East Coast foodie

Home of the original laksa. Even Martha Stewart has featured laksa (a spicy noodle dish) on her cooking show. For the authentic article, head to 328 East Coast Road.

(Tip to visitor: You might want to take a detour to the lane, Ceylon Rd, right beside the laksa coffeeshop to see a South Indian style temple, the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple, built in the mid-19th century by the Ceylonese Tamils from Sri Lanka and the second oldest Hindu Temple in Singapore. Its gateway is dominated by a 21 metre five tier structure and its roof topped by a dragon and images of deities.)

Another authentic tradition, Kim Choo's nonya dumplings.

Charming Peranakan tiles leading to the second floor dining space at Kim Choo Restaurant (109 East Coast Rd). This is a good place for visitors to head to for a taste of Straits Chinese cuisine. We ate there last weekend and had a really appetising meal - ikan pedas (assam fish), ngoh hiang (meat spring roll), chap chye (assorted cabbage and vegetables), ayam buah keluak (chicken spiced curry with black nut), prawn fritters (really good), and had chendol as dessert/drink. You can get iced water too for 30 cents.

Red House bakery, a traditional confectionery with the trademark red facade, is boarded up. I wonder what's going to reemerge here.

Established in 1925 at 75 East Coast Road, deemed unsafe and closed in 2003. A Jewish man, Jim Baker, started the bakery shop and a Hainanese seaman, Tan Siang Fuan, took over the operations in 1931. The building is owned by the Alsogoff family, put in trust to the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore.

The vintage bakery served traditional cakes and pastries of the East, like spicy dried shrimp bun, creamy custard puffs and swiss rolls, and was a hangout for local bands in the 1960s.


That's my World

Indian feast

The good thing about Singapore's cultural diversity is that we get to pamper our tastebuds with different cuisines. We had an Indian buffet with our friends, Uma and Eric yesterday evening at their lovely condo up in Bukit Timah. There's the dried sambal version of mutton (left) and the centrepiece, the butter chicken, with briyani (saffron rice) with mutton chunks in it, and two versions of naan, garlic or fruit (cherry bits), and papadoom (the Indian crackers), set up buffet style on their long kitchen counter.
Here you see the food heaped onto my plate. My first bite of the butter chicken with naan was pure ambrosia. Above the butter chicken curry is a brinjal concoction. So there you have it, an Indian feast. Drool!

For more yummy sunday posts, go here.