Fishball Khin : More than just delicious handmade fish balls

It's neither bouncy nor springy, but the handmade fishballs here have a pleasant chewy texture that are good telling signs of more fish than flour. Fishball Khin is an all-day eatery in Ang Mo Kio that probably needs no introduction for regular fans of fishball noodles. In fact, it's the place that my family would go when we get bored of the food at the hawker center across my house since it is in the same area. 

Another aspect of the fishballs here is the saltiness. If you have come across those health promotion board ads often, you may have known that fishballs are one of the local food that is high in sodium. 

But the fishballs here are just mildly salty and we never remembered encountering any MSG thirst syndrome after our meal. The fishballs are good but everyone loved the He Kiao so much that we would usually order just an extra bowl of he Kiao to share. 

 If the fishballs can win the best star award, the meepok noodles ($4) can earn the best supporting role. Tossed in vinegar and chilli, the noodles were satisfyingly punchy and cooked to the right degree.  

Other dishes that we tried are equally competent too. The Hokkien Mee ($5) was drenched in stock but not overly wet. It ain't a bad thing to see more bee hoon here as they absorbed the flavors of the stock very well, pairing perfectly with the side of sambal. 

The fish head soup ($6) is also highly recommended especially if you prefer something light and wholesome. The fresh batang fish bathed in a pool of opaque white broth that was boosted with ginger and pepper.  

Recently we decided to try the fried rice as we noticed that almost every table ordered it. And boy, it was so delicious! The fried rice was full of wok-hei and flavorfully tossed with crispy silvered fish, sweet dried sausages and some chewy fish cakes. Each grain was distinct (粒粒分明）and not greasy at all. You can even say it's better than many of the Chinese restaurants in Singapore. 

The place may be fully seated during lunch or dinner hours but the turnover rate is quite fast. So chances are you don't have to wait or queue hours for something good and affordable. 

Fishball Khin
Block 574 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, 01-1825 
Tel: 8198-6868 
Open: 11.30am - 11.30pm (Wed - Mon), closed on Tue

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Mad Cow Cafe in Ang Mo Kio: Where Desserts and Music Meets

Located a short walk away from Soi 19 Wanton Mee is a newly opened cafe by a group of 4 young friends who decided to give up their corporate jobs to pursue their dreams in the F&B industry. The concept is pretty much similar to most ice cream-waffles shop in Singapore except that there is an additional corner for live music. The ice creams are churned from an offsite kitchen factory based on their own recipes and there are more than 10 flavors including cotton candy, tiramisu and premium Mao Shan Wang Durian. 

There are two types of waffles-the Liege Waffles ($5.50 for a mix of red velvet and original) and the Belgian Waffles ($5.50 for a mix of red velvet and original) which you top up with ice cream for $3.90-$4.40 depending on the flavor. 

Of the two types of waffles, I prefer the Liege Waffles because of its crispy sturdy structure that held up well against the ice cream. But it didn't behave like how a Liege waffles should be; slightly chewy, buttery with a thin glistening coating due to the caramelization effect of the pearl sugar. 

Don't get me wrong, they were tasty but just that I naturally expected some differences between this Liege and Belgium waffles if both were written on the menu. Otherwise, calling them "waffles" would suffice if they were intended to have the exact same crispy exterior and feathery light innards. On the other hand, the Belgian waffles were slightly wet on the inside. The ice creams did not disappoint as they were smooth velvety without being too sweet. Our favourites include the Sea salt caramel & almond and Thai Milk Tea. 

With the intense competition in the local cafe scenes in Singapore, I think Madcow can attract a wider crowd if it can neat out existing issues with and find something which makes it stand out from other ice cream cafes. At least for now, I know where I can head to for some quick ice cream-waffles fix.

Mad Cow Cafe

Blk 163, AMK Ave 4, #01-448

Daily 11am-11pm

Facebook: @letsgoMadcow

Instagram: @madcow_icecream 

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Twenty Grammes Cafe : Yuan Yang Waffles and Salty Salted Egg Yolk

Waffles, soft serve, ice cream. 

The cafe menu here bears a striking resemblance to the Sunday Folks or Creamier but I say it's a combination of both. Probably one of the most popular items here is the Yuan Yang Waffles that come with Milk Soft Serve, Cookie Sticks, Granola and Chocolate Hazelnut Sauce ($15)


I prefer my waffles to have a little crunch on the edges while fluffy inside but these weren't exactly what I wanted. That said, the chocolate hazelnut sauce was thicker and richer than an average Nutella sauce--a good thing because it would have gave the impression that the shop was taking shortcuts. My only complain here is that the soft serve was too sweet and there is only one flavor of soft serve for this Yuan Yang Waffle. Presentation-wise, they might still need to put in some effort to catch up with the ones from Sunday Folks. 
To be honest, the menu sounded confusing because a "charcoal waffle with egg yolk sauce and a single scoop of ice cream" costs $12 but yet there is also another choice of "charcoal waffle with egg yolk sauce" at $8.50 (with a foot note that stated that any subsequent scoop of ice cream costs $3) But in practice, you need to order the $12 version if you want some ice cream along. 

I was curious to try the salted egg yolk sauce which was slightly grainy and intensely savoury. Sweet-savoury pairings usually work in desserts but I think the egg yolk sauce was too overpowering and easily overwhelmed the ice cream. That said, the ice cream was excellent and distinctive in flavor. I chose the Thai Milk Tea  and Taro after sampling some flavors and eliminating those that were too sweet. There was clarity in flavor and the texture was unctuously creamy. 

I left this place with a deeper impression of the ice cream than the waffles or soft serve. And I'm so glad this is just located in my neighbourhood. 

Blk 529 AMK Ave 10, Unit 01-2353
Sun-Thur 12pm-10pm
Fri-Sat 12pm-1am

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