KL Sedap 2014 Part 4: Berjaya Times Square Taste Of Asia Foodcourt - Korean Food

So it was time for brunch and we were a bit short of time because we were leaving for the airport in awhile so we didn't want to have to go out too far to get something to eat. Since we were staying at Berjaya Times Square Hotel, we decided to just stick around within the shopping centre itself.

We'd heard about the foodcourt at B1 but never really visited. They seemed to have quite a few options but we didn't know what would be open since it was still early goings and looked like some of the stalls were not even open yet.

In the end, my Darling Wife and I settled on the Korean Food!

Chicken BBQ (RM8.60 ala carte)

I had actually decided on the Bi Bim Bap (because I love it) but the stall was just opening and it wasn't ready for sale yet :\

But I guess it's a good thing because if it had been ready, we would not have been able to find out that the Chicken BBQ is actually really good! It comes on a hotplate so it's nice and sizzling and bubbling when it arrives so that's always an appetizing sight!

It's also got a sweet/spicy gooey sauce to go along which I really enjoyed because I don't mind the sweet but my Darling Wife would have preferred it a little less sweet and maybe a little more spicy.
The chicken was nicely cooked and onions are always welcome.

Kim Chi Fried Rice (RM11.20 set)

We had the Kim Chi Fried Rice to go along and it was quite a pleasant surprise because this was the first time we were having Kim Chi Fried Rice. I mean, we both love Kim Chi, but we've never had it in fried rice before.

Firstly, let me say the accompanying side garnishes were a bit weird.
The seaweed was a bit misplaced to be honest and this was also the first time we had shredded potatoes in Korean food (is that normal??). Thank goodness for the sunny side up fried egg!

The rice itself is rather wet because it looks like it's fried with the kim chi (paste?) and also with bits and pieces of kim chi which was actually quite nice. It's quite starchy but the flavour was actually pretty okay to be honest. It's not as spicy as it looks by the way...

Set meals are accompanied by a bowl of soup (which you can give a miss no problem), a cup of Korean tea and also some kim chi and errrr shredded potatoes LOL

Adam's Verdict:
Chicken BBQ 4/5 -- Kim Chi Fried Rice 3.5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Chicken BBQ 3.5/5 -- Kim Chi Fried Rice 3/5

Plenty of other choices at the Berjaya Times Square Foodcourt but the Korean Food stall seemed really popular and I guess we can see why. Now, after typing this review out, I feel like having some Korean food LOL

Korean Food

Berjaya Times Square Taste Of Asia Foodcourt
Lot LG-23, West, Lower Ground

www.berjayatimessquarekl.com/store/taste-of-asia-food-court-lowerground-floor-west-wing#

Operating Hours:
10.00am til 10.00pm Daily

Fork & Spoon Toa Payoh - Hanmiga Korean and Japanese Cuisine

As you know, we really loved the HK Beef Noodles from Fork & Spoon but that's gone now and nobody knows where it went (some said Jurong??)

And even though there are other nice things to eat there like the Chicken Rice (which happens to be on our Chicken Rice Chronicles list by the way), we don't really go as often anymore since our beloved Beef Noodles were no longer there.

But recently we were in the area so we stopped by even though we didn't really know what to have and my Darling Wife made a discovery!

BBQ Saba Fish Set ($6.00)

My darling wife absolutely loves Saba Fish and it's so hard to find a nice one nowadays but I think we may just have come across it right here at Fork & Spoon Toa Payoh.

The dish arrives on a sizzling hotplate (yeah you can see it sizzling in the picture!!) nice and piping hot to be enjoyed with rice. The Saba Fish is resting on a bed of chopped onions and served with white rice along with a customary serving of kimchi and Korean ikan bilis (anchovies).

One of the great things is that there is no hamching (fishy) taste or smell to be found here. In fact, even though it says BBQ, the fish is also (confirmed) fried up a little which is actually quite good. The fish is halved so you won't have to deal with any bones and you have easy access to the flesh.

One gripe though - it was a bed of chopped white onions and no cabbage that the fish rested on. In fact it wasn't even a lot of onions :(

But oh well I guess that's a small price to pay!

Maryah's Verdict
BBQ Saba Fish Set 3.5/5

Got quite a few other things to try on the menu but I think Saba Fish is probably gonna be at the top of the list for quite awhile.

Fork & Spoon Foodcourt (Toa Payoh)

Blk 470 Toa Payoh Lorong 6 (Above Courts)
#02-70

Operating Hours: 10.00am til 10.00pm Daily

The Chicken Rice Chronicles Part 6: Fitra Chicken Rice

Well we're already at the end of Ramadhan and we've run out of special posts for the month so we've decided to release the next installment of The Chicken Rice Chronicles!

