Go north: 20 eating places to check out

Truly horrendous meals are hard to find in Singapore. Mediocre food? Sure. Indifferent food? Of course. But the island has a well-deserved reputation for being a place where good food can be found pretty much everywhere.

In this new series, The Straits Times Food Team fanned out across the island to curate lists of places worth visiting in each part of Singapore - north, south, east, west and central.

The idea is not to tell people living in each region about the gems in their 'hood. Rather, it is to give a list of possibilities for people living in other parts of Singapore, who might find themselves in these areas or be willing to travel for food, since travel overseas is difficult in pandemic times.

I am starting off the series exploring the north of Singapore - Admiralty, Kranji, Woodlands, Sembawang, Yishun, Yio Chu Kang, Seletar and Sengkang.

Because there are only 20 on the list, the curation has to be tight.

The places that made my list are those I can recommend without hesitation or hedging. It helps that I do not live in the north. When it came time to nail down the 20 places, I picked the ones I'd go back to in a heartbeat.

You might wonder about the dearth of "new" places.

I had a list of those to visit but found, to my horror, that many of them had closed. That, to me, is a sign that the appetite for fried porridge is more fierce than for, say, chicken and waffles.

The owner of one new cafe I had wanted to include told me he was closing in a month, when I called for more information.

There is no point coming up with a list that becomes outdated in a month or two.

The other new places I went to turned out competent food. But would I go to Sengkang, Woodlands or Yio Chu Kang to eat at those places? No. No matter how Instagrammable the burgers, waffles or pasta are.

Eating for work sounds like a dream job and, for most people, it probably is.

The draw, for me at least, is the possibility of finding a gem somewhere or of tucking into something soulful and satisfying.

In the north, I discovered a terrific fish soup, although the seafood was not the highlight; a wickedly good dessert I want to have every day, but cannot because my doctors will be up in arms; a coffee-shop stall which fries unthinkable things; and a cool and quirky cafe that was the last place I had expected to find terrific nasi ambeng.

After a great briyani meal in Sembawang, I drove down the street, saw a sign for a cafe and decided to stop and check it out. It turned out to be a ghost kitchen sort of set-up. Bummed out and on the way back to the carpark, I passed another briyani restaurant and had to go in. And there, I found Paradise. You will see what I mean.

And, yes, I had two briyani meals back to back. Anything for you, dear reader.

The chill vibe of the Seletar area is so seductive, I feel my blood pressure going down as I exit the expressway. I cannot think of anything better than morning coffee outdoors at a quirky cafe on the premises of an aviation company.

Come explore the north with me - you will not regret it.

Good time to use those Community Development Council vouchers, don't you think?

Sengkang

Armenian Street Char Kway Teow

Where: Anchorvale 303 Foodcourt, Block 303 Anchorvale Link
Open: 11.30am to 7pm (Fridays to Wednesdays), closed on Thursdays

Those of you who wax lyrical about the old, original Armenian Street Char Kway Teow, wow. I am in awe of your taste memory. That char kway teow must surely be your madeleine, your ratatouille.

My taste memory does not stretch that far, although I remember eating at that coffee shop on the corner of Armenian and Loke Yew streets after visits to the old National Library. A few years ago, when I heard that the Tan family had opened a stall in Sengkang, I made a beeline there.

Then and now, because I cannot claim to remember exactly how the original char kway teow tasted, I have to evaluate it like I would any dish - on its own merits.

And this char kway teow (from $3) ticks many boxes for me.

It is more savoury than sweet - always a good thing in my book. It has the requisite wok hei, so important for many dishes but for char kway teow especially, because I love the flavour of expertly charred soya sauce lacquered on the rice noodles. Cockles are essential and the stall does not overcook them. I get extra hum for $1 to add to my $4 plate.

Hidden among the noodles are lardons, cubes of pork fat. The golden nuggets are mostly crisp, with just a little bit of softness in the areas that come into contact with the wettish noodles.

I wonder if they will add cockle juice to the wok if I ask next time. And if I want it a little less wet.

Yes, there will be a next time. I do not find it strange to go to Sengkang for char kway teow, especially for such a good version. My other go-tos are at Havelock Road and Zion Riverside Food Centre.

Both are easier to get to. But I doubt very much that while queuing, I will get to see the chef, his hands hidden behind a tiled low wall, in frying ecstasy. Seriously. He looks like he is playing air guitar, lost in what many will think is a mundane task.

Mundane for others, pull factor for me.

