Rockeby Baby on the Sidewalk

This is an Australian bistro, somewhat hidden in a neighbourhood amidst landed property. Started by two people who wanted to provide an Aussie experience, this place was suggested by a friend and so we thought we would check it out. There is a sufficiently wide variety of food to cater to just about anyone who is keen to try an Aussie meal, accompanied with Australian wine or an Aussie cup of coffee.

Lamb burger with sweet potato fries

Lamb burger with potato fries with truffle oil

For those who do not eat beef, this was really good. But for those who are used to juicy American beef burgers, this was not juicy enough and not having had lamb burgers before, I could not tell if it was meant to be more juicy than this. I only knew that I almost offended a friend who was not into beef when I compared this to beef. Talk about putting my foot in my mouth! The place serves beef burgers as well which I did not try as the lamb burger came highly recommended.

The ginger ale was nice. There was enough ginger bits in it and it was not overly sweet.

Apple juice.

Apple crumble with ice-cream which was good.

A cup of hot tea.

The ambience was nice and relaxing and staff were generally friendly. The place had a fair share of customers, with several foreign ones who were probably Aussies. My only gribe was that they did not let us know that they would charge for the fries to be changed into the sweet potato and truffle ones, so customers who are recommended the change, please be aware that there is a price difference. In the end, it was our word against theirs and we decided not to argue over this but this little incident caused me to think twice about going back there again.

Rockeby is located at 15-9 Jalan Riang, Singapore 358987.

Hawker goodness

I’ve always felt that the most affordable and delicious foods are now located at the hawker centre. This is another example of one such place. Such places are usually family-run and this place whips up to-order dishes, according to their menu.

This dish was just so-so. The beef was a little tough. The vegetables were fine though.

The noodle was fried just nice before the other ingredients were added to the top. This was nice.

This place is worth returning to for other ze char orders. Tien Kee is located at Blk 22 Lorong 7 Toa Payoh #01-19 Toa Payoh.

Halal Dim Sum and such

This is the first time I have eaten at a halal dim sum place. This place does not just serve dim sum. They also do ze char, where one can order food that they will cook to order.

Minced meat wrapped in beancurd skin

A variety of steamed food.

Deep fried prawn fritters

Fried carrot cake

Minced meat and chives dumplings.

Custard bun with salted egg. The cream oozed out when the bun was broken slightly. This was pretty unique and nice. Of all the dishes, this was my favourite.

There were five of us and we ate everything. Having an alternative halal dim sum place for me to go to with my Muslim friends was nice — there are not many halal dim sum places where they may patronise. Other dim sum places are available for those who are not so restricted in their choice of food and the choices are more varied. I do want to come back here to try the crab with my crab kaki friend though.

Tang Tea House Hong Kong Cafe, 242 Jalan Kayu, Singapore 799466. Tel: 64832298/ 64832284
(The cafe is located where Mad Jack used to be, along Jalan Kayu.)