skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Ok ... let me take a break from blogging about recent travels and do right by some of my drafts posts.
We went to this newly minted faux fastfood footscray foodstore (how's that for alliteration) on the corner of Hopkins and oblivion some time ago. We found HM Quan a treat!
First up, let me just state that I know where they're going with their slipped disc inducing kindergarten seating. They have the same ye olde set up at Satay by the Bay in Singapore. Difference is that Satay by the Bay offers proper seating at grown up tables for the less bendy amongst us, HM Quan does not.
That kind of limits the dynamic of your audience - so maybe only the young and limber are encouraged here. But never mind, the food is cheap and rather cheerful.
And this is how the menu works. You have your basic bowl of congee (or the alternative of rice if you must) at $2.99 a pop. You can then choose an accompaniment or more from a list of about 14 or so dishes, all similarly priced at $2.99 each.
You can prefer to be frugal and order just one or two or you can simply go hell for leather. We economized somewhere in the middle with 3 choices each.
If I remember correctly, I had the Caramelised Pork, Salted Pickled Melon (because you need to have preserved vegetable of some sort) and the Fish Cotton (which is basically floss).
M had the Caramelised Fish, the Fish Cotton and Salted Duck Egg.
Although I would have preferred my dishes slightly warmer in temperature, on the whole the experience was delightful, and not to mention delicious!
There are a number of sauces available to help proceedings along. My pick is the salt shrimp - salty, prawny crunch! Yum.
And if your still hungry after all that, you can share a plate of hot and trending Banh Trang. Although I think I prefer the one at Co Thu Quan.
It is teetering on the slightly willful side of Novelty snacks, but its worth checking out at least once, especially since it proffers decent value for money.
But like participants at a speed dating night, you just want to keep changing things up as quickly as possible until you're well and truly sated ... so exercise some restraint, or you could just kiss the diet goodbye and lose all pretensions to piety and pig the hell out!!!
Now if only they would consider proper seating ...
Ok ... there's really no way of capturing the experience of being in the Singapore Flier and I'm not really going to try.
So here's a little video that might give you a bit of an idea. And then some random pics to follow ...
I haven't quite decided whether it was worth the SGD$30++ that it cost. I'm certainly not rushing to the Southern Star, or whateve the heck its called for fear of plunging to my death, or worse being stuck in a glass box with no air-conditioning for hours on end as someone invariably inept tries to rectify the situation.
And on such a hazy, smog filled day, it wasn't quite the "wow!" experience I was hoping to have.
Still its always great to see things from a different perspective. You might just discover some strange delights like this football pitch built over water ... I mean why not?
And the machinery itself throws up some interesting visual angles. So it was one way of passing about a half an hour before moving on to the next thing.
Ok ... this time round we had one touristy item to tick off our list (well nearly two as I had half a mind to visit Sentosa, but then common sense and taste prevailed!). I was determined to visit Gardens by the Bay, the 2 temperature controlled conservatories in particular - the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome.
Architecturally these are amazing structures. Apparently the Flower Dome is the largest columnless glasshouse in the world - just a little tidbit if you're concerned with matters monumental.
The Supertrees Grove in particular, cut the skyscape like sprouting biomechanical buildings in a 70s sci-fi mat painting or an illustration from a science fiction compendium.
The overall effect is dramatic to say the least. Its a must visit, but give yourself time to not only admire from a distance, but to also discover the botanical gems hidden within.
You can marvel at the man made waterfall and the mountainous flora within the Cloud Forest. M's first reaction was one of incredulity that a man made structure of such magnitude was completely air-conditioned. Personally, I wouldn't have it any other way. And I know what some people think about that!
Then there is the Flower Dome which was slightly dissappointing. Way too much Australian content for my liking, sections of which were like walking through your local Bunnings ... but hey ho that's just my opinion. The Baobab trees and cacti were pretty impressive I have to say.
But frankly Flower Dome is a bit of a misnomer, as there was precious little variety to be had!
