Good Food on Budget

If you were following the previous article, you probably read that I tried living on $400 for the month, but after trying for 2 weeks I've decided to call it quits. Too miserable. It's quite difficult to do when you factor in petrol and cashcard top ups. In any case, this experiment wasn't in vain. I discovered that there's a good number of budget food around Singapore if you want to eat something better but keep the cost low.

Chicken Murtabak ($7.50) - Springleaf Prata Place

One of the perks of my job is running around Singapore which means I get to try food from every part of the country. So I was at the East in Bedok wondering what nice food was nearby which I could keep below $10. Springleaf Prata Place springs to mind and I've written a full article about them previously. Awesome for their prata. Having been wanting to try Murtabak for the longest time, I finally ordered it this visit. The prata skin was great as usual and the minced chicken was generous. I found the chicken to be a little on the dry side but it tasted good when it was still pipping hot.

Springleaf Prata Place
57B Jalan Tua Kong, S457253
(there's 2 more outlets at Thomson and Bukit Timah)

Pork Koka Noodles 可口面 ($3.50 w/egg) - Hai Xian Zhu Zhou 

This is honestly my favourite food for the year. I don't care if you are judging me for loving instant noodles so much. I've craved for it for close to a year and finally got to eat it when I discovered they have a branch in Yishun that works at earthly hours. The original outlet in Bukit Panjang opens at 3am and sometimes closes by early morning. (Are you kidding me? Business so good can close by 10am?!) It's basically Koka noodles cooked with pork, vegetables and an egg thrown in with fried onions to top it off. It sounds simple and ordinary but it taste like heaven for instant noodle lovers. The broth is really flavourful, the meat well marinated. The noodles felt a tad too salty but the rest of the dish balances it out.

Hai Xian Zhu Zhou
#01-472 Choh Dee Place, Blk 233 Yishun Street 21, S760233

Bak Kut Teh ($9.30 w/rice) - Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh

I was wandering around Marina Bay Sands after a not very pleasant appointment and wondering what can I eat that is affordable. A quick look at the food court reflects unknown hawker food at cafe prices. So expensive! Then I saw Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh and I actually heard of this stall while researching for nice Bak Kut Teh! The bigger bonus was that it was under $10. I took the middle option which consisted of one sirloin pork rib and two short ribs. I totally enjoyed my meal so much so I want to eat it again! The ribs fell off the bones easily and the fats melts in your mouth. I found the meat of the short ribs more pleasurable to eat that the sirloin pork rib. Perhaps I'll just opt for the $6.60 option next time. Save even more!

Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh
Rasapura Masters, 2 Bayfront Avenue, #B2-50, Stall 11, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, S018972


Claypot Laksa ($5) - Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa

This was awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2016. My hawker food savvy colleague pointed this stall out to me and I ordered the medium size version to try. Apparently, this recipe was bought over from the original owners.. The laksa broth is really thick and very rich in taste. Ingredients were well infused with the tangy gravy making the dish highly addictive. My only gripe was that at $5 and medium size, I felt like the only reasonable size meal to last the day is actually large. Be warned, the gravy splatters easily so do not wear white ordering this. It is otherwise an awesome laksa dish even though I heard the standard has dropped!

Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa
Blk 120 Bukit Merah Lane, #01-75, Alexander Village, S150120


Penang Hokkien Mee ($5) - Traditional Penang Food

I love black hokkien mee although good ones are really hard to find in Singapore. I found the one at Traditional Penang Food to be one of the more well cooked ones with a generous serving to match. The sauce thickness was just right and I enjoyed the ingredients provided which wasn't excessive or too stingy. While I believe this isn't the best Hokkien Mee in Singapore, this is definitely comfort food in a neighbourhood, certainly better than my neighbourhood's hokkien mee!

Traditional Penang Food
Blk 768 Woodlands Avenue 6 #01-12, Woodlands Mart, S730768

This pretty much sums up my budget post. If you wish to keep more in the loop about my day to day food you can follow me on Instagram @bluntandfussyeater

The Playground Coffee

This is a throwback post. I've been on budget for the past half a month to try out a save money challenge so couldn't afford luxuries like restaurants. In any case, my conclusion remains that earning more still works best for me as compared to trying to cut down on expenses which felt really miserable. Incidentally, today I fulfilled my desire to try the Pablo tart in house and also indulged in very satisfying Prawn Aglio Olio and Chicken wings at D'Good Cafe. I also bought a new book - Made to Stick, to resume my reading habit.