Yue Lan Ting Fishball Minced Pork Noodle

Where: Anchorvale 303 Foodcourt, Block 303 Anchorvale Link
Open: 5am to 1.30pm (closed twice a month, no fixed days)

Two stalls in this Sengkang coffee shop draw queues. This stall has a longer queue than the char kway teow one and, of course, I have to join it.

When I tuck into my mee kia dry ($3.30), I understand why people wait in line. So much skill has gone into making this bowl.

First, the noodles are just under-done and delightfully chewy. As I progress and the noodles sit longer in the bowl, they soften. If they had not been undercooked, they would have turned mushy by the time I am halfway through.

Second, the seasonings are punchy - full of oomph and just spicy enough for me. I would like more vinegar, but this is easily fixed next time.

Third, the slices of pig liver, although not cut as thickly as I would like, are perfectly cooked. Which is to say the slices are pink in the middle.

I spring for three fishballs at $1 to add to my bowl and they have quite a bounce. They are not of the handmade variety, but then I don't expect the earth for $1.

Yishun

928 Yishun Laksa

Where: 01-155, 928 Yishun Central 1
Open: 7am to 7pm (Mondays to Saturdays), closed on Sundays

Looking at the state of laksa in Singapore, I can only conclude that the Health Promotion Board is staffed with overachievers. They have done their jobs so well that food people think of as rich and indulgent have become light and politically correct.

Very little coconut milk, no oil floating on top of the bowl. Some places don't even offer cockles. These are unacceptable crimes against laksa.

I don't eat it often, maybe twice a year, if that. But when I do, I want unabashed richness. Because that kind of laksa is hard to find, I have gone entire years not eating it. Then recently, I hit paydirt and find two places - George's Katong Laksa in Changi Road and 928 Yishun Laksa.

It is a rainy morning when I rock up to Yishun Central. Despite the weather, there are people doing takeaways at 928, and all but one of the tables is occupied. The bowls cost $3 and $3.50 and I get the larger one with an extra dollar's worth of cockles.

The gravy is lemak but not crazy rich - that is a fine balance to strike. My belly, very moody in the morning, is thankful. Better yet, the laksa rempah has oomph, with plenty of dried prawn flavour. I stir in the generous dollop of sambal gleefully. It can only make the dish richer, right?

Small cockles overcook in a heartbeat, but these are still juicy. A friend reminds me of the olde days, where cockles were much larger. These days, we are grateful for any cockles, small or large.

The New York Times predicted, in a piece about American food trends in 2022, that laksa is poised to "rise in prominence" in the United States. I shudder at the thought, remembering the horrors visited on laksa when it became hot in Australia, oh, about a decade ago. Red capsicum? Really?

So it is very good to know that there are laksa shops in Singapore that are still showing the proper way to make the dish. In case the Americans want to take notes.

They should. Look at what that newspaper did to chicken curry.

Coba Coba

Where: 156 Yishun Street 11, tel: 6382-2622
Open: 7am to 8.15pm (Wednesdays to Mondays), closed on Tuesdays

First things first. Say "choba choba". Which means "try try" in Indonesian.

Second thing. This halal shop in Yishun looks like a hipster cafe and you might wonder if the food is all that.

It is.

Instead of dipping my toes in and maybe ordering nasi padang and nasi lemak, I skip all of that and home in on the Nasi Ambeng ($23.90 for a two-person serving), that Javanese communal and celebratory dish of rice, meat and vegetables laid out on a large platter.

One taste of the bean sprout urap or salad, and I am transported to Bali. The cekur, also called sand ginger, always transports me to that island. And in quick succession, I note the pungent Chinese celery leaves in the bergedil, the bright and piquant sambal terung and telur belado, and the mellow richness of the ayam kalio.

There is more - beef rendang that is not dried out or stringy; sambal goreng with big cubes of tempeh and green beans that are still snappy; and pieces of paru, or beef lung, crisp in parts, spongy in others.

Every element is cooked with care. The spicing and heat levels are on point. Not everything is atomically spicy and nothing is dull or bland.

Owner Timothy Yun, 35, who went to university in Sydney, has Indonesian friends and used to frequent an Indonesian restaurant near where he lived, whenever he needed a comfort food fix. When he came home and decided that being a chemical engineer was not for him, he opened Coba Coba, modelled on the kind of restaurants he enjoyed seeking out in Australia. "I always looked for places that are cheap and good," he says.

