We braved the rain to go to Alexander Village (AV) to have Mum's Bday meal. It been years since I last stepped into Alexander Village and this is also one of those rare times that Dad agrees to eat out. His brother told him that there is a good eating place there but not knowing which, we decided on the zhi char stall in AV that was in our thumbs up list based on memory.
This is the only Zhi Char stall with 3 stall fronts in the market. There is no way you can miss them with a signage like that. Orders have to be placed at the stall as they do not come to you. Once the food is ordered, you do not have to wait long for the dishes to be served. This kind of surprises me for I have not seen zhi char stall who dishes out good food at such speed.
As they had no menu for us to browse, we ending up ordering a few standard dishes that came to our mind. 1st up, Sambal Kang Kong ($8). A standard, or kind of default veg to order. LOL.
Next is the Hei Zhor ($8).This is not a standard dish but ordered as there was some pictures showing this dish at the stall. I do not know how to translate this into English though but roughly, it should be prawn and meat paste wrapped in beancurd skin and then deep fried. The actual colour is not as dark as in the pic but as I only had my SE C905 (which still cannot balance out certain colours), have to make do with the quality and colour of the pic. Taste wise, I was a little disappointed at the dish as it seems to have been prepared in advance and slightly warmed up before it was served. It was a little to hard for my liking.
Next, Chilli Crab (2 for $32). For this stall, they do not have live crabs on display. Only some mini "advertisment" posters with the number of crabs and the price. One for $18 and 2 for $36. Think Dad wanted to have something "lavish" for Mum so he ordered this dish even though he did not see the crabs. Usually, he will want to choose his crabs and if the store does not give us the correct one, he will complain and then boycott the place. This time round, there was no such option. When the crabs were served, they didn't look too appetising as they were quite small. But for $32, there is nothing much you can complain about the size.We concluded that this stall probably uses chilled crabs which explains why the service can be that fast. The sauce is a little tangy but not spicy and again, this dish was not really piping hot as one would expect of the dish from a zhi char stall. The banana leaf underneath was not even slightly burnt.
What is chilli crab without Man Tou, aka Fried Steamed Buns? This bun is not bad. Texture is right. It was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside but I find it a tad too pricey at $0.80 a piece.
I guess the only redeeming food is this BBQ Sting Ray ($14-Large). Been ages since we last ate BBQ Sting Ray.The fish was meaty, nicely grilled and the chilli on top complements the fish totally. YUM.... :)
We also order Bak Kut Teh Soup from the nearby stall. Bak Kut translates to Pork Rib and Teh actually means tea or in this case, the soup. My sister said that this is the only one she found that had the taste most simliar to the one we like in Malaysia. The pic above shows a bowl of only pork rib and the soup ($5)
This bowl consists of the various parts of the pig, aka spare parts ($5). There were liver, intestines, stomach, etc in it. I still prefer the taste of the "normal" soup :P
Authenticate Bak Kut Teh Stall always have You Tiao, aka Fried Fritters ($1) as a side dish. Why? Till this date I still do not know. Maybe it helps to soak up the last bit of the yummy soup? :P
On our way home, we make a quick stop at Island Creamery @Serene Centre to buy Chendol Ice Cream. Been thinking about this ice cream since I last ate it. It really taste like the real dessert and since my sister was agreeable to stopping by, bought it to share with my family. :) Everyone likes it too!
What is a birthday without a cake? My sister got my Mum a chocolate cake from Dino House called the Royal Chocolate. It was marketed as a Chocolate Cake that is light and not awfully sweet. It looks good and taste quite nice. The chocolate sponge cake was really light and bouncy.
Side view of the cake.
My slice of cake with chendol ice cream... yummmy.... :D
gosh, the author seems awfully picky about the food, from the prawn fritters, to the chilli crab.. lol..
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