Yin Ji - Guangzhou's popular congee joint in Singapore

As I continue to try overseas food in Singapore, Yin Ji is the latest overseas outpost I'm featuring. I'm assuming they are not only known for their congee and Cantonese fare, their rice rolls should be their main feature considering their Chinese name is 银记肠粉店 (translated to Yin Ji Rice Rolls Stall). This feature is made up of 2 visits, with the first one done way back in May last year. I got too busy with work and travelling and simply forgot about them till my more recent visit.

The "Boat" Congee ($6.50) seen here is a mix of char siew, fried eggs, fish and peanuts. The congee has the smoothness of typical Cantonese fare but lack the sweetness in flavour. To be very honest, I felt a little clueless how to appreciate this rendition of congee because it felt so 'chapalang' (mixed up) that it reminds me of my mom throwing in whatever she could find in the fridge to cook a dish.

The sliced pork congee ($6) perhaps gives the eater less identity crisis. However the richness in flavour is still lacking. Considering how near Guangzhou is to Hong Kong, then the traditional Cantonese standards seems to be open for interpretation.

So partly because of the Congee experience, I stayed away from the restaurant till very recently where I found my favourite Dumpling Noodles ($6.80) in CBD! The Yin Ji's rendition hits all the right notes. Using typical Cantonese noodles similar to those you find at Mak's Noodles, this one managed to get rid of the strange plastic taste which usually puts me off. The broth is also adequately flavourful, with the pork dumplings sufficiently seasoned, in my opinion might even shame some of those Michelin star wonton mee outlets in Singapore.

Yin Ji also introduced some new dishes to its menu this month. One of them is the Salted Pepper Chicken Chop Noodles ($6.80) that is fairly delicious. The chicken is fried till it's really crispy on the outside and fairly tender inside. It might be worth trying if you want something new.

The egg rolls at Yin Ji is the highlight that caught my attention right from the beginning. Having eggs inside the egg roll is something new to me. The Fresh Prawn Egg Rolls ($7.50) did live up to expectations and the eggy rice roll is indeed preferred over the plain ones I usually eat. The sauce used also managed to hit the right notes considering the common assumption that China style cooking is always heavy in the saltiness. All in all, while it might not be out of this world, I felt it was worth my calories.

Would I come back? Honestly, it's a yes and a no. For practical reasons because I work in CBD, I might eat here again due to its fairly decent sitting arrangements and it has air-condition. However, I'm not really impressed with the food except for the Dumpling Noodles. I doubt this will be a place I would choose to impress someone unless I'm craving for dumpling noodles. Haha!

Yin Ji
Far East Square, 133 Amoy Street #01-01 S048775

The Breakfast Club - Authentically English Breakfast

I came to know about The Breakfast Club during my research for my first trip in London back in 2017 but only got to try it now. The story goes that Vain Pot didn't feel they serve up anything we couldn't really find in Singapore so we ended up in Granger & Co back then. So later on, another friend dragged her to Breakfast Club and she discovered wonderful pancakes there. *rolls eyes*

Finally, I get to dine in The Breakfast Club! This is an awesome place that I really think every visitor to London should have a meal at. Yes, it serves a lot of typical brunch food you can find everywhere but it's authentically English. Dining here, it made me feel that most of the brunch creations we find in many cafes originated in these Western cultures. The Breakfast Club seems to bring out this culture so distinctively, it'll be a waste if you skip this place when in London.

Looking at the menu, there's a whole list of stuff I really want to try. I settled on the Salted Caramel Banofee Pancakes (9.50 pounds) because pancakes were the original reason that made me shortlist this place (I was googling best pancakes in London). It tastes really awesome! I found the pancakes to be soft and fluffy but a little bit doughy. It however went really well with the whipped cream, chilled bananas and salted caramel sauce. In fact, the balance was so good, I finished the 3 stacks of pancake which would have been too much for my Asian stomach normally.

Vain Pot ordered the Oatmilk Porridge, with crushed pecans, coconut and maple syrup (5 pounds), mainly because I wanted to try it too. I could tell it's not exactly her thing. I really like the western version of porridge because of the thick milky texture of oats in milk. I especially like the sweetness of the dish and the crunchiness of the fruits (usually bananas) or nuts that it comes with. I think it's an acquired taste but I really like it.

I found it a pity that it's my only visit there despite 3 trips to London. Then again, Vain Pot whips up really delicious brunch so I feel rather reluctant to have my brunch outside. I strongly recommend a visit to The Breakfast Club to experience the vibrancy of the cafe culture in London as well as the authentic English dishes that they serve. This single dining experience has certainly won me over!