He is hands-on in the kitchen, toggling between the Yishun shop and Coba Coba Kedai Kopi in the Jalan Besar area. He had worked in restaurants in Sydney, and instead of just hiring chefs, he learns their recipes so he can cook them himself. And he trains all the new recruits too.

"Chefs come and go, but I'm a constant here," he says. "So I learn all the recipes first and pass them on to chefs we hire subsequently. Consistency is the most important thing. So whenever I introduce a new recipe, everybody learns it."

He has no qualms teaching his crew, figuring that running a food business is much more than knowing a clutch of recipes.

The care he takes with his food shines through on the plate at his all-day restaurant.

"I have customers who come three times a day - breakfast, lunch and dinner."

Lit Lit Sin Dessert

Where: 01-157, 928 Yishun Central 1
Open: 9am to 6.30pm (Wednesdays to Mondays), closed on Tuesdays

All this gleeful stirring of sambal into laksa gravy thrills my taste buds, but then after slurping up a lot of laksa gravy at 928 Yishun Laksa, my forehead reminds me I am a chilli coward. Beads of sweat pop up on my brow.

After I am done, I head next door to Lit Lit Sin Dessert, another no-frills, unpretentious neighbourhood place. Like the laksa shop, you order, eat and go. Patrons are reminded, via signs on the table tops, that they have "30 mins grace". Also, "Laksa not allow".

It does not take long to inhale my Peanut Ice Kachang ($2.50). For the price, I get a very generous shower of crushed peanuts over a shaved ice mountain, with jelly, corn kernels, atap chee and large red beans that are perfectly tender - such a lovely change from the small, mushy red beans that some stalls use.

Gingko Nut With Barley ($1.80/$2) - I don't know why they automatically assume I want the $2 bowl - is way too sweet for me.

Stick to the ice kacang, I say. A brain freeze after laksa is not a bad thing.

Nosignboard Sheng Jian

Where: 01-137 Northpoint City, 1 Northpoint Drive, tel: 6665-9959
Open: 10am to 9.30pm daily

In this northern odyssey, I try very hard to avoid mall and chain restaurants, but a couple slip through. This sheng jian bao restaurant by No Signboard Holdings is one of them.

A colleague had said it was worth visiting and I make my way to sprawling Northpoint City, quite literally city-like in scale.

For the uninitiated, sheng jian bao are made with yeast-leavened dough - like char siew bao - but they are cooked like gyoza, pan-fried until crisp at the bottom and steamed on top.

Despite my colleague's endorsement, I temper my expectations. The restaurant is in a mall, for goodness' sake. But I seem to always be eating my words and I do so here.

I will say this - I will be darkening these doors often. I go to two Shanghai restaurants for sheng jian bao in Singapore and neither of them serve bao that are better.

The restaurant has a very impersonal vibe. You order and pay at a counter. Take a seat. Keep eyes on an electronic screen for when your number flashes on it. Go to the collection counter to get your food. Rinse and repeat, schlepp up and down, if you have ordered many items. The people at the table next to me take turns to collect their food.

Ambience? Nada. Zip. Zero. But who cares, when the food is good?

Oh. A word of warning before you chow down: Tuck a napkin down the front of your shirt and try not to wear white.

Why? The sheng jian bao are crazy juicy - I have chilli crab stains on my white dress to prove it. They are not kidding about the "popping juices" part.

I order a sampler, Tricolor Sheng Jian Bao ($10.80 for six), with two each of the Signature, Chilli Crab and Vegan bao. The chilli crab sauce packs a punch and the bao is mad juicy. What lets it down is the frozen crabmeat, which is mushy. But honestly, it would be crazy to expect hand-picked, lump crabmeat.

The signature bao is excellent - juices flow copiously out of it and it has a very crispy bottom. What thrills me is the contrast in textures - that crunchy bottom and soft top.

Even the vegan version, filled with chopped greens and shredded carrot, is good, but not as juicy as the other two.

Pan-fried Juicy Guotie Dumpling ($5.50 for three) is just as juicy - how much jellied stock do they stuff inside the dumplings? But I prefer the bao for the bigger contrast in textures.

Another dish worth ordering is Sliced Pork With Garlic In Spicy Sauce ($7.80). What the menu does not say, in English at least, is that the slices of pork sit on a bed of fen pi, translucent noodles that are off-the-charts QQ. The garlicky pork, sliced thin but not dried out, and the springy noodles are almost perfect. I just need more black vinegar.

