This stall is housed in the same coffee shop as the popular Botak Jones. Tucked in the left corner of the coffee shop, it can be easily missed as long queues at BJ tend to attract more attention.

Young, and/ or international folks go for BJ. Ah, but veterans know Claypot Delight.

We went there once, and were surprised at great food and low prices. Within a week, we were back again. My parents were more fanatic. Just the week before, they went there 3x in a week! (And we don't stay in Clementi.)

Below are some of the menu items:
Claypot Fish head ($12/ $15)- nowadays, you don't really get good and cheap fishhead anymore. This one is generously topped with the veg (brinjal, ladyfingers, long beans). And the curry was marvellous. Fragrant thick curry and enough spicy level. I literally drank the curry like soup (no thanks to what it could do to my waistline).

Claypot sesame chicken ($3/$5)- delicious juicy chicken stewed in sesame oil and dark sauce. Ooh lala. Cavan enjoyed it so much we had to order 2nd claypot. And $3 claypot is already quite a good portion (can feed 3-4).

Claypot mixed veg ($3/$5)- this is cooked to the right level of softness. The dried shrimps added a punch to the chap chai. I can eat it on its own, man!

Claypot pig's liver/ mixed pig's organs ($3/$5)- You have to request for the latter as it's not on the menu. The organs are nicely cooked with spring onions and you don't taste any smelly porky smell. (I get turned off when the organs are not washed thoroughly and cooked properly.)

There were other dishes such as curry chicken and soups. All priced at $3/ $5.

Very happy we found a cheap and good place. Overall, it is cheaper than eating tze char. And not laden with MSG.

Clem and I are Japanese food lovers so we were eager to try out Shokudo. There were long queues the couple of times we were there. So when we saw there was no crowd, we jumped at the opportunity.

What a mistake!

We roamed the whole place to check out the selection. Nothing really appealed to us. It was more of a high class food court pretending to be a Japanese place. The display were unattractive, unlike what Jap restaurants would usually have. Based on this, I already deduct points from Shokudo from the lack of presentation standards, something Japanese highly pride.

Food? Omigosh! How should I start? After going rounds and making the painful decision (not from the vast selection but from the lack of!), we half wanted to leave the place but decided to give it a chance (we should have left!). So we settled for the following:

Char siew ramen with spicy soup- terrible! The soup base had a strong ghee taste even though the noodles were not cooked in it. I couldn't make out what the soup base was cos it just tasted of chilli powder. And I saw chilli padi in the soup! Hello? This is Japanese-style, not Thai-style! It came with 2 miserable thin slices of meat. The whole thing was so blah that I didn't finish the ramen.

Omelette rice with teriyaki chicken- The chicken was normal (how wrong can you go with grilled teriyaki chicken?). The omurice... well, we were surprised that the rice was not wrapped in the egg at all. The egg (still a but runny) was just slapped on the tomato rice. There was too much ketchup on the rice and you can't taste anything else. Takashimaya food court serves better omurice.

Teppanyaki Mixed Mushroom and Veg Combo- consisting of asparagus, bean sprouts, mushrooms. Another terrible! This dish wins hands- down in being the 1st veg dish that caused people to feel jelat! So greasy! And there was no Japanese taste whatsoever!

Ebi and Bacon pizza with wasabi mayo- this was the only saving grace of the meal. Came with succulent prawns and nice crispy bacon with a tinge of wasabi. Thin crust so it was not too heavy.

After an unenjoyable meal, Clem asked if we should try the dessert. Of course not! We were not going to make more mistakes! Dessert? I'd rather take my money to the good and trusty Azabo Sabu.

We concluded this whole place is an insult to Japanese cuisine. There is no pride in presenting and cooking the food and to make them taste like Japanese food. We are better off spending our money elsewhere. This would be the 1st and last time we're here.

Should have just gone to Pasta de Waraku...

This one-dish meal is easy, especially when you don't really want to prepare a lot. This has passed the fussy-eater (read: kids) test. The measurements given here are based on estimation, since I don't really keep track of the exact portion. Free and easy is the way!

Sea Food Hor Fun (or you can replace with chicken meat)
Serves 4

Ingredients
For Hor Fun:
700g kway teow, washed (to get rid of the oil)
Garlic, chopped
2-3 tablespoons dark soy sauce

Hor Fun Soup:
200g lean meat, sliced and marinated with light soy sauce, sesame oil and cornstarch
Half a packet of crabstick, cut into wedges
2 pieces of fish cake, sliced
1 packet caixin or kailan, plucked
2 eggs, lightly stirred
cornstarch

Cooking Method
For Hor Fun:

1. Heat non-stick wok and pour a bit of olive oil
2. Fry chopped garlic till golden brown
3. Add kway teow and fry till fragrant
4. Add dark soy sauce to kway teow
5. Fry till nice brownish colour
6. Scoop and set aside

Hor Fun Soup:
1. Heat non-stick wok and pour a bit of olive oil
2. Fry chopped garlic till golden brown
3. Add chicken stock/ ikan bilis stock/ water
4. When water is coming to a boil, add lean meat and vegetables
5. Add crabmeat and fishcake last, when ingredients coming to a boil
6. Add salt according to taste
7. Add cornstarch to thicken soup
8. Add eggs when soup is boiling and stir slowly till cooked

To serve:
Scoop desired amount of hor fun on plate and scoop heaps of soup on hor fun. Best eaten with green chilli.

Bon Appetit!

Outback's known for big portions but I'm not sure if the quality has deteriorated. The last time we went was in 2001. Recently, we felt like having steak so we popped by. A few "salahs" in our lunch:

1. Disappointment with the fries with cheese. We expected rich, melty, sticky cheese that stretches as you pull the fries up. What we got was stumpy cheese that broke when you pull the soggy fry up. KFC does a better job with its cheese fries.

2. Clement ordered a steak (forgot what name but one of the most ex) and wanted it medium. It came burnt. So burnt that he had to scrap the charred parts away. When he got tired of doing so, he had to ask for a replacement as it was really inedible.

Credit to the service staff who kept checking whether our food is alright. But we wanted decent, if not, quality food. We will skip this place in future and go to Morton's instead.