The Breakfast Club
11 Southwark Street, SE1 1RQ

Mui Kee Congee - Famous Mongkok Porridge with Permanent Outlet in Singapore

Mui Kee is a popular porridge stall that originated in Mongkok way back in 1979. It is currently managed by its third generation owner Ah Tung. The Les Amis Group brought Mui Kee to Singapore last year and it started out as a pop-up stall in Botanic Gardens. I've been wanting to try them out since but busy schedules denied me of this opportunity. In the month of March, Mui Kee opened their first permanent outlet in Shaw Centre. I took the Good Friday break to bring my mom to try it out.

I knew there was going to be a queue so made it a point to arrive early. Nevertheless, I still underestimated the waiting time. I assumed that those chasing the latest fad would have already eaten their fill of Mui Kee when they were at Botanic Gardens. Turns out, there's a lot more people like me who only managed to make time now.

I believed many in the queue shared my sentiments and some left the queue to eat at Tsuta, Kam's Roast and Tim Ho Wan just opposite the street. Are the developers trying to develop some kind of Hong Kong street? My total queue time was 1 Hour 5 mins.

I discovered that the set menus were unavailable during weekends and public holidays. So my mom and I settled for the Sakura Shrimps Steamed Rice Noodles ($5.50) to kick start our meal. The dish was served with a small dish of soya sauce. The steamed rice noodles tasted great and was easy to finish. My mom who basically needs chilli in her food was pleasantly surprised that the dish won her approval without chilli.

As we referred to the staff for recommendations, the staff tried to sell us everything. I selected the Sliced Parrot Congee ($9.80) as I like using fish congee as a gauge among Cantonese restaurants I eat at. This is when the staff suggested also trying the Sliced Threadfin Congee ($16) because its supposed to be sweeter. 

The congee are very smooth and you can hardly feel the grains. However, I felt that the sweetness of the porridge was lacking. It didn't help that I just ate a coffeeshop porridge at Tampines a couple of days back that truly impressed me. Both bowls were generous with their servings and it's definitely advisable to share. I didn't feel the Sliced Threadfin Congee was distinctively sweeter than the Slice Parrot Fish Congee. To be fair, both are definitely above average in terms of quality and for restaurant dining, it's definitely pocket friendly.

I reserved special mention for the dough fritters ($2) which we ordered to go with our porridge. It's fried excellently. There's not a hint of oiliness and it's very crispy. The entire bowl of dough fritters were a joy to eat on its own and really we kinda forgot we were eating flour. I think you know good dough fritters when you don't feel full despite devouring the whole bowl of fried dough and still can eat another bowl.

Would I return to Mui Kee? It's a very attractive place to dine at because of its wallet friendly pricing. I don't think I'd be willing to queue another hour to try their other porridge selections though. I'd highly recommend Mui Kee if you want a good quality meal at the heart of town but would like to keep your dining cost below a $50 budget for two.

Mui Kee Congee
Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Road, #01-12, S228208

Recommended Food in Hong Kong 2017

I skipped a post over the weekends because I'm away in Hong Kong. If you were following my instagram (@bluntandfussyeater) you would have noticed the overseas activity. This is should be my 5th visit to Hong Kong so am avoiding food I've tried before unless they are my hot favourite. Here's the recommended list from my most recent trip:

What's a trip to Hong Kong without dim sum? So the first stop was at this very instagrammable dim sum restaurant called Yum Cha. Most of the food on their menu is really meant to feed the camera first then the human. A quick introduction of what I ate in clockwise order, siew mai, prawn cheong fun, a combination shot, mango sago with blue cotton candy, piggy char siew bao, salted egg bao who can make vomiting and pooping expressions, spicy dumplings and pineapple bird tarts. I was pretty surprised that the food was surprisingly decent for this kind of novelty cafe. In fact, I'm of the view that Singapore Dim Sum tastes better but this is surprisingly close to our shopping mall establishments. If you love to take photos of food like me, then you can't miss visiting this place! Expect to shell out about $50-80 sgd for 3 pax.

Yum Cha
2/F Nan Fung Place, 173 Des Voeux Road Central

Another standard fixture of ALL my Hong Kong trips is a trip to Maxim Palace for this E-Fu Noodles that one can die for. Yes, plain looking, ordinary E-Fu noodles with mushrooms... yet, you can't find a dish that taste similar in Singapore. This E-Fu noodles doesn't have a strong oily taste unlike the ones back home and they have this addictive wok-hei tastiness that goes very well with the mushrooms that doesn't make me sick of having it.

 

To be fair, Maxim Palace serves up excellent Cantonese dishes. All the dishes at Maxim Palace was impeccably executed. For my mom who hates Cantonese food especially those in Hong Kong because they don't have chilli, she's full of praises of this place. This is also a must visit place for me and in my previous entry last year, I raved about the soups. I'll definitely be back again when I make my 6th trip to Hong Kong and I encourage everyone else to eat here at least once. At the very least, you should know how top quality Cantonese dishes should taste like. Expect a damage of $100-$150 SGD for 3 pax.

