Next Door Deli

Aptly named since this cafe was set up right next to its parent company, Pine Garden Bakery, I can't believe I took such a long time to check out this hidden gem. I actually wondered whether it'd closed down because I couldn't believe that a cafe could survive for such a long time in the heartlands. I was proved wrong. Next Door Deli serves up a mix of local nosh at wallet-friendly prices, and the food is really quite decent! The menu isn't extensive, but there were a number of items that caught my attention.

I was wavering between the Wok-fried Mee Siam and Wok-fried Laksa ($6.50) and opted for the latter in the end, since it's something I've never heard of before. For the price, the portion was really generous (I couldn't finish the noodles!!) with a bunch of prawns, a whole fishcake and a fried chicken wing on the side. The laksa had a spicy kick to it, but could have been more flavourful. It's a pity that the cafe didn't have green chilli! But the samba chilli did the trick for me as well, adding the final touch to this dish.

Sam ordered the healthiest item on the menu. I feel so ashamed when I eat with him now :P Haha. The Tomato Basil Fish Fillet ($7.90) was really tasty though!! The sauce was lightly tangy, which made the fish appetising, and together with the potatoes and vegetables on the side, made for a rather filling combination. 

The great thing about being located next to the bakery is that you can just get desserts from next door! (: We were greedy after dinner and popped over to get a couple of slices of the highly raved-about alcoholic cakes. We tried the Lychee Martini and Moscato Soursop. Pine Garden is really the place to go for affordable, yummy cakes. While they weren't the decadent, dense cakes that we're used to, but they're delicious in their simplicity. Much lighter, and wonderfully fluffy, the flavour is more like a wisp, rather than in-your-face-tasty. I wished the alcohol aroma could have been stronger, but while it was barely perceptible in the cake, I was pleasantly surprised to find the flavour lingering long after I'd finished the cake. 

Decent food, and very reasonable prices :) Now that I've discovered this place, I'm definitely coming back.

Next Door Deli

Blk 529 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 #01-2369

Tel.: +65 6458 6180

Mon-Sun 11am-10pm

Gurney Drive

Gurney Drive is a famous food haven in Penang. But the one i'm referring to in this post is not the original Gurney Drive :P haha, unfortunately i don't have the luxury of time to go to Penang now! it's back to school time! (: anyway, this cafe is one that sells Penang food in a hawker-like setting (with aircon! :P) in the heartlands of Ang Mo Kio x)

Went there for lunch with mummy! They have a pretty affordable lunch set at $7.90++ or $8.90++ which includes a side dish, main course and coffee/tea (you can change to another drink and top-up the balance).

i tried the Gurney nasi lemak, and i was surprised to find out that it was pretty different from the nasi lemak that i normally find in Singapore! I guess here is just the penang version to add on to the malay and chinese nasi lemak, which are also pretty different (: the most significant part of the nasi lemak is probably the curry chicken, but i was disappointed by it. The chicken lacked gravy and was rather dry. yikes! ): the rice was fragrant though, and the ikan bilis and omelette couldn't possibly go wrong. the chili was really spicy! which gave a nice kick to the dish, but nearly impossible to withstand. i liked how the sour achar added to the taste of the dish.

This was my first time trying penang lor bak. hmmm isn't lor bak simply stewed pork?? I'm kinda confused. anyway, the closest food i would relate this to would be ngoh hiang? it's pork wrapped in beancurd skin and comes with tofu (yay!!). The lor bak and tofu are a good contrast to one another, the former being rather salty, while the tofu restores your palate (: and i liked the sauce that came with it (:

Since i've never tried penang food before, i don't really know how close this place comes to it. but it seems pretty popular, so it should be good! :D

Gurney Drive

61 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8

Jubilee Entertainment Complex

#01-09/10

Tel.: +65 6455 1202

Daily 10am-10pm

Otaru Hokkaido Street Food

This was my lunch on Friday from AMK Hub! For once i had such a relaxing day. This week has been pretty darn nice actually! It's the exam week, so most of my meetings were cancelled, which means that i only had to go to school for, well, school. Wednesday and Thursday were really crazy days for me, involving two exams, an individual presentation and an in-class assignment. All i can say is that i'm glad they're all OVER! :D But besides those, this week has been awesome! This is why ironically, i love exam weeks. Always have, always will. And the next week is........my long awaited HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!! :D :D :D i'm sure there are going to be a ton of meetings, but i'm going to take this opportunity of (supposedly) more free time to meet up with my friends (: haven't seen so many people for a long long time! lots of catching up to do!!

oh yes, i digress. the purpose of this post is to talk about Otaru Hokkaido Street Food! haha! as you can see, i'm easily distracted :P i bought the chicken omelette rice. the egg is nicely fried and wrapped around tasty fried rice chock full of ingredients like chicken, mushroom and cabbage. I absolutely adore the sauce they drizzle on top of the omelette! Pure love (: A sprinkling of fish flakes and chili powder, and the dish is complete. Ah, i love it. But the amount was way too much for me :/ yet, i almost finished everything. How greedy!

