I am not sure about you but I am one keen follower of Chubby Hubby. I love his down to earth-ness and diverse style, covering both the uber high end dining bits as well as the round the corner local joints. He is taking a bit of a hiatus from blogging to revamp his site but I am still fervently following him on twitter which has led me to the discovery of a new Penang food joint. Reviewed by Chubby Hubby himself to be ‘yum’, I knew I absolutely had to check out the place and see how it stacks up against Keu and of course the good old Penang Hawker Fare.

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It never fails to amaze me how connected we have become. Thanks to the wonders of social networking and e-writing, we literally have information at our fingertips, enabling us to dine at the newest restaurants just days since its opening.  While there is definite excitement being one of the first diners at a new joint, the eating experience over the past weekend reminded me that there is that same amount of excitement in discovering a new eating place the old school way – on foot…well almost! Keu Penang Food was spotted by eagle-eyed G on one of his train rides into the city. All he remembers is sighting a bright sign shouting Penang assam laksa near the Aljunied station so we went exploring Geylang last Sunday in search of the shop, half expecting not being able to find out or discovering it to be closed. Contrary to my gut feel, we not only found the place but also discovered that Keu was actually the busiest outlet of the block, with diners literally spilling out onto the five foot way.

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I know it’s been quite an avalanche of posts about food from abroad, so I thought it’d be nice to attune eatgazelove back to the food treasures in sunny Singapore with what I call a bridging post, featuring a recent discovery of foreign flavors being whipped up in a local kitchen and cafe. Apparently this joint isn’t new at all to the local scene, with its first outlet wowing the residents around Coronation for the past five or six years. I have always made the mental note to give Penang Kitchen a try every time we pass by to scratch a Thai itch at Thai Noodle House, but I somehow never really got hit too hard with a craving for Penang food. Now though, I most definitely get the more frequent craving for the tangy laksa so having Penang Kitchen in the East will make satisfying that craving so much easier.

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Named as one of Anthony Bourdain’s best places to eat in the world, Sin Huat has definitely earned the culinary pat on the back that many can only dream of. Okay, I admit that Sin Huat really isn’t what you would call a restaurant, but I guess in this part of the world, a corner coffeeshop does qualify. Sin Huat really didn’t need Anthony Bourdain’s vote of confidence to be put on the map. Most Singaporeans know of Sin Huat and often refer to it as the crab nazi joint, as while it is recognized that the food is quite outstanding, the chef and owner is one character like none other. With quite an opinionated and very impatient chef helming Sin Huat, I was quite surprised that Pak Law managed to not only get the famous crab vermicelli under an hour but takeway as well!

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I was first introduced to Lian He Ben Ji’s claypot rice about five to six years back. Back then, I was quite ignorant about claypot rice and didn’t have much in terms of a frame of reference. While I definitely enjoyed the rice, it wasn’t the case where Lian He Ben Ji would be the first thing that would come to mind when one asks me where to go for good local food. Five years on, I have grown to truly appreciate the earnest cooking of Lian He Ben Ji and would without hesitation, recommend it as a must hit spot for locals and visitors alike.

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The steamed chive dumpling – better known to most locals here as gu chai kway, is a teochew dumpling made very simply out of a flour based dumpling wrapper and fresh garlic chives. As simple as the dumpling sounds to make, it is actually quite hard to find places here in Singapore that make them, much less make them well. I can’t say that I am much of a connoisseur of such traditional delights, but I do know a fresh chive dumpling when I taste one and I most definitely have had some really fabulous dumplings from Fatt Soon Kway that I have to shout about here on eat.gaze.love.

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The black pepper crab. One of the two most popular ways to enjoy crabs here in sunny Singapore…and in my book, the underdog and often overlooked version. Maybe because it is quite hard to get right, as the optimum balance of pepper and salt, butter and garlic is one that is quite finicky to nail, hence making it hard for people to really find a place that serves it just the way they like it. I am glad that I have not one but actually two places I rely on for some black spice-crusted crustacean – one is the famous crab nazi joint at the junction of still road and joo chiat road, and the other is good old Sin Hoi Sai. Its been ages since I’ve eaten at either so I was a crossing my fingers last sunday evening that the crabs at Sin Hoi Sai would still be as rocking as I remembered growing up…and as it turned out, they were quite amazingly spot on!

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It never fails to amaze me how G and I can never find a teochew porridge joint whenever we are in the mood for some hot rice soup. Despite knowing of two pretty good joints in Joo Chiat, we somehow always end up driving around Geylang, trying to locate the illusive porridge place that we both think is hiding somewhere in the maze of Geylang. The recent experience started out the same way with G heading towards Geylang, and me pouring over the makansutra trying to see if we could finally find the right destination. It took us just one stop this time around before finally stumbling upon ‘the’ teochew porridge corner coffeeshop!

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Geylang is one place I associate with as being the home of some of Singapore’s best hawker food. There is the fab beef kway teow at Lorong 9, now world famous crab bee hoon at Sin Huat (thanks to Anthony Bourdain’s rave), classic soya bean milk and you tiao at Lorong 17 and of course, Lorong 33′s Geylang Claypot Rice. To be honest, I don’t really remember the last time I was physically at Lorong 33 waiting on claypot rice as I have been thoroughly spoiled by Pak Law who makes the necessary arrangements ahead of time and even does the pick up run so that we enjoy the claypot rice in the comforts of home. The takeaway version has always been good, with the rice staying moist, augmented and thoroughly infused by the flavors of the sweet chinese sausages and tender chicken, not forgetting of course, slivers of salted fish interspersed throughout the rice. But with all takeaways, there is really only so much you can pack home as some dishes don’t travel as well, so as part of Pak Law’s plan to head out and explore the cze char world in Singapore, dinner last night was  somewhat special as we actually headed out to get a spot front and center at Geylang Claypot Rice’s corner coffee shop.

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