Maxim Palace
168-200 Connaught Road Central, Sheung Wan

Australian Dairy Company is also a repeat feature from my 2016 post. I love the milk puddings there. I think it's an acquired taste because my mom and brother didn't like it. Yet, Vain Pot and I vouch that it's heavenly and just have it along with the macaroni and scrambled eggs set. We have milk puddings at Ah Chew's Dessert in Singapore but if you tried it before, you will realise how far apart the standard is from the one at Australian Dairy Company. This is the best I've ever eaten! They have a custard version but I like the milk pudding a lot better. Expect a damage of $16 SGD for a set meal with custard pudding and milk pudding.

Australian Dairy Company
47 Parkes Street, Jordan

Another thing that have always been on my to-try list is rainbow cheese toast. In this case, I always thought that Kala Toast was a cafe-like establishment. I was quite surprised by the hole in the wall shopfront and being a hobbyist food blogger unlike the pros, taking the rainbow toast photo standing proved to be a hassle. The other highlight at Kala Toast is their galaxy drink which they placed luminous ice cubes inside the drink and it changes colour when you stir it. The rainbow cheese toast taste like an excellently prepared grilled cheese. The rainbow cheese makes it a little gimmicky but it's definitely a good representation of a good cheese toast. This is a snack rather than a full meal, you might wanna give it a try if you happen to be in Tsuen Wan for shopping. The shopping malls there are less crowded, making it a more pleasant shopping experience.

Kala Toast
4 Tsuen Hing Path

Before the trip, my mom who hates ramen actually said she will bring us to try a famous ramen place in Hong Kong. Wow! I was intrigued. Turns out that it was Ichiran which I personally haven't tried before but have heard loads of rave reviews on it. So we went to queue for it! When you first step into the place and see this long sneaking queue that extends past 2 corridors it's quite frightening. How long do we need to wait?! Thankfully it's only a 30min wait and we were seated with our food. The ramen lives up to its fame with a very rich and flavourful broth with a spiciness level that gives it its added kick. I very much enjoyed the noodles with the broth but didn't like the char siew which was hard and a little too dry. The egg was awesome, running yolk on the inside and the sturdy egg white to match. Would I queue to eat this again? Not really, I feel I can find equivalents in Singapore without the queue. It's still a good experience especially if you haven't tried the one in Japan before. Expect to pay around $50-80 SGD for 3 pax. 

Ichiran

G/F & Shop B, Basement Floor, 8 Minden Avenue, Tsim Tsa Shui

The visit to Lin Heung was honestly unexpected because I originally wanted to have tomato noodles for breakfast. Hong Kong's Independence Day along with Xi Jinping's visit caused a lot of shops to close on that day. Lin Heung is a traditional dim sum cha chan teng which requires visitors to share their seats and order their dim sum from pushcarts. While the food isn't fantastic, I enjoyed the old school way of having dim sum and the wider variety that I don't find in restaurants. It's also a more affordable way to feast on a lot of dim sum. Expect a damage of $23 for 2 pax. 

Lin Heung

162 Wellington Street, Sheung Wan

If you don't like the chaos of ordering dim sum, here's an alternative typical Hong Kong breakfast set which you can get at another Cha Chan Teng at Honolulu Coffee Shop. In Singapore, Honolulu Cafe is famed for their egg tarts which apparently has a wider variety than their original outlet in Hong Kong. Talk about innovation... However, the breakfast set, ordinary as it looks is really comfort food and I love it. I'm craving for it at the moment and wondering where I can get an equivalent in Singapore. If you want to know how ordinary food like good scrambled eggs, buttered buns and kong zai instant noodles should taste like, give Honolulu Coffee Shop a try! Then you will know the difference back home. Expect to pay about $15 for 2 pax.

Honolulu Coffee Shop
176-178 Hennessey Road, Wan Chai

You know I was quite upset throughout the trip because I didn't have any good authentic Cantonese soup and porridge this time round. So at the airport, I dragged my family to have lunch at Ho Hung Kee, Michelin Star for their Wonton Mee but serves up the best Cantonese Porridge I have eaten. This is a restaurant that I gladly agree deserves their Michelin Star. On the day that Xi Jinping was in Hong Kong, I happen to chance upon a Bib Gourmand restaurant which also served porridge and soup and seriously, that was an epic 'how did they get the Michelin recognition?'. You got to try their sliced fish porridge at least once. Then you will know how far it differs from the porridge in all the expensive restaurants in Singapore and this one is way way way better! I paid about $60 for 3 pax.

Ho Hung Kee
Hong Kong Airport