Time did not permit us doing the skywalk over at the Supertrees Grove, so my recommendation is that you head to the main ticketing booth and purchase tix for the Cloud Forest and Supertrees. The Supertrees tix will be cheaper this way.
We were wanting to fit in a ride on the Singapore Flier and also stop for lunch in between at Satay by the Bay. This food centre is a slightly punishing walk in the heat away from the main drag of the gardens proper. There is a shuttle bus that you can use at $2.00 per trip per person - I suggest you do so. But don't skip a visit here. If you are ever curious about what Satay actually tastes like (and if you live outside of Singapore and Malaysia, then chances are you have no clue! Because no one serves proper satay outside these countries), then head on down here and try them out over at the Sri Geylang stall (which is the better of the 3).
We had a selection of three meats: Ayam (chicken), Kambing (mutton) and Purut (tripe). Delicious beyond words.
And I also suggest that you head to the Boon Tat Seafood stall, which is just across the way and order their Mee Goreng. As its primarily a seafood stall, their version of Mee Goreng contains mainly seafood and there is a hint of prawn stock, making this a cross between Mee Goreng and Hokkien Mee (Singapore style). Amazing!
Next up - High above the clouds in the Singapore Flier.
PS check out the bark of this palm ... love it!!
Ok ... no visit to Singapore is complete without a visit to Tiong Bahru. I have blogged about this wonderfully bohemian part of town in a previous post. But the neighbourhood is so cool (I have been reliably informed that Katong is now snapping at its heels), it is worth a second post, something I try to avoid.
This time round, we literally hopped from one table to the next around the foodcourt, imbibing different dishes along the way.
We started with Chwee Kueh this time, at the Jian Bo stall which is our favourite. The preserved vegetable topping is so delicious here. There is always a queue for these delicious little morsels.
After wolfing these down, we moved onto Chee Cheong Fan. Another rice cake favourite of mine. Take note that this is the simplified version. Just the rice strips, no filling, and topped with a sweet sauce, and sprinkled with sesame seeds. There are other versions of Cheong Fan that have a filling of some sort, but you know us Singaporeans, its only ever our version!!
And you would think that that would have soothed even the most gargantuan of hungry beasts - but we had room for a plate of Char Kway Teow. As I'm not a fan of cockles, I always get them to hold the See Ham (blood cockles). But I imagined that leaving this off the final dish might actually change the flavour a little.
I still do long for the days when Char Kway Teow was redolent of crispy pork fat and served in a pool of its own grease. Health drives should have no place in a Hawker Centre. Let the "priviliged" congegrate in air conditioned comfort and slurp their watered down and bastardised versions of local cuisine and congratulate themselves on being connected yet superior at the same time. No Lard, No Fat? No Flavour lor??!!
PS - if you think you have had the real deal at your local Malaysian restaurant, think again. Char Kway Teow in its Hawker style variant is a simple dish - noodles, lup cheong (chinese sausage) and slices of chinese fish cake - thats pretty much all that goes in the dish (oh and the aforementioned See Ham - which is optional of course)!
Aah Tiong Bahru, I still want to live here.
Ok ... In search of the elusive Sup Kambing, we travelled west towards Clementi by way of Chinatown. We were in Temple Street, where a number of restaurant suppliers have set up shop, looking for M's tart press.
Chinatown is a hive of activity, absolutely thronging with tourist traps and studied cultural colour. There are also quite a few boutique hotels with some amazingly interiored rooms. Its well worth a visit and will give you a general idea of what old Singapore looked like before the days Air Conditioning took over the island. But try not to get sucked in!
After a futile search we made our way towards Clementi where a quick google search informed us "reliably" that there was a Sup Kambing stall, of the old variety - there are Mutton soup stalls for days, but you need to find one with the signature large-bellied metal pot, preferably simmering over a charcoal fire.
