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Hai Di Lao Hotpot

Eaten at 313 Sometset outlet

This was my first HDL experience. We got the chicken, mushroom, and mala soup base options. The last one is just clear water with some radish and dates which we mainly used to “clean” our chopsticks after touching raw food, so as to avoid/minimise cross-contamination.

First off, the price of the overall meal was definitely on the steeper side. However, this can be explained by the quality of the food and the level of service offered by HDL. The high quality of service is known to be very consistent over all their outlets, including nail polish services to keep you entertained while waiting for a table, small apron/bibs to avoid splatter on your clothes, and even wet wipes to clean your spectacles. This is in addition to the level of attention they pay to the table, constantly asking if you need hot towels (to the point where it got a little hilarious) and refilling of your empty tea cup.

We tried a plate of pork and beef, which I felt was very thin and perfect for shabu shabu / hotpot. Another key item we tried was the prawn paste, which the waitress helped to place into the hotpot as small prawn balls. The prawn balls were very soft and much better than expected. Then again, I don’t really know what I expected, but it was all very good.

To top off their great service and food, they even had free ice cream and tauhuay (a.k.a. tofu pudding, soybean pudding) that tastes really good and similar to laoban douhua’s.

HDL is really a great place for family and friends who have a little higher budget. It’s definitely not the everyday place, but good to try and experience at least once if you can.

Notes:
1) There are many videos online with tips and tricks. (e.g. ordering the fried tofu skin as half portion gets you 4 pieces, but full portion gets you 7.)
2) Cost about $130 for 3 people. We were more or less full from it but could have probably eaten more if we really wanted to.
3) If eating dinner, come earlier to avoid the crowd. Just sit down and eat slowly. They didn’t seem to even try rushing us towards the end of our meal when we just sat there and chit-chatted while eating dessert.

Final Verdict:
Will definitely bring my parents here, at least to experience it once.

COLLIN’S

I went to the COLLIN’S outlet at Cineleisure and tried their NZ King Salmon Baked Rice and Chicken Pizza (that’s on the lunch set menu and not on their normal menu).

First problem I have is with the ants! I saw a couple of them workers climbing around trying to find food! This is on the table on the opposite end of the kitchen door, and we were almost their first customer of the day. I don’t know, but I don’t really expect to see insects in a restaurant. If this is what we can see, what’s hidden in the places we can’t see? This isn’t exactly a deal breaker, but just one of the things I actually remember from the place. I don’t know, but I would have preferred to have better memories.

The pizza we ordered for sharing was decent. It was pretty thin crust, and the chicken was quite well grilled. Nothing to fault the pizza for, it was alright.

The salmon baked rice, on the other hand, was not up to what I expected. For $18, the portion wasn’t extremely big. I first thought to compare it to 18 Chef’s cheese baked rice. However, I think I might prefer 18 Chef’s a little bit more. The salmon were in small chunks, but large enough to be a big mouthful. The skin was on the salmon, and in general just felt a little dry and possibly overcooked. The taste of the cheese and sauce wasn’t really very appealing. Honestly, I couldn’t finish the baked rice at all. I wanted to at least finish the salmon, but couldn’t do it.

It was quite sad, because quite a few items on the menu looked really nice and I’d like to try them, but I don’t think I would go back or bring/recommend my friends and family to go there.

Side Note:
1) The booth seats were very close to the table. It would actually be good for studying. Hahaha.

Final Verdict:
Not the place for me.

SDS Bakery & Cafe – Satay Grilled Chicken Chop

Ate this at KSL City Mall (Johor Bahru). Just happened to come across this place while finding somewhere to eat. This cost RM17.90 (~S$5.90) which is really cheap for Singapore standards.

I am a huge fan of satay, but satay (on stick) does get expensive nowadays. The grilled chicken does have the satay taste, and the satay peanut sauce is really tasty. The onion rings go very well with the dish in general, and compared to a generic western meal with a chicken cutlet or chop, the satay flavour definitely gives it a unique and special touch.

I honestly want to learn how to make this myself at home. They do have other options, including chicken chops with other sauces, fried rice, fish, pasta, and nasi lemak. But I love satay and this stood out to me the most. If I were to eat there again, I’d probably get the same thing.

My father had one of the fried rice dishes. I tried it. It reminded me of garlic fried rice. It was alright, but I wasn’t really a huge fan of it.