Old World Bak Kut Teh Fried Porridge

Where: 01-380, 732 Yishun Avenue 5
Open: 10am to 2.30pm, 5 to 8pm (Tuesdays to Fridays), 8.30am to 2.30pm, 5 to 8.30pm (Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays), closed on Mondays

This stall in a coffee shop specialises in frying unfryable things.

Mee sua is one of them. This sort of rice vermicelli is usually served in soup. The strands stick together, you see, and to fry them like you would beehoon or kway teow, you will need a ton of oil to stop the noodles from clumping up.

Porridge is another. How in tarnation does Old World Bak Kut Teh do it? Fry a semi-liquid thing?

Its Mixed Pig Organ Fried Porridge ($6) is, hands down, the best thing I ate for this feature.

The dish looks seriously ugly. A bowl of brown sludge. But I am smitten from the first spoonful. The porridge is deeply infused with wok hei and that smokiness is intoxicating. It smells and tastes like how fried hor fun should, but never does because proper, no-holds-barred wok hei is so elusive.

I am happy to just slurp up fried porridge, but am glad there is a generous amount of impeccably cleaned large pig intestines and pig stomach in the bowl. The slices of lean pork and pig liver are less compelling - both are overcooked.

The owner, Mr Jemmy Yeo, who opened Old World in 2019, says he got the idea from Penang, where hawkers fry white porridge and add seasonings to it. His version is different. The base is Hokkien kiam buay - savoury, Hokkien-style porridge - which he then fries in an atomically hot wok. The ones he uses are smaller and lighter than zi char woks - his measure about 30cm in diameter. He can achieve wok hei in a far shorter time in these smaller woks, he says.

His Bak Kut Teh ($7) is generously sized, with four meaty ribs. I like that it is not too peppery, but the soup is under-salted. This is easily fixed, however.

To have with the bak kut teh, I get Dry Fried Mee Sua ($1), another dish worth ordering. The vermicelli is beautifully springy, not weighed down with oil. The flavour of shallot oil infuses each strand and there are lard cubes buried among the noodles.

I have not recovered from the crazy eating I did for this feature, but once I do, I will be back for fried porridge and fried mee sua.

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Woodlands

Ah Ma Mee Sua

Where: 02-21 Kampung Admiralty Hawker Centre, 676 Woodlands Drive 71
Open: 8am to 3pm, 4.30 to 9pm (Mondays to Saturdays), closed on Sundays

To call this place a hawker centre would be to undersell it. Kampung Admiralty Hawker Centre is bright and spacious, and some care has been taken in the choice of tables and chairs, and in the sign designs for each stall. This place is like a foodcourt without air-conditioning, with plenty of good food.

Ah Ma Mee Sua is a standout here. I am not a fan of mee sua because the rice vermicelli is way too starchy, so I opt for Ah Ma Tau Chiam ($4.50). Tau chiam noodles are made with soya beans and wheat. The ones at Ah Ma are very thin, about the width of mee pok. They are cooked perfectly - silky, slippery and pleasantly chewy.

The broth is light but flavourful and, truth be told, it could do with a little more salt. But soon, I am distracted by the two good-sized pork balls, juicy and not too densely packed. There is also a whole dried-then-rehydrated shiitake mushroom, with a bizarre scissor snip down the centre that does not cut through the whole thing. Is that to make the mushroom easier to eat? It is delicious, having soaked up lots of broth. I am also impressed by the slices of pig liver - cut fairly thick and not overcooked.

So often, I struggle to find something healthy to eat in a hawker centre. I cannot always settle for fish soup, yong tau foo and steamed egg from the economic rice stalls.

Although temptations lurk everywhere in Kampung Admiralty, I know I can have a bowl of clear soup and noodles, and then splurge on kueh lopes drenched in gula melaka for dessert.

Beef King By Yassin Kampung

Where: 01-44 Marsiling Mall, 4 Woodlands Street 12
Open: 9.30am to 9pm (Thursdays to Tuesdays), closed on Wednesdays

Do you like your beef noodles dry or in soup? I like mine dry, but detest gluggy sauces. So when ordering from a new stall or shop, I just take the safe option and get the soup version.

For some reason, I opt for dry noodles at Beef King, a halal beef noodle stall in Marsiling Mall. And, boy, am I glad.

