The Lobby Lounge @ Shangri-La Hotel Singapore - Experience Local Hawker Fare For Breakfast At Weekend Semi-Buffet

In collaboration with local hawkers to serve authentic local hawker fare, The Lobby Lounge, Shangri-La Hotel Singapore presents their Breakfast Buffet with an enticing array of local heritage dishes for everyone to enjoy iconic hawker fare in town, all under one roof. The authentic Singaporean breakfast spread showcase 6 specially curated Singaporean breakfast items from the ala carte menu, which include: Nasi Lemak ($19) from The Coconut Club; Roti Prata with Dhalcha and Fish Curry ($12) from Springleaf Prata Place; Carrot Cake ($12) from The Lobby Lounge’s Chef Yong Jia; Dry Wanton Mee ($14) from Shang Palace’s Executive Chef Mok Kit Keung; Soft Boiled Eggs with Kaya Toast ($12) from The Lobby Lounge’s Signature; Hainanese Porridge ($12) from The Lobby Lounge’s Signature.

Nasi Lemak 4.2/5

Prepared with the original recipe from The Coconut Club, a Michelin's Bib Gourmand Singapore 2018 awardee, the Nasi Lemak ($19) is a perfect medley of flavours. It featured a base of aromatic pandan-scented rice infused with coconut milk and served with an array of topping including the crispy anchovies, peanuts, fried egg, sliced cucumber and homemade sambal chilli for that kick of spice. The dish is completed with a crispy chicken leg deep fried till golden brown.

Dry Wanton Mee 4/5

A perennial favourite amongst the locals, the Dry Wanton Mee ($14) features soft and springy al dente noodles tossed with a special black sauce and barbequed pork by Shang Palace's Chinese Executive Chef Mok Kit Keung. The dish is topped with tender char siew and crunchy leafy greens and accompanied by a bowl of flavourful pork and shrimp dumpling soup.

Hainanese Porridge 3.8/5

The Hainanese Porridge ($12) is a simple, comforting bowl of breakfast. The silky congee is cooked with tender minced pork balls and meat slices, with the flavours enhanced with a dash of sesame oil and ginger. Served with a side of crispy fried strips of Youtiao to dunk into the porridge, perfect for soaking up the goodness.

Savour other nostalgic dishes in line with unlimited helpings of it, such as a plate of economic bee hoon, luncheon meat, cabbage and fried egg.

Soon Kueh 4/5, Chwee Kueh 4.2/5

We love the signature Soon Kueh by Ah Yee. A popular Teochew snack in Singapore, it is made with hand-kneaded dough from rice-tapioca flour. What we like is the tender and springy skin with the right amount of bite to it. The fillings are generous - an aromatic combination of shredded carrots, black fungus, turnip and dried shrimps.

The Chwee Kueh - Tiong Bahru Jian Bo Shui Kueh’s signature dish is also a favourite. Yet another popular Teochew snack well-loved for its firm rice cakes topped with sweet and savoury preserved radish. It's the perfect breakfast to kickstart your morning with.

Chee Cheong Fun 3.8/5

The Chee Cheong Fun hit the spot with its thin silky smooth skin and generous glaze of sweet black sauce. Perfectly springy and chewy, the delicate rice rolls had us going back for more.

Photos and words by Crystal. A girl who likes to eat, photograph, and write about food, and dreams about travelling around the world one day. Note: This is an invited tasting.


The Lobby Lounge
Shangri-La Hotel Singapore
Lobby Level
22 Orange Grove Road
Singapore 258350
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Nearest MRT: Orchard (NS Line)

Opening Hours:
Daily: 730am - 1am

Direction:
1) Alight at Orchard MRT station. Take Exit E. Walk towards Wheellock Place via ION. Exit Wheellock Place and turn left towards Liat Tower. Cross the road at the traffic light junction and turn left towards Royal Thai Embassy. Walk down to the end of Orchard Road. Turn right onto Orange Grove Road. Walk to destination. Journey time about 23 minutes. [Map]

Edge @ Pan Pacific Singapore Hotel - Refreshed Gourmet Makan Makan Dining Experience

Buffet lovers will be rejoice to know that the popular Edge at Pan Pacific Singapore Hotel has refreshed its Makan Makan heritage lunch buffet with a refreshed selection of nostalgic presentations. The refreshed Makan Makan dining experience has twelve live Asian heritage stations; Seafood on Ice, Nihon Bites, Mamak Stall, Balinese Island, The Little Nonya, Teochew Classics, The Malayan Straits, Singapore Heritage Favourites, Asian-inspired pizza, Nostalgic Carving, Claypot Station and Asian Sweets.

