Dian Xiao Er at NEX - Dinner with Bob after X-Men show

Bob won a pair of free tickets complimentary  of SAFRA magazine to watch X-Men at NEX. After the show we headed off to Dian Xiao Er for dinner. 

Some of the must  have favourites we ordered : the Signature Ten Wonder Herbs Roast Duck,  Dong Po Rou. We also tried their new dish : Golden Lotus Roots with Pumpkin. 

The Ten Wonder Herbs Roast Duck are a staple dish to have at Dian Xiao Er with the roast duck infused with the sweet gravy made using ten different types of herbs, lending a sweet flavor to the duck. 

Salted egg goes went with pretty much everything in Chinese Cuisine. In this dish the chef stir fries the lotus pieces and pumpkin bites with salted egg yolk and basil leaves. 

I love it that their Dong Po Rou alway have that same consistency, with the skin having a melt in your mouth tenderness, the meat moist tender and sweet. 

Dian Xiao Er is located at : 

Serangoon NEX

#02-09/10, 23 Serangoon Central 

Singapore 556083. 

Tel : 66344828

Tribute - Grandma's at NEX

My thanks to :

1. General Manager Mr Daniel Ong who is my host for this Food tasting Session at Grandma's at NEX. 

2. Chef Ah Jin who dishes out the Sumptuous  spread of Signatures at Grandma's 

3. The friendly service crew 

Grandma's is located at : 

23 Serangoon Central 

#B1-15, NEX, S(556083)

Tel : 6634 8949

Business hours : 11.30 am to 10.00 pm

Chendol - Grandma's at NEX

If there is only one dessert you must have at Grandma's it must be Grandma's Chendol (S$4.50). It is made up of ingredients : green chendol jelly, grass jelly, red beans, shaved ice, topped with fresh coconut milk and gula melaka. 

Food Tasting Notes : The chendol is made with fresh coconut milk. There is a layer of red bean on top, followed by a layer of chendol. The chendol is made fresh at the outlet level, is lightly colored, has a smooth silky texture. The next layer is grass jelly followed by fresh coconut milk. The gula melaka has a gluey consistency, I suspect they added a little honey to it, it tastes lightly sweet,  the color of the gula melaka is light brownish.

Grandma's is located at : 

23 Serangoon Central 

#B1-15, NEX, S(556083)

Tel : 6634 8949

Business hours : 11.30 am to 10.00 pm

Prawns with Petai Beans in Assam Paste - Grandma's at NEX

The Prawns with Petai Beans in Assam Paste at Grandma's - the chef uses medium size fresh prawns, the petai beans are stir fried with the fresh prawns on assam paste.  

Food Tasting Notes : the petai beans are cooked al dente and still retain its crunchiness. The prawns used is smaller than the prawns with salted egg yolk, and are fresh and juicy. The assam paste used in this dish does not have coconut, and spots a sweet, sourly taste. The level of spiciness for the Assam paste : mildly spicy, it is not as spicy as the beef rendang rempah. The onions lend a sweet taste to this dish. The assam paste is made in the Akashi Group central kitchen in Defu Lane. 

Grandma's is located at : 

23 Serangoon Central 

#B1-15, NEX, S(556083)

Tel : 6634 8949

Business hours : 11.30 am to 10.00 pm

Nasi Bukhari - Grandma's at NEX

One must try dish is Grandma's Nasi Bukhari (S$14.90) - consists of crispy fried chicken drumstick, beef rendang, prawn in assam paste, yellow tumeric rice. 

Food Tasting Notes : the raw rice grains are stir fried with garlic, ginger, onions and chicken floss till 50% cooked. Then they are placed in the rice cooker to complete the cooking process. To it is added the curry powder and red curry to give a pale yellow color.
The taste is fragrant due to curry spices, light spices added, taste is savory, rice is fragrant, only mildly salty due to the chicken floss, not oily, fried pretty dry,  goes through the rice cooker cooking process so it is not so oily. 

