JB Ah Meng: You don't have to cross the causeway for some JB food!

White Pepper Crabs. $20 for 3 small crabs.

Ever heard people say that the food in JB is really great? Yeah, I believe it too. But everytime I think about going into JB, the traffic jam at the causeway and the potential of losing your car and a few bucks is always a big deterrant. So what is the next best thing? Well, the next best thing is to have a JB restaurant right here in Singapore, I guess.

Now, even though there is a Restaurant called Ah Meng in JB, this is not a branch of that restaurant. Neither is the owner from JB. So how can a restaurant in Geylang, run by Singaporeans give themselves a name like JB Ah Meng? Marketing gimmick perhaps?

Well, according to the owners, the chefs are all from JB, but then again many Cze Char cooks are now from across the causeway anyway. The second reason cited is the fact that the dishes are all JB inspired dishes. Mind you, they even admit that they were past favourites of JB, not even the current ones.


JB Sanlou Fried Bee Hoon

Perhaps the most signature dish they have here is the fried Bee Hoon. This outstandingly austere dish is served with the veggies hidden at the bottom so that unsuspecting carnivores would not baulk at the greens. So all you are going to see is this flat bed of crispy black bee hoon. I had to toss it a bit to make it look nicer for the camera. Even then, it still looks pretty boring.

But never judge a dish by the way it looks. Perhaps the unattractiveness of the dish is meant to fool you into lowering your expectations to rock bottom. But when you actually taste it, it is quite different. Very much like the Susan Boyle phenomenon eh?

One reader remarked that fried Bee Hoon is one dish which I have not blogged about yet. So here it is at last. A fried Bee Hoon that I will highly recommend for anyone who likes it. Actually Bee Hoon is an excellent medium for soaking up flavours. So after this I am on the look out for more Bee Hoon dishes to try! 4.25/5


Deep Fried Eggplant

If you like white pepper crabs, it is quite good here. The only problem is that they don't have those huge Sri Lankan Crabs but instead have the small ones, so you will be getting a claw the size of a teaspoon as opposed to one that is as big as a Ping Pong bat. But the sauce is very tasty and the meat is sweet and quite solid. For $20 for 3 crabs, it is quite a good feed. 4.25/5

The last dish which I would recommend is the Fried Eggplant. The Eggplant is first fried in a Tempura like batter and then stir fried in a yummy oyster sauce based gravy. Somehow I just like the contrast of the crispy batter to the smooth and creamy eggplant inside. At first Amagada thought it was some deep fried fish fat! Can't really tell you what went into the sauce, but I was just picking away at the dish till it was all finished. (It doesn't help when the kids don't like eggplant) 4.25/5

Conclusion

If you are looking for a Cze Char with a difference which is opened till the wee hours of the morning and is not too expensive, then this is it! Of course, I still think that the food across the causeway is better, but hey Geylang is much less hassle!

JB Ah Meng
New Good Place Eating House
5pm to 3am daily
2 Geylang Lor 23 (Geylang Road side)
67412418

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Simon Road Oyster Omelette: Crispy or Sticky?

With Wahcow


One of the things that I realise when I was in Penang was how much the Singapore coffeeshop scene has changed. In Penang you get to see what our coffeeshops were like back in the 70's and 80's. In those days, the hawker stalls were still placed at the front of the coffeeshops so that customers can just walk along the outside of the coffeeshop to see what is being offered. Another thing I noticed is that the individual stalls in Penang don't have their own names. It was simply "beef kway teow" or "char kway teow" and the way to identify them was to mention the name of the coffeeshop. I can't remember if that is also the case for Singapore. Does anyone remember?

Anyway, if you want to see what coffeeshops were like in the old days, here is one which hasn't changed for the last 30 years. There are three stalls here and they are all pretty good. I have already mentioned the Hokkien Mee in my last post. So in this post I just wanted to post pictures of the other two stalls here.



The Oyster Omelette here is very popular and this uncle still adheres to the Oyster Omelette credo of "Really hot pan with lots of good lard" (Teochew: Jiak Tia Gao Lar). If your doctor has warned you about your cholesterol levels, then you shouldn't continue reading this post.

