Thursday 9 July 2015

Food Trail @ Tampines Century Square

-credits to alllink.com.sg-

All thanks to Asia Mall's invite, Janel and I were really honoured to be able to be part of a blogger's food trail at Century Square located at Tampines. There's supposed to be 4 of us, but one just couldn't make it in the end and another simply decided to join the other (bigger) group of bloggers having a separate food trail at Tampines One because her friends are there, so... yeah, just two of us with 7 restaurants/eateries to conquer. 

This will probably end up as a novel book if I were to give a full review of all the food we've tasted from 11am to almost 6pm, so I'm just going to give a run through of our day first, giving a quick review of my favourite dish from each stopping point, and all 7 individual food review posts will be up and running in time to come! 

First up, we headed to the basement to to kick start our food trail at a pretty familiar restaurant.
Ayam Penyet President located at #B1-27

Smashed Fried Chicken (Ayam Penyet) - $6.80

The restaurant name kind of gave away what they do best. AYAM PENYET! Fragrant, crispy fried chicken, cooked and served smashed to allow diners to eat easily with fork and spoon with no mess of possibly flying bits of chicken. 

What makes a good ayam penyet definitely has to be its chili sauce, and Ayam Penyet President definitely has them right. Just a small dab brings on a fragrant, fiery burn to my tongue that's totally shiok

 Grilled Chicken (Ayam Bakar) - $6.80

 Crispy Dancing Fish (Ikan Joget) - $9.90

 Ikan Pesmol (Fish in Sundanese Gravy) - $12.90

Es Campur, $4.20 and Es Teler, $4

And then, we packed up our bags (and cameras) and headed to our next stop for the day.

Shin-Sapporo Ramen located at #B1-10/11
(For full review, click HERE)

Abura Soba - $14.90

I've visited Shin-Sapporo once when they were newly opened and found their ramen pretty decent. This time round, I was pleasantly surprised to be introduced to their latest noodle creation, a dry ramen, tossed in delicious seasoned oil and served with tender braised charsiu, menma (bamboo shoots) and an onsen egg. 
The noodle, though slightly on the salty side, has an amazing sesame oil fragrance along with a yummy peppery kick to it. I'm not really receptive to the idea of a dry ramen, but this Abura Soba has truly won my heart stomach over. 

And I know I've said I'm only going to touch on my favourite dish (which technically means only 1) from every stopping point, but... major cheating here because I really cannot resist this!

Chocolate Lava Cake - $8.80

I know it's weird having a chocolate lava cake at a ramen-ya, especially one with a rather pricey price tag, but this lava cake is worth every cent of your $8.80! The cake is soft, moist and with an extremely lava centre, oozing molten decadent chocolate. It's so good that we polished every bit off the plate even though we're already feeling the burden of a carbohydrate-overload on our 2nd stopping point with 5 more to go. 

 Chuka Tofu - $4.80

 Haru Salad - $4.80

 Hiyashi Chuka Soba - $13.80

Wakayama Tonkotsu-Shoyu Ramen - $14.80

And with a full tummy (already!), we headed (literally) next door for our 3rd stop of the day.

Sakae Sushi, located at #B1-02/03.

Hiroshima Oyster Shooters - $14.99/half dozen or $27.99/dozen

I can't say that this is my favourite dish over at Sakae for the day, but this definitely gave a lasting impression because it's my virgin oyster-taste experience!
Served in shooter glasses with a generous dash of spicy sauce, this will be a good choice for fresh oyster lovers out there who enjoy a spicy kick in their food. 

 Salmon Zukushi - $26.99

Sakae Don - $14.99

After having a sashimi feast, we headed over to my most anticipated stopping point for the day.

Chicken Up, located at #01-44/47.
(For full review, click HERE)

Topokki with Cheese and Seafood - $20

Well known for their KFC (Korean Fried Chicken), we were not served any (probably why my favourite dish is not a fried chicken) and was introduced to a dish I've given up on trying at Korean restaurants - Toppoki! 
And I can tell you, this $20 is definitely every penny worth spending! Unlike the 'conventional' topokki that has thicker gravy, Chicken Up does theirs more soupy, and added in tons of seafood, korean vermicelli, and topped up the goodness with grated cheese. 

 Bulgogi Fries - $18

 Watermelon Bingsu - $18

Macaron Ice Cream - $6 each

After a satisfying time at Chicken Up, we headed back indoors for some (more) icy desserts.

Marble Slab Creamery, located at #01-12/13

Chocolate Lava Cake with Maccha Ice Cream - $10.90

After trying a couple of their ice cream flavours, I have to say they really do their Matcha flavour right. Slightly sweet, with a strong green tea flavour and just a teeny weeny bit of the distinctive bitter tea taste, this definitely is the best Matcha ice cream I've ever eaten by far. 