Otaru Hokkaido Street Food

AMK Hub #B2-32

Daily 10am-10pm

Ichiban Sushi

This is my favourite place for Japanese food! :D it is found in the heartlands of Ang Mo Kio and the fact that it sees long queues during every meal shows how popular and well-received it is! :D

I really love the wide variety of sushi here, which i feel is much better than the more common sakae sushi or sushi tei. not that i don’t like the other two restaurants, in fact i love sushi tei as well, but for different reasons (:

This time when we went to ichiban sushi, we ordered less sushi and more of the other dishes. but here are the 3 types of MUST-TRY sushi, which i order every time i go there ;)

1.  My ABSOLUTE favourite sushi, the inari, with lobster mayo filling. Omigosh, if you have been eating a similar-looking one which is filled with crabstick, you are missing out A LOT. This one is MUCH MUCH better than  the crabstick version!! The lobster is tasty and I love the sweetness of the mayo. I am not usually one who likes mayo but in this case, it just adds to the flavor ;) and there is a hint of wasabi inside which just tops it off perfectly :D

2. Number 2 on the must-try list is also inari. This time, it’s the more common tuna inari. Almost everyone likes tuna in their sushi right? Just kidding. But yes, I love it (: and the sweet beancurd skin type of sushi is always much nicer than the normal version (: (: somehow I don’t like Chinese beancurd skin, but when it comes to the Japanese version, I can’t help drooling :P

3. Finally, this last type of sushi is unique to ichiban (I think). I have not seen it anywhere else. It’s called deep impact. inside it’s filled with tempura flakes which are nice and crunchy and crispy, and on top there is some tasty stuff (which I have no idea what it is :P) but it’s nice! So go try it (:

We also ordered the sukiyaki, which is a Japanese soup (I think it’s some sort of soy sauce?) which is REALLY REALLY TASTY! It’s kind of like steamboat, but the soup-base is much nicer :D there are all sorts of ingredients inside like tofu and veggies (so healthy! (: ) and you have a choice of meat to add in as well. We chose beef, and it came in raw slices which we added to the boiling soup. As the slices of meat were very thin, they cooked really quickly (: good for hungry tummies! There was also a raw egg to add to the soup. oh yes! And there was the cool Japanese tang-hoon, which is a really thick version, and it’s deliciously tasty (:

My sisters and I love soft-shell crab, so we always order the handroll when we go to Ichiban sushi. The crabstick is nice and crispy and there is some mayo inside, together with rice and veggies. This is one dish that is difficult to go wrong (: 

Z loves eating tempura! i like it too, but cos it’s so fried, i’m kind of put off by it as well xP prawn is quite standard, and by far the nicest! (:

We ordered the salmon teriyaki set for grandma as she’s not really into sushi and the other stuff. The salmon was nicely fried and the sauce was tasty. The set comes with rice, miso soup, fruit, salmon sashimi and chawanmushi (:

FINALLY, THE BEST SALMON SASHIMI RICE EVER! :D I really loveeeeeeee the ichiban sashimi rice! They are very generous with the salmon sashimi, which is awesome (compared to the pathetic unappetizing four pieces in sakae’s sashimi rice -.-). The rice is specially flavoured with sesame oil, which gives it a wonderful fragrance, and the red chili on top adds a nice kick to the dish! SUPER! (:

Ichiban Sushi

AMK Hub #02-01

Other outlets at Causeway Point, Hougang Mall, etc.

Tel.: +65 6555 1617

Daily 10am-10pm

Tell me what your favourite japanese restaurants are! i’d love to try them out too (:

Ministry of Food

I celebrated my birthday lunch with my grandma at MOF in AMK Hub! (: I’ve wanted to try the food there for quite a long time, but never really got around to it. 

MOF has a partially self-service system, where you fill in an order sheet and submit it to the counter with payment, then they’ll bring the food to you. so they don’t have service charge! ;) but that also means you have to get water by yourself haha.

Doesn’t this dish look interesting? (: It’s a tomato-based spaghetti topped with salmon sashimi and avocado ($11.80) ! i really liked the avocado, it matched the tomato sauce of the spaghetti really well! The noodles was cooked al dente, and was fabulous. However, i felt that the sashimi did not really blend in with the dish >.< with the avocado, it was perfect, but when i added on the sashimi, it tasted kind of odd O.o and if you’re a sauce-lover like me, it’ll be good to ask for extra sauce, cos the amount was rather pathetic :P

This was grandma’s salmon teriyaki bento set ($13.80). the salmon was crisply fried and tasty. But what was really GOOD was the egg!!! It was hard-boiled on the outside and still soft on the inside! (: EXACTLY how it should be (: PERFECT! and the interesting thing was that it was served cold! now that is unique ;)

Ministry of Food

AMK Hub #B1-51 (other outlets at Sembawang Shopping Centre, Raffles City Shopping Centre, etc)

Tel.: +65 6752 3002

11.30am-10pm Daily

i didn’t manage to try the desserts here, i’m going for a buffet tonight! :D :D so excited. please comment and recommend any nice sweets at MOF! (: