To gather Cafe (the more we get together the merrier we'll be!)

Place is not near any MRT but it is quite near the ever popular Bedok North Blk 85 Food Centre.

I was pretty surprised that there is such a cafe in such a obscure place. Upon reaching, the decoration is modern and clean.

Originally expected the sitting space may be pretty tight but i was pleasantly surprised that this place is made up of 2 shopfront. Its pretty comfortable to move around and we have lots of seats to pick.


Best: most food is under S$12  so it is very very affordable. Total damage after meal is S$25.70. 

We started off with Soup of the day ($3.90). Today's soup of the day is tomato soup. I loved it to bits. I wish i could have the entire bowl of it to myself instead of sharing it with hubby. I don't usually have tomato soup but this is just the right amount of tanginess. Heavenly. 

Grilled pandan chicken ($9.90) is served with fries and salad. The main show stopper is the chicken. It is grilled to perfection. Skin is crisp and meat is juicy and tender. The sauce that is drizzled on the chicken is a little harder to contend with. Its a mix of coconut and cream. But i love the pineapple salsa. It takes the entire dish to a different level.

Pork Cordon Bleu ($11.90) is a little complicated (quoting hubby word for word) and i tend to agree. It has too much going on for it. Cheese, pork and ham. Too much flavour but lacks punch. 

Overall, i like the pricing of the food and the food i had today is above average so i will be so keen to try again without blowing a hole to my pocket. 

Food tasted 19 July 2017

ToGather Cafe

84 Bedok North Street 4
#01-25/27
Singapore 460084
Tel: 6445 1011

Sumo Big Prawn - nice but could be better

I’ve been wanting to try this prawn stall for the longest time but couldn’t because of the extremely long queues or the prawn noodle is sold out. Hubs gives it a thumbs up, so must try since i am usually the person who likes the soupy food. 

Today is my chance to try it. The cheapest option of $5 is not available so I decided to try the $8 prawn mee hoon. 

The serving of lalas and 3 big size prawns is pretty impressive. However, you need to get your hands dirty to eat the prawns. 

The prawns are very fresh and succulent. The shell easily peels off the skin. 

The broth is flavourful but lacks a little punch. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but It lacks the taste of prawn base soup. 

Overall a very enjoyable dish, but its has to be given its $8 price tag.

Food tasted 4 Feb 2017

Sumo Big Prawn

628 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4
#01-72
Singapore 560628
Tel: 9299 2621

928 Yishun Laksa is really good!

Heard that this place served really nice laksa so was on my list for a long while. There are a variety of toppings like fish cake, bean sprouts, crab sticks, tau pok and a whole hard boiled egg minus the cockles.

The whole dish comes well together and at the price of $3.20 is well worth the queue. During week day lunch hour, the wait is about 20 minutes. The broth is spicy and adds a great punch to the dish. Personally, I preferred a more coconut milk taste but this is still a very satisfactory meal.

Rated: 8/10

Food tasted 27 June 2016

928 Yishun Laksa
928 Yishun Central 1, #01-155
Singapore 760928

Opening Hours: 

Monday - Sundays: 11 am - 7 pm 

136 Hong Kong St Fish Head Steamboat 香港街潮州鱼头炉- MUST TRY CLAYPOT MEE TAI MAK

This will be the third time i am dining at this place within 2 months. We found out about this place when SO was lamenting to his friend about the unpalatable claypot mee tai mak we had at SS2 in Kuala Lumpur. His friend then recommended this place to us. 

From the 3 times we had dined at the place, the claypot mee tai mak has been pretty consistent. Although, the chinatown one at Kuala Lumpur still beats this place hands down but this places works satisfactory for those with the craving and not willing to travel the distance (320 km to be exact) .
 

The place is quite popular with the residents in the area and its not hard to see why. The dishes we had sampled thus far are quite tasty and all the sauce cooked with the dishes were flavourful.