"Chicken Rice Chronicles? What the heck is that?"
If you're not sure what we're talking about, you might wanna read THIS first...

And this time we are at another reader-recommended Chicken Rice joint in the East this time!

Chicken Rice (4.50)

Fitra is located in Century Square's Food Junction now (I heard it used to be in the now closed Food Culture) and they serve all kinds of goodies like noodles and the likes. But some of our readers pointed out that the Chicken Rice at Fitra was worth checking out.

And since it's nearby for us, we decided to drop by after some shopping!

Maybe I'm just being fussy but I feel that the guy who cut up my chicken was lazy.
You may not be able to see it in the picture but there was still some parts of the chicken which I guess I don't normally get when I have Chicken Rice at other places. I'm talking about small things like the excess gristle etc.

I guess overall the chicken was quite tender but not as tender as some other places. I am basing this on a Roasted Chicken standard of course. Wasn't too fantastic taste-wise either.

Found the rice a tad dry. You can see from that picture how dry it is.
Not too bad when you eat it all at one go withe the chicken and the chilli though. Add some soup if you must!

Despite all that, I think I was most disappointed with the chilli.
If the chilli is goof, I think I could have been more forgiving with the chicken and the rice.

It was watery and I wasn't really enjoying it very much.
I'm a bit fan of the type of chilli which has quite a bit of vinegar in it but even that could not redeem this one. It does have a bit of a spicy kick to it which might be why some people like it I guess.

Adam's Verdict:
Chicken Rice 1.5/5

Unfortunately this was not the best of the series so fare...
Why oh why do the nice Chicken Rice joints always seem to be so far away!!

Oh well, maybe we'll have more luck next time.

Fitra Chicken Rice

Food Junction @ Century Square
#03-20/29

Tel: 6781 3114

Operating Hours:
10.30am til 9.30pm Daily

Bagus Changi City Point: Seafood Ramen and Chicken Char Siew Noodles

So here we were at Changi City Point and we wanted to have some dinner before going to a fair at the nearby Singapore Expo. Gasp! Forgot to bring camera! How to review food!

Well, our readers responded that they wouldn't mind if the pics were snapped from a camera phone hence this post was born! Just please pardon the pics though...

Seafood Ramen ($5.00)

My darling wife actually really loves Korean food. She's the one who brought me to my first ever Chicken Bulgogi and Saba Fish Set when were still dating so it's no surprise that she's probably going to head to the Korean stall once in awhile.

Surprisingly, she passed on the Bulgogi and instead went for another Korean/Japanese fave - Ramen!

The Ramen here is basically instant noodles served in a Kimchi broth. Not really what I expected to be honest. I thought they'd at least use some Ramen you know what I mean. And of course, as you can see, it comes packed with all kinds of seafood goodies like prawns and squid and a whole load of veggies too.

The broth itself was not too bad I guess. Nice and hearty especially on a cold day and you can taste the kimchi flavour although it's not that spicy. My darling wife thought it was actually pretty tasteless. But we both agreed on one thing - the noodles really let us down.

Side serving of anchovies and kimchi was a bit of a letdown too.
Stingy!!

But there was still a saving grace...


ZOMG NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A YOLK OF YOLKS!
And trust me... it was divinely runny...

Oh well. I guess overall it was still pretty disappointing.

Chicken Char Siew Noodles ($4.80)

 As always, I'm a sucker for Chicken Char Siew so I had some noodles.

It was pretty standard but didn't really look anything like the picture. The Chicken Char Siew was tender but was pretty much just roasted chicken. Didn't really have much of the sweet glaze it's supposed to have...
But at least the dish wasn't tasteless I guess.

Oh and by the way, the dumplings come are not included in the price of the dish.
I felt like some dumplings so I added some for $0.80 a piece.

I guess it was actually pretty worth it. Nice and packed with chicken meat and mushrooms.
Added some bite to the dish and also a good add-on for those who might be a little bit extra hungry.

I gave the soup a miss though (thank goodness). It had kind of a funny taste to it.
Or was it just me?

Adam's Verdict:
Seafood Ramen 2/5 -- Chicken Char Siew Noodles 3/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Seafood Ramen 2/5

Still plenty of stalls to try at this place. Heard some of the readers say it's the bomb but some say it's really not worth it to eat there. Well, I guess we'll see!

And one of our readers mentioned Nasi Kelate. Couldn't find the stall though.
Any ideas?

