Hipster Singaporean food at Sinpopo Brand - Katong / Joo Chiat.

With dozens of restaurants and cafés popping up around Singapore seemingly almost daily, eateries can sometimes tend to feel a little generic - after all, a burger joint is a burger joint is a burger joint, no? It takes quite a bit of differentiation and something special to get stand out of the crowd - which is what Sinpopo Brand is trying to do with its hipster, retro take on Singapore-Malaysian food favorites!


There's a bunch of interesting-sounding drinks - for example, Fake Bird's Nest and Longan Slushie - which we skip in favor of a childhood favorite a little closer to our hearts - the Sng Muay Pop ($5). It's essentially kat chai suen mui Mark-II: lime, bits of sour plum frozen in sour ice balls, plopped into sweetened soda water, and is actually pretty damn good.


The Crab Wantons ($8) were a decent, if less than epiphanic starter. The the house dip was flavourful, and the wantons were nice and crispy, but were just missing a little depth of flavour.


For our main course we went with the house special - Nasi Lemak for Two ($25), with free flow sambal (and presumably rice). The rice itself was a little mushy and underwhelming, which disappointed a little; The accompaniments ranged from utterly delicious (har cheong kai wings), so-so-lah (luncheon meat crisps, sambal fishballs, potatoes in curry) to "meh" (rojak slaw). Overall the set was pretty nice, but we weren't so sure if it's something we'd crave for in the future.


With advancement in age comes a reduction in stomach capacity and a shrinking sweet tooth; so we only tried one dessert - the Gula Melaka Cake ($7). The cake has really simple execution - it's just a sponge cake with a layer of gula melaka glazing, but the balance of flavours and textures is sublime. Definitely a nice, sweet and satisfying end to the meal.


At just over $25 a person, we thought that the food was pretty reasonably priced (this is a restaurant/cafe after all). Food wasn't perfect, but it was good enough at the price point that we'll certainly come back to try some of the other items on the menu - the Sliced Wagyu Horfun sounds particularly interesting!

Sinpopo Brand is at 458 Joo Chiat Rd, S 427671; reservations not accepted. Non-halal.

Korean BBQ Buffet in Bedok - Ssiksin 食神 Korean BBQ, Bedok Point

When we think of Korean BBQ restaurants here, there seem to be two distinct types of restaurants - higher end, ala carte joints where you have a choice of 25 different cuts of pork or 43 different marble grades of Beef ... and the BBQ Buffet. These restaurants are normally priced quite reasonably, and allow you to stuff yourself to your hearts' content at a (relatively) low price point. It's perfect for big stomachs, or for those nights where you just don't feel the need to pay top dollar for Grade A5 Wagyu roasting on a perfectly-heated bed of hot charcoal.


We're pretty stoked then that Ssiksin 食神 has just today opened its' doors in Bedok Point. It's run by the same Korean tai tai's as Ssikek over in Tampines 1. Decor is decidedly basic with monotonous wood everywhere - from the tables, partitions, floors and the furnishings. It does help that it's very 'open air,' so unlike the sister outlet further east it doesn't really get too stuffy/smoky/meaty in the dining area.


As Korean BBQ buffets go you do get the staple meats - pork belly, bacon, pork shoulder, some marinated beef, rib eye and short ribs. Over on the seafood there's decent sized prawns, squid rings and some chicken sausages sitting amidst fresh lettuce, onions and other garnish.


There's also a basic collection of cooked food - some pasta, some glass noodles, seaweed and beef/radish soups and an assortment of vegetable tempura. Nothing to get particularly excited about of course but not everyone can eat pure meat for an entire meal.


The buffet price includes free flow of drinks from the soda fountain.


As is par for the course for BBQ Buffet restaurants you do need to grill your own meat. We're actually extremely impressed with the new ceramic grill plates. They don't give out a lot of smoke - so you finish the meal smelling a lot less meaty than normal - but we totally dig how non-stick they are. The non-marinated meats hardly left any residue, and the residue left behind by the marinated meats was easily wiped off with a couple of tissues to reveal an almost-new plate to continue grilling! Awesome.


Overall it's solid and tummy filling but not particularly gourmet dining. At just $24.95 for a buffet dinner you really wouldn't ask for more. Open seven days a week on the 2nd floor of Bedok Point mall. Non halal.

* Apologies for the quality of photographs in this post which were snapped by mobile phone as we didn't bring our cameras

"HK's Most Famous Dim Sum" - Tim Ho Wan, Bedok Mall

When a restaurant labels itself as "Hong Kong's most famous Dim Sum," one can't help but to wonder how exactly those claims are substantiated. Perhaps there's an International Dim Sum Association somewhere that regularly conducts worldwide telephone polls to gauge each famous restaurant's popularity? In Tim Ho Wan's case, the evidence does seem to corroborate the claims. After all its first outlet opened in Plaza Singapura to epic 3 hour long queues!


Fast forward half a year later and the queues have died down somewhat - perhaps mostly because a second outlet was opened in Toa Payoh, and a third one last month in the newly launched Bedok Mall. The queues haven't totally gone, though - they've just shrunk to a more reasonable 20-30 minutes. So we finally pay a visit to see what the fuss is about.


Baked Bun with BBQ Pork

Chee Cheong Fun (steamed rice roll) with Pig's Liver and Steamed Egg Cake
Right off the bat we notice that although the look-and-feel is very much a 'mass market' Dim Sum restaurant, the prices are firmly in 5-star-hotel-restaurant territory. Dim Sum here ranges from $3.80 to $5.50, which is pretty much the same as Royal China in Raffles Hotel and Yan Ting at the St Regis.


Har Gao (steamed prawn dumpling) and Deep Fried Stuffed Beancurd Skin

Salad Prawn Dumpling
We thought that the Baked Bun with BBQ Pork was a clear winner. The easiest way to describe it is a Polo Bun with a Char Siu filling. The crunchy, sweet top goes surprisingly well with the juicy Char Siu filing, and is definitely a must-order when you're here. The Steamed Egg Cake, Carrot Cake and Deep Fried Stuffed Beancurd Skin were also very good - large, generous sized, delicious portions.


Siew Mai (pork dumplings)

Chili Crab Wu Kok (yam dumpling)
Most of the other items, however, were pretty par for the course and we didn't think they were any better (or worse) than the other similarly priced Dim Sum restaurants in town.


Carrot Cake
In fact, we even thought that the Chee Cheong Fun was mediocre; a little on the dry and tough side - and the addition of pig's liver wasn't anything special, and the Chili Crab Wu Kok (yam dumpling) was poorly thought out and even more poorly executed.


Osmanthus Jelly
So, at $25-$30 per person and a 20-30 minute queue, is it worth it? Personally, we feel that at the same price point, it makes more sense to continue going to Yan Ting, Royal China, or any of the other top Dim Sum places in Singapore as there's no queue and you get a way higher level of comfort and service. Exception being, of course, if you've got a hankering for those heavenly BBQ Pork Buns, or if you stay fairly close to any of the three outlets.

The restaurant uses a queue'ing system, with a strict 'all guests must arrive before being seated' policy. No reservations. Non halal.