Oyster Omelette is one of those things that should be very difficult to get wrong. I mean, fried eggs in lots of oil is a very simple and tasty combination which we often take for granted until we are out camping. Trust me, a good fried egg is a godsend during reservist training when you are somewhere in Neo Tew in the middle of the night after having to eat combat rations.

And yet, some hawkers can still get it dreadfully wrong when they don't get the consistency of the starch right. A good oyster omelette should be nice and crispy on the outside but still sticky with a good amount of well fried eggs. It really is one of those things that you can do at home and still come out pretty good. If you don't believe me, you could try it at home yourself. All you need is a packet of sweet potato starch, a few eggs, fish sauce and oysters or any other seafood like prawns. Just add water to the pototo starch and test fry some in a hot pan until you get the right consistency. Once you have the right consistency, pour some into the hot pan, add the eggs and then add the seafood. Dash of fishsauce, chopped cilantro on top and voila, a great omelette and it doesn't have to be overly oily.

But if you are the type who can't fry an egg, then you can go to this stall and let this uncle fry one for you. As I said, he is still very old school, so you can watch your omelette being "deep fried" with lot of oil. The end product is a crispy oyster omelette which is sinfully good. Well, it would have been better if the uncle wasn't so enthusiastic about frying it to a crisp. I was told later that the plate we had was a little overfried and that usually it would have sticky gooey bits. But hey if you like it crisp, this one is for you. I would give it 4/5 for the dish I had that day, but I am confident that it would get a higher rating when I come back the next time and tell the uncle not to overdo the crispy bit.



Just a quick mention about the satay and chicken wing stall here. The satay is alright and I am always grateful for any satay when I eat Hokkien Mee. The chicken wing on the other hand is actually better than average. Not the best but worthy of mention. The taste is a little unique and it is not overly heavy on the five spice powder. I would order this again. 4/5

Conclusion

Traditional little coffeeshop where you still get to see the hawkers frying their stuff on the outside. With a Hokkien Mee, Oyster Omelette and a Satay stall, it would almost seem that it is a coffeeshop designed to be a supper place. Definitely a place to put on your supper list.

Oyster Omelette
Nam Heng Restaurant
Corner of Simon Road and Upper Serangoon Road
Open in the evenings till around 10pm

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Tai Shek Hai House of Bamboo Noodles: So Good You can Eat it on its Own!

Freshly made Bamboo Noodles

There are two kinds of people when it comes to Wanton Mee. There are those who consider the whole dish as a package, so a good plate of Wanton Mee means the sauce, the charsiew, the wanton and the noodles all have to be good. Then there are those who focus just solely on the noodles.

I used to be the former. Now I am both.

In Singapore, where virtually all the egg noodles have been procured from factories, it is very difficult to appreciate a good egg noodle. In the past, some hawkers such as Fei Fei used to make their own noodles and it is the quality and taste of their noodles that set them apart. Most wanton mee stalls nowadays buy theirs from factories. There are of course different grades of egg noodles that you can buy and some stalls pride themselves for buying a better grade noodle. Some even have their noodles specifically made to an old family recipe. But it is not the same as having the noodles made in the restaurant itself where the emphasis is on producing a fragrant egg noodle that can be eaten on its own.


Kneading the Dough with Bamboo Machine

Nowadays, we are seeing La Mien being made on the spot and so the humble noodle is back in the spotlight again. In Japan, there are restaurants who also make Soba noodles on the spot and the Japanese, in true Zen tradition, focus their attention solely on the noodles. In Singapore, our humble mee kia has always been taken for granted but I am glad to say that that is about to change.