Traditional Roti Bakar with Hot Spring Egg 4.2/5

I was delighted to find our beloved breakfast selections among the buffet spread. One of them is the Traditional Roti Bakar with Hot Spring Egg. Crispy toasts with sweet kaya spread, plus soft boiled egg, this indeed is something that is close to our heart. You can even order a cup of Teh Tarik to complete your breakfast set.

Chwee Kueh, Soon Kueh, Peng Kueh 3/5

You can also find traditional Teochew classic such as Chwee Kueh, Soon Kueh and Peng Kueh. It brings back memories of the time I would have breakfast in the hawker centre with my grandparent. While I did not quite enjoyed the chwee kueh, the soon kueh and peng kueh are actually pretty decent considering this is a buffet.

Fried Carrot Cake 4/5

Fried Oyster 3.5/5

Talking about hawker centre, you can also find Fried Carrot Cake and Fried Oyster at one of the live stations. These are classic hawker dishes that you will find in almost hawker centres. This is definitely a buffet that that showcases a lot of the local food.

Bak Kut Teh 3.8/5

For those that enjoys a good of Bak Kut Teh, the version at Edge is an in between of the peppery and klang style. It is sweet and without the overpowering herbal taste with a tad of pepper.

 Kueh Pai Tee 3/5

Mee Siam, Nonya Chicken Curry, Achar, Chap Chye 4/5

A highlight at the refreshed Makan Makan lunch buffet is the "Little Nonya" spread by resident Nonya chef Nancy Teo. I started with some Kueh Pai Tee which whetted up the appetite. Many other delectable selections include Babi Assam, Mee Siam Goreng, Nonya Chicken Curry, Achar, Chap Chye etc, showcasing the Malayan Straits cuisine.

Rickshaw Noodle 4/5

KL Tai Lok Mee 4.2/5

From the noodle station, we can savour dishes such as Rickshaw Noodle and KL Tai Lok Mee prepared a la minute by the chef at the live station. You will need to try these noodle dishes as they are not readily available elsewhere in Singapore.

Curry Fish Head 4.5/5

One of my favourite item is the Curry Fish Head. I am actually quite surprised to find it among the spread. I could not help going over to the Mamak Stall section to grab some naan and prata to soak up the delicious curry gravy.

Lastly do save some stomach space for the dessert. There are a variety of local treats such as Gula Melaka Sago Mousse, Chendol Panna Cotta, Ice Kachang, Durian Pengat, Durian Puff and a selection of local kuehs. There are even hot local desserts such as Bubur Cha Cha and Pulat Hitam. The dessert selection section is basically a feast by itself.

Prices
Date: Every Sat 12pm - 230pm
$58 per adult
$29 per child (6-11 years old
Inclusive of unlimited local beverages, coffee and tea

Note: This is an invited tasting.


The Edge
Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore
Level 3
7 Raffles Boulevard
Singapore 039595
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Nearest MRT: Promenade (CC Line)

Opening Hours:
Mon-Sat: 12pm - 230pm, 630pm - 1030pm
Sun: 12pm - 4pm, 630pm - 1030pm

Direction: 
1) Alight at Promenade MRT station. Take Exit A. Walk to destination. Journey time about 5 minutes. [Map]

Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre Hawker Trail

The last Hawker Food Trail was back in October 2011 at Ghim Moh Food Centre. Together with the help from Maureen, we organised another Hawker Food Trail this time at Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre. A total of 18 pax, 11 stalls and just $9 per person.

Lor Mee 3.8/5

Lor Mee 178, Stall #02-58

Lor Mee 4.2/5

Tiong Bahru Lor Mee, Stall #02-80

We have a Lor Mee fight off between Lor Mee 178 ($3) and Tiong Bahru Lor Mee ($3). The clear winner among the foodies was Tiong Bahru Lor Mee. The traditional lor mee's gravy was more robust and had more ingredients. However, Lor Mee 178's deep fried shark meat is not to be missed.

Chwee Kueh 4/5

Jian Bo Shui Kueh, Stall #02-05

A must try at Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre is the Jian Bo Shui Kueh (8 piece for $2.40). The freshly made chwee kueh was moist and firm. The chye poh was fragrant and tasty which paired very well with the chwee kueh.

Prawn Noodles Soup 3/5

Min Nan Prawn Noodles, Stall #02-31

The exquisite Prawn Noodles Soup ($4) came with a generous serving of prawns, fishcakes and meatballs. Yes meatballs, quite interesting that the stall served meatballs in their prawn noodles. Unfortunately the meatballs lacked flavours and textures. The soup also missed out on the prawny robustness.

Glutinous Rice 3/5

HarriAnn's Delight, Stall #02-25

I didn't know the Vegetarian stall sells Glutinous Rice ($2). The glutinous rice was recommeneded by Yan Cai. It was rather fragrant but I still think it lacked the aroma from the dried shrimps.

