Jia Ji Mei Shi 佳记美食

Following our claypot entry in Chinatown, this is another store which we will frequent often when we are in that area and when we are craving for a light meal. This is definitely one store we will recommend that may give you a satisfying meal! :)

And there will always be a queue for this store. It sells a variety of cooked food such as rice dumplings, soon kueh, fried bee hoon and noodles, yam cake chee cheong fan and porridge! All at affordable prices,  this store is a hit for both young and old.

So.. we joined the queue and waited for about 10-15 mins before we can savour our favorite yam cake!

And tada! Our order of yam cake and chee cheong fan combination. Topped with sweet sauce, chilli sauce and sesame seeds, we really love the yam cake here! :)

$2 for the chee cheong fan and yam cake combination! you can choose to have either one or both too!

The steamed yam cake is really soft and a little chewy. And what we love about this is that there are bits of yam pieces in it, which gives an additional layer of yummy goodness to it!

We wiped it off within minutes! yummmy. (so pardon the lack of photos!) Try it and you will know how nice it is :)

Both Picky Girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend's Rating for Yam cake: 4.25/5

So far we have blogged a few items from this hawker (popiah,  dim sum, claypot rice and now yam cake). What is your favourite? :)

Jia Ji Mei Shi 佳记美食
Chinatown Complex
Blk 335 Smith Street #02-166

Beccarino Cakes & Pastries

Picky Girlfriend and Fussy boyfriend were around the Tanjong Pagar area and thought of heading to our usual muffin store only to find that it was closed for weekend! As we were still having the muffin crave and our intention to buy some light bites for picnic! And surprisingly chanced upon another muffin store that looks really potential!

The first thing that attracted us was actually the price of the muffins. Each muffin was only sold at $1! Yes, almost impossible to believe but it was definitely true! And the 2nd thing that strike us was there were advertisements for TV variety shows and it was one of the Muffin winner!














A box is provided with every purchase of 6 muffins

It was a pity as there were only selected flavours left, if not we would have bought and tried more! Let's see what we have ordered :)








































We tried a few flavours such as double chocolate chips, blueberry with cheese, coffee with mixed nut, banana, pandan raisins, raspberry.

And the ones that really stood out (our personal preference was banana chocolate chips and blueberry with cheese)!




















Banana Chocolate chips muffin




















Do not belittle the $1 muffin, you will expect to find more surprise than expected with the generous serving of the ingredients!















Fluffy muffin texture. We were really surprised to find this at the end of the muffin. The blueberry was still so moist and juicy (even we didnt eat it immediately after purchase) which gave the last bite a sweet ending :)

Both Picky girlfriend & Fussy Boyfriend rating for Muffins : 4/5

There are actually so much more flavours available, you may check out their website here! $1 per muffin is definitely worth it, suitable for parties or just when you needed some light bites!

PS: Bringing muffins is a good picnic idea that is easy to store and fuss free! As all the photos are taken outdoor, the natural lighting is awesome! We love the photos and hope you enjoyed it as much as we do :)

Beccarino Cakes & Pastries
Blk 1 Tanjong Pagar Plaza #01-56
Opening Hours: 8am - 6.30pm (Closed on Sunday and Public Holidays)
How to get there: Nearest MRT - Tanjong Pagar MRT

Specialise Homemade Pau Dian 专业手工包点

Happy Dragon year everyone! The Food Collage wishes everyone 恭喜发财，龙马精神，龙年吉祥! Huat ah~~

Bet there has been much feasting going on since this is the new year period. So after all the new year feast, we do crave for other food. In this post, we will recommend homemade Pao (包)! And there are lots of photos due to the variety we tried as we bought them for the whole family to try!
















This is really a treasure find as the coffeeshop looks rather dark and ulu (deserted) and Picky girlfriend would not have known if Fussy boyfriend has not mentioned it!

Usually for such stores, Picky girlfriend would pick her must try which includes Lor mai gai (Glutinous rice with chicken) and char siew buns.

The lor mai gai is packed in small plastic container and the moment Picky girlfriend took it out, it was apparent that she will love it!




















$1.50 each

From just the look of it, you already know that the chicken is tender looking! And since Picky girlfriend only likes to eat chicken thigh, this lor mai kai totally suits her as the chicken part used is chicken thigh and is well marinated and super tender! Each grain of the glutinous rice is also well cooked which really stands out from other lor mai gai where finding uncooked rice is quite common!

The next thing we tried was char siew baos! The char siew baos here are made in cute bite size (similar to the famous Tanjong Rhu Bao).







































$0.60 each

Some of you may find $0.60 for such a small char siew bao expensive but let us assure you this is worth every cents of it! Just check out the amount of filling the bao has the moment we peeled the bun into 2.




















We love it! :)

The filling is generous and the bun comes with lots of yummy char siew. Another thing we love about this is the use of lean pork instead of fatty meat which made it less sinful somehow. And because of its bite size, we can't help but popping in more mini char siew baos! :)

As for Fussy Boyfriend, his must try on the list will always be Big bao (大包) as well as fan choy.

