New Ubin Seafood (Zhong Shan Park) - Traditional Zi Char Upgraded to hotel dining

I wouldn't have known of a shopping mall in Zhongshan Mall or Ramada Hotel for that matter had it not been because I had Mother's Day celebration at New Ubin Seafood. Originally from Pulau Ubin, it set up roots on mainland Singapore many years ago in Sin Ming Industrial Estate and most recently upgraded to being located inside Ramada Hotel by Wyndham Singapore.

The brother was the one who did all the research and ordering. My task was basically to fulfill the headcount and help to clear the food. We kick-started our meal with this crispy pork jowl that comes with sweet sauce. The pork was lean, fried excellently with the crispiness just right and honestly, it's somewhat addictive.

Next up was Har Cheong Gai which is also fragrantly fried and chicken meat was tender. Personally, I don't know how to appreciate this dish as it feels less tasty compared to fast food fried chicken yet without a distinctive taste to identify itself. It's definitely a competent effort but I'm probably the wrong fit for the dish.

It's Mother's Day and we selected mom's favourite dishes which includes this curry fish head. The curry is robust with flavour and it's very rich in coconut milk. For those of you who likes your curry this way, you'll love it. I'm a little disappointed that the meat on the fish head is relatively little. Not enough for 3 people...

Then we had the New Ubin's Hokkien Mee Special. The brother was raving that this is one of their signature dishes. Indeed the appearance looks a little different from the traditional hokkien mee. The broth appears creamier and the ingredients used are a little more premium. There's even clams! In terms of wok hei and flavourfulness, I felt it's competent but still hasn't reached the oomph that gets me craving for it after the meal. It is definitely better than the Zi Char stall downstairs my house haha!

As a whole, my take on this sort of Zi Char restaurants is their suitability for family and big group gatherings. It's not the out of the world food that people are coming back for. It is comfort food. In this aspect, I'd say New Ubin Seafood is among the ranks of Zi Char (now with air-con and top quality service) that I would suggest.

New Ubin Seafood
Ramada by Wyndham Singapore, Zhongshan Park, 16 Ah Hood Road, S329982

Honolulu Cafe

This entire month I am overwhelmed with work, in particular this weekend. Didn't have any time to have a complete meal with friends worthy to write about till Sunday. Through a stroke of luck, I happened to be in Jurong East for work. So finally managed to try Honolulu Cafe after putting it off for months.

Honolulu Cafe originated from Hong Kong, and is known as a Cha Chan Teng (coffee place) back in its homeland. It opened its first outlet in Singapore Centre Point and Westgate is its second outlet. Their typical food highlights are its traditional Cha Chan Teng Hong Kong food like tomato spaghetti, luncheon meat and pork chop rice and even dishes that is cooked with instant noodles. I guess the most popular dish in Honolulu Cafe is their egg tarts. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to try it this time round. It is usually sold out by early afternoon and they only start selling it at 12.30pm. 

This visit is spread out over lunch and dinner. Too many dishes to try and not often in Jurong. For starters, Jurong doesn't seem to have much interesting noteworthy mains. In fact, I noted that Jurong East seems to have more interesting desserts like Lab Made, another made in Hong Kong product and the latest one is Doufu.

In any case, I tried the Baked Chicken in Tomato Spaghetti ($9.50) and my colleague settled for Luncheon Meat with Double Egg with Rice ($7.80). I think to judge the food by how much it 'wow' me would be unfair because that's not what Cha Chan Teng type cafes are about. It's more of comfort food. I like the richness of the tomato sauce in my baked chicken spaghetti meal and my colleague had a really runny egg that went really well with his warm rice. It's really just the kind of food to start your day right. I couldn't try the egg tarts because I had my lunch at 11am and egg tarts were only ready at 12.30pm :(

By dinner time egg tarts have sold out. In fact, their bakery was empty when I arrived. I settled for Instant Noodles with Pork Chop and added an additional Chicken Steak ($5.50 + $1.50) to my meal. Greediness overload! Again, it's comfort food at its best. While it's nothing spectacular, the meal made me very happy. The pork chop and chicken steak had the right kind of grilled taste that I expected from Hong Kong food and the noodles were Q and cooked till just right. If this was spaghetti, I'll called it al dente!

I'll definitely be back to dine here again. Honolulu Cafe serves my kind of comfort food. Explains why I love travelling to Hong Kong so much. It's definitely the place to eat if you are a fan of HK just like me.

Honolulu Cafe
#02-06 Westgate Mall, 3 Gateway Dr, S608532