The Beef, Tendon & Tripe Noodle ($9) has a thickened sauce, but it is not at all gloopy. It has the right viscosity to coat the thin, stretchy kway teow underneath. Even better, the tripe is cleaned beautifully and delightfully springy. Chunks of gelatinous tendon go down easy. Sometimes, at beef noodle places, the meat is stringy. But the collagen in the pieces of what I think is beef shin keeps the generous chunks juicy.

I prefer these chunks of beef to sliced beef over-tenderised with baking soda, which is what some stalls offer.

There are two dipping sauces to go with the noodles. A rust-red one with the deep flavour of dried chillies and a bright red one that has tang in spades. The chunks of beef are great with the rust-red dip and the offal sings with the zingy one.

Pungent Chinese celery perfumes the noodles and soup, but does not mask the cinnamon and caramel notes in it. I could have a bowl every day.

Ivan's Carbina

Where: 01-01 Huo Shi Xuan Coffeeshop, 354A Woodlands Avenue 5
Open: 11am to 9.15pm (Tuesdays to Sundays)

Western food stalls in coffee shops and hawker centres tend to have cookie-cutter menus. Chicken chop. Thin pieces of steak with pepper sauce. Pasta. Wet coleslaw. So, it is worth going to Woodlands for made-from-scratch rosti - fried shredded potatoes.

At Ivan's Carbina, a stall in a coffee shop located in a multi-storey carpark, you will see large bowls of boiled and peeled potatoes and baskets of raw Russets waiting to be turned into rosti.

I think about the work that goes into it. Peeling, boiling and shredding the spuds cannot possibly be fun.

Now, I will say that if you are expecting Swiss-style rosti, uniformly crunchy and golden brown, look elsewhere. The rosti here is fried fairly hard, so some parts are browned, some parts charred, some parts soft. It is this mix of textures that I like. Besides, to achieve crunchiness throughout, they would need to fry it with insane amounts of oil. I am not up for that.

Owner Ivan Lee opened the stall in 2009, after working for seven years at Marche in The Heeren, where he made rosti. He says he uses about 20kg of spuds a day and more than 60 per cent of his customers order rosti. He fries each one to order in small pans. He even makes his own sour cream, adding lemon juice to whipping cream to sour it.

That citrus tang, missing in commercial sour cream, cuts through the richness of the potatoes, fried egg, mushroom gravy and the protein.

The Snail Pork Sausage Roesti ($10.20) comes with a 150g coil of sausage, a fried egg, a blob of sour cream and mushroom gravy. It is hearty and delicious, especially when you manage to get all these elements together in a forkful. Open wide.

For smaller appetites, get the Cheese Sausage Roesti ($8.50), with snappy skin and a tunnel of cheese running through it.

Cheesy Chicken Cutlet Roesti ($10.80) is almost perfect. The large boneless chicken thigh emerges from the fryer with a crunchy armour and spurts juices when I cut it with a knife. My quibble is that it is undersalted, and although the staffer tells me the chicken had been marinated, I don't taste it. So, I am glad I said yes to the "cheese and mayo?" question when ordering. The exuberant squiggles of liquid cheese and mayonnaise make up for the underseasoned chicken.

Warong Lorong Fatimah

Where: 02-37 Kampung Admiralty Hawker Centre, 676 Woodlands Drive 71
Open: 7am to 7pm (Sundays to Fridays), 7am to 1pm (Saturdays)

When I take a bite of Warong Lorong Fatimah's Gado Gado ($3.50), I do a double take.

It has a very forward ginger flavour, which is totally unexpected and a good surprise. I say this because the peanut sauce looks pale and uninteresting and I am in despair before taking a bite.

Looks are not everything, it would seem.

This is a substantial dish for the price and it is available only on weekdays from 3pm.

There are many little touches I appreciate. The blanched cabbage is properly drained so it does not sit in a pool of water at the bottom of the plate. The potatoes are cooked right through to the centre. The green beans have a lot of snap. Best of all, the stall is generous with the tempeh. And scattered on top are crisp flower-shaped keropok.

So I don't mind that the sauce has been slopped on and it is impossible to take a pretty picture of the dish. File this under ugly delicious.

Wei Ji Braised Duck

Where: 280 Cafe, 280 Woodlands Industrial Park E5
Open: 6.30am to 1pm (Mondays to Saturdays), closed on Sundays

My job takes me places, so when told of a good braised duck stall in Woodlands Industrial Park, I make my way there. Anything for good food.

The stall is called Wei Ji Braised Duck, but the offerings I like best have nothing to do with duck.

