The Hungry Bunny

Yee Jia Chun is fast becoming one of my favourite haunts for lunch. It's light, healthy and yet substantial to satiate any hunger pangs that may plague you in the late afternoon if you eat too light a meal during lunch. The Lotus Root Soup ($4) was heavily accented with the flavours of braised peanuts and pork bones. Lotus roots provided some crunch.  The Winter Melon Soup ($4) was the lightest and clearest of the day, and a very clean taste to it. Although it was steaming hot, the winter melon, with it's "cooling" properties, helped cool off the internal digestive system. The Black Fungus Mushroom Soup ($4) had moreish, woodsy overtones, with black fungus lending a crunchy texture and health benefits to the delicate chicken based soup. The Sauteed Cabbage ($1.50) was delicately seasoned with soy, not too salty but a tad oily. The Pumpkin Rice ($2) was nice and fluffy, with hints of sweet mashed pumpkin. This somehow married well with the savoury s...

This hole-in-the-wall eatery is above Ayesha's Kitchen . It's the kind of place that you only go to if you already know about the place because it's completely hidden from view, being accessible only via a non-descript staircase between the row of eateries below. I had lunch with a colleague who affectionately calls this the "dingy Jap place", mostly because it's quite "dingy" and serves Japanese food. Food-wise, it's best to dial down the expectations, because I didn't think it was good at all. In fact, I thought it was mediocre at best, and terrible in general. The only good thing about this place was the homemade honey lemon drink, and I suppose, the air-conditioning. The Chicken Teriyaki Udon Soup ($6.50) was really quite unspectacular. Soup was generic and reeked of MSG, chicken tasted of the frozen variety and was lacking in teriyaki flavour, fishcake seemed pre-packed and the udon noodles was no different from the supermarket chille...

There's a row of food stalls along McCallum Street serving Indian, Malay and Chinese cuisine, i.e. local food. Here's where I'd go to for cheap hawker food for lunch. The downside is that it's completely open-air, so my shirt is usually soaked through with perspiration by the time I'm done with lunch. Ayesha's Kitchen is the stall at the end closest to Cecil Street, selling a mix of Indian and Malay food. In my view, this stall is the best of the lot. The Prata ($1 each for plain) was very decent, light and fluffy, with a thin crispy crust and a slightly chewy texture. The accompanying chicken curry gravy was sufficiently spicy and thick. The Ayam Soto with Rice Cakes ($3) and Begedel ($1) was also commendable, rice cakes were soft and clear, soup had depth and not too oily. My only grouse is the begedel, which was a tad tasteless, but nothing a dollop of freshly made sambal couldn't cure. Ayesha's Kitchen 141 Cecil Street #01-01 Tung Ann...

We picked up a couple of desserts at Cova  after sending our stuff to the dry cleaners. Cova  offers a mind-boggling assortment of tantalising desserts, and we didn't get to try them the last time we were there because we were so stuffed by then. Desserts here are admittedly pricey, so it's best to get the desserts after 8pm, as they go for half the price then. Much more worth it. The Dark & White Chocolate Cake  ($8) was awesome. I gobbled it up so fast that the Fiance didn't get a chance to taste this. Opps. The dark chocolate, with its bittersweet overtones, married well with the rich milkyness of the white chocolate. A semi-tart blackberry, raspberry and strawberry provided a brilliant counterfoil to the rich, creamy dessert. I preferred this over the cheesecake below. The vanilla in the  Vanilla Cheesecake ($8) was barely noticeable, but there was a distinct lemony scent and taste that permeated the dense, creamy cake, lending a fresh...

We had our first Department Lunch of the year here. With 3 trainees that have just joined our group, it makes 12 of us in the entire team, inclusive of support staff. We took the opportunity to relax, unwind and get to know each other through food and laughter. Straits Kitchen was chosen as it's halal-certified, for the Muslims in our team. I've always thought that Straits Kitchen  is just a high-class food court, so I was pleasantly surprised that the quality of local cuisine served is generally (almost) on par with those of the more famous hawkers. The small-ish restaurant is laid out like Mezza9, with different food stations in a marketplace-like setting. There's a bustling atmosphere, but with little nooks and crannies that afford a little bit of privacy to groups that want to hang out and talk amongst themselves without being overheard by other diners. The roasted meats station offered 3 different types of roasts, I liked the Roasted Duck , fresh ...

Han's is one place I'd go to for a cheap and quick homestyled lunch, in comfortable air-conditioned surroundings. Their motto of "quality food at budget prices" is probably what made Han's a local success story. Admittedly, the quality of their Hainanese mainstays and localised versions of pastas and western soups has dropped over the years, but at least the prices commensurate with the quality of the food. Come to think of it, the quality of their food is probably what a relatively competent secondary school home economics student is able to whip up in the kitchen. Their All Day Set Meal , of a main with a soup of the day, dessert and drink is quite value-for-money and makes for a substantial meal, even if some of it tasted straight out of a can. The Grilled Fish Dory ($9.80) was my pick, simple, no-fuss, and fresh, but the fish was a little tasteless. A more liberal sprinkling of salt would have done the fish more justice. It's important to rem...

We've realised that set dinners at Prego on Sundays are generally cheaper, a 4-course set dinner costs only $50. In addition, the restaurant is quieter as most people have family dinners at home on Sunday nights. We had the starter of Grilled Polenta with sauteed forest mushroom and a drizzling of bagna cauda sauce. I'm not a fan of polenta cakes, so I only took a small bite. I liked the mushrooms and the savoury garlicky sauce accented with olive oil though. The Spinach Ricotta-filled Paccheri Pasta with light minted tomato coulis was a delightful vegetarian dish. With the exception of the too hard pasta shell (it would have benefited from a longer bath in the boil), the dish was a hit. The Chicken Rollata, stuffed with button mushrooms and sweet onions, adorned by a tangy sun-dried tomato, caramelized shallots on a bed of garlic mash was the Fiance's favourite. The moist and tender chicken breast was packed with onions ...