After a few misteps working out that Block numbers constitute street numbers, we finally made it to Subhaini Family Stall - and it certainly didn't dissappoint. The pieces that were selected for our bowls were boneless, and apparently if you want meat on the bone you have to ask for it - so take note. Ask for Tulang!
It still is a dish best cooked over charcoal as part of its peppery charm is that slight smokiness. And it should be eaten with bread, perferably limp french stick ... or if you want to be really Fahncy, then proper crsipy French stick.
We scored a couple of spice packets at a provision store nearby which will hopefully approximate this dish in our home kitchen. I will remain opptimistic.
After filling our bellies, we explored the shinier more modern side of Clementi with its towering condominiums and public scupltures (Singapore loves its public sculptures!).
All in all a wonderfully satisfying day.
Ok ... "oh singapura, singapura, pretty island, set in the sea" ... we landed on your shores to the smell of forest fires and a haze that could almost rival the murk of downtown Beijing, a once green land starting to curl at the edges in the dry heat, your once verdant coat patched up with brown ... did someone mention climate change? No? Aiyoh, no such thing lah!
2 months without rain and counting (well until the day we left when the heavens decided to open the floodgates and acknowledge their neglect) and it felt like an Australian summer. At times it got so bad we had to brave the stillness of the heat and eschew ventilation for the sake of our olfactory senses.
Still we soldiered on and pounded the streets going from meal to meal in a panicked fever, desperately anxious at the thought that we would run out of time and miss out on the hundreds of things we wanted to do and achieve. And eat!
Our first proper food sojourn took us into Little India where we had a childhood favourite of mine, Appum with Brown sugar and grated coconut. Soft and yeasty and crispy round the edges, this lovely bread from the Asian subcontinent is not easy to find, and there are a variety of ways to eat this, but the sweet version steadfastly remains the only way I like it.
Finishing it off with our first (and as it turns out, the best) glass of Teh Halia (Ginger Tea), we rounded off brunch with a plate of Wadai served with the regular chutney suspects, versions of which you find in Australia that absolutely pale in comparison.
It was a promising start to 10 days of culinary and physical exhaustion - more of which to come.
Ok ... first up what is happening to this damn country??!! How the hell has it turned so very ugly ... in so very many ways. And who the fuck is the current government working for anyways?? Their salaries and pension rates should be performance based instead!! Unemployment rises, then their salary and benefits decrease proportionately. Unable to provide equitable healthcare and educational benefits for the general public, then expenses should be restricted to only essential travel and board.
Otherwise the air of putrescence filters down from the top and we're faced with self bloated minions clinging onto the fetid petticoats of a staid and frankly archaic hierarchy making ridiculous decisions like this just because the flacid rules of bureaucracy were not followed to the T. People open your eyes and really see ... and that's the T Dahling!!
John Gorilla on Pearson Street was partly funded by ordinary folk in the hood as it were through fund raising platform Pozible. Be warned, if you are all Beci Orpined out and wouldn't care to see another candy coloured triangle for the rest of your life, said Beci designed quite a bit of the interior. And of course there's those yardsticks ... who could begrudge them the quirk and colour ... its a great and welcoming space if nothing else.
All in all its a welcoming cafe with a warm and inviting vibe, despite some of the rather disgruntled punters who are quick with their text hungry fingers and compusion to emote online begging to differ.
The food is simple, unadorned and served on some rather wonderful mismatched melamine plates.
I had the BLT and M went for some pulled meat number, both performing rather decently in the flavour stakes. I won't comment on prices because at the end of the day, location determines those. And really if you want your bog standard burger and fries, some local RSL's provide quite a decent feed. And if you are happy with that, then why would you even come here in the first place.
So let me try and loosen my judgey pants and surmise that John Gorilla is a great cafe, amongst a myriad of wonderful eateries this town has to offer. But don't forget that this is a volatile industry, and if us punters stop patronising our favourite cafes, then standards are likely to drop, or worse, places like John Gorilla may very well cease to exsist, and then we'll be left with the plastic fantastic crew, only concerned with making a quick buck!
