德记, De Ji Cooked Food

Noodle Soup ($3)

At this corner of the Kebun Baru Food Centre, tables were easily littered with red, empty bowls from De Ji. The bowls looked worn out, with visible scalding marks on them! Never mind melamine leaching; i'm simply looking forward to slurping in some good, hot soup.

The flavorsome soup, made thicker by the flour from the sheng mian (noodle) used, is seriously toothsome. I almost emptied the bowl. The ingredients are simple, but fresh - fish cakes, fish balls, pork slices, pork liver and lettuces. A comforting lunch, after a busy morning.

Be warned. The lunch hour queue does get a little too long.

Noodle Dry ($3)

Stall #01-23

Nadai Fujisoba Ni-Hachi

Hot Kamo Nanban Soba ($18++)

Thin soba noodles, sliced duck meat, spring onion, duck meat balls, dashi, snap peas, yuzu, soy sauce

Ni-Hachi means 2 and 8 respectively. The golden ratio of 20% wheat flour and 80% buckwheat flour for the perfect soba. The texture and taste achieved, was surely exceptional. Nadai Fuji Soba, at 100AM Mall holds one of my best experiences with soba, which is far and few between. My favourite Japanese noodle is Udon.

Albeit the simple food, the experience was refined and elegant. The flavors of food, kept pure and delicate. Such are the characteristics of Japanese cuisine, giving you that feel of tranquil. Even the sukiyaki soup base seems mellowed to suit the local taste. Try the duck soup; we like that it is slightly more flavorful than their standard soup base.

They have a current facebook promotion for doing a  "check-in & upload" for the restaurant. And we were rewarded with a complimentary Matcha ice-cream, dribbled over with light caramel sauce. It was bitter and non-overly-milky. An ice-cream well worth paying for, really.

Hot Ebi Tempura Soba ($18++)

Thin soba noodle, shrimp tempura, snap peas, dashi, yuzu, soy sauce

Japan Garden Foods - Sizzing Hot Stone

Oyako Don, Chicken ($8.80), Curry Rice, Broccoli ($7.80)

Includes Miso Soup.

X'mas shopping at the Orchard Rd? You may like to make a deliberate visit to the new basement food court at the Shaw Centre. A dimly lighted place with good air flow for a restful, late lunch. The noisy lunch crowd was over by this hour. Good.

The oyako don came across as the eye-catching one with wobbling raw eggs! I was tempted to make a double order for it, but glad we decided on the vegetarian curry don too. The smoky flavor of the spicy curry compliments the sweetness of the oyako don, perfectly.

The meal is a carbo galore, with the usual ingredients of poultry, onions, eggs and broccoli. Nothing quite spectacular, except for its delish burned rice at the bottom of the hot stone pot - charred but remained slight chewy for that enjoyable bite! Very unlike our Chinese claypot rice, which over-burned all these lovely grains.

You may like their other options of beef curry, cheese curry or the salmon egg too! This is interesting.

福粿园, Kueh Garden

Soon Kueh ($1 each)

Congratulations to Kueh Garden! Who actually manages to pull off their first year at the quiet Jurong East shop house. When we arrived, there was a 15 mins wait for a new batch of steaming to fulfill our order of 16 pastries.

The taste was how we like it - light, down-to-earth, home-cook. Make no mistake with a small bite, which might just register the taste as bland. Take a big mouthful into the plump kueh, and you'll satisfy your taste buds with a good aroma of fried shallots, crunch of the black fungus and pure sweetness of turnips and carrots. My folks love this.

We usually don't have the dark soy sauce, preferring to savor the original taste of food. But dip in a little into their non-sweet, natural-tasting chili sauce. It is good.

中国拉面, Zhong Guo La Mian Xiao Long Bao

Szechuan Spicy Wanton, 紅油抄手 ($4.50, 10 pcs)

Dinner is a pool of vinegary oil.

The image is deeply etched in my mind. Nothing horror about it, but i was really lapping in every spoonful. Amazed myself, at how much i'm enjoying the smooth skinned dumpling in the swamp of hot zesty oil! The diet plan was thrown out of the window.

The hand kneaded steamed buns are great as well. Take less photos, and eat them warm. Tear away its thin, firm skin; slurp in the warm soup within. This is wonderful.

Steamed Mini Buns, 小笼包 ($6, 10 pcs)

La Mian with Fried Bean Sauce, 炸醬麵 ($3.50)

Maybe i'm missing a good bowl of Zha jiang mian too much. It's hard to find a decent one in Singapore. Think we have chanced upon the best ones tonight. Almost swallowed my tongue, in a haste to savor my favourite China noodle!

Surely, this is one of the best stalls serving out China cuisine in a Singapore hawker center; all at very affordable pricing and generous portion. Now, you got a queue to join at the Chinatown Market and Food Centre.

Stall #02-135

发笋粿, Fatt Soon Kueh

Chinese Dumpling, Soon Kueh ($1 each)

"This is my favourite soon kueh, you know?" touted the young man, younger than myself - my brother. He had often drove his way to the branch at New Upper Changi Rd for his craving.

Surely, the family was impressed by the crystalline pastry which looked absolutely mouthwatering. But the stronger flavor of the vegetable filling left us in disillusion. The dumpling though, boasts some of the plumpest dried shrimps we have ever seen in a soon kueh; and the sheer number of them in each dumpling, suffice to freak out any vegetarian.

You will enjoy this if you have a heavier taste buds. For us, we are sticking to the less commercialize ones.