Restoran Super Kitchen Chilli Pan Mee - Chilli Pan Mee from KL in Singapore

With the influx of foreign establishments opening shop in Singapore, food is fast becoming a lesser lure to tempt me overseas. In my recent Europe trip, I prioritize activities over what to eat. This is coming from someone who used to tell my travel companions they can do anything they like as long as I pick the food. Restoran Super Kitchen Chilli Pan Mee is better known as "Restoran Super Kitchen Chilli Pan Mee Batu Road", a Kuala Lumpur eatery that has now graced the shores of Singapore. There are still 2 other Malaysian origin Chilli Pan Mee that have come to Singapore and I'm looking forward to try them out too!

The Chilli Pan Mee ($7.80) is served with an onsen egg, fried shallots, minced meat and ikan billis atop of its signature noodles. Their dry chilli flakes is placed at the side of the table and you can add it in on your own. This is a good thing as it caters to people of all spicy levels including those who don't take spicy. Having said that, you probably won't really appreciate the dish if it's not spicy.

When the chilli flakes are mixed into the noodles, the dish packs a punch. In fact, I think I'm one of the more timid diners in the shop. My friend dining with me transformed her yellowish white noodles to orange-red, in her words to achieve the ultimate 'shiokness'.

Besides the traditional Chilli Pan Mee, the eatery also has other noodles like this Curry Pan Mee ($7.80) and even rice dishes. Even the curry in this noodles pack a very traditional old school curry taste. That said, I think it's best to stick to the original if this is your first time here. 

Aside from mains, Restoran Super Kitchen Chilli Pan Mee serves a range of soups and drinks. The selection is quite wide and you will not grow bored of simply eating spicy noodles. As a noodle and spicy food lover, I enjoyed my meal. It helps that they are located at Far East Square at the heart of CBD as this fits a typical lunch treat on a busy and sleepy day. 

I'm pretty certain I'll be back again with my colleagues and friends I jio for lunch. I'll be looking forward to slowly increasing my spicy food threshold and hopefully I'll reach orange-red levels to experience the 'shiokness' one day. 

Restoran Super Kitchen Chilli Pan Mee

22 China Street, #01-01, Far East Square, 049564

Recommended Chinese Food in London

Been too busy clearing work and enjoying my London holiday that I've been guilty to neglect my little hobby food blog lately. Anyway, living in a London apartment I can pretty much call home makes writing blogs far more enjoyable. During this short break, I've noticed a problem getting reliable reviews on good food in London. So I'd like to pretty much fill this gap as much as possible. I thought I'd kick start my writing on London by touching on the Chinese food here because I got cravings for food back home after getting a little bored with the Western fare.

Goldmine Restaurant is known for their duck dish. Basically in London, the 3 popular duck restaurants are Four Seasons, Gold Mine and New Fortune Cookie. Given that my stay is limited, my very limited research led me to conclude on trying Gold Mine for this visit.

Vain Pot and I ordered half a duck and my gosh, this is by far the most value for money half a duck I ever had! Half a duck, no bones all meat and so tasty! We devoured the generous slices of meat with relish. The balance in flavour is awesome with the tenderness of the meat and the juiciness from the fats just beneath the duck skin. Vain Pot asked me if this is even better than the Kam's Roast Goose we fell in love with in Hong Kong... and I kinda felt that Roast Goose still wins at its best but Goldmine is far more consistent in terms of food quality based on the reviews and my own experience.

We tried a couple of other dishes at Goldmine and I felt while decent is nothing to rave about. Stick to the duck when you come here.

Goldmine Restaurant
102 Queensway, Paddington, London W2 3RR, UK (nearest tube: Bayswater)

The second unexpected discovery was at Ma Po. It's a restaurant walking distance from where we live and that day I was craving for some Chinese fare but didn't want to take the tube. Vain Pot recommended I try this place.