Pau & Siew Mai 4/5

Tiong Bahru Pau, Stall #02-18/19

The Paus was light and fluffy with delightful fillings. The Siew Mai was huge and meaty. The Paus and Siew Mai ($7.60) definitely a hearty breakfast or tea time snack.

Char Kway Teow 3/5

Tiong Bahru Char Kway Teow, Stall #02-11

The plate of Char Kway Teow ($4) probably not the best I have tried. Although it came with abundance of ingredients, I am not a fan for the dry version.

Fishballs & Fishcakes 4/5

Tiong Bahru Fishballs, Stall #02-20

Hardly do we find this type of stall selling only fishballs and fishcakes in hawker centre. The stall sells a huge varities of fishballs and fishcakes in varies shapes and sizes. The fishballs and fishcakes ($5.60) were fresh and springy.

Roast Meat Platter 4/5

Lee Hong Kee Roast Meat, Stall #02-60

The succulent Cantonese style Roast Meat Platter ($10) was really commendable.  My favourite was their roast pork. With crackling crisp skin and juicy tender meat.

Wanton Noodles 4.5/5

Zhong Yu Yuan Wei Wanton Noodles, Stall #02-30

The Wanton Noodles ($5) was the favourite with all the foodies among all the dishes we had. The stall uses the armpit char siew which has a beautiful layer of fats which was extremely tender. The noodles were excellent too, getting praises from the foodies.

Milo Dinosaur Ice Kachang 4/5

Liang Liang Garden, Stall #02-75

The desserts from Liang Liang Garden were the perfect thirst quenching for the hot weather. The Milo Dinosaur Ice Kachang ($3) was topped with condensed milk, Hershey chocolate and Milo powder.

Shark Fin Cheng Tng 4/5

Liang Liang Garden, Stall #02-75

Another interesting dessert was the Shark Fin Cheng Tng ($3). I was very curious to find whenever real shark fin was used. As you can see from the picture, it was not the real stuff. The so called shark fins were actually made from jelly strips.

It was another fun and successful hawker trail. Many thanks to the foodies who came early to help out and queued for the food. If not for them, it would not be possible. We are also glad to know new friends and have Ann, Tony and Alexis joining us for the first time.

Jian Bo Shui Kueh (楗柏水果) @ Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre

If you were to ask me for a recommendation at Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre, my first thought will be the Lor Mee and Chwee Kueh. I told the opportunity to visit Lor Mee 178 and Jian Bo Shui Kueh while I was there a couple of weeks back.

There were many mixed reviews on Jian Bo Shui Kueh and most of them noticed that the standard and quality were not the same as previous. They could be right as the original owner has sold the stall to the current owner (accordingly to what I found on the web).

Chwee Kueh 4/5

The freshly made Chwee Kueh ($1.20/4pc, $1.80/6pc, $2.40/8pc) was soft and firm. The chye poh (turnip filling) was on the darker side which was rather fragrant compared to other stalls. However it was kind of flat without the crunchy texture. The chilli although was mild but I personally felt that it blended very well with the chye poh. Overall I felt that the chwee kueh standard is still way above most of the competitors out there.


Jian Bo Shui Kueh (楗柏水果)
Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre
30 Seng Poh Road
#02-05
Singapore 168898
Nearest MRT: Tiong Bahru (EW Line), Outram (EW Line, CC Line)

Opening Hours:
Daily: 630am - 1030pm

Direction:
1) Alight at Tiong Bahru MRT station. Take Exit A or B. Head east on Tiong Bahru Road towards Jalan Membina. Walk down Tiong Bahru and turn right onto Kim Pong Road. Turn left onto Lim Liak Street. Walk to destination at the end of the street. Journey time about 10 minutes.

2) Alight at Outram MRT station. Take Exit A or C. Walk to bus stop opposite Outram MRT station (Stop ID 06011). Take bus no. 33, 63, 75, 851 or 970. Alight 1 stop later at Blk 55 Tiong Bahru Road. Walk to destination about 200 meters away. Journey time 8 minutes.

Best of Ghim Moh Food Centre Makan Gathering

In conjuction with the opening of the rest of the MRT stations along Circle Line, the monthly makan gathering brought us to Ghim Moh Food Centre to explore the best food along the new section of the circle line.

Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow is probably one of the most popular stalls at Ghim Moh Food Centre. The stall also has the title King of Fried Kway Teow from a TV show many years back. The fried kway teow was neither too dry or wet with a nice consistency that came with juicy cockles and lots of pork lard!.

