Supreme Pork Chop Rice (一品排骨饭) @ Beach Road, Singapore

Despite being constantly on the move, loyal customers never fail to track its location down within a short while. The reason is simple - reasonably-priced and good food. Moreover, it's location near the Bugis and City Hall area makes it a popular dining place for office workers. Recommendations from one of my dear friends led us here one weekday afternoon. Fortunately, it was not at all crowded at around 4pm. Besides the popular pork chop, this eatery specialises in fish fillets and other Taiwan-inspired dishes as well.

Lai Lai Casual Dining @ Jurong Point, Singapore

The aftermath of my previous Taiwan trip hit me recently when I had a sudden craving for Taiwanese delicacies, especially a good bowl of stewed beef noodles which tastes so good in its own right. One might say that Singapore has so many restaurants specialized in Taiwan-originated beef noodles, but most of them do not even come close to Lai Lai (literally translated as "Come Come"), a casual dining eatery which hails from Sheraton Hotel in Taiwan itself.

Beef Noodles, be it paired with flavourful broth or thick savoury gravy is a must-try, to satisfy my personal craving and not to even mention that they are specialized in this certain dish. The tender and juicy beef chunks is set to take the home-made noodles to another level, alongside with crunchy greens. Impressive indeed.  

Most noodles/rice comes with a set meal at approximately S$13.90, which includes a side dish ranging from pig intestine to prawn fritters and a drink. Personally, I like to consume the food in between sips of their signature milk tea w/ pearls.

Beef tendon (S$10.90) is one of my favourite parts, these gelatinous connective tissues that are braised with brown cravy tasted so well together with the mild sweetness of carrots. Ooohh, somehow this dish relieves some memories of the curry beef tendon I had in Hong Kong previously.

All in all, Lai Lai proves to serve good, yet affordable Taiwanese cuisine. 

 

Lai Lai Casual Dining

Tel:  6861 1004

1 Jurong West Central 2

#03-08

Jurong Point

Xi Men Ding @ Vivocity, Singapore

I am pretty sure the well-known shopping district in Taiwan - Xi Men Ding is no stranger to most of you. A fast-rising source of fashion and culture, Xi Men Ding is also home to the greatest food in Taipei. Since popular local food stalls which boast authentic Taiwanese delicacies are on the rise nowadays, one can easily enjoy a taste of Taiwan here.

Girlfriend Peiyi and I would be heading to Taipei soon in mid-November 2012, and we thought, why not try something in preparation for our trip? We were in Vivocity at that point of time, and Xi Men Ding was quite the obvious choice. There was a short queue of approximately 6 people, but we were seated within 5 minutes.

Anyway, we took notice of their signature fried rice - an impressive looking Taiwanese-style Grilled Roe Fried Rice (S$11.00). It was quite a disappointment when the grilled fish roes came 50% smaller than the ones in pictures. (Blame it on the "for illustration purpose only") Nevertheless, the fried rice was well fragranced and everything - the crunchy cabbage, spring onions and scrambled eggs came to mix perfectly with the heavily flavoured roes.

Another speciality - San Bei Chicken with Basil (S$18.90) was slightly bland and overcooked, resulting in juice-less and hard chicken chunks. As a matter of fact, with the exhorbitant price, I could get better quality as well as quantity, at the neighbourhood tze char stall below the block. 

 

Fresh Fish Slices w/ Miso Soup (S$6.90) was delectable with the generous portions of mushrooms and fish slices (you don't see it in the picture cos' they are at the bottom).

Xi Men Ding also serves a selection of Flower Tea Balls and Floral Tea. With the typical soft drinks going about at the same price, we rather go for a healthier alternative. Hence, we had Osmanthus Tea (S$8.00). I supposed that osmanthus tea emits a strong, sweet fragrance, but this was just bland.

 

Contrary to what many food reviews said about their terrible service, I found it acceptable - the service staff smiled and greeted us. That is pure basic service techniques. However, there was once I requested a waitress to clear up a minor spillage on our table, but she totally forgot about it. Xi Men Ding is probably another restaurant that I will say "this is my first, and the last", as they failed to create any "wow" factors (except for the pricings) or any other reasons I should visit them again.

Xi Men Ding Taiwan Cuisine

Tel: 63768018

Operating Hours
Daily: 12:00 - 22:00

1 HarbourFront Walk

#01-51A

VivoCity