Leng Heng BBQ Seafood and Tales of Lao Ma

Hubby's birthday has come and gone.

This year, no-one seemed to be in a really good mood to celebrate. Hubby's appetite was missing due to an illness and I was still experiencing occasional bouts of first trimester nausea.

Nonetheless, the food nazi in me prevailed. Even if we don't indulge in a sumptous feast this year, we should have at least have something decent.

Since we were buying back, East Coast Lagoon Food Centre came to mind. It has a great range of food (ranging from bbq chicken wings to rojak, wanton mee and seafood) and there is ample parking. I quickly made a "google search" for the best bbq seafood in East Coast Lagoon Food Centre and Leng Heng kept appearing.

I've never heard of Leng Heng before but based on the mouthwatering pictures and accompanying rave reviews, I knew I had to try. What further piqued my interest was recurring mention of the stall's lady boss- a fiery woman named Lao Ma with a commanding presence and a boisterous personality. I also liked that telephone bookings were welcome.

So I called Lao Ma and placed an order. She struck me as a friendly confident auntie with lots of heart. And she is definitely someone who knows (and loves) her food. We ordered a chili crab, 2 black pepper crabs, 2 prawn pancakes (she insisted one would not be enough), lala (mussels), fried baby squids, cereal king prawns and a sambal stingray. The total bill came up to SGD238.

When it comes to the taste test, there were several hits and misses. The prawn pancake was really delicious- the batter was crisp and bursting with hints of chopped waterchestnuts and fresh prawn. Lao Ma's chili sauce and sweet sauce dips were also nice complements. I would order this again.

My other favorite was the cereal king prawns. I'm a sucker for the crunchy oatmeal and this version did not disappoint. I could just eat this dish with rice alone and be the happiest person in town. The prawns were huge, succulent and juicy.

The rest of the items can be described as passable but lack lustre. The crab size was disappointingly puny. Some of the pincers were not even as long as my thumb. Of the black pepper and chili version, I would definitely choose the black pepper one, which packed more punch. Somehow there was an unappetising layer of red oil on top of the chili version.

The fried baby squids were nice but I think places like Jumbo and Seafood Paradise serve up a better rendition. They had turned a little soggy by the time we tucked in so half the magic was missing.

Lao Ma also really endorsed the Lala (braised in a brown unami garlic gravy) but I didn't find anything spectacular about it. This continues to perplex me.

Last but not the least,  the sambal stingray. I found the sambal marinade a little too mild for my liking. I've eaten a better version from another stall in East Coast Lagoon (forgot the name but its beside the famous Rojak stall).

As usual, we over-ordered and had the leftovers for lunch and dinner the following day (Side note: Besides the above, I had also ordered satay and wanton mee). 

Overall it was an okay experience. I don't think I'll specially order from this shop but I don't mind chomping on the cereal prawns and prawn pancake as a snack if I next happen to swing by East Coast Lagoon food centre.

I wonder if Lao Ma will recognise me.

Omakase @ Teppei Japanese Restaurant

This is the place to go if you want to experience Japanese dining Izakaya style. You sit in a room teeming with at least 20 other like minded diners, back touching back, perched uncomfortably on a little stool. The air is stuffy and reeks of stale oil.

But your discomfort is not in vain because the food is THAT good. In fact, this has definitely got to be the best no frills Omakase experience I have ever had.  For SGD70 (after all the +++) here's what we had.

Refreshing salad with crunchy sweet nutty notes
 
Lovely silky tofu (kind of like the Chinese fu-chok dessert) with a dollop of uni paste
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A mossy conch with curly briny flesh which you extract out with a toothpick. Simply steamed with no accompanying condiments. Weird!

A more normal looking sea whelk which tasted rather bland.

















Squid rings with crunchy asparagus. Clean tasting and perfectly cooked.

















This dish I did not like. Cod fish in honey miso. The sauce was nice but my fish had tons of little bones, making it a chore to eat.

















A crunchy roll with some minced sashimi, tempura bits and fish eggs encased in seaweed. Very addictive!

















An assortment of very fresh sashimi ranging from otoro to salmon and scallop

 

When the cooked main courses arrived in relatively quick succession, there was no turning back. It was love at first sight when I sunk my teeth into this.

