SUKA MAKAN: CHUAN XIANG LE @ BUKIT TIMAH PLAZA

This is the mala place we have frequented the most in the past years. Simple, it's located in Bukit Timah Plaza and has outlasted all the other mala places. Chuan Xiang Le is your usual China hotpot restaurant and does a good mala xiangguo. Usually I order to takeout, but on this occasion I decided to have a mala soup.

The restaurant is actually
outside the plaza building itself.

Thank goodness the air-conditioning
is in good working order.

This outlet is generous with mala peppers, so minimal spiciness (xiao la) should be the default. Even with that modest amount of mala, my lips still stings and tingles long after the meal has ended. The portions are generous too, so there's no hurry to wolf everything down unless you have a show to catch. Take your time, that should be the credo for enjoying anything mala.

What I ordered weighed about $10.

The bowl came to be much bigger
than I had expected.

The restaurant has a good view
of the Jalan Anak Bukit-Clementi viaduct.

CHUAN XIANG LE

1 Jalan Anak Bukit #01-CA2

Singapore 588996

(Take the external car park 

which fronts the restaurant.)

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RANDOM HEARTLAND EATS: SEVEN-STARS COFFEE SHOP @ GHIM MOH

We're back at the new Ghim Moh housing estate along Commonwealth Avenue West. This food court Seven-Stars is a much smaller one than Kopitiam Corner, but is just as busy during lunchtime. Only four of the seven stalls are open and we patronised three of time, including the drink stall. The closed stalls included one selling economy rice, Penang hawker fare and Muslim food, which is worrying.

However, the BBQ meat stall and Western stall were very reasonable in price, and the dishes were very much up to scratch. They are doing roaring business and that is a positive sign. We're likely to come back since its on our way home from work.

Three meats noodles:
Char siew, roast pork & roast chicken

Chicken chop with pasta aglio olio.

SEVEN-STARS

25 Ghim Moh Link

Singapore 270025

instagram.com/explore/locations/352131652354481/sstar-coffee-shop-at-25-ghim-moh-link/

RANDOM HEARTLAND EATS: TIMBRE+ ONE NORTH

Referring to itself as an "upgraded urban food park", Timbre+ One North looks and appears like a gentrified upmarket hawker's food centre. Except that no real hawkers would be able to afford its rent. Located within the premises of JTC LaunchPad, it serves as its high rent cafeteria, with a wide range of food choices, at prices higher than most HDB hawker's centres and comparable with those in air-conditioned food courts.

It's unique and unusual look comes from the fact it's built from many re-purposed shipping containers and some stalls operate from de-commissioned mobile trailers. The overall industrial feel is conducive as this is one-north, Singapore's "Silicon Valley" of high tech and biomedical start-ups. Let's just call it a high class industrial estate.

On this evening, a fair number of stalls had closed. Some of the ones we patronised several years ago had also moved out. We settled for a simple zichar meal served in mini-woks, which was bog standard and par for the course. I was looking for a stall that served the Western usual fare, but none was to be found this evening. The crowd was generally sparse and the live music (which tended to be really noisy) had not started. We won't eat here regularly but it's Good for an occasional visit.

Stir fried beef hor fun

Stir fried pork with rice

TIMBRE + ONE NORTH

73A Ayer Rajah Crescent

JTC LaunchPad@ one-north

Singapore 139957

Timbre+ One North - Timbre+

KENT RIDGE FINE MUSIC & STEAK APPRECIATION CLUB (NO VEGANS ADMITTED) RECONVENES

The Kent Ridge Fine Music & Steak Appreciation Club (No Vegans Admitted) reconvened on Sunday lunchtime (13 September 2026) at its usual hideout, St.Martin's in Clementi Fields or Marriner's Corner. The idea was to re-sample its famous N.Z. Roast Beef Prime Rib, which previously had left the quintet longing for more. The only problem: the four Professors and one Physician got the timing wrong. Marriner's Prime Rib is served only in the evening.

Undeterred, they settled for the Ribeye Set Meal instead. One meat is better than none, one supposes. True to the establishment's well-heeled service, the dishes came swiftly, first the garden salad, soup de jour (which had minced meat in cream) and garlic toast. This was quickly dispatched, and before long came the main course. Only Winston Seah Kar Heng opted for the Sirloin and found his portion smaller than the others'.  

As this was being consumed, discussions about last weekend's Wagner's Siegfried by the OMM came up, as did future plans for the fine orchestras of Kent Ridge. About steak, promises were made by individual members to have pilgrimages to Sweetheart Garden Restaurant (any of the seven outlets) in Hong Kong. It was agreed that the Mongkok outlet in Bank Centre (2nd floor) was the most accessible and had the highest turnover.

After accounting for the tiny slice of cake, coffee or tea, the quartet sans Winston (who had a birthday party to catch) made their way to their favourite creamery - Burnt Cones - which was around the corner. So here are the incriminating pics of Professors and Doctors enjoying their ice-creams.

This CTL had the Pistachio flavour.

The other CTL had Stracciatella
(whatever that was) while 
HCK had Moon Cake Salted Egg.

PP chose Moon Cake salted egg too. 

The newly created official logo
of KRFMSAC (NVA) or
Kent Ridge Fine Music & Steak
Appreciation Club (No Vegans Admitted).
Even Sir Lion whole-heartedly agrees.

SUKA MAKAN: PICOLINO @ SHAW CENTRE

This place is totally new to me. Thanks to my classmate from medical school, Teoh Mei Lin, who organised a mini class reunion of sorts for a casual late weekend lunch. Six of the NUS Class of 89 turned up, three guys and three gals, almost like triple-date! All who came were also at Ipoh in July too, so we are the gregarious ones.

Picolino is a nice little Italian bistro which has a fusion twist in its dishes, which explains why some of the items resemble local food. No harm to that as long it tastes good, and that was exactly what was delivered. We had pizza, pasta and a pulled pork bun which was shared communally.

Pizza Diavola, with salami

Granchio linguine,
with crab meat, spicy cream and caviar.

Does it look like Hokkien mee?

Pad Kra Pao Pizza

This Harissa Pulled Pork
looks like Kong Bak Pao!

Shaw Centre is busy for a Saturday lunchtime, catering to the shopping crowd and does a flowing turnover business, which is what local food outlets need. Too many have been closing of late, to replaced by empty lots and that is a disturbing trend. If you have cash to spare, why not support local food business? It's too late to miss them when they're gone.

Who attended (from L):
Lee Cheng Chuan, "Datuk" Leong Seng Keen,
Pianomaniac, Lee Siew Khim,
Teoh Mei Lin & Lim Woan Huah

This Tiramisu cube with birthday candle
was lit for three August babies,
and shared by six.

"Datuk" Leong & Pianomaniac
Photo: Teoh Mei Lin

PICOLINO

1 Scotts Road #03-23/24

Shaw Centre

Singapore 228208

Picolino