Chickano

Hey everyone have you heard the news? Probably not right...
THERE'S A NEW FRIED CHICKEN JOINT IN TOWN!! IT'S CALLED CHICKANO!!

Well, I know we tried to be dramatic but FAILED! LOL

Anyways we actually came across this by pure chance. One of my colleagues, Hamidah, suddenly sends me this tip and says we have to try it. In fact, we tried ordering via the delivery hotline on the site but it wasn't available yet. Well, just so happens my Darling Wife and I were out with baby Alyssa and were decidedly hungry in the Bedok area...

3pcs Fried Chicken Meal ($9.50)

Of course - we had to try the fried chicken at a fried chicken joint right?!
I decided to to go for the 3pc because I was actually really hungry. You could have the 2pcs Friend Chicken Meal ($7.50) if you're not that hungry or maybe the 9pcs Fried Chicken Meal ($24.50) if you're out with the family (or just a really really big eater!!) They also have a roasted alternative if you're interested...

I have to say I really quite enjoyed the fried chicken!
The chicken was superbly cooked - nice and tender and juicy. The skin had a nice crisp to it with good seasoning to match.

The coating isn't the type with a super crunchy bite. I guess it's kinda more like Original Recipe but a bit crispier than usual. best enjoyed hot!!

Home-made Beef Burger ($8.50 for the meal / $6.50 ala carte)

If you're not in the mood for fried chicken, fret not! They also have other items on the menu including some burgers. You have a choice between a Beef Burger and a Chicken Karaage Burger. We decided to go for the beef since we're the meat people.

But... we started to question our decision after awhile...

The beef patty is definitely something they make from scratch here. It had quite a nice seasoning to be honest but for some reason, the top and bottom of the patty was burnt. Not charred... but burnt.

I quite like my burger to have a bit of char but I think this one was left a little too long on the grill. There's a difference between a charred flavour and a burnt taste. And this was really disappointing especially because the meat was quite tasty. If it wasn't so burnt, it's quite a nice burger actually.

Another problem was the bun. If you look at the first picture above, you can see it's actually quite out of sorts. It actually didn't fit the burger because it was so scrunched up like it had been crumpled up for so long. Maybe they should consider not using a bun if it's... errr... like that. It was like the bun had been in a fight and was in a really bad shape.

Besides that, you get some lettuce and cheese. Please note there is no sauce, which is fine because some burgers you just wanna enjoy the pure taste, so add your own if you'd like.

Cheese Fries

When you order a set meal, you get a choice of drink and a side order of fries.
If you're a Cheese Fries person, just add $0.50 and you can upgrade your regular fries to Cheese Fries! Power right!

I must say that the serving of fries was very very generous! It's enough fries to share actually.

But if you don't want fries then you might consider some other more 'traditional' sides with your fried chicken or burger?

Coleslaw ($2.50)

The coleslaw was not bad actually. Nice mix of cabbage and carrots and you even get a few plump and sweet raisins in there. It's on the sweet side so don't expect the sour type of coleslaw.

And what normally accompanies coleslaw?

Mashed Potato ($2.50)

Errrr... something is wrong with that picture...

I think maybe because it was not kept in a warm environment or maybe there was too much thickening agent or something but the brown gravy you normally get with mashed potatoes kinda coagulated on the top. Yeah... it's because a jelly.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the taste but I guess the look of it was kind of a turn off.
Maybe Chickano might take some feedback and either keep their mashed potato in a warmer (if they'd like to pre-pack it) or maybe only scoop in the gravy )being kept warm and fluid) when someone orders it so that it's guaranteed to be at the desired consistency.

And I know some of you might be thinking "No lah can't be that bad until like jelly lah..."

We're really not kidding...

But like I said, absolutely nothing wrong with the taste.

From the counter, you can actually see into the kitchen and I think I saw someone creaming the mashed potato by hand so I guess this is another item they prepare manually which I can very much appreciate.

