If you know me, you know I’m an addict. Yup, addicted to KAYA!!! Its just my favourite thing ever but it has to be perfect. Not too sweet, not too raw, not too artificial. I love it smooth, creamy and fresh.

When I heard about Tong Ah, I knew I had to try it and I was actually quite surprised because their kaya is in no way the type that I appreciate. It is not creamy but more like a thick paste.

Nevertheless, I still tried it with an open mind and I have to say it wasn’t too bad. I still prefer my creamy versions but this was good too. The toast was different from the usual as well and made fresh, most important to be made fresh. It is a tiny shop with quite poor ventilation so we chose to sit outside.

Overall, would definitely try again for breakfast or dessert if I’m nearby. I can never say no to kaya.

Tong Ah Eating House @ Keong Saik 
Address: 35 Keong Saik Road, Singapore 089142
Contact: 6223 5083

Opening hours:
Daily: 7am to 10pm

Personal rating: 3/5 (fresh and tasty)

I lived in Woodlands for almost 15 years and I remember always seeing this restaurant but never ever patronising it. Fast forward to maybe 3 years ago, I walked pass an outlet at IMM and my friend recommended eating here. I didn’t know what they were famous for and my friend ordered everything that he liked.

I have to say, thinking about eat COLD chicken kind of disgusted me. That was what there were popular for; cold ginger chicken where you use a lettuce slice as a wrap, place a piece of cold chicken in it, a slice of cucumber, some of the ginger sauce and eat it.

Magic in my mouth. Again, it really took me maybe 2 to 3 tries before actually liking the dish.

Ever since, I have tried their restaurants many times and tried various other dishes and they are good. Fresh food, freshly prepared; except the cold dish of course.

So this post is basically to expose those of you who have never tried Soup Restaurant to try it at least once and remember to try the cold chicken. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did.

Soup Restaurant @ Serangoon NEX
Address: 23 Serangoon Central #02-15/16, Singapore 556083
Contact: 6634 2822

Opening hours:
Daily: 11.30am to 10pm

Personal rating: 4/5 (clean and delightful)

If you walk into Century Square from Tampines Mall, you are sure to catch a glimpse of a classy looking restaurant sitting right beside the door. We walked by many times before deciding to try it one day and what captured my attention was the amazing looking pork knuckle in their menu.

Ambiance wise, this place is beautiful. Clean decor with comfortable furniture, it feels very open yet inviting. The staff were very friendly and helpful but it was kind of hard to get their attention even though it wasn’t crowded yet.

We only ordered a fried mushroom appetiser and  a pork knuckle to share. The mushrooms were out of this world; addictive, crunchy and you could not have enough of it! Unfortunately, the pork knuckle was far from perfect. It looked beautiful though. The skin was not fully crispy like how it should be and the meat in the middle was incredibly tough. I really had to chew very long and soon, I gave up and only ate the parts of the meat that was easy to chew. The wedges looked factory-made so it tastes great. The salad was a good palette cleanser for the greasy dish.

Overall, the mushrooms were amazing but the main dish was sad. They do have many other dishes but somehow, they do not appeal to me much. Maybe we’ll try it one more time and see how it goes.

Mahota Kitchen @ Century Square
Address: 2 Tampines Central 5, #01-11, Century Square, 529509
Contact: 6260 8018

Opening hours:
Daily: 11am to 10 pm

Personal rating: 3/5 (friendly, acceptable food, nice staff)