 Durian Lava Cake with Salted Caramel Ice Cream - $10.90

Country Waffle with Thai Iced Tea & Caramel Macchiato Ice Creams - $13.80

Already entering food coma stage, we trudged up to level four for our 6th stop for the day, and we were really blown away by the awesomeness of what they've got to introduce to us on this food trail.

Penang Culture, located at #04-11/12
(For full review, click HERE)


Premium Crab Meat & Salted Egg Fried Kway Tiao - $14.99

If I have to choose just one favourite, I guess I have to go with this Fried Kway Tiao just because of the salted egg food trend going on now. Otherwise, I'll have a handful of favourites from Penang Culture! 
Yummy, savoury fried kway tiao tossed with generous serving of seafood and crispy fried salted egg bits. This is so goooood!

 Penang Lor Bak - $7.95

 Bronze BBQ Platter - $18.90

Penang Assam Laksa - $7.95


 Penang Hokkien Prawn Noodles - $8.95

 Black Pepper Mantis Prawns - $10.95

Rambutan Juice - $4.95

Coconut Milkshake - $6.95

And finally, we made our way down to our final stopping point for the day.

Soup Restaurant located at #B1-01/12/13.

Samsui Ginger Chicken - $16.90 / $32.90
Their most popular and famous dish, ever. You hardly see any dining patrons without this dish sitting on their table.
Chilled flavourful steamed chicken served with their special garlic sauce and a plate of fresh cabbage, this cold dish is truly addictive, mainly for their garlic sauce.

I'm hardly a fan of garlic, but this is so good! Fragrant and savoury, it's a must add (go little by little if you really dislike garlic) while having this chicken. Do not ever skip this sauce because you'll be missing out A LOT.

 Claypot Salmon - $15.80

 Earthen Bowl Tofu - $7.50

 Ah Kon Fan Shu Leaves (Spicy) - $8.90

Double Boiled Shimeji Mushroom with Chicken Soup - $8.90

With our more than just satisfied, bursting tummies and bags of dabao leftovers, we finally completed our food trail and called it a day.

Feel bored on a weekend and have no idea what to do? How about gathering some kakis and organise your own food trail at Century Square to challenge your tummies? 

Till then,
Mia Foo

19 comments:

  1. Everything looks delicious! And you had all of them in one day? I'd be so full even if I would only have a bite of each. The desserts are to die for and that choco lava cake is screaming my name!

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  2. It seems like there's a ton of restaurants at Tampines Century Square. There's just so much food, lol. It totally lived up to the 'food trail' claim. You must have been super full, with a happy tummy of course. What time did you guys start on the food trail?

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  3. That's a lot of food variety for one location! The macaroon ice cream looks really yummy; very ideal for a hot weather! Is the place usually that quiet and not so busy? :)

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  4. I have been century square many a times but hardly tried any of these restaurants. Would love to be part of these bloggers treat meet.

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  5. It's been ages since I visited Century Square last. Ever since I moved to the central area of Singapore, I haven't set foot in Tampines for the longest time! After your sharing, I would love to come visit CS and explore the eateries you have featured here.

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  6. Now that is a food comma day for you! The dancing fried fiah we called it here in Manila "crispy fried Tilapia"

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  7. Just two people with all that food! The rambutan juice makes me curious because I like the fruit. That $20 chicken sounds so expensive to eat alone. Haha!

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  8. everything looks so delicious! i want everything but I'm crying behind my screen just staring at these

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  9. I am at Tampines Mall at least once a month for my facial, and never really bother checking out the dining joints. Thanks for the post - now I know better than to drive off immediately!

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  10. wow the deserts look so yummy especially the lava cake. such a tempting post.

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  11. They do have a lot of good food at Toampines Century Square. I'd like to try the ice cream dessert.

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  12. So many yummy foodies to chose from. I like to try that Ayam penyet and the claypot salmon plus the coconut milkshake.

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  13. Wow you all can really eat, tasted so many food outlets. The Topokki with Cheese and Seafood is something that I miss so much.

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  14. Why didn't they let two of you join the other bloggers?.. That's really alot of food in a day! No wonder the next day u don't feel well la...

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    1. if we going the tampines one group, then there's nobody at century square already. they shouldn't allow the CS group to jump over to T1 la, imo.

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  15. Did you have food coma after the whole day? With the amount of the food I see, it looks like 2 days worth of food!

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    1. not just food coma, I LS the whole of next day lor. T.T

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  16. The crispy dancing fish caught my attention. Yum!

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  17. Love these kind of food with gusto. The grilled chicken is too good for me.

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