Soft and delicate texture

The house of Bamboo Noodles was started because the owners loved the taste of these noodles while travelling in Guangzhou and just could not find the same stuff in Singapore. These noodles are essentially the egg noodles that we are all familiar with, except that they are made using a bamboo pole to knead the dough. Traditionally, this meant that the noodle maker would have to sit astride the bamboo pole and use his weight to apply force onto the the dough. But our friends from the restaurants decided to design a machine to do the job instead. This is good because I think some people (especially those from the NEA) might object to the fact that the bamboo was in contact with someone's bum.I got to handle some of the raw noodles and I must say I found it rather therapeutic. The freshly made noodles had a rather fragrant aroma and because of the kneading process, they were made without the addition of "Kee" (alkali). The noodles were delicate and springy and when you release them, they would slowly retract to their original state. You should try playing with a ball of uncooked noodles so you can appreciate the fragrance and texture of it.


Plain Noodles tossed in oil

The Wanton noodles are usually served Hong Kong style, with a black soy based sauce. But I requested mine to be served plain, just tossed in a bit of oil because I wanted to focus my senses on just the texture and fragrance of the noodles itself. I found the texture of the noodles to be excellent. It was light and springy and firm to the bite without being too stringy. It is one of the best egg noodle I have tasted so far. 4.5/5 The normal sauce which they use for the wanton mee still needs more work so if you order a normal plate of Wanton mee, it might taste like just another plate of wanton mee which you can get anywhere.


Fried Egg Noodles $6.80

My favourite version of fried egg noodles is what is commonly known as "Hong Kong Mee" at our Cze Char stalls. I was very impressed when the Hong Kong Mee was presented because the fragrance of the Wok Hei and the egg noodles was so strong I could smell it when I was taking the photos. If you enjoy Hong Kong Mee, this is a must try. I suggested to Amy that if crab meat could be added to the noodles, it would be even more delectable. 4.5/5


Specialty Tobiko Fried Dumpling $4

The stallowners are quite adventurous in experimenting with food, so you sometimes get a fusion of Japanese and Chinese cuisine like their wanton which has Tobiko (Flying Fish Roe) in it. I like the wantons, which I thought were substantial and quite tasty, but the Tobiko doesn't add any value for me. 3.75/5


Spinich Soup $4

I also quite like the Spinach soup which is quite similar to a Shark's Fin or Fish Maw Soup. Amagada didn't think much of it though. Like Shark's Fin soup, it is thick and sticky and taken with a dash of black vinegar 4/5


Deep Fried Golden Mushroom $8

The surprise item of the day has to be the deep fried golden mushrooms. Surprise, because even the kids who usually shun mushrooms managed to finish the whole plate. It is great as a garnish for the plain noodles as the crispiness adds a nice contrast to the chewy noodles. 4.25/5

Conclusion

This is actually my 2nd visit to Tai Shek Hai. When I first visited just prior to their official opening in September, I felt that the food was not good enough to blog, since then, they have really improved on the noodles and managed to come up with a few dishes which are really quite good. The fact that they painstakingly make their own noodles is a good thing and I hope to see more eateries doing the same and refocussing our attention back to the humble mee kia which is actually quite tasty on its own when it is done right.

PS:

They do sell their noodles raw as well. I cooked some of the noodles myself at home and it is faster to cook than instant noodles. Just rinse the flour from the noodles and put them in boiling water and count to 15 slowly. Then strain the noodles and they are ready to eat. I just added some shallot oil, Goma Sauce and Pork Floss and it was marvellecious. If you have some Hae Bee Hiam, that would work too!

Tai Shek Hai House of Bamboo Noodles
283/285 Joo Chiat Road
Jn of Koon Seng and Joo Chiat Road
Singapore 427539
63455095
10.30am to 11pm daily
This was an invited review

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Hand in Hand Beijing Restaurant: Xiao Long Bao is here to stay

With Sumosumo, Champagne, Mr Yakwang, Jems and our latest makankaki, lovejade

Xiao Long Bao $6.50 for rack of 8

Some foods come and go, but I think in the case of Xiao Long Bao (XLB), it has gone past the stage of being a fad to becoming a firm favourite amongst Singaporeans. And I would not be surprised if 20 years from now, XLB is considered as Singaporean as Hokkien Mee. Although it is still sold mainly in restaurants at the moment, we are beginning to see some stalls beginning to sell them in Hawker Centres.