Side Note:
1) It’s in Malaysia, which isn’t exactly an easy “Let’s go there for lunch” destination.
2) There’s more than 2 onion rings. They’re just under the chicken.

Final Verdict:
Definitely worth a try. Good place for families to have a meal or even just a coffee break in general.

Kogane Yama – Tempura Chicken Bowl

Kogane Yama has two outlets, one in Bugis Junction and one (new outlet) at JEM. It’s not my first time eating at Kogane Yama, and I’ve always bought their tempura donburi every time I visited. Other options like chirashi don and gyudon are also available. Instead of chicken tempura, they also have a vegetable, prawn, or mixed option. You can also have it with udon or soba instead of rice.

The chicken tempura comes with a plethora of other items including long bean, mushroom, lotus root, seaweed, sweet potato, and enoki mushroom. They also have different spiciness levels (from 0 to 3), which is mainly the sauce they drizzled over the fried tempura items.

The tempura is well fried, and as a vegetable hater, I find that the fried vegetables (mainly the long bean) is acceptable in this situation. The chicken tempura is not dry or tough, and the mixture of all the different fried items go very well together. The portion is decent for its price (the chicken bowl is $13.80 and is one of the cheapest main dishes on the menu) and definitely leaves you feeling full.

The set meal (+ $2.50) comes with miso soup and a chawanmushi. The miso soup isn’t really spectacular, but the chawanmushi is pretty decent. However, in the future, I might not get the set meal, since the tempura bowl itself is enough.

Side Note:
1) The amount of deep frying may leave your stomach feeling weird.
2) Kogane Yama is under the same company as Chir Chir, and their Bugis Junction outlets are connected on the inside!

Final Verdict:
Maybe not worth travelling a long way for, but if you’re in the area and don’t know what to eat, or if you’re craving some fried tempura, it’s a good option.

Mom’s Touch – Chicken Tenderloin

Mom’s Touch had both fried chicken and chicken burgers. I got the Chicken Tenderloin set this time as it was more “braces friendly”. There was no queue when we went to eat on a weekday at slightly past lunch hour. There’s only one outlet in Singapore so far, at PLQ mall, so it’s not really accessible if you aren’t already in that area.

The chicken was tender (yes) and crispy, and piping hot as it was freshly prepared. For a chicken tender, it was pretty good and I quite liked it. However, flavour-wise, there was nothing special to write home about. I can’t make a completely judgment based on chicken tenders, and I intend to visit again to try their normal fried chicken and their burgers. At this point in time, it does feel like Jollibee is the go-to for my fried chicken.

The Cheese Fries were just their Cajun Fries topped with a bit of melted cheese. It wasn’t really anything special, we just got it to try it. I might just get the standard Cajun Fries next time.

This drink looked interesting, so we got it. It is the Raspberry Melon Ade. We also got the Citrus Yuzu Orange Ade. They were not just fruit sodas, but also had small boba pearls. These boba pearls were not tapioca pearls, but the texture was more like salmon roe that bursts when popped. It’s an interesting texture and flavour definitely worth a try.

Side Note:
1) A friend ordered the Mom’s Spicy Sauce Chicken and said it wasn’t very good. The sauce the chicken was coated in tasted very similar to the packets of Farmland Chilli Sauce on the side of the first image. I don’t think I will be trying that.
2) Another friend ordered the Deep Cheese Burger. It was “not bad”. Don’t know what that means. I’ll have to try it next time. The regular fried chicken that came along with the burger wasn’t very good. It looked like there were more bone than meat, so maybe I might have to reconsider that.

Final Verdict:
Not good enough to bring my mom and dad to try.

Jollibee – Spicy Chicken Joy

I love Jollibee’s fried chicken. It has the crispiest skin and juiciest meat that I have ever come across. For fast-food standard, it’s pretty damn good. I feel like it’s consistently better than KFC’s, which can vary a lot depending on the part and how long it’s been sitting there waiting to be sold. The spices used in the coating really makes you crave for more. Jollibee is usually pretty crowded, so the chicken is usually freshly fried, which probably helps bring up its standards.

The fries are thin and crisp, never soggy or floppy. It goes very well with the gravy. Great to have together with the fried chicken. Might be one of the better fries in the fast food industry.

Jollibee is probably one of my top picks in Singapore for fast food and fried chicken… Until I try some more!

Side Note:
1) We already know it’s good. This is just for completion and to bring us to a good start. 🙂

Final Verdict:
Yes! 5 spicy flags out of 5!