A Tale of 2 Hawker Centers: Part 2 Newton Circus

Newton Circus and Lau Pa Sat are two of the most well known and popular hawker centers in Singapore -- locals say, too popular and too "touristy". I should really get out and try the hawker centers where residents really eat.
I first ate at Newton Circus in the mid 1980s. Since then, it has undergone quite a bit of touching up and renovation. Today, it is widely regarded as over priced and too full of tourists but it's convenient to go to and there are still stalls that offer very good food.
I met up with two ex-officemates now based in Singapore for a rare evening of eating, drinking, reminiscing and bonding at Newton Circus.
One of the things I don't like in this hawker cetnter is the too aggressive touting done by stall owners and their reps. As we entered the food center, we had to literally dodge and turn away very pushy touts, all shoving menus in our face and telling us to "take this table, lah, I order for you, what you want?"
We moved to a quieter spot outside and found a table by the corner. No touts here, we could finally relax and enjoy our dinner in peace.
What a meal it was! Very cold Tiger beer, chili crab, 30 sticks of satay - mutton, chicken and pork, mee bihon and ginger garlic clams.
Plus a plate of fried fluffy bread to sop up the chili crab sauce with.
I was hankering for carrot cake, another favorite, but we found ourselves too stuffed for that.
The open air and expansive grounds make Newton a favorite for dinner and late night eating and drinking. It's open till 4 a.m. so you can drop by for beer and pulutan anytime.
Just steer clear of the touts!

A Tale of 2 Hawker Centers: Part 1 Lau Pa Sat

When I'm in Singapore for work, I try as much as I can to eat local -- whether it is in a sidewalk cafe, a local restaurant, a food court or the best thing, at a hawker center.
Lau Pa Sat Festival Market along Robinson Road is near the office and is one of the more well known (and tourist-famous) hawker centers in the city.
It is housed in an ornate, filigreed building, built in the late 1800s. Inside, despite the fact that it is filled to bursting with people and food stalls, the many rotating fans and the high airy ceiling keep the temperature at a comfortable level.
Lau Pa Sat has Pinoy food stalls, most notable of which is Tapa King. Another Pinoy food stall, located outside the hawker center is called Cantunan Atbp. I presume it is referring to the varieties of pancit it offers.
In addition, there is a Mang Kiko Lechon which offers lechon and sisig meals and has long lines -- not just of Pinoys but of locals and expats as well.
We have successfully exported our cholesterolific cuisine!
At night, Lau Pa Sat transforms one side of the street into a satay joint with patrons enjoying cold beer, satay, barbecued chicken wings and other Singaporean goodies until way past midnight.
For my lunch at La Pa Sat, I had my favorite -- spicy fishball noodle from Song Kee Noodle House. Despite the queue, the fish ball assembly line was quick, you order, you pay, move forward in the line, and by the time you get to the front, your fish ball (with fish cake) noodle is ready.
$3 for the basic bowl, add $1 if you want more of the freshly made, springy fishballs. Just $4 for a local lunch, so good lah!

Neo Neo in Cebu. So much to eat, so little time.

I just spent exactly 12 hours in Cebu for work -- but you don't go to Cebu without OD'ing on great food so thankfully, there was just enough time to sneak in some serious eating and food buying.
First stop was a meal at Neo Neo, which is a grill joint exactly across the Carmelite Monastery. Neo Neo has both air conditioned and al fresco dining areas but since it was remarkably cool, we opted to eat outdoors.
It was hard to choose from the wide array of fresh seafood -- bulgan, kitang, lapu lapu, tuna, imbao, pusit, scallops, tahong plus plates of sparkling green lato and guso -- well, we would have them all!
Mixed clams for tinola, baked scallops, sinugbang pusit, kinilaw na tuna, two kinds of seaweed salad --- lechon kawali and inihaw na liempo for the carnivores and, oh what the heck -- one order of the barbecued hunk of beef that was slowly turning on a spit right by the sidewalk.
Maybe it would taste even better with all the dust and diesel fumes from the passing cars.
It was a buffet of goodness! The imbao tinola was soured with batuan, the kinilaw was fresh and spicy with sliced sili, Two plates of baked scallops were gone in an instant. The lechon kawali was crisp and the inihaw liempo thinly sliced and very tasty. And the barbecued beef very tender. No diesel taste at all.
The waiters stood around probably making bets that 5 people would leave way too much food uneaten but they were sorely disappointed. We did justice to everything and only the pancit canton survived to be wrapped up and eaten later.
After Neo Neo, it was off to Tabuan for the requisite panic buying of tuyo, danggit, pusit, Carcar chicharon and dried green mangoes, all sealed in plastic bags, boxed up and ready for the flight home.
Work, a good meal and shopping. All in 12 hours.
The joys of multi-tasking in Cebu.

