The Waffle Factory

So we passed by this place many many months ago but didn't pay it much mind but one day my Brother texts me and says that we simply have to check this place out.

How good did he think it was? Well, he back with me the very next day to eat more!

So I'm not sure how long The Waffle Factory has been around in the Singapore Post Centre but it seems really famous judging by all the newspaper clippings and TV show snippets adorning the walls of the outlet.
In fact, apparently they're quite famous for their All-You-Can-Eat Waffle Buffet which we had no idea about because we just had some ala-carte items.

Prawn Dumplings ($4.20 for 3 pieces)

So we started with some Dim Sum which is one of our favourite things.
Prawn Dumplings are always welcome at our table and we've had it at a few other makan places before.

You do get a pretty big piece of the prawn in the dumpling which is nice but it's also got this fish paste in there which was kinda had a dough-y taste to it (or maybe I was just being too fussy?) A nice crispy skin to go with it but a little on the extra-charred side. I'm guessing they might have re-fried it when ordered?

Fried Beancurd Roll ($4.20 for 3 pieces)

Another Dim Sum favourite of ours is the Fried Beancurd Roll which kinda has a Thai accent to it.
Nice and tightly packed with fish paste and some sweet chilli sauce to accompany it. I believe I enjoyed this more than the Prawn Dumpling actually.

But the $4.20 price tag is quite high for 3 pieces of Dim Sum I reckon.

And in case you were wondering, my Brother's all-time fave Dim Sum - Siew Mai - is strangely absent here because apparently he had some the day before and it really wasn't very good at all so we gave it a miss.

Salted Egg Custard Buns ($4.20 for 3)

This is one item my Brother and Sister-In-Law were absolutely raving about.
Something new and a little unique to us - Salted Egg Custard Buns.

It's no secret that we are HUGE fans of anything to do wit Salted Eggs and this definitely seemed like something we were going to enjoy. But please allow me to point out that this was Salted Egg Custard which means you can expect a sweet taste instead of all-Salted Egg.

But it is a thing of beauty when you crack it open though.

All that nice gooey and runny custard flowing all over the place.
Isn't that enough to get your excited? No? Well maybe the video my Brother sent me might do a better job.

Much better right??
Well anyways, like I said, it's more sweet than savoury so you know what to expect. I guess it's more of a dessert bun than anything else.

And here's a tip, be sure to eat it fresh and while it's still hot.
Because when it cools down... It's not going to be very runny anymore...

Anyways, on to the mains!

Something which I'd say is really good about the menu at The Waffle Factory is the wide variety of dishes and even different types of cuisine they offer. Everything from Nasi Lemak to HK-style Noodles to even Western Food and Pasta!

But then again, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Hong Kong Style Chicken Luncheon and Egg Noodles ($4.50)

I love the whole HK-style Noodles scene (remember this post?) and I'm glad to say that the number of Halal makan places offering it nowadays is on the up and up!

Well here's a really simple dish of noodles with some chicken luncheon meat veggies in a nice hot soup.
(This was the Spicy option by the way. You can choose the Non-Spicy as well).
Just a really satisfying bowl of comfort food for me and something I really enjoy.

By the way, you can also have the same thing in a Prawn-based soup instead.
That's what my Sister-in-Law had but would it really make much of a difference?

Sausage Springy Noodles in Prawn Soup ($5.90)

ZOMG YES IT DOES MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE!

The prawn stock is really rich and flavourful and it did not have any of they overly-prawny taste which I expected. A really really good bowl of noodles! Not too sure about the sausage though... This would have been perfect if they had used a better quality sausage or maybe the chicken luncheon meat?

And now that I think about it - is it really worth an extra $1.40 for the prawn soup?

Crab Claws and Mixed Seafood Pasta ($7.90)

So my Brother decided to break away from the Asian flavours of the day and had something on the Western side of the menu.

He says that it was a pretty respectable plate of pasta but I personally felt that the cream sauce was actually quite tasteless... But the one thing we agreed on is that we did not understand why they called it Crab Claws and Mixed Seafood Pasta when there was only ONE crab claw (and yes that's the small thing on the left)

Maybe he lost the other claw in a fight? Well, then bring me the winner!
(So we'll get 3 claws geddit geddit? Okay I'll just stick to eating then)

Okay time for some dessert and when you're at a place called The Waffle Factory, you're probably gonna have some waffles am I right?

Well they have 2 types of waffles on offer. One is the fresh type which they'll serve you on a plate with all the lovely toppings like berries and cream etc. And the other type is like a miniature version where theysandwich your topping of choice in between 2 waffles.

"OUR WAFFLES ARE THICKER.

MORE THAN HALF A MILLION SOLD WITH OUR SECRET WAFFLES RECIPE"

This is the sign outside and they were not kidding about the 'thicker' part.

D24 Durian Waffle ($2.50)

One of the most popular waffles on offer is the D24 Durian waffle which is delicious durian flesh in between two waffles. (See what I meant about the 'thick' part)

The durian is definitely a must-have for durian lovers.

Orange Chocolate Waffle ($1.30)

So this is actually Chocolate sauce and some Orange Marmalade.
Not at all what we expected.

Actually, by the looks of it, they are quite creative with their waffle flavours so it might be best to double check what exactly you're ordering before you actually make your decision. And they have a massive selection of waffles to choose from so you're gonna have a hard time choosing.

