24 Dec 2011 - Chongqing Grilled Fish

She was nagging about going to Chongqing Grilled Fish, about how good the fish was, and how much she wanted him to try it. Felt more like it was her who wanted to eat it again.

Ordered a mid-sized "mala" (spicy and numbing) "golden" grouper $28++, one serving of kelp $2.80++, a bowl of rice $0.80++ and 2x iced water, $0.40++ each. Grand total of $38.10.

The grilled fish was served in a shallow pan of mala soup and beneath the pan was some burning pieces of charcoal to keep the soup bubbling. You could still see some charring, and that probably provided the meat with the marvellous BBQ smell. Grilled fish in soup, huh? He usually has fried fish, or steamed fish with some dressing or gravy. The soup managed to diffuse flavour to every bit of the fish, it was some tasty grilled fish indeed. Now he feels like buying some mala soup base for "yong tau foo"... Maybe this could be done at the next class gathering too.


Hopped to Ji De Chi across the street, and had some dessert. Durian Sago and Bean Curd as per last week, and a bowl of cold Sesame "Smoothie". $9...

17 Dec 2011 - Xian De Lai Shanghai Cuisine and Ji De Chi

Was supposed to have dinner at Chong Qing Grilled Fish, but he got distracted upon noticing "free-flow crabs" advertised by Xian De Lai (XDL) Shanghai Cuisine. No prizes for guessing where he went for dinner.

XDL offered steamboat (hotpot) ala carte buffet. Each serving was a small portion, help you reserve enough space to have a bit of everything. $19.90++ per person, $5++ surcharge for the soup base.


Some items were quite good. Scallops were sweet and did not have traces of sand, and meats were well marinated, tasted good even after cooking in the soup. Crabs came in halves. They were small but well cleaned and really sweet. Vegetables came wilted and protruding out of the plate, touching the tray and table. Very unappealing.


Did not like the service much though. Had wanted to sit inside, but the waitress lied that there were no more seats. She then joyfully proceeded to usher the people who arrived after them to levels 2 and 3. While taking his orders, she skipped away to pull customers into the shop, very rude. Orders never arrived in full, reminders were like you speaking to thin air. The only reprieve was one polite lad, who would top up their soup and drinks, and also repond to thank yous.

She claimed to be on diet, but prodded him to move up several shophouses to Ji De Chi (JDC).

Durian Sago, $6. Rich, fattening stuff for her.


Beancurd came free, Christmas promo of Durian Sago and Beancurd. Smooth and had a nice smokey flavor. Made him regret ordering his Mango Sago.


Mango Sago, $4. The pomelo bits balanced out the sweetness of the mango puree. But he was already too full to enjoy this...


All in.