The Hungry Bunny

Don't you just hate it when some half-wit posts tantalising pictures of seemingly delicious food, but then, incomprehensibly, refuses to divulge the name of the restaurant? Inane claims of "but I dun wan other people to know lah, because den there will be a long queue leh" ring hollow AF. Then wtf are you doing, posting online and bragging about eating the "best chicken rice in all of Singapore"?! Sheesh, good food is better shared with all, amiright people????? And it's not like foodie gems are some classified information requiring top-level security clearance. We're a teeny tiny city state populated by foodies aplenty whose pastimes are being preoccupied yakking about food; truly good food will never be kept hidden for long. But it's safe to assume these muppets wouldn't appreciate the concept of "sharing is caring". Urghh, that 'kiasu' yet pretentious routine always triggers me. Anyway...as luck would have it, the identit...

Terribly sorry for the extended silence; I got the blue screen of death and my computer went on the fritz. And after a frantic, and tearful, visit to some tech whiz, lappie's now all well and good...and my world finally makes sense again. I must confess, as terrifyingly handicapped that felt, it was a teensy weensy bit cathartic at the same time, this lack of access to the internet. So, to detract myself from the prospect of losing all my life's memories because I forgot to back up my data, I've been stuffing my face. Comfort eating, you know?? Anyways, Sin Kee Famous Chicken Rice has been on my to-eat list since forever, and which was just awarded a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin people. I recently ate at its brother shop along Havelock , and thought it high time to pop by the "original" at Holland Drive. While Uncle Chicken Rice takes up an entire restaurant space and hawks a bunch of cze char dishes, Sin Kee Famous Chicken Rice is just the one stall in a...

The rivalry between Ah Tai and Tian Tian is a well-documented one. Ah Tai , a recent addition to the decorated Maxwell Food Centre , is a spin-off from Tian Tian , the chicken rice heavyweight that famously beat celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey in a cooking showdown. Both stalls are barely 10 meters apart along the same row and sport similar deep blue signage, but the queues are longer at Tian Tian . Although...I did notice that many in the Tian Tian queue were tourists, distinguished by their guidebooks and maps. Tian Tian , with its illustrious background, is evidently more known by the international community. Tian Tian Tian Tian 's Chicken ($5.70) is clear and light, but served jarringly chilled. It was like eating leftover chicken straight from the fridge. It would have fared much better tepid or even at room temp. That said, it was juicy, the fluffy rice was tasty and surprisingly not oily, while the heady chilli was redolent of ginger. The stall facade for referen...

I was initially drawn here by the much-publised coverage of 2 university graduates giving up their lucrative cushy careers to slog it out in the heat of a hawker centre. Curious as to why anyone would do that, we headed out one blazing afternoon to the sleepy estate of Telok Blangah to check 'em out.  Seeing as there were already 2 other established Hainanese curry rice stalls ensconced in the same hawker centre, we ordered from the other (1 of them was closed) to see how they'd stack up against the other. Truly Curry Rice Their unique story has evidently drawn a lot of attention, and consequently drummed up business. There was a long queue of hungry diners here, and we noted that the queue here was longer than at the more established Hainanese Scissors Curry Rice. The Pork Chop ($1.50) was fresh out the fryer, so it was crispier, but I particularly liked that this was meatier; the juicy Braised Pork Ball ($1.50) has a lovely rough-hewn texture and a mellow seasoning;...

Tanglin Halt is one of the oldest estates in Singapore. You can tell, by the sheer numbers of retirees milling around the public benches and void decks. Quick aside: We don't mean to be patronizing but the Hubs raised a valid observation (which I totally agree with): that the LTA may want to consider increasing the timing allowance of the pedestrian crossings in this estate to accommodate the old folks' walking speed. We watched an elderly lady, slowly ambling along, barely make it across the 10 meter long pedestrian crossing. *end of aside* And with any mature estate, cheap and good food is aplenty. One particular derelict, stuck-in-the-50's, non-descript coffee shop houses one of the best-kept secrets on our island: Shen Ji Chicken Rice , an old-school chicken rice stall that old-timers frequent. Even without any writeups or online publicity, this small stall does an admirably roaring sell-out business. Everyday. It always sells out by early afternoon, so you'll do ...

