Lee Do Restaurant @ Automobile Megamart (Ubi) - Keeping Traditions Alive While Serving 50 year Old Recipes

Lee Do Restaurant at Automobile Megamart Ubi is one of the oldest restaurants in Singapore, serving traditional Fuzhou (Hockchew) dishes. The late Mr Tan Seng Eng set up the restaurant in 1964 at a small HDB coffee shop off Bendemeer Road before moving to its current location. Currently, the restaurant is run by the third generation, keeping the traditional food scene alive.

Fu Zhou Fried Noodles 4/5

The Fu Zhou Fried Noodles ($12/$24) is a delightful plate of thick, chewy wheat noodles stir-fried to perfection with pork slices, prawns, clams and vegetables. The soy sauce added a savoury richness that permeates every strand of noodle, further elevated with the addition of pork lards.

Fuzhou Fishball Soup 3.8/5

The Fuzhou Fishball Soup ($10/$18) is a light and flavoursome broth, brightened with the addition of shallot, seaweed and spring onions. Unlike the usual fishball, the bouncy Fuzhou fishball stuffed with marinated pork gives the bite-size treat an elevated burst of flavour and satisfying textural enjoyment.

Steam White Cabbage with Scallop Sauce 3.8/5

The Steam White Cabbage with Scallop Sauce ($20) is delicately steamed to a lovely softness, retaining its sweetness and allowing the natural flavours of the cabbage to shine. However, the scallop sauce was lacking, failing to enliven the dish. It could be more prominent to enhance the sweetness of the cabbage.

Claypot Red Wine Chicken Soup 4.2/5

The Claypot Red Wine Chicken Soup ($16/$30), cooked in aromatic red rice wine, comprises tender chicken infused with the distinctive sweetness of the red rice wine. It even comes with silky Tang Hoon that soaks up the delicious broth for comforting enjoyment.

Yam Paste with Ginko Nuts 4/5

Lastly, we had the Yam Paste with Gink Nuts ($4.50) to wrap up our dinner on a sweet note. The restaurant may specialise in Fuzhou cuisine, but the yam paste, traditionally a Teochew dish, was well done, having the right creamy consistency and subtle sweetness.

Note: This is an invited tasting.


Lee Do Restaurant
Automobile Megamart
61 Ubi Avenue 2
#01-13
Singapore 408898
Tel: +65 67422181
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Nearest MRT: Ubi (DT Line)

Opening Hours:
Tue-Sun: 1130am - 3pm, 530pm - 10pm

Direction:
1) Alight at Ubi MRT station. Take Exit A. Walk to traffic light junction. Cross the road. Walk to destination. Journey time about 5 minutes. [Map]

Pang's Hakka Noodles @ Sprout Hub (Henderson Road) - Traditional Hakka Food By Ex-Antoinette Chef

I have known Chef Pang back in the dates at Antoinette. After the closing of Antoinette, he has moved on to open Pang's Hakka Noodles, from a restaurateur to being a hawker. I recently paid a visit to his stall at Sprout Hub at Henderson Road.

Hakka Noodles with Scholar Soup 4.2/5

I had the Hakka Noodles with Scholar Soup ($5.50) which comes with a bowl of soup on the side that consists of radish, fishball, pig's liver, minced pork and pork slices. The tale has it that Hakka mothers during the ancient Qing Dynasty dish cooked the dish for their children taking the imperial exam. It even comes with three cuts of pork, symbolising the top three places in the imperial exam. The highlight to me is the noodle texture that has a delightful bite tossed in a homemade minced pork sauce, and crispy pork lards.

Hakka Red Wine Chicken Noodle Soup with Egg 4/5

On the menu, a traditional Hakka dish is the Hakka Red Wine Chicken Noodle Soup with Egg ($8). The red wine broth is not as strong, making it more drinkable. On top of the soft and silky mee sua, the bowl of slurping goodness comes with black fungus, tau kwa, tau kee, egg and chicken.

Hakka Fried Wings 4/5

To complete the meal, you can add on the Hakka Fried Wings ($4 for 2pc) marinated in fermented red beancurd. What sets the chicken wings apart is that extra crunch that is extremely crispy.

Hakka Braised Pork Rice 3.8/5

Chef Pang has also recently launched the Hakka Braised Pork Rice ($7), which comes with braised pork belly, braised tau kwa, braised egg and salted vegetable. The braised sauce is on the sweeter side, which is tasty when mixed with the fluffy white rice. I only wish the braised meat could be fatter.

I am glad to see Chef Pang holding the torch for traditional Hakka food. It is a cuisine that is not commonly available nowadays. Furthermore, the tasty food is reasonably priced, allowing more people to try traditional Hakka cuisine.

Note: This is an invited tasting.


