MYO Restobar - Classic Home-styled Cantonese Dishes

MYO restobar is a hidden gem located at Oxley Tower. It serves classic home-styled Cantonese cuisines and is perched up the 19th floor of the building. I'm really thankful to have found this place as I was looking to celebrate someone's birthday with my colleagues and seriously, the number of mid-range good Chinese restaurants in CBD is really lacking. You are stuck with either super high-end choices which would have been an overkill or low end which would have been an understatement of the occasion.

The set I picked was the 3 pax Group Set Lunch ($138).

To kick off the feast, the first item was Steamed Siew Mai with Mushroom. It might look like your typical siew mai but it's legitimately above average. I was quite impressed. Personally, siew mai has always been my gauge to a restaurant's dim sum quality and this one passed the test. I like it that the meat is plump and juicy with generous serving.

Next up was supposed  to be Crispy Yam Bag with Scallops. However, I don't take yam so I changed it to Dumplings with Shiitake Mushroom and Black Truffle. This one is awesomely good too. I got to praise the place for its generous fillings. Aside from them, the dim sum is made well and you can see each piece hold its own and doesn't fall apart at the slightest touch.

The third dish is the signature Kia Hiang Claypot Spring Chicken. This dish is richly flavoured and I really like the sauce. It goes excellently with white rice. I couldn't stop eating it. It's wrapped with cabbage and the chicken meat is really tender. Must try!

The Guifei Beancurd with 3 Treasures was also competently done. It's definitely comfort food and I find myself happily gobbling up every item.

I've no idea why a Cantonese restaurant has Grilled Australian Silverback Wagyu Ribeye cooked this way but as expected it is just sub par.

The feast concludes with Double Boiled Peach Gum with Red Dates. It's very sweet so be warned. Other than that it does help to balance out our very full and rich meal.

I see myself coming back to MYO Restobar many more times. Given that the choices for mid-range Chinese food in CBD is so scarce, I'll probably be throwing more celebrations here.

MYO Restobar
19-01 Oxley Tower, 138 Robinson Road, S068906 
(Take lift from Lobby 1)

A & W @ Jewel

After a very long wait, A & W is finally back in Singapore! You know the excitement if I have to queue 2 hours just to have this meal even after a couple of weeks since Jewel opened its doors officially to the public. This is actually a throwback post. I've been holding out for the A & W waffles but guess it is not happening in the short term. It was already 9pm when we got our food and I'm kinda on a diet so didn't want to push to eat waffles at this time.

My friend picked the cream cheeze chicken combo ($10.90) which comes with cream cheese burger,  curly fries and drink. I guess to be honest, fast food is fast food. The expectation cannot be out of this world. It's definitely a good burger as long as you know you are having fast food.

As for my 2 Piece Fried Chicken Combo ($8.90) it's very much an American fried chicken. For most american style fried batter, it has this distinct charred taste that isn't very oily. While it isn't my kind of favourite, it's authentic american fried chicken.

Personally, I was more excited with my root beer float (+60 cents from my meal). It is definitely what I imagined and reminded me of my childhood days. It's 100% A&W. This makes me happy because it's probably what I queued for. I couldn't remember the mains that A&W served because I was too young and there's no memory besides the waffles and the root beer float.

The million dollar question got to be is it worth the queue? Honestly, no. Queuing 2 hours for fast food is crazy. My friend was nudging me to queue for Shake Shack instead but I already tried it in London and no way was I going to queue for that in Singapore. In fact, I felt a little crazy queuing for this even. I mean, if you have the means to travel overseas, surely 2 hours can be better spent doing something else?

If not for the passion of blogging about food, there's no way I would have queued for this.

A & W
78 Airport Boulevard, #B2-209, Jewel Changi 

Kok Sen Restaurant - Michelin Bib Gourmand Zichar

I've taken a two week hiatus on blogging because I was simply too busy. Kok Sen Restaurant has been on my radar since it was awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand when the Michelin gradings appeared in Singapore. However, I kept delaying my visit because I've read multiple accounts of the appalling service from the 'proud staff' so was afraid to jio my friends there in case they got a negative experience. So when my friend suggested going to Kok Sen Restaurant, I was very much agreeable.

Since there was only two of us there's a limited selection we can try. One of the acclaimed dishes is this claypot yong tou fu ($15) which totally lives up to its name. I especially like the red chilli stuffed with spicy fish meat. It's absolutely tasty and the sauce is another winner on its own.

Another must try is this Big Prawn Horfun ($18). It's so difficult to find good horfun with legitimate wok-hei flavour nowadays that I'm savouring every bite of this plate. The one at Kok Sen is cooked with chilli padi and the egg infused sauce of this horfun carries with it a tangy spiciness that is highly addictive. The big prawns live up to its billing too. It's really huge and easy to eat. Seriously, after the meal, I really want to come back for another go already.

The sweet and sour pork ($13) is the most disappointing of the lot. It DOESN'T look like the picture in the menu at all. I seriously hate this. In their menu, I saw big nice slabs of juicy sweet and sour pork. The actual one is so miserly. Taste was okay.. but I really find this unacceptable because my $13 could be better utilised on another dish if not for the photo...

Would I return? Well, yes. I'll come back for the horfun and claypot yong tou fu any day. Oh and I think I spotted the sour face lady everyone was talking about too hah! Kok Sen Restaurant definitely is worth a visit because they have top quality dishes at reasonable price points. My next visit though, I'll do my due diligence online instead of ordering based on photos!

Kok Sen Restaurant 
30 Keong Saik Road, S089137
(please note: they only accept cash!)