Address: Outram Road, near Outram MRT

This is a late entry. One of our friends issued a distress call recently. He was suffering from a quarter/mid life crisis. Quoting him, he was in a situation when he could not progress from “being underpaid and underworked” to one where he was “overpaid and underworked”. He was previously in a state where he was “underpaid and overworked”.

Anyway, we rallied around him and arranged for drinks at the Q Bar and then adjoined to the Chinatown Complex Food Centre for dinner. Actually, being guys, I thought it was more of an excuse to meet up and indulge in good company and food rather than to address our comrade’s particular crisis.

I love the casual and unpretentious nature of the structure that housed the Food Centre. None of that elaborate facade and ornaments that characterised many of our newer structures. Bright, airy, and spacious. Key ingredients that are sufficient for a laissez-faire eating experience.

Some of the characters present that night were:
BC, a photo adverse dude.

CK and SL, less photo adverse dudes.

BT and his 马子. Obviously, not camera shy. BT is also our esteemed food champion and leader.

Our epicurean adventure began with the beef hor fun. Strips upon strips of tender beef layered on the clear porcelain broad noodles that are soaked in the dark, savoury gravy.

Hot plate squid. A high cholesterol laden dish but super tasty.

I apologise for the lack of pictures of the next two dishes. When having dinner with a bunch of ravenous guys, it is somewhat of a liability to be taking pictures of the food while everyone else is gobbling the food up. Thus, I had let the urges of my stomach overcome my anal nature to ensure that each dish is represented by photographical records. Anyhow, these are the remnants of the BBQ fish and the Fish cooked with Black Bean.

The Claypot Chicken Rice was our main course. The smell of the slightly burnt rice as we added in the black soy sauce into the mix was heavenly. A slight grouse was that there wasn’t enough chicken. Also, there is some risk of over-estimating the amount of soy sauce needed.

We finished off with the Xi Yang Cai Tang (Western Style Vegetable Soup?). I don’t like soup.

The crisis of the quarter/mid life crisis was never resolved. The consolation was that we all went away with our hunger satiated for the day.