Aoba Hokkaido Ramen

I love Japanese Restaurant displays.

Crate lamps? A new hip?

The closer you are to the sign. The closer you are at the end of the queue.

As any typical Singaporean. I rush to the longest queue and await eagerly for my turn to enter this new ramen stall. Apparently this is the 2nd branch of Aoba, with its first one in Manpuku.

Finally inside.

Menu.

Spoiled of choices.

Fortune stick or chopsticks?

Shoyu Corn Ramen

Shoyu Cha Shu Ramen

Miso Corn Ramen

I just couldn't resist another photo.

Ramen wise. The noodles were very "q". Goes great with the broth. The soup broth was really full bodied and nice. However, after 3 of 4 consecutive spoons. It can be very salty. I had a "tough" time enduring the saltiness, just to savor the bits of sweet corn kernels that had sank to the bottom of my bowl.

There isn't a lot of difference between the different bowls of ramen. They are mainly differienated with their toppings and the soup broth that goes into the bowl of noodles. The cha shu (a bit thin) would have more slices of meat and the corn ones have lesser meat and a heap of corn kernels and a nob of butter. The soup is really salty. (This is coming from someone who loves salty food. You have been warned.). The butter does bring out the corn sweetness and seems to make the soup smoother. I got a perfect shoyu egg with a runny yoke. My two other friend weren't so lucky, with overcooked eggs. Standards are a bit varying. Miso broth is saltier than the Shoyu broth.

The service suffered a bit with new staff in a new branch. However, I applaud the service staff for stopping a couple from cutting the queue (its was a really long queue). No priority to anyone. You wait in line. Interesting fact.

Ajisen management brought in Aoba Ramen. *Shock*

Food for thought.

Aoba Ramen (ION Orchard)
2 Orchard Turn
#B3-25 ION Orchard
Tel: 6509 9394

Cholesterol Explosion

I really love seafood. Its important to watch the intake on food into your body. However, sometimes you just feel like pigging out and just eating all you want. Today is one of those days.

Business is hot as usual.

Firstly, the visit to the Gim Chew Fried Hokkien Noodle. This Fried Hokkien Noodles is really nice. This wok aroma, slurpy noodles and the wonderful thick prawn stock makes it one of the best and favourite Hokkien Noodles I enjoy. However, this granny whom use to fry this wonder treasure does it less often now. Probably retiring. Now its usually the other members of the family who fries it (sometimes the daughter or husband).

Noodles drowning in prawn stock.

Today's version is fried by the husband. Though heavily drowsed with the milky prawn stock, it lack the rich and luster taste of the dish which I remember the old lady. Otherwise, its still the same with slurpy noodles and prawns. Maybe they just didn't do their stock right that day.

I can even descript this picture. Too many things.

This is by far my favorite fried oyster stall. Katong Fried Oyster (though being in Bedok) does its oyster just perfect with plump and succulent mini oysters. The starch is fried to a crisp on the outside and sticky texture in the inside. Eggs are ample and generous. The chilli sauce adds another notch to the already good enough to eat by itself dish. Though the best fried oyster I've eaten is at a night street stall near Malaysia's Times Sqaure. What'd I give to eat that again.

All this food can be found in Bedok Centre Hawker Centre.

Gim Chew Fried Hokkien Noodles
#01-62

Katong Fried Oyster
#01-52


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Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee

There was a whole queue gathering at this stall, thus my friend decide to give this a go (with some for me to sample of course). Hehehe!

Busy hands means good business.

Ah Heng is a popular chicken curry noodles stall. They even got different outlets in Market Street and Bukit Merah. Judging from the queue and awards, definitely something to tryout.

Just screams eat me. Doesn't it.

The bowl of noodles comes with somewhat huge amount of ingredients with a few slices of fish cake, 1 or 2 pieces of tau pok, 4 to 5 slices of chicken and some hunks of potato. I would say that the curry gravy is around the same consistence of laksa, some what light and not heavy like Indian curry. Fragrant and sweet, but not overly hot and spicy. Chickens are boiled separately from the curry, thus making it tender and peels out nicely.

In my option, Curry noodles in Singapore has the son of the parents of laksa and curry. Its neither heavy like its Indian parent and yet has the texture of laksa. Yet it still have very distinct flavours of its Curry roots. Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee has the balance of both these traits.

Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee
Hong Lim Food Centre
Blk 531 Upper Cross Road
#02-58

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Houseman @ General Hospital

I was visiting my grandma when she was warded in due to a leg operation, when i discovered this rare gem by chance. Located in the houseman food court in GH when I tried this dumpling noodles. The noodles is rather ordinary, however the dumpling is of another league. Each dumpling is packed to the brim and extremely crunchy. Crunchy? You may have thought it was a fried dumpling, but no its a soup base dumpling. How can a soup base dumpling be crunchy? You may ask. Well the secret lies in the contents of the dumpling. Filled to the max of the wanton wrapper is filled with 50% grounded pork and 50% of julienned black fungus, there are also bits of water chestnut. That explains the crunchy texture, which can be quite addictive and makes you wanting to return to GH for the wrong reasons.

Bits of black fungus which seems to be lining uniformly with the mince pork
(Sorry about the poor photo)

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