Bagus Foodcourt (Changi City Point)

Changi City Point
5 Changi Business Park Central 1

Operating Hours:
11.00am til 9.30pm Daily

Fork & Spoon Toa Payoh - HK Beef Noodles

My mum used to work around the area of the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh once upon a many years ago.
And she told me about 2 things that were absolutely a MUST to makan there.
One was a Rojak shop that was so popular that it had a 'queue number' system and the other was a Beef Noodle stall at Fork Spoon.

And since my first taste all those years ago, I always seem to go back for the same thing.
Even though I may order something different, the basics are the same - noodles, beef & gravy.

 (Dry) Beef & Tendon Noodles ($5.50)

(Dry) Beef Noodles ($4.50)

Oh boy just looking at it whets my appetite.
Yum yum yum.

Tender Beef

Okay so I USED to order just the normal Beef Noodles but I've upgraded to have some tendon in the mix as well!!

You actually have a few choices to make when you step up the stall...

Firstly - do you want the Dry (with a thick soy and beefy gravy as seen above) or the Soup. I've never really had the Soup version before so I can't really help you there. Obviously I prefer the Dry.

Secondly - what type of noodles do you want? They have 3 options for you namely kway teow, the wantan-type of noodles and also the thick bee hoon which is the actual default noodle when you order Beef Noodles at most places I guess.

Thirdly - what you want with your noodles. Beef? Beef with Tendon? Beef with Tripe?
Choices choices choices!!!

So depending on your taste I guess some of you might choose something different but it's probably going to include the beef right... And you can see from the picture above, that's one tender piece of beef.
I understand from asking around that most the Beef Noodle stalls elsewhere actually have thinly slice beef strips which are quickly blanched so this is obviously something different. If you ask me, this is technically more of a Stewed Beef Noodle. But stewed or blanched or whatever it's still delicious lah.

Beef Tendon

I don't know when exactly I became a fan of tendon to be honest. Must be something I picked up from my Mum & Dad.

But not just ANY tendon will do.
This particular tendon is so soft that I had to pierce it with my chopstick to hold it up for the picture because it kept sliding off like a piece of jelly. That's how soft it is.

So for you fans of tendon - REJOICE!!

Sorry I can't tell you guys anything about the Tripe version of the noodles though. Maybe some tripe fans can try it out and let me know how it is... Err.. is there anyone out there that likes tripe in the first place???

Well I don't know it this is considered an "authentic" Beef Noodle dish... but it sure as hell is a delicious one in my books and I'd have it over and over again for sure.

Adam's Verdict:
Beef & Tendon (Dry) Noodles 4/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Beef  (Dry) Noodles 3/5

Things have definitely changed over the years though.
Price has gone up by $0.50 across the board . They used to put Kai Lan instead of cabbage.
But... the beef is still the bomb.

Fork & Spoon Foodcourt (Toa Payoh)

Blk 470 Toa Payoh Lorong 6 (Above Courts)
#02-70

Operating Hours: 10.00am til 10.00pm Daily

Asli Village - Fish Soup

When you're feeling under the weather... When your throat feels like it might get shredded if you swallow something solid... You look for soup.

Fish Soup is becoming increasing popular and it seems to getting easier and easier to find someone selling a Halal version nowadays. I remember when I was a kid, there was only one place we saw selling a Halal bowl of fish soup and that was at Bedok South. That stall is obviously long gone. But you can find this dish at most food courts now (eg Banquet, Mr Teh Tarik etc) but is it any good?

After all, the dish seems simple enough to make but will it taste good?

Sliced Fish Soup Noodles ($4.50)

So my darling wife ordered the most basic versions of this dish. Just some sliced fish with noodles in broth.
And of course it comes with all the trimmings like a little tofu, seaweed and veggies.

Now the thing about fish soup is you need to make sure of at least 2 things before you worry about anything else. 1) Ensure the fish does not taste fishy (aka hamching in my books) and 2) the broth is good (and by good I mean tasty with a good,hearty fish flavour).

Unfortunately in this case, neither was done.
The fish definitely has a hint of the hanmching-ness. I'm not sure what fish they are using or whether it was of a fresh enough quality to use for such a dish but it definitely failed the fish-taste test.

In terms of the both, I think you can see for yourself in the picture above.
A little too much oil and to be honest I wouldn't even consider it a fish broth. Not at all.

Fried and Sliced Fish Soup ($5.00)

I like a little bite in my fish soup so I normally go for the mix of fried fish and sliced fish.
And I know I shouldn't but I almost always add a little milk to it.