Ninyo Fusion Cuisine ... Fine Dining on Big Plates

That sounds like an oxymoron. We have become used to "fine" or "gourmet" dining to also mean high prices and small servings. Nin-yo Fusion Cuisine and Wine Lounge (quite a mouthful in itself) along Esteban Abada in the Katipunan area smashes those preconceived notions to smithereens.
Ninyo serves good food in huge plates, large servings that could easily feed two.
While prices are not low - the quality and quantity make you feel that you had a good meal with money well spent.
I particularly enjoy their raspberry vinaigrette salad which is more than enough for two.
Entrees worth ordering include the hanging steak, the duck leg confit, the braised lamb shank (a BIG shank) and a deconstructed stewed pork knuckle that has been molded into a rice ring -- think pata tim donburi.
Somehow, the seafood offerings aren't as interesting as the meats but after your meal, make sure you have room for dessert. Ninyo's mango pavlova is worth a visit unto itself.
Set in a rambling two story house, Ninyo's charming and homey ambience adds to a relaxed and comfortable dining experience. The second floor has room for about 12 diners (although I had a private party there once and 15 of us squeezed in) and makes a great venue for small, intimate gatherings.
Or, you can choose to dine al fresco, there are cozy tables set up just outside with fairy lights for a romantic atmosphere.

Day 13 : Escargots Etc.

For my last entry in this thread of posts about what I ate in Paris, allow me to reminisce about what I enjoyed these past two weeks.
Not all of it was French food but all of it was good.
Escargots, quiches galore, shawarmas, goat milk cheese, sheep milk cheese, "raw" cheese, hard cheese, runny cheese. Cold cuts from my little boucherie along Rue Mouffetard, tartiflette, magret de canard, framboises with creme ... store bought food, food cooked at "home", artisanal food, commercially produced food, food from high end restaurants and from corner brasseries.
As a wise man said, "Dieting is murder on the road. Show me a man who travels and I'll show you one who eats".
Or, to paraphrase that I travel and so I will eat.
Merci beaucoup, Paris.
A bientot!

Day 12 : Chestnuts roasting on an open fire....

Cheesy but nothing makes the holidays seem even more festive than hot roasted chestnuts.
Here at home, they signal the start of the Yuletide season (along with edam cheese balls and gift baskets in the supermarkets).
In Paris, walking through the biting, -2 cold, the smell of hot chestnuts roasting over open fires, in vendors' stalls and carts, brought memories of home, family and Christmases past.
We couldn't resist.
Never mind if 3 euros for a small paper packet yielded only 10 chestnuts, nothing could beat their wonderful smoky smell and
their fresh roasted taste, something to munch on to keep fingers and hearts warm while spending the holidays far away from home.

Day 11: New Year treat fit for a King ... Gallette des Rois

Last night, on New Year's eve, I was standing in line at the boulangerie and noticed almost everyone buying a flaky looking soft cookie cum filled tart called a gallette des rois. It looked yummy so I bought one.
This morning, at New Year's day breakfast, we appropriately had our gallette de rois.
This is a soft pastry filled with frangipane -- a buttery smooth filling made of pastry cream and almond cream.
Not too sweet but with a rich mouth feel and very delicious.
French families traditionally have the gallette des rois on the feast of the Three Kings who are also known as the Les Rois Mages.
Since this festival has moved from January 12 to January 6 to the first Sunday of January, the gallette des rois starts to show up on family tables starting on the New Year.
And because the gallette celebrates the Feast of the 3 Kings, a gold tinsel crown comes with each pastry.
A trinket or favor is hidden in the gallette and whoever finds it, gets the "golden crown" and is king for the day, meaning, he can boss everyone around.
My half of the gallette yielded the "feve", a small plastic logo of the bakery I had bought it from.
No need to boss anyone around though, just discovering and enjoying the gallette des rois had already made me feel like royalty!