food – Seriously Sarah

Gongxi Raya 2026

There was a Gongxi-Lent-Puasa Light-Up at Telok Ayer on 10th February featuring the minister Zaqy Mohamad with Rev Master Lee Zhiwang, President of Taoist Mission Singapore, Haji Arif Sulaiman, Chairman of Al Abrar Mosque, Rev Edmund Koh, Pastor in Charge of Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church and Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, Chairman of Humanity Matters.

Yes, I copy pasted that all because they really, it’s a Singapore thing to just have everyone in it.

In any case, I went to Kampong Glam and they had their light up too but I didn’t go there for that.

I was wanting to check out what kind of food was in trend at the pasar malam this year and interestingly, the curation of food was not as wild as the previous few years which is good.

I did go “Huh, what’s a pastacos” and no, it’s not a pasta in tacos or tacos in pasta, it’s just a stall selling both.

On the other side of the street there was also ‘cheese wheel pastas’.

We had sweet stuff like tapak kuda, a traditional Malay kueh/cake thing and there’s Indian pani puri!! Pani puri has been a thing in pasar malams now and yes, (in general) Malay people in Singapore like the taste cause it’s got all the flavours mixed up and the textures are great and crunchy too.

When it’s going to be Ramadan, the sugarcane stall is going to be so popular. I like to have it with lemon by the way. And you can totally see the typical fare of Ramly burgers (which aren’t really Ramly patties cause that’s illegal in Singapore) with the lekor snacks and whatnot.

There’s a new shop called RÖSTii that just opened in time before Ramadan and right on that same street so you know it’ll be packed when it’s time to break fast at sunset.

So what’s my verdict? It was a good curation, whatever ‘trendy’ food is spaced away from each other. Like, there’s one Chinese Muslim fried pancake (roti) stall at one end of a street and the other nearer to the entrance of the mosque. Two different brands, same type of food but of course their recipes are different.

Two different taco types. The usual birria tacos are there (I do like those) and then drink stalls all around. That one, it’s of course more than two because people really need hydration but it’s different flavours.

The only sad thing as you walk around, it’s the first year with Warung Pariaman closed at the end of the area where the pasar malam is. It’s kinda weird with it closed up like that.

In any case, there’s also some clothing stalls ‘inside’ and some seating areas with a stage underneath the tentage.

What’s also interesting is that most of the bazaars are opening before Ramadan starts and you DO see all the influencers and video people quickly taking videos of the food to advertise before Ramadan starts next week.

If you for some reason see me around, I’m just trying to jump out of your shot so I won’t be in your background.

Also no, I haven’t been to Geylang to check out the bazaar is there like but for me, the one at Kampong Glam is sufficient for the vibes or takeaway to bring home.

It’s closing and I don’t know

Dear future!Sarah,

Warung Nasi Pariaman is closing on 31 January 2026 and I don’t know why. Maybe you’ll know why in the future when you look back on this. Or if someone commented why.

Because no one knows.

The actual Berita news even reported it on TV last night with the shortest report on it with just the shot of the shop and “Warung Nasi Pariaman is closing on 31 January” in Malay, of course.

And everyone is gossiping.

Chef Imran X Oud Restaurant Four Hands

I solo dined at Oud Restaurant because I saw their Instagram post about their Four Hands special menu. It was a degustation menu, a collab by Chef Imran who I had followed his account before (he teaches pasta making internationally too but you know, I prefer to eat instead of make it myself).

Honestly, I didn’t even know what was going to be on the menu, but considering it’s Chef Imran and Chef Shah Indra (Oud Restaurant), it can’t be wrong. So I clicked book for myself (cause my regular group were also doing some dining out of Singapore on the same day).

Sorry no jio cause I just wanted to go on my own. BWUAHAHAHAH.

I had always wanted to go to Oud but, you know, when?

table setting with glass of water menu fork and knife and napkin

Well apparently it was on 18 October 2025.

Look, I have seen a lot of mutuals following the restaurant’s insta account too. Fun fact, it’s Halal and yes, it’s meant to be high end service and all.

Easy Hotel or Eassy Hotel & KKKL review

I took the KKKL bus from Singapore to KL Sentral and their seats are comfortable, the drivers are really friendly to me, they make sure you really get on the bus after the rest stop or even if you’re ‘switching’ locations (example, first bus goes to specific location in Malaysia, you have to switch to their other branded bus to your location), they make sure you get on it.

KKKL is a pretty relaxing bus.

Our rest stop too us to Ming Ang Bus Express Rest Stop at Yong Peng. OMGGGg it’s like a mini mall over there. I had to take pictures for reviews because apparently you can only get here and park if you’re on a bus trip, the parking lots are ONLY for buses.

The Ramly burger (if you end up there, there’s only one store, you’ll know it) is highly rated in google reviews too and it is pretty good.

Over all, the rest stop is old but serviceable. The shops there take cash so make sure you have ringgits on with you. There’s pastries and I wanted to buy some egg tarts or some biscuits but I was all, maybe I’d eat too much if I brought it back to Singapore a day later. Next time if I do end up at this rest stop, I will buy those pastries cause they looked so good.