Now, you might think that it is far fetched to say that the XLB will become a Singaporean dish, we might as well say that Pasta will be considered a Singaporean dish since we are beginning to see lots of stalls in hawker centres selling Italian food. But there is one big difference. We are going to have a bigger population of Singaporeans of Northern Chinese descent in the future. Right now, they are still considered "China born Chinese" but their offspring will become Singaporean and bring with them their own cuisine and culture. So as our Dialect mix of mainly Southern Chinese become more diluted with the Northerners, our "local" food will surely change as well.


Testing the Xiao Long Bao skin for resilience

Anyway, I for one have grown to like this little dumpling a lot and whenever I hear of a new eatery selling it, I am always tempted to go try them out. So when Sumosumo started raving about the food at this place, it did not take us long to organize a makan session to check out the XLB.

I think part of the success of the XLB is the fact that it is a dumpling with distinct characteristics. It is easy to tell if the XLB is good or not even before you put it into your mouth. When you get presented with your rack of XLB, the first thing to observe is the number of folds it has and whether the skin is thin enough to see the pool of soup inside. Then comes the acid test which is the ability to pick up the XLB without the skin breaking. Some restaurants take so much pride in this that should your XLB burst before you put it in your mouth, that they would happily replace the XLB should it burst before its appointed time.

Well, the XLB here certainly passed the skin and soup test, what remains is the taste of the meat and the soup which I thought was very good but just lacks that X factor to make it truly exceptional. At $6.50 for a rack of 8 XLB, it is certainly good enough to make me think of coming back and ordering 2 racks and a pot of tea for a nice lunch. 4.25/5


Seaweed Tofu $9.80

There were several other dishes here that were surprisingly good. The homemade Seaweed Tofu was unexpectedly good. This is one of those really popular dishes that a lot of restaurant and Cze Char places are dishing up nowadays, so I have had it on numerous occasions, but this one really stood out. The tofu itself was very eggy and there was something in the sauce that had that "eat more rice" quality about it. 4.5/5


Sliced Pork Belly with Garlic and Chilli oil $9.80

The other dish that we ended up ordering extra plates of was the Sliced Pork Belly with Garlic and Chilli Oil. Everyone was quite unanimous about this dish. It is quite addictive and is an excellent first dish to wet your expectation for the rest of the meal. Actually we had it as a first dish and the last dish since we couldn't get enough of it. 4.5/5


Bittergourd with salted egg

The bittergourd dish drew mixed responses. Some of our kakis really loved it but I felt that the combination of bitter with salty just did not do it for me. Bitter goes well with sweet, like coffee or Durians, but bitter with salty is a difficult combination to get right. 3/5


Pancake with Chives $6.80

The Pancake with Chives was a little different from the usual as it had minced pork in it. For $6.80 it was excellent value I thought. Tastewise I felt that the crust lacked a certain amount of chewiness underneath the crispy crust. However, the mince pork gave it a great savoury flavour. 4/5

Conclusion

Fancy finding a Little Chinese Restaurant in Little India. If you are looking for an alternative place for your Xiao Long Bao fix, you might just like to pay this place a visit. Parking is convenient, prices are reasonable and there are a couple of dishes that will make you go "Phwaa!". Another great thing is that they open till midnight, just in case you suddenly get a craving for XLB late at night.

What to do next?

We did a poll to see how people eat their XLB, the results are here

Hand in Hand Beijing Restaurant
141-143 Jalan Besar
Between Hindoo and Veerasamy Roads
68415301
11am to 12 midnight daily

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Heng Carrot Cake: Something in Newton worth going for

With Cactuskit, Wahcow and Sumosumo


Judging from the comments so far, it is quite clear that many of our readers regard Newton Food Centre as a place for tourists which was my perception as well. However, I must say that Newton Food Centre actually turned out to be better than we expected. Both Cactuskit and I
haven't been back here for awhile, but we both felt that there was quite an air of expectation about the whole place. I was interested to see just how bad the touting really is, but after trying to get myself touted for awhile, I would say that the touting problem is about the same as the Satay sellers at East Coast Lagoon. This place does indeed have Singapore's greatest concentration of BBQ seafood stalls though, which I guess is so because the hawkers want to cash in on high priced items.