Adam's Verdict:
Fried Chicken 3.5/5 -- Beef Burger 2.5/5 -- Cheese Fries 2/5
Coleslaw 4/5 -- Mashed Potato 2.5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Fried Chicken 3.5/5 -- Beef Burger 2/5 -- Cheese Fries 1.5/5
Coleslaw 2.5/5 -- Mashed Potato 1/5

I like the idea at Chickano because, hey, who doesn't like some fried chicken right?
And I think they have a really good product too. They've got a pretty good fried chicken recipe and some pretty interesting items on the menu. It's nice to see that they are also hand-making a lot of their stuff instead of using instant or prepared ingredients.

When we visited last weekend, Chickano was only about a week old so I'm pretty sure that given a bit of time, they should be able to fine tune certain things after awhile (ahem ahem mashed potato gravy)
Anyways let's support our local brands!

PS you might see a delivery number on their site but that's gonna be operational maybe only next month in October 2014 according to the lady at the counter.

Chickano

Blk 527 Bedok North St 3
#01-520

Tel: 6448 8660
www.facebook.com/ChickanoSG

Operating Hours:
10am to 10pm Daily

Yellow Submarines

We definitely welcome recommendations from our readers for makan places for us to visit and most of the time, the suggestions we receive are really good leads! So, when I received the same recommendation from 3 different people within 2 days, we simply had to visit this place ASAP.

Check out the queue...

So there's this place called Yellow Submarines in Toa Payoh which opened in April but was just certified Halal recently. So what exactly do they specialize in? Cheesesteak sandwiches!

I remember seeing a feature on the Food Network about the best Cheesesteak sandwiches in the US. I knew that there were places in SG which sold Philly Cheesesteaks but pretty much all of them were not Halal joints. So my heart (and stomach) still longed for a nice Cheesesteak...

I received the recommendations on Wednesday and Thursday and we made our way to Toa Payoh on Friday evening. That's how excited we were to try it!

But we arrived at one of the busiest times - dinner time! Just check out the queue above! I waited in line for just about over 30 mins before I reached the front. And when I looked back, the line was stretched all the way to the pavement again. And I though to myself "This had better be worth it...".

Hmm.. I wonder what I'm gonna have...

They have quite a few items on the menu which you might be interested in. They've got a few different types of submarines sandwiches including tuna, chicken and even a mushroom one! They've also got a hotdog, a burger and Quesadillas!

But.. we were there... for one thing...

Yellow Submarines Classic ($6.90 ala carte / $9.90 meal)

*drool*
I don't know about you but I'm a meat guy. And I'm also a cheese guy.
So when you put meat and cheese together - I'm the guy who's gonna eat it up!

Nice thin slices of beef which are pan-grilled to tender and juicy perfection. Get a nice soft baguette-roll and pile on the beef atop a bed of  sauteed onions. Finally, top if off with a nice generous slobbering of cheese sauce... And just how much cheese are we talking about?

ZOMG is that a cheese overload or what!! Slurrrppppp!

The roll itself was soft and a good choice because it holds in the cheese sauce. I already mentioned that the beef was tender right? Well let me add that it's also a very generous serving of beef in the sandwich.

When it comes to the cheese, I actually noticed something when I tasted the cheese on its own.
The closest taste I can compare it to is the cheese you get at Long John Silver's. You know when you order the side of potato chips at LJ's and you get a small serving of cheese sauce? Well this is the closest thing I can match it to. I'm not saying it's the same cheese but close enough!

That's actually a good thing because I love this particular cheese! It has just the right flavour to go with the meat but since there's A LOT of the cheese, you'd better prepare yourself!

I've read some comments online that some ask for no onions or less/more cheese when they order.
Well, however you wanna have it - this is one sandwich that really hits the right spot.

And if that's not enough cheese for you...

Torpedo Fries ($3.00)

This was a real winner for me.
How can anyone possible resist Cheese Fries???