I did buy preserved plums as a snack for the rest of the bus trip. It was really good, I think I can buy 200 grams or more instead of the minimum 100 grams next time.

KKKL’s stop for KL Sentral is at a bus stop near the police post just outside of Nu Sentral mall. For pick ups, it is the same place to get back to Singapore.

I know some of you Singaporeans might want to go for the My Chemical Romance concert or other concerts happening in KL and I can pretty much tell you, staying at KL Sentral would be the EASIEST for you.

My choice of hotel for now is Easy Hotel and you can see it’s really near the station/mall. There’s other hotels near it too but Easy or Eassy hotel had been really nice for a day in/out stay at Kuala Lumpur if you’re heading to other venues due to the LRT/MRT and heck the actual train station.

The express airport train from KLIA also stops at KL Sentral, so you can see why I like this area for accessibility.

The Pinwheels 2024

I was invited to The Pinwheels, a content creators’ award show by MediaCorp / BloomrSG .

Spoiler alert: No, I was not nominated for anything.

Nonetheless I was curious on the winners and how the show for content creators would turn out and it was pretty fun? I’ve had my share of award shows but this one is much funner than the regular ones I’ve attended.

The dress code was smart casual with the theme yellow or/and black. So I totally expected people to turn up like they were a typical student designer or for a funeral.

Cause that’s what you usually get if you put ‘black’ in, everyone’s gonna just reach for the basics.

It was ok though, it didn’t look like a funeral for content although the aesthetics were still dystopian-like with the grunginess of the entry way? I do like the decorations.

Hololive x Aniplus 2024

It’s that time of year again where we get a Hololive x Aniplus cafe collaboration in Singapore!

This time it’s with the GAMERS and Hololive Japan Generation 3.

As usual, do book online at the Aniplus Cafe website for seat reservation. You can do walk ins but there are peak hours/days where it is simply not possible to do.

This collaboration begins on 4 October 2024 to 12 December 2024. Which is in the timeline if you’re coming to Singapore for Anime Festival Asia in November too.

You can’t pick your coasters as it’s ‘gacha’ based and the 2024’s quality of coasters has improved from the 2023 version!

No tablemat for 2024 but instead we got photo covers instead! Unfortunately I didn’t get Marine in the Aniplus collab goodies but I got her when I bought a polaroid gacha card in the merch area anyway. These photo card holders are way nicer than the table mats of 2023 and easier to keep!

Cheers to you guys anyway!

We chose Korone’s Choconana and Mio’s cola drink since it looks good.

I had Marine’s fish and chips with calamari rings.

Mio’s rice is limited per day apparently. It’s stated in the fine print there.

And there’s Pekora’s curry rice. It’s pretty cute.

This time we didn’t try the desserts so we can’t review it. I can definitely say the food has improved from last year.

I realized what would make things better is if Aniplus Cafe had a condiments station. Perhaps some chilli sauce, salt, pepper shakers and such might help too.

Oh the staff ARE friendly and polite and the chef did ask us on the food too.

Bye bye Badoque

When the announcement of Badoque was closing was out on Instagram, I had to book it with my friends to eat there one last time.

It had been there for 18 years at Simpang Bedok and on 15 September 2024, it is set to close.

Yes, this post is not really a review post unless you’re from the future, you read this and had a time machine to go back to taste all the good restaurants in Singapore before it closed.

Being one of the first famous Halal western/fusion restaurants in Singapore, Badoque had been so iconic in the East side.

This is their mojito and their cups were really jug sized and value for money.

You need to understand, this wasn’t a thing amongst restaurants back then when it started. Having a huge cup that was more like a jug for a whole drink and at such affordable prices? Mixing sodas were also not a thing when it was first released.

You either get a drink that’s just a soda not a mocktail and definitely not at these sizes in regular restaurants.

Kepak bing bing. It’s a pun on the sound you get when you play the kompang. And kepak is ‘wing’ in Malay. It’s a spicy chicken wings appetizer that goes really well with that squeeze of lime on it.

Breaded oysters. Can you guys tell me where else can I get breaded oysters at a reasonable price now? And done well with their chilli sauce and just a bit of a salad and lemon squeeze for bit of acidity.

There was once we thought “Huh, breaded oysters, maybe it won’t be that much, let’s get two” and it was too much because we ordered other appetizers too for the group. We didn’t think it was going to be a lot but as most of the Badoque’s menu.

The portions are always just so generous.

I ordered a lamb shank because their beef ribs were already sold out by the time we were there. According to the server, everyone had heard of the announcement and had booked it to Badoque.

We were going on a weekday evening so I would imagine the last few days and even last day to be the busiest for goodbyes.

Maybe we can’t order again, but I’ll always remember this lamb shank to have the most delightful sauce with the lamb shank itself being so soft and tender. You didn’t need a knife, you can even use a spoon with it.