Pictured below is a chicken, wagyu and tofu dish served "yin yang" style with one half of the broth comprising clear chicken stock and the other half Japanese curry. Mix it together and you get heaven.

The most "Chinese" oriented dish of the night and one of my favorites. Dumpling and king prawn in egg drop soup. My mother would approve! The soup was super unami and the ingredients were generous and fresh.

We were given a choice of spicy fried rice, normal fried rice or sashimi rice. I opted for spicy fried rice while hubby had the sashimi one.

I thought mine would just taste like ordinary garlic fried rice, possibly jazzed up with some chili. But again, this dish surpassed my expectations. It was definitely spicy but I couldn't see any chili inside. There were also bits of yummy surprises hidden inside, including chestnut, egg and bits of crunchy vegetables. Super yum!

Hubby seemed to enjoy his dish too. Check out that huge slab of uni on the left.














Dessert was lack lustre compared to the starters and main but decent nonetheless and a sweet end to the meal. We were given a choice of different flavours of ice cream. I had maple walnut and hubby took the chocolate.

As we left, the Japanese chef (who was working his magic right in front of us the whole night) flashed us a charming grin and hollered "Thank you. See you tomorrow". It took us a little by surprise but in a good way. Yes. We will definitely be back for more and we can't wait to bring our friends too.

Thank YOU for a mindblowing meal.

Angsty at The Clan Restaurant

For food ideas, I typically scour local print media (like 8 Days, The Straits Times, Simply Her, Food &Travel magazine), food websites like Hungrygowhere and local food blogs. Often, I am delighted with the result and relish each good find like a pirate who has found his bounty.

Unfortunately, there are also immaculately written articles that prove to be bogus, leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth. It makes me wonder if these articles are products of paid reviews, invited tastings, or just a marked difference in taste?

Clan Restaurant is one such restaurant where my taste seems to deviate from the mainstream. The menu sounds tantalizing, with fanciful sounding items like earl grey cured tuna, 48 degree poached salmon, 48 hours short ribs and an interesting apple "slurpee" amuse bouche. Value also seems reasonable with a 6 course meal costing around SGD62+++. Unfortunately that's where the good stuff ends.

Service was friendly at first but gradually degenerated to forced smiles, unfilled glasses and vanishing acts as the evening wore on and our complaints mounted.

Round 1: The evening started beautifully as we were ushered to our seats and presented with the menu. As I was feeling quite full from lunch, a waiter suggested that our party of 3 order 2 set dinners to share. We decided to take up his suggestion after perusing the menu. We quickly caught the attention of another waiter to make our order. When he heard that we were only ordering 2 set dinners, his tone immediately stiffened and he seemed reluctant to accept our orders. We felt a little embarrassed and eventually settled for 2 set dinners with an additional main course.

Round 2: The starters, sides and soups arrived in quick succession. Most of the dishes were ordinary tasting- a chewy smallish scallop spritzed with some truffle foam, salmon mousse in cute crunchy cone, a bland tasting crab leg, a cold unappetising slab of foie gras and passable crab bisque. A unanimous turnoff was the earl grey cured tuna with lavender scent. Urgh! It was like eating tuna marinated in axe brand oil.

Round 3: The mains. A total disaster despite the impressive descriptions. 48 hour short ribs (beef) in madeira sauce turned out to be cold leathery slices of meat on a crumpled Hoba leaf. My salmon course was fishy and hidden with bones. Another kaki's pasta with grilled barramundi was laced with strong lashes of squid ink which she didn't take well to. After giving our feedback to the servers (for the record they did offer to replace our dishes but we declined), we noticed a visible drop in service. Water glasses were not filled and our table seemed to be shunned in favor of the more appreciative diners from other tables.

Round 4: Dessert. We ordered their famous chocolate fudge and a green tea tiramisu. No complaints taste wise but not outstanding either. Potions were rather measly.

I don't think I'll be going back to this place again. It reeks of pretentiousness. I feel sick in the stomach just writing this review.

PSY - GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일) M/V

One of the cutest videos to hit town - introduced to me by my other half.

Shows you don't have to be good looking to draw in the crowd. Just act cool and be yourself! =P