.95 for 6 wings that came with a ranch sauce dip (which was pretty standard) , a large potato salad and an iced tea drink. Some might say that this is overpriced but I disagree.  In terms fullness alone I can safely said that I left with a sufficiently filled stomach and although some might consider 6 wings (the mid joint and drumlet are considered 1 wing each) too little for an ala carte price of around  1.20, the marinate they use and the freshness of the wing do help to justify its value a little.  Whilst Wing Stop wont win any super savings awards, its pricing is still quite satisfactory.

Conclusion:

Overall, Wing Stop is a great fast food joint serving specializing in something that most other fast food places do not have in Singapore.  Whilst the likes of KFC, Popeyes and Texas Chicken serve up heavy meals of big chicken cuts which are cooked in bulk, Wing Stop offers a more personal serving of fresh, made to order wings with a good variety of marinate choices that is overall more snack like than feeling like a full meal.  It can be filling though.  Just go for the set with six wings and more with a side.  

I would recommend this place to anyone looking for a quick bite, loves chicken wings or simply want something different from their fast food experience.

FOODIE’S RATING
Quality, Taste and Presentation (75%)	7.5	Great wings with a variety of equally great marinates
Value (15%)	6.5	Decent value
Ambience & others (10%)	6.5	Ambience is standard as with most Fast Food places
Total	7.2	Good addition to the fast food scene

Matsuri Ramen: A celebration of good, light tastes

Intro:

Despite the prevalence of pork broths here, I’ve always had a soft spot for chicken-based Ramen, created by the now-defunct Gensuke’s unforgettable take on it, along with my grandmother’s home-made chicken soup. At that point in time (mid-2012), Singapore was just not ready for anything other than Tonkotsu Ramen, which caused Gensuke’s mournful departure from Ramen Champion. Two stores serving chicken Ramen have popped up since then, one being Matsuri Ramen and the other being Keisuke’s Tori King, of which I will be reviewing the former today.

Matsuri Ramen's cosy interior

To rehash a little on the nature of the chickens used at Matsuri Ramen (you can read more here), they are of the Sakura variety, which are reared using more humane methods and are supposedly healthier by extension (and more expensive, doubtless). While I’m not entirely convinced by the touted health benefits of Sakura chicken, I definitely welcome the presence of another joint serving chicken Ramen.

Ambience:

Even the entrance to the toilet feels welcoming

Like all Ramen stores, Matsuri Ramen has the obligatory Japanese decorations around its store, along with the every-bit-as-obligatory Japanese music playing over the speakers. Unlike the gargantuan proportions of Ramen Champion though, Matsuri Ramen probably has a maximum seating capacity of 18 people in its store, although there is outside seating available as well. This evokes a sense of homeliness, which is compounded by the all-Japanese staff, consisting of all of 3 men. In fact, as I had my meal, I witnessed a friendly conversation in Japanese between a staff member and a customer. 

Besides this, we did receive rather efficient and friendly service from all the staff in general, highlighting that the above-mentioned incident wasn’t just a countryman-specific one-off. The overall willingness of the staff to interact with their customers and their attentiveness to them is much appreciated and makes diners feel welcome, which is unfortunately lost in most of the more commercialised Ramen joints here.

Quality and Taste:

The menu, with other options as well. Pork broth menu not shown

Sakura Chicken with Spring Onion Sauce ($7.00, free of charge via J Passport until 27th June)
This dish was served chilled, which provided a refreshing contrast from my Ramen (more on that later). It doesn’t look like a particularly big portion, but this is attributed more to the generous serving of spring onions covering it, and was substantial enough for my girlfriend and me.  In general, the chicken was well-marinated, veering a little on the salty side, although this wasn’t enough to be overwhelming.

Despite its title stating the sauce to be spring onion, it probably isn’t composed of that alone, as I could taste prominent hints of ginger too. The combined effects of these two flavours, along with the cool temperature of the dish, resulted in it being a sheer delight to eat while enjoying the Ramen.

(On a side note and as a point for comparison, this really reminded me of the wine chicken served by dimsum restaurants.)

Rich Soup with Tamago ($13.90)

Unlike the hard-hitting heaviness of pork-based broths, the chicken broth used here relied more on subtlety, with its herb-like undertones and spring onions creating a sweet fragrance. The flavour of chicken was unsurprisingly apparent too, though I did feel that even when taking chicken’s naturally lighter flavour into account, it remained just a bit too light for my liking.

Rich Soup with Tamago ($13.90)

The noodles were unusually curly, almost maggimee-esque, which I suppose is for the purpose of having more soup cling on to it, given the broth’s lighter nature. However, I felt like they were a little overcooked as they didn’t really provide much resistance to the bite.

A poster set meal at Matsuri Ramen

I found the chicken chashu rather unremarkable, which was a letdown considering its grilled exterior. Don’t get me wrong, the texture was done alright, it’s just that it was lacking a little in flavour, and I much prefer the chicken in spring onion sauce.

The promising grilled chicken chashu skin

The flavoured egg was one area in which they could have gotten away with an infusion of strong flavour but didn’t, rendering it quite a disappointment. Despite the yolk being done pretty well, I really feel that the chefs could have seasoned it more to make it stand out against the rest of the light ingredients.

Value:

I really like the fact that the prices shown on the menu are net prices, in which case the Ramen is cheaper than the industry’s average price, and which also subverts my expectations that Mozart-listening chickens would cost the consumer more. The price of $13.90 for the Ramen feels about right, although I have some gripes with the misnomer “Rich Soup”. As for the side dish, I felt that it was a fantastic promotion, but its usual price is on the pricey side, especially given its portion.

Overall:

As a whole, Matsuri Ramen does deliver on its promise of being a healthier version of Ramen, and I didn’t end the meal feeling bloated like I would when eating Bario, for instance. It serves a refreshing take on Ramen, one which I do appreciate. It’s clearly a small operation, which I feel gives it a certain kind of homely, old-school charm. Matsuri Ramen isn’t helped by its less accessible location, which is about 250m from Clarke Quay MRT, and most Singaporeans wouldn’t be accustomed to its chicken broth. Still, I hope that it isn’t overlooked because of these, as it is a nice change-up from oily pork broths and a welcome addition to Singapore’s Ramen scene.

Kitchen staff hard at work

FOODIE’S RATING
Quality & Taste(75%)	7.0	Healthy isn't bland by any means
Value (15%)	7.3	Low net prices are much appreciated
Ambience & others (10%)	7.7	Cosy, unpretentious atmosphere
Total	7.1	A solid 7, not just for the health-conscious

Address:

7 North Canal Road (along a stretch of shophouses between Raffles Place MRT and Clarke Quay MRT, although Clarke Quay is nearer)

Opening Hours:

Mondays to Saturdays: 11:30am to 3pm, 6pm to 10pm

Closed on Sundays and public holidays