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Pang's Hakka Noodles
Sprout Hub
102 Henderson Road
Singapore 159562
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Nearest MRT: Tiong Bahru (EW Line), Redhill (EW Line)

Opening Hours:
Mon, Wed-Fri: 9am - 3pm
Sat: 11am - 4pm
Sun: 9am - 4pm

Direction: 
1) Alight at Redhill MRT station. Take Exit A. Walk to bus stop at Redhill MRT station (Stop ID 10209). Take bus number 132 or 145. Alight 4 stops later. Cross the road. Walk to destination. Journey time about 14 minutes. [Map]

2) Alight at Tiong Bahru MRT station. Take Exit A. Walk to bus stop opposite Tiong Bahru MRT station (Stop ID 10161). Take bus number 16 or 851. Alight 3 stops later. Cross the road. Walk to destination. Journey time about 12 minutes. [Map]

Seow Choon Hua Restaurant @ Sultan Gate (Beach Road) - Handmade Foo Chow Fishball and Yen Pi

Located along Sultan Gate in Beach Road, stepping into Seow Choon Hua Restaurant, you will find oneself stepping into coffeeshop with interior dated back to the early 80s.  As per my understanding, it has been around for more than 70 years. It offers a number of noodle dishes and its known for the handmade Foo Chow fishballs and dumplings.

Foo Chow Style Lor Mee 3/5

First is the Foo Chow Style Lor Mee ($5/$6). I have to admit I do not know what is Foo Chow Style but I find the version is a bit lighter than the usual. The "Lor" or gravy for the noodle is light and not as starchy. Why I didn't quite like the gravy which I find lacking depth, I applauded the lavish offering of ngoh hiang, egg, char siew, fish cake and deep fried dumplings that comes with it.

Red Wine Chicken Mee Sua 3/5

Like the Lor Mee, I find the gravy of the Red Wine Chicken Mee Sua ($5/$6) lacked the robustness and depth. The taste of the red glutinous wine lees was quite mild in the bowl of mee sua. Apart from that, it is a decent bowl with silky mee sua and tender chicken pieces.

Foo Chow Mixed Soup 4.2/5

Our favourite probably is the Foo Chow Mixed Soup ($6 - $10) which comes with an assortment of Foo Chow Fish Ball, Yen Pi, Dumpling and Fish Dumpling. We also ordered a bowl of kway teow soup to go with it.

For those that is used to eating factory made fish ball, you will find the Foo Chow Fish Ball's texture is kind of soft, almost pillowy. It doesn't comes with the bouncy, QQ texture that we usual have. Biting into the huge golf ball size Foo Chow Fish Ball, you will also find marinated minced pork filling in it.

Not forgetting the Foo Chow Yen Pi, which I am really curious as I have never heard or eaten before. The shape looks similar to our wanton dumpling but its puffed up with lots more minced meat and chestnut filling wrapped with wanton skin. The result is more meat less skin, unlike our wanton is more skin less meat. Some people says that it is like eating a crossbreed of wanton and siew mai.

I find the lor mee and red wine mee suace pretty average here. I would recommend the Foo Chow Fish Ball and Yen Pi, which is very uncommon nowadays in Singapore, especially they are hand made some more. Besides what we tried, the restaurant also offers fried nian gao and suan pan zi if you want to try them in your next visit.


Seow Choon Hua Restaurant
33 Sultan Gate
Singapore 198481
Tel: +65 62982720
Nearest MRT: Nicoll Highway (CC Line)

Opening Hours:
Daily: 10am - 10pm

Direction:
1) Alight at Nicoll Highway MRT station. Take Exit A. Take the overhead walkway to Beach Road. Turn left and walk down Beach Road. Turn right onto Sultan Gate. Walk to destination. Journey time about 8 minutes. [Map]

Lunch at Ellena's (Cuisine Paradise) Place

A couple of months back, Ellena aka Cuisine Paradise invited us over to here place for lunch. I thought it would be just be a normal home cooked meal with a couple of close foodies we get to know one another through our blogging journey. I was quite taken back that she actually prepared a feast for us. It is amazing that she can cook 13 dishes in like 2.5 hours.

Red Wine Lees Chicken

Steam Tofu with Minced Meat

Okara Omelette

Baked Rosemary Honey Chicken Mid-Joint

Fried CP Gyoza and Fishball

Baked Salmon with Sweet Corn, Tomato and Cheese

Steamed Fish with Kiwi Fruits

Steamed Chicken with Rice Wine

Steamed Egg with Salted Fish Meatball

Steamed Drunken Prawns

Above were all the beautiful dishes Ellena cooked on the spot. I was at the kitchen to witness all these and managed to pick up a few tips from her. If you want to try cooking any of the above dishes, you can check out Ellena aka Cuisine Paradise post at http://ellenaguan.blogspot.sg/2012/09/6-new-recipes-lunch-gathering-at-my.html for the recipes.

Pandan Cupcakes

For the lunch gathering, Hazel aka AiMakan also made us some lovely pandan cupcakes.

Chocolate Mocha Mousse Cake

Actually there was a planned surprise waiting for Hazel. We planned to celebrate Hazel's birthday and Celes aka Celestialdelish has baked a chocolate mocha mousse cake for the celebration. The receipe can be found at http://www.celestialdelish.com/2012/09/chocolate-mocha-mousse-cake.html

Mission successful! Our beautiful Hazel with her birthday cake.