Not that the braised duck is bad. It isn't - the sauce is infused with the flavour of warm spices. I detect cinnamon and star anise. And the Duck Rice Set ($3.50) is not shabby at all. There is a generous helping of meat, braised egg, tau pok and fish cake, and a tangy chilli dip which surprises me with a strong hit of heat.

But the stall's Braised Pork Rice ($3) is superb. Pieces of pork belly, braised in an aromatic soya-based sauce, are perfectly tender and the fat is springy. They go well with the sambal served alongside.

Even the rice is good. It has the "lup lup" quality - it is not mushy and you can see the individual grains ("lup") of rice.

It is a better accompaniment to braised pig offal than the wide sheets of rice noodles in soup, or Kway Chap ($3.50). The soup lacks depth, I feel. But the offal is well worth eating. Large pig intestines, pig skin, tau kwa, tau pok, half an egg and pieces of that pork belly are piled high on the plate. I would totally order a side of rice to go with these offally awesome goodies.

Yan Ji Seafood Soup

Where: 01-26 Marsiling Mall, 4 Woodlands Street 12
Open: 10.30am to 8.45pm (Tuesdays to Sundays), closed on Mondays

So I am looking at the lit signboard at Yan Ji Seafood Soup and marvelling at the chutzpah it takes to sell Premium Seafood Soup for $30 and $40 in a hawker centre. There are less pricey variations, of course, - Red Grouper Seafood Soup and Crayfish Seafood Soup from $13. In the end, I go for plain old Seafood Soup, at $7 or $9.

For $9, I get three shell-on prawns; slices of generic white fish, you know, some variation of catfish; and the best thing in the bowl, the stall's signature minced pork.

The prawns are firm and sweet, but you would expect that. The fish, well, it's nothing to write home about. But the minced pork is just utterly fabulous. It is mixed with a generous amount of toasted dried sole fish, which gives it a deep umami flavour.

Later, when I double back to the stall to thank them, I tell the uncle how much I love the pork. He tells me 1kg of dried sole goes into 20kg of minced pork. If you have ever bought good-quality dried sole, you will know it does not come cheap but adds a lot of flavour to everything.

The soup, made with pork, prawn and crayfish, is murky. It sounds like a bad thing, but is not. It is robust and very flavourful. The only problem is that it is very salty. But eat it with rice and all is forgiven.

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Sembawang

Paradise Biryani

Where: 01-07 Sembawang Cottage, 369 Sembawang Road, tel: 6314-6369
Open: 10.30am to 9.30pm (Tuesdays to Sundays), closed on Mondays

The facade of Paradise Biryani looks shiny, which makes me wary. A shiny facade can sometimes hide a dull interior. But I look at the posters on the outside and there is an intriguing photo of Bamboo Biryani.

The rice dish is cooked in a regular pot, but in this Kerala restaurant, it is then packed, with the meat, into a bamboo canister and steamed for about 10 minutes before it lands on the table.

One of the restaurant's co-owners, Mr Muhammed Manaf, says the canisters are imported from Kerala, where briyani is done this way in one village. There are four variations of the dish - chicken ($13.90) and mutton, beef or prawns ($15.90).

When the server pushes the rice out onto a plate, the smell of cardamom and cinnamon fills the air. It is heady. Then I take a spoonful of rice and swoon. Something happens to briyani when it is trapped in bamboo and steamed. Aromas are enhanced. Flavours are more vivid. It is similar to that je ne sais quoi flavour of food wrapped in opeh leaves.

I expect the small prawns to be overcooked, but they are not. And they are nestled among a tangle of onions, sweet from slow cooking. Even better is the mutton version I have on a subsequent visit, featuring aromatic, fall-apart meat.

By now, you should have cottoned on to how much I love offal. And when I want goat brain done right, I head to Bar.B.Q. Tonight in Little India.

Paradise does it just as well. My Brain Pepper Fry ($9.90) is heady from freshly ground black pepper, spices and fresh coriander leaves scattered over the top. The brain is not overcooked either and has a creamy texture.

I cannot resist Appam ($3 for two) and it comes with a canister of red jaggery sugar and a little jug of coconut milk. The fermented rice pancakes are great sprinkled with the sugar and dipped in coconut milk. But there are two in each order. So I take the other one, pack it full of brain, fold it over and inhale it.

Sembawang Traditional Claypot Rice

Where: 4 Jalan Tampang, tel: 6757-7144
Open: 11am to 10pm daily

What is the allure of claypot rice? People have been known to queue and wait hours to eat a good one. My friend's mother has been cooking pot after pot, amassing a collection of claypots to find the perfect one.