I ordered stir fried chicken with ginger and onions as well as a hot and sour soup. Both dishes were awesome and prices were reasonable. The rice cost me 2 pounds though... I felt the best thing about eating Chinese dishes with rice when you are away from home is the warm and fuzzy feeling it brings you. It helps that the chicken was tender and honestly I've eaten this dish many times elsewhere and I thought this is one of the best versions. I'm certain I'll definitely have at least one meal here each time I'm in London.

Ma Po
176 Lower Road, London SE16 2UN, UK (nearest tube: Surreys Quay)

The final place I'm featuring this visit is Lin's Restaurant & Bar. The weather was too cold, I skipped the photo-taking of the shop front. I found this dish on Instagram and literally walked in showing the photo to the host and told them I wanted the exact same dish. Turns out there're two similar dishes so it's difficult to tell which was which. Apparently, there's a Chongqing Noodles and a Szechuan Noodles and the key difference is the sauce. For this visit, I tried the Chongqing Noodles which I can vouch taste very authentic. The mala effect was so strong it literally numbed my taste buds for most of the meal.

I heard 2 Chinese girls next to me asking the waiter for the spiciest dish they got to offer. Lin's Restaurant & Bar is known for its spicy authentic Chinese food that caters to the Chinese community in the city. I was generally satisfied with my experience even though the noodles were a tad too spicy for me. I'd like to give them additional points for the hospitality and excellent service while I was there.

Lin's Restaurant & Bar
134 Southawk St, London SE1 0SW, UK (nearest tube: Southawk) 

I Want My Noodle

This week is the first week I'm taking a break from my new job. Sounds like heartless employers huh? I am working by choice really haha... I chose to break because I got a shopping urge and Vain Pot is flying out to Aussie next week so better maximize our food outings while I can.

I have been craving to eat at I Want My Noodle for the past two weeks. In case you haven't figured out, I have a soft spot for instant noodles and anything that resembles it. Research seems to indicate that there's no msg added to the food at I Want My Noodles and prices are nett which is another plus point. The noodles apparently are made in-house along with some of the key ingredients I read. 

I picked My Aromatic Prawn Noodle ($14.50) largely because of my craving. The prawn mee at my neighbourhood market shifted, and I've been deprived of prawn mee since. My first impression when I was served was why prawn mee is accompanied by fries?! Turned out that it's prawn crackers, a very peculiar combination. Another disappointment I had was that the prawn shells were difficult to remove. In their menu photo, it showed the prawns cut in half. I felt a little cheated. The noodles and sauce presents an unique rendition of prawn mee which I felt didn't present much complains however I really found it difficult to appreciate the dish. It's just so different I neither can place a western or Asian feel to the bowl that I felt so lost eating. 

Vain Pot's My Lor Bak Noodle ($12.90) felt a lot more at home. The sauce that went with the noodles brought out a very localized Lor Bak Mee taste which made me wonder why Hawker centers rarely have this on their menu. The meat was tender and the ingredients were very generous. There's even a Japanese egg in the Lor Bak bowl richly endowed with giant mushrooms, giant wonton skin cracker and juicy Lor Bak. Yums! 

I was surprised that the winner of the night went to the side which we added just because I wanted to try more of their menu. The Meatball Soup ($6.50) is the real deal. The meatballs are made in house and the soup broth was pretty good. It's chewy, succulent and was an excellent add on to our meal. I'm so pleased it's Vain Pot's turn to diet because I got to eat more meatballs! 

To sum it up, I'll say that I Want My Noodle has its hits and misses. I took issue that the owner looked a tad too unfriendly when he was serving in the stall. If you lack passion for your own restaurant how do you expect guests to feel welcome? I'm not quite sure if I'll specially hop by Shaw Centre to eat atas hawker food with a twist anytime soon. While I'm really tempted to try their other noodle bowls, the ones I've tried just isn't enough to convince me to visit soon when there's a bunch of places in Singapore I'm still dying to try. Go only if you are on a budget and you want a sit down place with waiters in town to catch up with your friend. 

I Want My Noodle

#03-14/15, 1 Scotts Road, Shaw Centre