However it would be unfair to say that all the hawkers there are out to make a quick buck from the tourists. In fact, I think the hawkers there know that they still have to cater to the locals in order to survive, especially those that are selling the less touristy items like Seafood BBQ.



Now, if you are one of those who shun Newton Food Centre then you might just miss out on this Carrot Cake which was surprisingly quite good. They have been there since Newton Food Centre was first built in 1971 and are still steaming their own Carrot Cake because they insist that home made carrot cake still tastes better.

Their efforts are quite evident in the white version. The texture of the carrot cake was just nice. It is softer and more "wobbly" than the commercial version and you can make out the strips of radish in it. It is fried till crispy on the outside but moist and soft on the inside and was very tasty. It definitely is not the best a carrot cake can get, since they avoid the use of lard, but it is certainly one of the best ones I have tasted. The black version is also very good and they managed to fry it till it is nice can caramalized. This might be one of the rare occasions where I find that both the white and black versions are just as good. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Very good homemade Carrot Cake and though it is in Newton, they still sell it at $3 per plate which I think is quite reasonable. It is certainly one stall which I would go to Newton Food Centre for.

Heng Carrot Cake
Newton Food Centre
Stall 28
Opened in the Evenings only

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Bee Heng Poh Piah: What is your opinion of Newton Food Centre?

With Wahcow, Sumosumo and Cactuskit


I know that a lot of Singaporeans avoid going to Newton Food Centre as it is often seen as a tourist trap. Furthermore, many foodies also lament the fact that the food there is not outstanding and that there are nicer hawker food elsewhere at lower prices. That's is a bit of a shame because I think that this is the most well known hawker centre amongst our tourists.

I must admit that I haven't been to Newton Food Centre for at least 18 years since I left to pursue my degree in Sydney. In those days I remembered Newton as a great place to eat. I wasn't really into documenting great eats then, so I can't really tell you which stall was good. It was still a tourist trap to be sure, but at least I remember that the food was good. When I got back, it seemed that Newton had become a place that is more well known for its touts and exorbitant prices which is why I haven't even thought of going there for a meal.

Well, I think that this blog will not be complete without the mention of our most famous Hawker Centre so I decided that I need at least give it a chance. Fortunately, it turns out that one of our regular kakis (Wahcow) was quite a regular at the place and had a few things which he felt could be recommended. I am sure there are many readers out there who have their own favourites at the food centre to recommend so I am going to start with a couple of stalls and see if there are other worthy mentionables to bring us back for a repeat visit.

Let's start with Bee Heng Poh Piah because it is the one facing the car park and it claims to have been around since 1930. First thing that caught my eye was the price: $1.80 each with minimum order of 2 rolls. Hmmm.... it is beginning to look like Newton is living up to its infamy.

The Poh Piah was pretty decent though, so it wasn't a complete waste of $3.60. The filling was pretty good and the crispy bits were quite nice. But for me, I like my Poh Piahs really turgid and looking like it is going to burst at the seams like the ones at Kway Guan Huat, so it wasn't something I would go out of my way to eat. But if you are at Newton, it is quite an acceptable side dish to order along with your other dishes. 4/5

Conclusion

So what do you all think of Newton Food Centre? With so many BBQ seafood stalls around, I am sure there must be one that is good and reasonably priced that can be recommended. Or do you all think that Newton Food Centre really is just a place which is set up specifically to cater to Tourists and that locals should avoid it?

Bee Heng Newton Food Centre
Stall 12 (Facing Car Park)
12am to 12pm
Closed Thursday

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Ming Kee Fuzhou Fish Balls:

It was reported that a recent poll done by Shin Min newspaper voted Tampines Round Market the Best Hawker Centre in Singapore. OK, I agree Tampines Round Market has got a pretty good selection of Hawkers but I was suprised that it was voted the best. If you ask me, I think Old Airport Road Food Centre should be one of the contenders for Best Hawker Centre. The other contenders in my books would be Maxwell Road and Golden Mile Food Centres.