It takes skill to cook claypot rice. To get the farn chiew, or crunchy rice, on the bottom and sides of the pot. This part is crucial. Without the farn chiew, it is not really claypot rice.

At Sembawang Traditional Claypot Rice, where prices for the signature dish starts at $8.80, I scrape the crunchy rice off the bottom, pile bits of it into the bowl, and the contrast with the fluffy rice from the pot is beautiful. I don't even need the chicken - although the tender, bone-in thighs are well-marinated - the greens or the sliced Chinese sausage.

All I need is to find that generous piece of salted fish buried somewhere in the claypot. And break off bits of it to eat with the rice, which I have doctored with dark soya sauce.

Crunchy and fluffy. Salty and umami.

Keep your chicken and waffles, or whatever faddish food is in at the moment. I'd rather have claypot rice.

Shami Banana Leaf Delights

Where: 349 Sembawang Road, tel: 6754-3898
Open: 10.30am to 9.45pm daily

When friends with dependable palates rave about the Boneless Mutton Briyani ($9.50) at Shami Banana Leaf Delights, I go check it out.

The meat is excellent - a little saucy, wonderfully aromatic and tender. Coriander leaves on top give it a pop of freshness. It is perfect with the rice, shot through with raw cashews and very plump raisins. I do think the rice could be more aromatic, but I am always going to be eating it with the main protein or a side dish, so that, to me, is not a huge problem.

Some places cook vegetables to death, but not Shami. The cabbage I have with my mutton and rice retains its crunch. The Fish Cutlet ($2.80) I add to my meal is perfectly spiced. I have had so many overly salted, overly dense fish cutlets. This one is none of those things.

The Famous Kitchen

Where: 01-01 Hong Heng Mansions, 54 Sembawang Road, tel: 6636-8333
Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 5.30 to 10.30pm daily

This restaurant has a swankier offshoot, Famous Treasure, at Capitol Piazza in Stamford Road, but I really much prefer the vibe and the food of the original restaurant in Sembawang.

For expedience, many people would, I suppose, call the food elevated zi char. But Jeff and Jenny Foo, the siblings who run the restaurant, offer food that is not easily categorised.

It is a mix of zi char classics done very well, dishes inspired by food they have had overseas and those their father, who was a chef in a British army cookhouse during colonial times, made.

Top on my list of must-order dishes is Marinated Cockles Teochew Style (from $12), the sting of chilli and the bite of garlic whetting my appetite for more.

Crystal Chicken ($24 for half) is another must. It looks so plain. It is anything but. The bird has to be a flavourful one, because nothing much is done to it beyond steaming, and I have never had a bland chicken there.

The golden gravy cries out to be spooned over rice. I sometimes try to choose between the chicken and Poached Pork Belly With Minced Garlic (from $16), but always end up ordering both. Like the chicken, the pork is full of flavour on its own. The Foos insist on fresh pork which has never seen the inside of a freezer.

The Famous Kitchen will make a perfectly good steamed fish, Hong Kong style, for you. But order Steamed Fish With Preserved Vegetables On Hot Plate (market price). Sour preserved vegetables, chillies and thick slices of roast pork belly, apart from the fish, make this a substantial one-dish meal, if you are in that sort of mood. Again, the flavours are sharp, true and robust. There is no faffing around.

Of course, all these dishes should be eaten with rice. But save room for KL Style Hokkien Mee (from $12) because it is done very well here. Masses of wok hei, good quality dark soya sauce and, crucially, cubes of lard, make me forget about low-carbing.

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Seletar

Soek Seng 1954 Bicycle Cafe

Where: 1-01 MAJ Aviation Building, 80 Seletar Aerospace View, tel: 6659-6124
Open: 10am to 10pm (Tuesdays to Sundays), closed on Mondays

If this loathsome pandemic has brought on a severe case of cabin fever, escape to Seletar.

Coffee on a weekday morning at the tranquil Soek Seng 1954 Bicycle Cafe is delightful escapism. I snag a seat outside, although the cafe, with bicycles and bicycle paraphernalia hanging on the walls - plus air-conditioning - is a comfortable place in which to sit and dream.

Dreaming can be done outdoors too - you just have to be careful the pappadum that come with your Ayam Panggang ($10.80) do not fly away. You could solve the problem by eating them, but I wouldn't. The ones on my plate had lost all crunch.