The signature in my opinion will be the claypot mee tai mak. It is served piping hot from the claypot. To ensure that the base does not get charred, the diner will have stir and mix well the pot of noodles, minced meat, sliced vegetables and a freshly cracked egg. 
 
Rated: 8/10
The noodle is served in dark brown gravy ($8 for medium size). The gravy is thick and creamy with light bitterness. The mee tai mak is well cooked to the right soft and firm texture. Sliced vegetables added to this dish makes the dish lighter and not so filling. I am unaware of any equivalent mee tai mak dish that can be found in Singapore. Hence, i am rating this higher.
 
Rated: 7/10
The other dish we had that day was coffee pork ribs (S$10). This is preferred by SO as we tried the salted egg pork rib that day and the coffee pork rib is more flavourful dish. The ribs are tender and coated deliciously with coffee sauce. Though the ribs are nice, i was too full to eat more than 3 pieces. SO happily took the rest of the ribs and clean out the plate.

Food tasted: 14 Feb 2016

136 Hong Kong St Fish Head Steamboat (this place has moved to clementi)
Blk 19 Lorong 7 Toa Payoh
#01-264
Singapore 310019 Opening Hours: 11am to 2pm, 5 pm - 10.45 pm

Tel: 9437 8260 or 8288 3368

New location at Clementi
Blk 713 Clementi West St 2 #01-115 Singapore 120713

Lam's Abalone Noodle Restaurant 阿南鲍鱼面 (Waterway point)

The very first time i had this noodle was more than 5 years ago when we are sourcing for a reliable interior designer somewhere near race course road. I always wanted to go back to try but somehow didn't manage to get down to it.

By chance, we visited this new mall, Waterway point at Punggol and we decided to explore the food court. We stumbled upon the stall inside Koufu food court and decided to have it. 

Lam's Abalone Noodle Restaurant 阿南鲍鱼面 was established by a person known as Ah Lam. He first started out in the early 1950s selling "Mini Wok Noodle" before being one of the first to sell abalone noodle in a coffee shop. 

You know the food is good by the queues in the foodcourt. Even with the nimble hands of the cook, the queue is seemingly never-ending. It was most definitely longer when we left the place after our meal. It doesn't help when everyone is ordering more than 2 bowls of noodles. The queue for it is estimated 15 minutes. 

Rated: 7/10
I ordered Lam's abalone noodles (S$6.80) without chilli and mee kia. This mee kia is thicker than the usual type we eat at hawker but still very stringy and Q. I like the vinegar that is used as the base it is distinct yet still light on the palate. My other companions who ordered the noodles with chilli felt the chilli overpowers the lighter vinegar taste and preferred more vinegar for the noodles. 

I am most impressed with the ramen egg as it complements perfectly with the noodle. Moreover, you hardly ever get to eat such good quality ones where is yolk is custard like with firm texture except in ramen restaurants and sometimes even those restaurants fail to deliver. 

The Lam's specialty noodle (S$4.50) is essentially same ingredients you see in the picture minus the abalone/scallop stick, half ramen egg and the 2 pieces of wolfberries in the soup. 

Rated: 7.5/10

Salt baked chicken thigh has 2 options, it can be served with wedges or rice. We choose the one with fries (S$8.80). The chicken is well marinated and fragrant. The meat itself is very juicy,tender and meat can be removed from the bone easily. The wedges are fried till crispy. The sauce that is served with this dish serves greatly enhance flavours of the chicken.

This is a very good meal at a very decent price. I will love to come back here again due to its proximity and more convenient parking compared to race course road. While i encountered no issues with parking, parking at the mall could be a little challenging during peak hours. 

Food tasted: 14 Feb 2016

Lam's Abalone Noodle Restaurant (Race Course)
460 Race Course Road 
Singapore 218700 
Tel: 6398 1154
Opening Hours: 10am to 10pm

Lam's Abalone Noodle Restaurant (Koufu, Cookhouse)
Waterway Point

83 Punggol Central  
Singapore 828761

West wing, #02-20

Tel: 6385 8824

Opening Hours: 10am to 10pm