Fried Kway Teow 4/5

Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow, Stall #01-12

Opening Hours: 930am-230pm (Closed on Mon and Fri)

Teck Hin Fried Hor Fun stall sells only Hor Fun. The current stall is run by 2 middle aged men. Besides the Beef Hor Fun which we ordered, the stall also offers Seafood Hor Fun, Sliced Fish Hor Fun and etc. I like the thick gravy that is drenched over the Hor Fun and the tender beef slices.

Beef Hor Fun 4/5

Teck Hin Fried Hor Fun, Stall #01-44

Opening Hours: 10am-3pm, 5pm-830pm (Closed on Mon)

If you are a fan for Indian's food, you have to drop by Ghim Moh Food Centre and try Heaven's Indian Curry's Putu Mayam, Appom and Thosai. Putu Mayam brought back a lot of childhood memories. It was one of my favourite Sunday breakfast tearing into the vermicelli-like rice flour noodles and dipping them into the desiccated coconut and orange sugar.

Putu Mayam 4/5

This is my first time having Appom and I love it! The experience was like eating both crispy and fluffy Roti Prata in one. The Appom was fluffy in the middle with crispy edges. Like Roti Prata, there are plain and egg Appoms too. Heaven Indian's Curry is probably one of the only few stalls in Singapore that makes Appom.

Appom 4.2/5

Many people have raved about the Thosai here too. You just need to taste it yourself to understand why. It had a nice thickness giving it a crispy outer layer while the inside was moist and fluffy. It had a good balance in both taste and texture.

Thosai 4/5

Heaven's Indian Curry, Stall #01-15

Opening Hours: 6am-2pm, daily

I find that the steamed Taro Cake was a bit disappointing as I prefer those that have chunks of yam. I could not really taste the yam flavour or find the contrast in texture I was looking for. Nevertheless, Rong Yuan's Taro Cake was moist and nice. Oh! and it came with peanuts.

Taro Cakes 3.8/5

Rong Yuan Cooked Food Stall, Stall #01-19

Chwee Kueh is a common Singapore breakfast. It is basically steam rice flour topped with preserved radish (Chye Poh). Usually the preserved radish (Chye Poh) topping is sweet but Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh's version is different. This is the first time I have the salty version. According to what I googled on the web, this supposed to be the traditional receipt.

Chwee Kueh 3/5

Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh, Stall #01-31

Opening Hours: 615am-7pm, daily

Just beside the Chwee Kueh stall is this inconspicuous Fried Carrot Cake stall that uses vegetable oil. The stall sells both white and black carrot cake. We had the Black Carrot Cake. The steamed radish cake fried with black sweet sauce was soft and tasty with a generous coat of eggs.

Black Carrot Cake 3.8/5

Lian He Carrot Cake, Stall #01-30

Many people have recommended this roast meat stall at Ghim Moh Food Centre. With such high popularity we definitely have to join the queue to try out their roast meat. We bought the Roast Duck, Roast Pork and Char Siew. The Char Siew was average but both the Roast Duck and Roast Pork were very good.

Roast Duck, Roast Pork and Char Siew 4/5

Jiu Jiang Shao La, Stall #01-45

Opening Hours: 11am-730pm (Closed on Wed)

The Hakka Yong Tau Foo has both dry and soup version. We decided to order the dry version because we felt that the picture will turn out better. The Stuffed Tau Pok (Stuffed Fried Tofu) was really crunchy and flavourful but the minced meat filling was a bit salty . My friend shared with me that people usually ordered the soup version. Maybe the soup version helps to balance the saltiness and make it a more balanced dish.

Yong Tau Foo (dry version)

Hakka Yong Tau Foo, Stall #01-14

Opening Hours: 730am-3pm (Closed on Mon)

The wonderful hawker food feast ended with dessert from Golden Swallow Dessert. I like the dessert here because of the fresh coconut milk. Bo Bo Cha Cha is the most appropriate dessert to highlight this. The hot Bo Bo Cha Cha was a bit too sweet but the cold one was really good. Topped with the colourful "tadpoles" like jellies, every spoonful was a sweet bursting surprise.

Tadpole Bo Bo Cha Cha (cold)

Bo Bo Cha Cha (hot)

Golden Swallow Dessert, Stall #01-53

Ghim Moh Food Centre

Blk 20 Ghim Moh Road

Nearest MRT: Buona Vista (EW Line, CC Line)

Direction:

1) Alight at Buona Vista MRT station. Walk to bus stop along Buona Vista Road (Stop ID 11361). Take bus no. 92. Alight 1 stops later. Journey time about 3 mins.

2) Alight at Buona Vista MRT station. Cross the underpass towards Ghim Moh Estate Blk 12A. Cut across the open air carpark towards Ghim Moh Road. Cross the road and walk towards Blk 20. Journey time about 8 mins.