The other accompaniment to the chicken, achar, is terrific - hot, sour, salty and not sweet.

I am grateful for the nasi kuning on the plate, which mitigates some of the heat from the pickles and the chicken. The bird is more likely deep-fried than grilled, so even is the browning. A very robust sambal is painted on top and I am thankful for the breeze, which cools my fevered brow.

A tall mug of iced lemongrass tisane ($3.20) does the job too, although I would like it a lot less sweet. I chase that with a mocha ($6) and marvel at how, in a tiny island like Singapore, there are still places to escape to.

Then, my mental vacation is over and I drive reluctantly away.

Tenderbest Makcik Tuckshop

Where: 246 Jalan Kayu, tel: 9779-9477
Open: Noon to 11pm (Mondays to Thursdays), noon to midnight (Fridays), 11am to midnight (Saturdays), 11am to 11pm (Sundays)

Jalan Kayu is thick with restaurants, some longstanding, some quirky. But one restaurant draws me like a moth to flame.

You might be surprised because it is part of a chain. Tenderbest Makcik Tuckshop, a halal restaurant, is part of the Tenderfresh Group, which owns brands such as Sultan Burger and Hawkerman. There are three tuckshops: in Punggol, Woodlands and Jalan Kayu.

Now, the group specialises in fried chicken and the wings that come with my Crispy Wing Rice ($7.50) live up to their name.

But then I cut into Tom Yam Roasted Whole Leg Sedap Lemak ($10.90) and the juices almost take my eye out. Thank goodness for spectacles. I take a bite - there is nothing in the marinade that resembles tom yum - but the chicken is juicy. And, of course, tender.

A word about the carbs. The chicken rice that comes with the wings is terrific, so infused with chicken (or chicken powder) flavour. It is good enough to eat on its own. So is the nasi lemak that comes with the roast chicken - it is very coconut forward.

Until this point, I am thinking. Well, this place is clean and bright, the staff are friendly and helpful, the food is mostly good. But what is its X factor?

It is this: Fried Chicken Aisi Kreme Cup ($4.90). The tortured name of the dessert gives nothing away, but I will gladly go back for fried chicken skin with ice cream and a drizzle of caramel. I'll even supply my own ice cream if the staff will let me. I am not a fan of the brand they use. The ice cream is way too sweet, the vanilla flavour way too simulated.

But it is perfect with two pieces of atomically crunchy chicken skin, rubbed with the secret spice blend that flavours all the fried chicken. There is a hint of chilli, a hint of pepper. This dessert is the only thing I allow myself to finish in my eating odyssey of the north.

A lit sign at the back of the restaurant reads: "Eat what makes you happy, makcik say one."

Yes, makcik, I hear you loud and clear.

Wildseed Cafe

Where: 3 Park Lane, tel: 8126-7524
Open: 8.30am to 5pm daily

This charming cafe is part of The Summerhouse, a food, beverage and lifestyle refuge from the cruel world. It is housed in a bungalow in the Seletar Airport area and is so very chill.

Aside from the cafe, there is a French restaurant, a bar, an edible garden and an events venue. Scattered about are Garden Domes, climate-controlled geodesic spaces in which to have a romantic dinner or a small party.

I hope one day to snag one of the domes for coffee and cake, just to see what it is like to dine in a dome. But truth be told, I am perfectly happy sitting semi-outdoors. Flowers and greenery are everywhere - such a balm for when life gets overwhelming.

The perky staffer who takes my order at the counter steers me away from a bacon and cheese bun I want to order, and suggests the Chicken Pinche Sandwich ($15). It is substantial - between two slices of sturdy bread spread with perky jalapeno mayonnaise is piled smoked chicken breast, grilled baby corn, pea shoots and avocado.

I love the mild hit of heat in the mayonnaise and the char marks on the baby corn. There is texture and flavour hits with every bite. The sandwich would be perfect if the chicken was not of the processed variety.

Unable to resist Atas Kaya Toast ($8), I order it on a whim and have no regrets.

Half a toasted sourdough bun is spread thickly with a not-too-sweet, super eggy and fragrant kaya, with a tunnel of cold butter hiding underneath. Served alongside is freshly grated coconut with a sous-vide egg on top, drizzled with gula melaka. The contrasts make this over-the-top take on a breakfast favourite work. Sweet and salty, crunchy and soft, hot and cold.

I have not been able to stop thinking about it.

Will they sell me a jar of that kaya, I wonder?