Indulging in food seems to be one of the easiest way to catch up with family near and far. Headed back to Lion City Cafe for our umpteenth time, we used to go there for...
1) Cheap and good Nonya Food (think kuehs, nasi lemak, laksa)
2) It's one of those places that doesn't bother too much about attire nor cutlery placements..
3) It ain't as over-rated nor overhyped as Chilli Padi
4) You should get the drift by now.
I was first drawn by the "2-for-1" offer..which logically works out to be 1-for-1...well apparently not. It's 2 buffets for the price of 1.
Their True Blue Nonya Buffet has been going on for years...still going on stronger than before. Only available for lunch and high tea though.
Don't the cucumbers look exceptionally green?
Slurpworthy!
Simple set up for the Nasi Lemak..
And the other side, Teochew Porridge..
Nasi Lemak
Coconut Rice with blachan/cucumber/ikan bilis
The rice was grainy and fragrant but was somewhat hard..possibly undercooked. I mixed in the blachan, ikan bilis, omelette and cucumber...lovely. The blachan's very addictive, I couldn't help dipping nearly everything in it. Not spicy but the bean paste-chilli paste combination worked wonders.
Chicken Wings
They weren't as crispy as desired, the skin was soggy..thankfully meaty.
Egg Omelette
Tasted bland.
Blachan Long Beans
Blachan Ladies Fingers
Surprisingly the most delicious of the range.
Pork Chop in Curry
These were sliced so thin, the curry sauce did little to its taste. I did not mind this much.
Teochew Porridge
Olive vegetable
Hmm, this was a little weird for me, tasted more like a strong mui chye.
Mui Chye Chicken
Chunky chicken tenders with a slight mui chye taste.
Braised Pork Trotter and Egg
I found this yummy, the meat isn't overboiled hence still maintaining its firm outlook.
Szechuan Vegetable with Pork
Once again, the szechuan vegetable was not that salty, would've preferred if the strong preserved taste was not washed off.
Dory Fish Fillet
Firm fillets with a tasty sauce.
Leek with Beancurd
A little on the oily side.
Chye Poh Omelette
Third time proven right, the chye poh was probably soaked too long, it ended up tasteless.
Custard Egg with Fish and Chicken
Bland healthy custard egg with meat minced so soft, it's barely discernible.
Chicken Feet
Skipped this.
Chap Chye
I was quite disappointed with this, the vegetables were undercooked.
Braised Bittergourd
Although mildly bitter, I liked how it tasted like how it should. Most of the teochew items were either bland when I expected salty.
Grainy goodness to wash down the supposedly high sodium dishes, the point with Teochew dishes is...most of them are oily and salty so porridge serves prefectly to cleanse it all.
Dessert
Fruit Platter (Watermelon/Papaya)
Sweet juicy thirst quenching fruits. I had plates of this!
Greenbean Soup
Warm, tummy comforting and not too sweet green bean soup! Three bowls was all I could manage, I wish I had space for more! The beans were not over cooked, whole beans in soup...yummy.
Lion City's a newly refurbished hotel..I'd rate it 3 star? Anyway, Lion City Cafe's nicely done up with some modern fixtures. Service is just passable. The food tastes homecooked but I appreciate that part of it...sans all the MSG, frilly ways of cooking that sometimes makes food pretentious...so here's Lion City with unpretentious food reminiscent of your home kitchen. For once, buffet was not just about stuffing myself silly, but enjoying a nice meal in the comfort of shorts, slippers and...singlet.
$12.80++ for dinner
$9.80++ for supper
Lion City Cafe
Lion City Hotel
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