Thursday 27 September 2012

Food & Restaurant: Singaporean-Malaysia cuisine -- Hainan Shaoye

Hainan Shaoye @ Causeway Bay
Image from hong-kong.cityseekr.com
Well, once in awhile, I really crave for Singaporean and Malaysian food, the famed chicken rice, the legendary spicy fried prawn noodles... Yum yum!!!! The Hainan Chicken Rice of Food Republic in Cityplaza is great, but I can't always take my friends there and expect a full South-east Asian Chinese cuisine. I need somewhere I can sit and chat, and eat comfortably without moving around buying food in a food court, and so I found this restaurant, Hainan Shaoye at Causeway Bay.

If you have read my entry Travelling and Living: Locky's Top 10 Food & Drinks in Singapore, you will easily discover some of my favourite Singaporean dishes.

I went there twice. The first time, I ordered...

Hainan Chicken Rice Set (Taken with Galaxy S2)
Image from Locky's English Playground
Hainan Chicken Rice set: Now I'd love to say that the portion of this tasty and juicy chicken is generous, the rice tastes great too, but due to the costly price tag, I better just say, you kind of get the bang for your buck for this set.
Mee Goreng
Image from Locky's English Playground
Mee Goreng: And this is my favourite! I love spicy food, and this one is spiciness of a high level. The noodles are saucy yet not too wet, the prawns are really prawns -- crunchy and BIG! Definitely should try this out if you like spicy food!
Strawberry Ribs
Image from Locky's English Playground 
Strawberry Ribs: Okay, I don't have time to retouch this picture, but the ribs didn't look this pink, it's the auto-white balance on my Galaxy S2... seems like I have to tweak this otherwise the iPhone fans will go, "Haha!!! See! Galaxy sucks!" Well, I actually have a much much much less extreme perspective towards Apple now, so I will talk about that in another post.

Anyway, the ribs tasted a little too syrupy, a little too fake with the strawberry flavour, but the meat was easy to eat and maybe you should try out the coffee ribs instead. Should taste great.

The second time in visited this restaurant, I ordered...
Fried Morning Glory
Image from Locky's English Playground 
Fried Morning Glory: Nice vege, not too oily, crunchy too, not like it is the best ever but somewhere up there near the top.

Chicken Chop Laksa Set
Image from Locky's English Playground 
Chicken Chop Laksa set: I love the laksa soup, very rich, very creamy, with a tint of spiciness, suitable for anyone. The chicken chop was crispy-skinned and juicy-meated, but the soup really did steal the limelight entirely. Definitely a must-try.

Nasi Goreng
Image from Locky's English Playground 
Nasi Goreng: Compared with noodles, I'm more of a rice person. This Nasi Goreng is a little disappointing in a sense that the portion was not big enough for the price I paid, still it was a nice dish, give it a go if you aren't too hungry.

Deep-fried prawn balls stuffed  with Kaya
Image from Locky's English Playground 
Deep-fried prawn balls stuffed with Kaya: Oh!!! This is a fabulous dish! Crispy and elastic, full and filling texture in the first bite,

Hot, runny, explosive!!!
Image from Locky's English Playground 
burst of hot runny Kaya followed by an emptiness after the eruption, then supported by more crunchiness of a shrimp, a true enjoyment of multi-layered sensation! Definitely must have!!!

Oh! And the Bak Kut Teh was really good too, not too herbal and lots of ingredients!

Overall, the quality of the food is excellent but the price is slightly expensive, still, for a restaurant in World Trade Mall, Causeway Bay, a prime location yet zero waiting time, I think it is definitely a food source to pay a visit.

So, there you have it! My recommendation to you, try it! I'm sure you will like it too!


Vocabulary:

famed -- (adj)  known or familiar to many people
legendary -- (adj) very famous and admired or spoken about
steal the limelight --  to get more attention than anyone or anything else in a situation 
sensation -- (n)  [C or U] the ability to feel something physically, especially by touching, or a physical feeling that results from this ability 
Resources:

Food & Restaurant: Hainanese Chicken Rice -- Food Republic @ CityPlaza @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/food-restaurant-hainanese-chicken-rice.html

Travelling and Living: Locky's Top 10 Food & Drinks in Singapore @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2010/05/travelling-and-living-lockys-top-10.html

Hainan Shaoye Official Page
http://www.hainanshaoye.com/menu_en.php

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/famed?q=famed
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/legendary_1?q=legendary+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/steal-the-limelight?q=steal+the+limelight#steal-the-limelight__1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/sensation_1?q=sensation