And the big bao is huge and kinda heavy!




















$1.30 each

We are excited to peel it open as the weight of the bun really says alot! This means we will get generous filling as well!




















Nice! The filling is really a big ball of meat. Comes with egg, onions and spring onions. For those who dislike onion, the ones in this big bun is cooked till soft so you will not be able to taste it. The bun skin is also thin so you can really savour the meaty taste of the filling. Very satisfying big bun!

The fan choy here similar to the lor mai gai as they are packed in plastic containers and to have better effect of the photos, we poured them out onto a plate and we were welcomed by a delightful sight of a yummy fan choy! Definitely a drooling sight! :)




















$1.50 each

The fan choy is also hand made and not mass produced by machines and this really made alot of difference in terms of the quality and taste. If you notice from the photo, the fan choy is really moist and the rice is drenched with the char siew sauce which is something very different from all the other fan choy we have tried which are either too dry or the meat too stale.





















It also comes with juicy, chunky char siew pieces (which really wow-ed us) as well as a slice of hard boiled egg. And you dont have to worry that of the texture of the char siew even though it is very chunky as the meat really melts in your mouth with its savory char siew sauce. Highly recommended it's very very yummy!

Other buns that we have tried include the red bean paste bun and the coffee paste bun 咖啡包 (again in mini cute bite size) which is an interesting twist to the tradition taste of bun flavours.














Egg-shaped red bean paste bun ($0.50 each)




















No surprises, this time with generous sweet tasting filling!




















$0.50 each

This is another bun that is worth recommending. We would say this is a double coffee as the exterior skin as well as the bean paste is coffee flavoured. Recommended for coffee lovers :)














Picky Girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend's rating of homemade Pau dian: 4.5/5

We have tried almost everything that the store sells and is very satisfied with each of them. With so many choices available, are you spoilt for choice already? ;)


Blk 34 Cassia Cresent #01-86
(Old Airport Road)

Mary's Corner Tau Kwa Pau 豆干包

Happy 2012 Food Collagers! :)

This is our first post of the year so we would like to introduce something that is rather unique and you wont get it see it sold often. In fact it was Fussy Boyfriend who introduced this to Picky Girlfriend as he has eaten it by chance one day when his relative bought it for his family!

So after food hunting for katong laksa, we walked down the same stretch of street and arrived at this coffee shop with an interesting name "Alibaba Eating house".
























Picky Girlfriend had initially thought that Tau Kwa Pau is the typical dish sold at rojak stall where you will need to dip in the rojak sauce. But she was welcomed with this instead:
























$2.50 per piece (1 whole beancurd)

Tau kwa pau literally means beancurd bun. This was interesting and something Picky Girlfriend has never seen before! The first impression was like it looked rather similar to the "Stinky Tofu" she has tried in Taiwan before but this version is slightly different with toppings!

















The first cut to it, we were welcome with the piping hot tau kwa which was really crispy on the outside and yet soft and moist in the inside. The toppings were an interesting twist to the dish and we really took some time to figure on what was on it. The generous toppings include fish cake, eggs, cucumber and the one ingredient that made it really fragrant was the fried chopped yam! Braised sauce was also used and give the dish a savory taste.

























And not forgetting chilli to go with it too! The chilli tasted very much like the kway chap kind of chilli, a little sourish yet you can't stop dipping the tau kwa pau in it!

We love it! The stall was also quite popular as you can see alot of people ordering it as side dish on top of what they are already eating. Also saw the stall owner preparing alot and packing them in buffet trays so we believe they do take in mass orders too!

Picky Girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend's rating for Tau Kwa Pau: 3.75/5


Mary's Corner Tau Kwa Pau 豆干包
Alibaba Eating House
125 East Coast Road

How to get there: Bus service 10, 12, 14, 32, 40
(Opposite the new shopping mall Katong I12!)
Update on 22 April'13 -
The store has shifted to:
Dunman Food Centre
271 Onan Road
#02-25

Bedok Chwee Kueh 勿洛水粿

Those who always passed by Bedok Interchange would not have missed this Chwee Kueh Store as the store with white signboard is quite strategic and faces towards the bus interchange. One thing you won't miss is probably the possible queues that is often evident.














For those who have not tried this before, this is one of the must try for Chwee Kueh. Topped with savory Chye Poh (Salted radish) and is really quite a good choice when you have a craving for something light.















We ordered 4 pieces for $1. You can also buy in 6 pieces, 8 pieces for $1.50 and $2 respectively




















The texture of the chwee kueh is firm and the star of this dish is the chye poh which tasted a little sweet compared to its counterparts where it is usually more salty. The chilli was also worth mentioning as it blends really well with the chye poh and has the right level of spiciness that is not too overwhelming.

Both Picky Girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend's Rating for Chwee Kueh: 4/5
(We thought that it would have a higher rating if it is less oily ;)

Bedok Chwee Kueh 勿洛水粿
Blk 207 New Upper Changi Road
#01-53
Bedok Interchange Food Centre
Opening Hours: 6.30am - 11pm Daily

How to get there:
Nearest MRT - Bedok MRT