Okay so for the sliced fish, the challenge is giving a fresh and good quality of fish.
For the fried fish, the challenge is not just the fish but also (and just as importantly) - the batter coating.
The problem is sometimes they overdo the coating so you get very little fish and very odd-tasting batter.

And unfortunately that was the case here.
Not sure what that taste is though... The flour? Baking soda? Sure is weird.
But at least there was still some fish meat to enjoy.

Sliced vs Fried

Which would you choose eh?

Adam's Verdict:
Sliced and Fried Fish Soup 2/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Sliced Fish Soup 1/5

Well I guess the hunt for a good Fish Soup continues!

Asli Village - Fish Soup

1 Pasir Ris Close (Downtown East)
 www.downtowneast.com.sg/eat/food_court

Operating Hours:
10am - 10pm Daily

Banquet (Jurong Point)

I'm sure almost all of us have been to Banquet at some point or rather.
When I was a kid, I remember the big hoo-hah that there was an 'All Halal Food Court in Jurong"!! And believe you me that was a very exciting prospect back then. It was not as easy then as it is today to find things like Chinese or Korean cuisine being Halal back then.

Today, Banquet has at least 8 outlets all over Singapore and they stretch in all directions of our island.
They apparently also have subs like Ah Mei Cafe, Bagus and even a Banquet Signature but I'll check them out some other time I reckon.

We actually decided to eat there because we received some information that there was a stall there offering Bak Kut Teh. But unfortunately we could not locate the stall for some reason. So we settled on some alternatives instead.

Korean Combo Set ($8.50)

So my darling wife had the Korean Combo Set which consist of Chicken Bulgoggi and Saba Fish.
This actually gets cooked then simmered on the hotplate on a bed of cabbage and onions.
You also get a side of rice, soup and kimchi plus fried anchovies.

Well I know it looks yummy and also looks super spicy right?
Errrr... well....

My darling wife says "Everything is bad about it". It's too watery and everything was too bland. It looks like its got a lot of flavour but unfortunately it's all a ruse. And she's pretty particular about her Korean food so she's also quick to point out that even the rice served was not like the normal starchy Korean rice which should be served. She really disliked this dish.

I know a lot of you might be saying "Of course lah.. food court only mah!"
Well, we've actually had better and it was also in a food court. Plus if you're gonna pay $8.50 for a dish you'd expect to at least be of a certain level right?

Well as for me, they put enough MSG in there to make me keep scooping it off the hotplate!
And it's really not as spicy as it looks. In fact it's not spicy at all.

Chicken Rice Executive Set ($6)

Well I was decidedly more hungry and decided to have something a bit more filling.
I saw some dude having the chicken rice and thought to myself "well that looks good".
And you have to admit - it DOES look good doesn't it?

So what exactly is the difference between the Chicken Rice Set and the Chicken Rice Executive Set besides $2 in the price?

 Well apparently you get an extra half-serving of chicken and some stalks of kai lan.
Yep. That's it.

And the looks are about as good as it gets apparently.
There was truly nothing spectacular about this dish at all. The chicken was nothing special. The kai lan was tough (and didn't even have the obligatory drizzle of oyster sauce) and worst of all - the chicken rice chilli sucked!

Was there no end to this mediocrity?

Fried Carrot Cake (Black) $4

Well here's another dish that looked damn appetizing lah.
I prefer my carrot cake to have kinda like the sloppy wet look instead of the ones that are completely dry and this passes with flying colours. But how did it fare in the taste department?

Well let's just say that between the 3 dishes, this one was the best.

I guess that Fried Carrot Cake is one of those dishes where everyone will have their own preference.
I prefer mine a little on the wet side with the 'cake' itself broken down to smaller pieces while I know some may prefer bigger chunks and maybe a drier version. Some prefer the White version altogether.

For me this carrot cake was not too bad. Not too oily but a bit too chunky for my liking.
Taste-wise was excellent though. Or maybe I was making up for the earlier disappointments.

Adam's Verdict:
Korean Combo Set 2.5/5 -- Chicken Rice Executive Set 2/5 -- Fried Carrot Cake 3.5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Korean Combo Set 0/5 -- Fried Carrot Cake 3.5/5

So has Banquet become just like other food courts? A mere place where people go to eat for convenience? Where the food is moderately priced but the food may not be that good? (This food wasn't moderately priced anyways but was still not that good).

Well maybe we have to try a few more stalls at a few more Banquet outlets before we give a final decision on whether it was just THIS outlet or it's all of them.

Banquet (Jurong Point)

Jurong Point Shopping Centre
1 Jurong West Central 2 #B1-42 to 44

www.banquet.com.sg

Operating Hours:
10.00am to 10.00pm