The chicken is deep fried. The fresh chicken drumstick is marinated overnight with special curry paste, then store overnight in chiller, and taken out from the chiller for next day used. When ordered, the chicken is fried ala minute. The chicken meat is tender, and the skin is crispy, and has a mild, savory, lightly salty taste. The chicken absorbs the taste of the marinate very well. 

Grandma's is located at : 

23 Serangoon Central 

#B1-15, NEX, S(556083)

Tel : 6634 8949

Business hours : 11.30 am to 10.00 pm

Deep Fried Prawns in Salted Egg Yolk - Grandma's at NEX

One of the Signatures at Grandma's at NEX is their Deep Fried Prawns coated in Salted Egg Yolk - The chef at Grandma's uses large and fresh prawns and deshelled and butterflied the prawns to allow for easy infusion of the salted egg yolk flavor onto the whole prawns. The prawns are first fried and set aside. The salted egg yolks are melted with butter in the wok till their are of a gluey consistency. The prawns are then rolled and wok fried in the gluey salted egg yolk till they are fully coated with the salty egg yolk, then they are serve hot. 

Food Tasting Notes - the prawns coated with the salted egg yolk have a savory, mildly salty, mildly sweet taste, absolutely great appetizer! The prawns used are fresh, and have a juicy and crunchy texture. 

Chef Derek shows us how to cook fresh prawns in salted egg yolk below using fresh prawns, curry leaves, bird's eye chili (chili padi), butter, sugar, cooking oil, flour, egg white, salted egg yolk, chicken stock.

Grandma's is located at : 

23 Serangoon Central 

#B1-15, NEX, S(556083)

Tel : 6634 8949

Business hours : 11.30 am to 10.00 pm

Char Kway Teow - Grandma's at NEX

Char Kway Teow (S$10.90) at Grandma's Restaurant is stir fried the Penang Char Kway Teow style, where the flat rice noodles are drizzled with light soya sauce, unlike those dark black sweet sauce used in Singapore Char Kway Teow. The chef at Grandma's uses fresh prawns, squid, chicken breast, flat rice noodles, bean sprouts, light soya sauce, chili sauce, egg, Chinese chives, garlic, shallots. 

Food Tasting Notes : the flat rice noodles are nicely fried with light soya sauce, and has the wok-fried taste and texture, tastes lightly salty, spicy, is lightly brown in color, and glistens in the light. 
The prawns are large, fresh, juicy, turgid and crunchy, the squid pieces are fresh and juicy. 
The tou gay gives this dish a crunchy bite. The chef uses chicken breast slices and fried them together with the flat rice noodles. The chicken breast are cooked just right and not too tough to the bite.

Typically Penang style Char Kway Teow originated from Penang. Here's a Penang way of cooking Penang Char Kway Teow. 

Grandma's is located at : 

23 Serangoon Central 

#B1-15, NEX, S(556083)

Tel : 6634 8949

Business hours : 11.30 am to 10.00 pm

Nasi Lemak - Grandma's at NEX

The Signature - Nasi Lemak at Grandma's comes in complete set of Curry Chicken, Achar, Ikan bilis, hard boiled egg, lemak coconut rice.  

Food Tasting Notes : the nasi lemak rice is cooked using fresh first press coconut. The taste of coconut is very strong, and gives the rice a fragrant coconuty taste. The rice is infused thoroughly with the coconut milk. The pickled Achar is crunchy and vinegary. 
The ikan bilis is made with stir-fried chili, the chef uses small ikan bilis whole, and fried with the chili paste that gives a very good bite. 
The Chicken curry in the nasi lemak uses fresh coconut and chili curry paste. I can taste the coconut flavour, moderately spicy. The Chicken curry is more inclined towards the Nonya style.  The chicken curry gravy is very lemak, nutty flavor, spicy, very fragrant. I absolutely love it! 

Grandma's is located at : 

23 Serangoon Central 

#B1-15, NEX, S(556083)

Tel : 6634 8949

Business hours : 11.30 am to 10.00 pm