One of the things i love about Singapore is that you can eat really well without burning a hole through your wallet. Or getting food poisoning (well, most of the time anyways). We recently went out for dinner with Kang, the one friend that I can always count on to " slum it up " and " sweat it out " at a hawker centre. We ate at Tian Tian Hainanese Curry Rice at Bukit Merah View , for some old-school Hainanese comfort food. While most other Hainanese curry rice stalls are only open in the day, this is possibly the only worthwhile one that's open for business at night too. Please note that, same name and dialect notwithstanding, this curry rice stall isn't in any way connected to or related to that famous chicken rice stall at Maxwell Market.  I've realized that Hainanese curry isn't particularly well-endowed in the looks department, but trust me, what it lacked in aesthetics, it more than made up for it in taste. The plain white rice rice, slathe...

Everyone who's a "Far East kid" (that's what school-going kids who hang out at Far East Plaza are called) will be familiar with Hainanese Delicacy Chicken Rice , aka "The Far East Chicken Rice". Sure, there's not just this one particular eatery selling this local fare, but this is by far the most popular, and somewhat famous. It's possibly the only "well-known" and lauded local hawker cuisine present in the Orchard Road vicinity. Just ask the long line of hungry diners snaking outside this tiny eatery. Because the small hole-in-the-wall eatery can only accommodate up to 50 diners at any one time and no reservations are taken, this is quite the eat-and-go place. Any lingering pauses after your meal is finished are mete with impatient stares from the long queue of people waiting outside the eatery. But really, such "peer pressure" is to be expected, and a considerate soul will quickly finish up their meal so that the next set of din...

Wee Nam Kee may not objectively have the best chicken rice around, mostly because taste is subjective, but  it consistently features as one of the the best chicken rice in town. In fact, it was just voted Asiaone's People's Choice 2010 Best Hawker Food. Personally, I think the standard of the chicken, combined with the variety and quality of cze char available here, makes this one of the best chicken rice joints. The rice may be overshadowed by the ones from Loy Kee and Thien Kee for their so-good-you-can-eat-it-on-its-own rice, but when combined with the fantastic cze char, it'll do just well. We got the White Poached and Soya Sauce Chicken ($8 for small), succulent, tender and moist despite being breast meat. 'The Claypot Beancurd with Prawns ($17.10) had a very plain and starchy taste, even if it was chock-full of ingredients, mushrooms, broccoli, onions, peppers, cauliflower, and of course, prawns and beancurd. It needed a little more flavour and a litt...

We were stuck in a horrendous traffic jam one night along Thomson Road on our way back to Pop's home after work, and the BF's stomach started growling, so we thought we'd turn into Wee Nam Kee off Thomson Road and have dinner first. We figured the traffic jam would have eased up by the time we finished dinner. We got the 2-person Portion Chicken, half Roasted, half Poached ($8). The chicken was good as always, tender, succulent and flavourful. The Rice , though not as flavourful as Thien Kee's version , was fluffy, less oily and still rich in flavour ($1 per plate) The BF wanted a tofu dish, so we got the Hotplate Beancurd ($8.55), sizzling-hot, lightly spicy and chock full of ingredients, mushrooms, sweet baby corn, crunchy prawns, and silky egg beancurd. Wee Nam Kee's version of Hotplate Beancurd is one of the best ones around. We also ordered the Spinach ($6.40), Stir-Fried with Garlic, delicate, simple but oh-so-yummy. W...

This was another of the BF's recommendations, as he's patronised this chicken rice stall since he was a kid. That's another facet of being in a relationship: Over time, you adopt your better half's favourite habits, TV shows, foods and restaurants as your own. Mostly because it's such a joy when both of you enjoy doing things together. Take us for example. The BF would never eat porridge as he considered it "sick-people-food". But, I love both Cantonese congee and Teochew porridge. Now that we're together, he's developed a love for porridge. It's the same with his developed love for crabs and junk food. We ordered the Soya Sauce Chicken and Poached Chicken  ($10), juicy, succulent white meat, smothered in luscious marinade. The soya sauce chicken half of the plate has a starchier, sweeter oyster sauce-based gravy, whereas the other half of the plate with the poached chicken has a watery, saltier light soy-based sauce. Th...