Lamb Bukhari is another lamb shank but with rice and the sauce. Can you see how portions are big and the TASTE was always flavourful with spices and the chef knows how to have it all balanced with just a bit of acidity too with the fattiness of the meats.

Other stuff we ordered was Lamb Bamia (comes with a lot of bread for their sauces), breaded chicken steak and fish and chips. Mind you, even their fish and chips weren’t the regular ones but 4 individually breaded fried fish. None of that tasteless sutchi fish either.

So howlah.

They have such high quality food and drinks.

All I can say is thank you for the memories.

Food places in Singapore, when they’re good, they’re good but they always seem to have an end either due to rental prices or life or anything.

But it just means we should always appreciate it when they are there.

If you do actually have a time travel machine, I think it’s your mission to try out all the hawker shops and restaurants that have closed in Singapore. Badoque should be in one of the lists.

After all, I don’t think visiting food places would make too much of a difference in the time continuum, would it…?

Hirzi’s Raya-naissance

The last time I attended Hirzi’s show which wasn’t a “regular” comedy type show was the Munah & Hirzi Curtain Call in 2018. So when I saw this was going to be a:

A Hari Raya Open House

An Eid It All – Raya Buffet

A Renaissance Concert Parody

A Concept Comedy Show

A Cultural Extravaganza

A Love Letter from Hirzi

I figured I should try get ticket especially when there’s going to be a buffet too (lol). Just know this isn’t a post of a review of the show but mostly for memories cause this Raya-naissance happened during our raya in the year 2024.

This event was held Lagun Sari. Which is pretty hyped. For those who don’t know Lagun Sari, it’s a wedding venue mostly for Malay weddings and their food is good but besides that, I was more intrigued cause that means the decor would really be fancy too.

It’s not often you can be a food reviewer at a comedy show but I got my friend to come with me cause I wanted her to try out Malay food and know the culture too cause I was more than sure Hirzi would be able to draw it out easily in his content.

The pengat pisang was delicious and I had to introduce that to her cause either it’s only home made or you had to get it at caterers like these. There was an instagram post saying that the menu for the last encore show would be “Nusantara” themed and then as I queued up…

I saw Ngoh Hiang and was ?????????????? It was next to gado-gado so ok, I guess (it was also punchline somehow in the show too).

As for the show itself. I won’t post segments, since you had to be there and it was truly a safe space for comedy and observations. The VIP guests were also pretty “woah” to me cause you had theatre practitioners (to say the least!), noteable journalists and other significant “serious” media types that knew how to appreciate a show like this.

The flow was so good, the drag queens were wonderful and the comedy segments did make everyone laugh. The lipsync dance segments was entertaining and you know, why I wanted to bring my friend to this show is that through the comedy segments I know there will be educational or moments of reality.

Of the (not so) subtext of our Malay culture in Singapore and the people.

The ‘final’ punchline though, if you would call it that. The whole theme about Raya really was hard hitting. It’s close to the heart and it’s one of those things where, you can’t really write about but if you do have a chance to go to a grand Hirzi show, you’ll feel it.

This was apparently Dew Francis’ second time doing stand up comedy and I have to hand it to him cause he’s pretty funny. There’s some stand up comedians that make me wonder if my sense of humour is broken but no, he’s good at timing and the payoff too.

For the record, to Dew and Hirzi. You guys are so right on the hijabsters having totally interesting hairstyles.

While the Munah & Hirzi Curtain Call show had a wedding and kompang performance, 6 years later we finally had the reception at Lagun Sari with dikir barat.

And with that…

Global Mat Soul Kitchen’s briyani

Disposable box of briyani and pineapple achar — The box of briyani with achar

It was more than a month ago (some time in September 2022) when I saw the notification from Global Mat Soul Kitchen’s instagram that he was opening orders for his “mutton ov doom” aka mutton briyani.

I had followed his account for much longer and since it was the first time in a long while that I finally got that notification, I knew I had to try it.

Were all those articles about his briyani being the best really true? What is all the hype about it? What’s this mysterious briyani?

To get it, you had to follow the exact instructions and be polite about it because hey, this person really did cook food for you if you managed to get an order in time.

What I had to do was message my order, follow said instructions and go to the specified pick up point with my own plastic bag. Remember! Bring your own bags and make it sturdy. There has been a sad tale when one customer’s plastic bag broke and all the beautiful briyani was strewn upon the cement floor.

At this point of blog post, you might ask me was it worth it?

Well, duh. Yes, it is.

But hey, this is a Sarah post, so heck that if you wanted a tl;dr version you’d read other people’s reviews with pictures.

Springleaf Prata’s Praclette

The Springleaf Prata’s Praclette is the 2021 Ultimate Series offer.

I told my friends and viewers, if I got at least 250 subscribers on youtube, I will try it out and do a reaction video of how it tastes like since one of them is in Malaysia and wanted to know what is this prata.

Here you go, this is my take. Maybe you’d like to try the praclette yourself since everyone has different tastes.