The fries were just perfect - crisp on the outside but still fluffy on the inside.
Top it off which a nice dollop of the cheese sauce and you're gonna be digging at it with your fingers instead of with a fork.

I reckon this is one of their best sellers and a definitely must-have!!

Coleslaw ($1.50)

The first thing that came to my mind when I tried the Coleslaw was "Long John's".
Just like the cheese, the Coleslaw was really really similar with the coleslaw served at Long John Silver's!
The noticeable difference was that this version was a little sweeter with some raisins added in.

I say this is a definitely a must have as well especially if you love the coleslaw at LJ's like me!

Adam's Verdict:
Yellow Submarines Classic 4/5 -- Torpedo Fries 4.5/5 -- Coleslaw 4/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Yellow Submarines Classic 4/5 -- Torpedo Fries 4.5/5 -- Coleslaw 4/5

High scores all around!
We have no doubt that a lot of people will be flocking to Yellow Submarines. Yet another superb makan place in Toa Payoh for us to visit!

We're definitely going back to try some other stuff on the menu. Plus a Cheesesteak or 3 :P

PS as a Beatle fan, i give a nod to the name of the joint :)

Yellow Submarines

Blk 177 Toa Payoh Central
#01-110 (Approach from behind NTUC side)
Tel: 6352 7890
www.yellowsubmarines.com.sg

Operating Hours:
10.30am til 10.30pm Daily

Botak's Favourites: Sirloin Steak

Okay you guys remember my last post about Tang Tea House right?
Well some of you might be wondering... How come Maryah didn't have any verdict eh?

Well the answer is simple.
She didn't have the Beef Noodles or the Beef Kway Teow. She had...

Sirloin Steak Set ($12.90)

So if you remember the last time I had Botak's Favourites, it didn't go very well.


Well let's face it, my wife and I both love a nice slab of meat. And for some reason it's becoming increasingly hard to find a decent steak nowadays to be honest. For me, I personally have to go all the way to The Ship in KL to guarantee myself a delicious steak.

So how would my darling wife find the steak?

Well I guess you could say that Botak's Favourites definitely does its part in bringing Halal western food to the masses at a reasonable price. But as you would expect, you can't really expect to have the best prime cut ever in the history of the world right? The steak is actually pretty okay in terms of taste and value. Seasoning was simple and meat lovers will not complain about the portion of the cut.

But not to sound too critical, I personally feel that it's not too bad.
I mean, you DO get what you pay for when we're talking about this steak so we can't complain too much.

However, there ARE some things we can complain about.
Because even though we are paying a reasonably low price, you'd still expect some basics.

Case in point - the done-ness of the steak.
They actually give you a choice of how well you'd like you steak and then they kinda disregard your choice.

That's exceptional cooking skill to achieve a medium-rare steak.
The only problem is that we ordered it to be well done.

I know I know a lot of you steak people will argue that a steak is best enjoyed medium-rare or medium-well at most and not well done because the meat gets dried out and on the tough side.
And I do not disagree with you. But I do disagree with asking how we'd like to have the steak cooked and then just cooking it to some other result instead.

Okay fine let's forget about the steak for a minute.

You also get to choose 2 sides with your set.
So we had the Coleslaw and the Double Baked Cheese Potato. (You can also have the Fries or Corn btw)
Well. The Coleslaw was a little on the sour side (which is fine if you like your coleslaw that way) but the biggest crime of the day was the Double Baked Cheese Potato.

Double Baked Cheese Potato. But no cheese!!
Just great.

Maryah's Verdict:
Sirloin Steak Set 3.5/5

I'm still not convinced of Botak's Favourites.
But it's still one of the few choices we have to get such western food so we'll all keep going there I reckon.


Botak's Favourites (within Tang Tea House)

359 Bedok Road
www.botakjones.com/

Operating Hours:
11.00am til 4.00am Daily