How would you judge a great food centre? For me it is mainly based on the number of great stalls around and the variety of food that you can find there. So, on one of those "Don't know what to eat days" you should be able to just pop down to the Food Centre, have a look around, and end up with a table full of great eats. And for me, Old Airport Road Food Centre is just one of those places. There are lots of good stalls around and I think you can find almost any hawker dish there, even uncommon ones like this Fuzhou Fish Ball noodle. And it is not just that it is available, this particular stall also happens to be quite popular and there is almost a perpetual queue till around 11pm when they close.



If you are looking for something warm for a light supper, this Fuzhou Fishball and Meatball soup might just do the trick and it is quite good value too! For $3, we counted at least 4 of each type of ball. The Meatball is a bit unusual and is sort of like a big Wanton that is filled with a pork filling. It has quite a special taste and is something you don't come across very often because it is imported from China (which might not be a good thing nowadays, but I still quite like it).



The Fuzhou Fishball is specially made in their factory and for those who might not have come across it yet, it is basically a fishball filled with meat. Fuzhou style fishball has quite a different texture to Teochew fishball as there is a higher ratio of flour to fish meat. So it is more doughy rather than springy to the bite. The soup is tasty (?msg++) and full of protein precipitate. 4/5

Unfortunately, most of our kakis found the Bak Chor Mee so so only. Nothing exceptional but an above average Bak Chor Mee which you can find late at night if you are hankering for this dish. 3.75/5

Conclusion

I am not really familiar with Fuzhou food. Any Fuzhou people out there who would like to recommend other Fuzhou places to eat?

Meng Kee Foo Chow Fish Balls
Old Airport Road Food Centre
Stall 103 (Facing Main Road)
7am to 11pm daily
Closed on Sundays

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Swee Guan Hokkien Mee: It's at Geylang Lor 29!

Xtra Large Plate Hokkien Mee $20 (for 3-4 persons)

Now if you are at Geylang Lor 29 to try the Pork Belly Satay, don't forget to order a plate of Hokkien Mee to go along with it. Hokkien Mee and Satay is my number one, all time favourite Singapore hawker combo. So it is a bonus to find two really good stalls side by side.

Now it might be a little confusing but this Hokkien Mee that is located at Geylang Lor 29 is not called "Geylang Lor 29" Hokkien Mee, but rather "Swee Guan" Hokkien Mee. The "Geylang Lor 29" Hokkien Mee is located at Telok Kurau instead. Both are using charcoal to fry the Hokkien Mee and as you might have guessed, this is another of those hawker family stories where the famous patriachal hawker had a few kids who went their own way to start new branches to carry on their father's legacy. It has happened with Beach Road Prawn Noodles, Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow, Rochor Bean Curd and many more.

As far as I know, there are three members of the same family who still use Charcoal to fry their Hokkien Mee. They all originated from the original Geylang Lor 29 stall. The other two have already been blogged viz Uncle Alex's Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee and his sister-in-law's stall, Charcoal Fried Hokkien Mee. This stall thus completes the trio of stalls that continue the Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee tradition.

The style of the Hokkien Mee is similar at all three stalls. They use thin bee hoon to fry and it tends to come out a little gooey but full flavoured. This stall though is a little cheaper, being in Geylang, and the prawns are slightly larger. Tastewise it is definitely one of the better Hokkien Mees around that will complement Pork Satay perfectly! 4.25/5

Conclusion

Satay and Hokkien Mee! Any others also like this combination? What other combination of hawker foods do you all enjoy? I know Prawn Mee and Ngoh Hiang is another favourite of many people.


Swee Guan Hokkien Mee
Geylang Lor 29 (Geylang Side)
5pm to 11pm daily





What to do next?

Try Kwong's Pork Satay next door
Check out the other stalls in Geylang
Check out the other famous Hokkien Mee Stalls

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Kwong Satay: Kushiyaki style Pork Belly Satay!

With Holydrummer, Holybunny, Wahcow, Cactuskit, Khim, Amagada, Denniz

Kwong's Premium Pork Belly Satay $1ea

I had a dream.