I went to The Playground Coffee a couple of weeks back when work took me to Pioneer. Given that I would never have travelled to Jurong West on my own even if it's for the food, I decided to indulge in some instagrammable brunch food before I left this ulu corner of the west. The Playground Coffee is a new cafe that fits the bill for the typical cafe hopping culture in Singapore. Located in Nanyang Community Centre, it serves a very niche community who probably have a long travel every time they leave home.

As it was a weekday, they had some attractive lunch sets where you pay for the main and add $7 for an additional drink and cake. I made this trip with a colleague of mine and settled for the Salmon Grain Bowl ($16) while he picked the Hearty Breakfast ($16). I found the food to be very competent for a neighbourhood cafe and was pretty thankful for the healthy meal. I enjoyed the quinoa in the bowl but would have preferred if the Barley was excluded the next time. I guess while everything was competently prepared, I didn't find any standout factor in my meal. 

As for the Hearty Breakfast, my colleague's comment was that it tasted like how a typical big breakfast dish should. Average was his comment. I took particular pleasure in the plating, liked the vibrant colours that stood out of the bowl.

I didn't feel like drinking anymore caffiene or soda given my pretty intense consumption over the past couple of days so gave the set lunch a pass. Instead, I ordered a separate dessert called Death's Nectar ($8) which is basically brownie with warm hot fudge and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This is really good! As someone who loves all things chocolate besides chocolate itself, I took particular pleasure in the richness of the chocolate fudge sauce. The brownies were soft and warm which goes exceedingly well with the cold vanilla ice cream. Awesome dessert!

My colleague went along with the set lunch and got a red velvet cake as his dessert. The cake was pretty delicious. The cake was coated with a cream cheese icing while the red velvet sponge is layered with milk chocolate. Taste is awesome but a little too rich that it's pretty difficult to finish solo. I think most of the cakes are pre-made so the cake is a little on the hard side given that it is frozen for hours. I like hard cakes but if you like your cake soft and fluffy, this isn't the cake for you.

In the past, there was a shortage of cafes in the West and The Playground Coffee would definitely cater to the Westies well. Given that, there's a rise in cafes springing up in the West, The Playground Coffee would have a challenging time trying to get a slice of the market share. That said, their food is very decent. I did note that their pricing is tilted a little to the high side considering its location. Whether this backfires on them remains to be seen. I won't specially travel to Jurong West to eat this again but if I'm around the area, I'll treat myself to Death's Nectar one more time!

The Playground Coffee
60 Jurong West Street 91, #01-04, Nanyang Community Club, S649040

Oh My Cafe

This week has been largely committed to work and researching for my London trip. Thankfully, I still managed to squeeze a day to meet up with a friend. As a whole though, I don't recall doing much for this week besides working...

I've been wanting to try Oh My Cafe since it surfaced on the blogosphere a couple of months ago. Being an avid fan of Korean Ramen, I simply got to try! Oh My Cafe is located in Westgate which is really far from where I live, thus even with my own transport, it takes quite a bit of effort to get me travelling there. It's a good thing that the day I was supposed to meet Supercai and she had to suddenly travel to Jurong to meet a client. So in a moment of spontaneity, I suggested eating at Oh My Cafe.

Besides the Korean Ramen which is a rather recent addition to their menu, Oh My Cafe is known for their cool drinks and instagramable desserts. Supercai and I ordered a light bulb beverage each, mine is the Blue Lemonade while hers is the White Grape ($5.40 each). I found my drink to be really refreshing and Supercai was raving about her White Grape too!

Both of us eyed the same mains. In the end, Supercai settled for the Spicy Dry Chicken Galbi Noodles ($12) and I ordered the standard Army Stew ($13). The Chicken Galbi Noodles was fairly delicious and the chunks of chicken meat given was really generous. Supercai was so full after the meal, there's no room for dessert. One gripe she had was the staff doesn't have a good command of English or Chinese because she was from Korea. So she didn't understand what is no green onions. Which means be prepared not to be able to customize your meals. The Spicy Chicken Galbi also couldn't meet Supercai's expectation on the level of spiciness. Other than that, she felt the noodles was tasty and definitely a joy to eat.

My Army Stew doesn't look like the photo on the menu at all. That's my primary reaction when my food was served to me. Aside from that tiny little nit-picking, the ingredients met every bit of expectation. The noodles were well cooked and the flavour was spot on. To me, I satisfied my craving with comfort food. I am a satisfied customer, money well spent!

All in all, Oh My Cafe serves my favourite food. How I wish they are located somewhere more central. I guess if you love instant noodles like me and live in the west, then you are in for a treat! The next time I'm in the west, you can be sure I'm eating here again!

Oh My Cafe
3 Gateway Drive #B1-01, Westgate Mall, S608532