But as you can see from the pictures, these are not the same waffles you get from your neighbourhood bakery. These are really thick and actually very very filling. If you're having full meals then it might be a good idea to share.

The fillings are not bad but the waffles themselves are quite overwhelming.

Adam's Verdict:
Prawn Dumplings 1.5/5 -- Fried Beancurd Roll 2.5/5 -- Salted Egg Custard Buns 2.5/5
HK Style Chicken Luncheon and Egg Noodles 3/5 -- Sausage Springy Noodles in Prawn Soup 4/5
D24 Durian Waffle 4/5 -- Orange Chocolate Waffle 3/5

Azlan's Verdict:
Prawn Dumplings 1/5 -- Fried Beancurd Roll 4/5 -- Salted Egg Custard Buns 4/5
Crab Claws and Mixed Seafood Pasta 3/5 -- Sausage Springy Noodles in Prawn Soup 5/5
D24 Durian Waffle 2/5 -- Orange Chocolate Waffle 2/5

Yana's Verdict:
Prawn Dumplings 1/5 -- Fried Beancurd Roll 2.5/5 -- Salted Egg Custard Buns 4.5/5
Sausage Springy Noodles in Prawn Soup 5/5
D24 Durian Waffle 3.5/5 -- Orange Chocolate Waffle 1/5

They also have loads of other stuff on the menu that might be worth a try like the Chicken Rendang (which apparently is so tender you can eat the bones) and Crayfish Laksa!

We'll definitely be paying another visit soon!

The Waffle Factory

10 Jalan Eunos (Paya Lebar MRT)
Singapore Post Centre Shopping Mall
B1-03

Operating Hours: 9.00am til 10.00pm Daily

Streats Hong Kong Cafe

Quite a number of increasing choices for us to get Halal Hong Kong-Chinese cuisine and this of course includes something we all love - Dim Sum!!

So I discovered this place called Streats Hong Kong Cafe at Downtown East.
At first I didn't realize it was Halal but a closer look shows the Halal logo displayed proudly in the front.
And they seem to really be trying to keep to the kind of Hong Kong cafe we see elsewhere BUT this one is Halal of course.

Fried Pumpkin with Salted Egg Yolk ($3.80)

So for appetizers we started with the pumpkin.
We did this for one simple reason - anything with salted egg yolk MUST be good right?

As far as appetizers go, this is a winner.
The pumpkin is light and preps you for the meal ahead and you can taste the salted egg.
But in my opinion, there can never be enough salted egg yolk and this one seemed a little light on the yolk.

And now for the mains!

Famous HK Fried Beef Hor Fun ($8.50)

Firstly, it's not as oily as it looks...

You can have either the gravy version or the dry version. Above is the latter.
But I should also mention that we requested that we asked for it to be "extra black" with the intention of it having extra black sweet sauce added when cooking. And we also asked for it to be "extra spicy" but the server told us that this meant they would give us a side dish of sambal meaning they could not add the sambal when frying. Isn't that weird?

Anyways my darling wife didn't really like the kway teow used. It was kinda extra thin so it didn't really have a texture we were used to. Perhaps this is also the reason why the taste wasn't so strong.
It was as if either the sweet sauce they used wasn't that sweet OR the kway teow didn't really take the flavour in when cooking. In fact, the only specific taste we could identify was saltiness.

But on the plus side - the beef was actually pretty tender.
But I'm kinda questioning the high price though. I mean, it wasn't even that big of a serving...

Nissin Noodles with Chicken Luncheon Meat & Fried Egg ($7.20)

I have this thing about Hong Kong noodles ever since I saw those old Jackie Chan kung-fu movies and also the newer HK mahjong comedies. There would always be this big bowl of noodles with meat and sometimes soup and veggies. Love it.

Even though it's the instant Nissin noodles (which I guess is the HK style) it's actually a pretty decent noodle.
Top it off with chicken luncheon meat (my favourite!!) and we have a winner. I guess it's the salty edge of the luncheon meat which I (and others I suppose) love so much. Finish it off with some kai lan and a fried egg and we're all set. If you're lucky, the yolk of the egg is cooked just nicely that the yolk is fluid enough to mix in with your noodles... YUMMY!

But after all that, I face an obvious fact - you can just make this at home!
PS you can have the dry (above) or the soup version for this as well.

Salty Plum Soda & Iced Honey Lemon ($3.80 each)

In the true HK style, some of the drinks are served in those thick glasses you see above.
This includes the coffees and teas as well.

It's quite a nice touch actually. But unfortunately that's about all that's nice about them...
The sour plum was a little bit TOO sour even though it was just two sour plums in soda water.
And the Iced Honey Lemon? It's just some honey and two slices of lemon in iced water.
Tasteless.

Adam's Verdict:
Pumpkin with Salted Egg Yolk 2.5/5 --  Noodles with Chicken Luncheon Meat & Fried Egg 3/5
Iced Honey Lemon 1/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Pumpkin with Salted Egg Yolk 2/5 -- Famous HK Fried Beef Hor Fun 1/5 -- Sour Plum Soda 1/5

I actually like Streats. Most likely because it's so close my house.
You Korea-mania fans will be happy to know that they have a TV playing K-Pop music videos.
I'll probably go back there. For the Dim Sum menu. Not the K-Pop.

Streats Hong Kong Cafe

Downtown East
1 Pasir Ris Close
Tel: 6584 4001

Operating Hours: 11.00am til 10.00pm Daily (Closed on CNY)