I dreamt that I was eating Pork Belly Kushiyaki (Butabara) and all the wonderful juice was bursting out in my mouth as I sank my teeth into the springy flesh. But in my dream, instead of the plain salt and pepper marinade, the pork was marinated Hainanese satay style and I enjoying the sweet fragrance of the cumin, coriander, five spice powder and saffron....yummm...

Then I woke up right at the part where my pastor said: "And in conclusion......."


Pork Belly Satay on the grill (note size of the normal satay beside it)

Now that I had that dream, I just couldn't get it out of my mind. Somehow, I had to find some Satay seller who is willing to take on my idea. As if by divine intervention, I stumbled upon this blog whose author just happened to be the daughter of Kwong's Satay whom I blogged about a while ago. In her blog post, she said that she was pleasantly surprised that one day, person from one of Singapore's major organizations called up to place an order for a large function. She found out later that they had found out about them from reading my blog post! So since I knew she was happy, I decided it was an opportune time to try my luck and see if they would agree to my idea of a Kushiyaki style Pork Belly Satay.

So that is how our group of Makan Kakis ended up in Geylang Lor 29 one evening to taste-test the latest "ieat creation". The majority of the makan kakis including myself gave it a 4.75/5 for being the juiciest and best tasting satay (certainly the largest). Cactuskit was not as ecstatic as he did not like fats in his satay (where got pork satay with no fats?) but still gave it a 4.25/5. The satay is almost 2 and a half times their normal Pork Loin Satay, so I guess the price of $1 is justified and furthermore you are getting Pork Belly meat which is more expensive than Pork Loin.


Original Pork Satay 40 cents each

Don't miss out on the normal Pork Satay (40 cents) as well as the two meats are different. The normal Pork Satay is more tender compared to the Pork Belly which is a little more chewy but more flavoursome and juicy. One of the secrets of Kwong's satay is that he still insists on using Saffron ($6000 per kg) in the marinade which made it very aromatic. 4.5/5

The peanut sauce comes with crushed pineapple which would please most foodies. However, I did feel that the sauce could have been more "peanutty" to make it even shioker. The Ketupat is very nice as they use pandan leaves instead of coconut. Have a bit of a sniff before you pop it into your mouth when you try it.

Somehow, I felt that the Satays here at the original stall taste better than the one that I blogged earlier at one of the franchisees. It could have something to do with the high turnover of the satays as well as the person who is actually doing the grilling.The original owner, Mr Kwong has since passed on the everyday running of the stall to his disciple whom he has trained in the art of Satay BBQing. He now concentrates on supplying his satay to various stalls around Singapore (as well as home parties). However, he can still be spotted at the stall occasionally since it was where he first started his business in the 80's.

Conclusion

One of the most memorable Satay experiences for me and, I hope, for you too!

Post Script:

This is already quite a popular stall on weekends, so be prepared to wait for your satay!

Kwong Satay Geylang Lor 29 (Geylang side)
5pm - 11pm
closed on alt Wednesdays (This wed open)
Home orders available from Kwong's
Call 6565 0002 Judy
www.kwongsatay.com.sg

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Carrot Cake: Lots of Stalls at Chomp Chomp with no name

With sumosumo, jems, carnineviand, ping, pong, champagne, Mr YaKwang, Holybro, Holydrummer


You would think that any stall that can do a white carrot cake will be able to do a black one as well right? Afterall, it is a matter of adding black sauce and how hard can that be? But the fact is that most Carrot Cake stalls I know of are either good for the white or the black but not both. Will that be your observation as well?



For this particular stall, it is the white version that is the best version. The carrot cake fried till it is nice and crispy and the nice savoury flavour comes from the secret recipe fish sauce which has gone through some tweaking, plus the addition of prawns when they fry the carrot cake. The outsourced carrot cake is not bad, quite soft, according to Jems who likes it this way. Sumosumo also gave his approval for the white without chilli. 4.25/5

This particular stall has been around for quite a while. It is one of these Heritage Hawker stalls where the business has been passed down from father to son. The old man used to peddle his carrot cake around the Philip St area in Serangoon and settled at Chomp Chomp since 1976. The old man is still around, but his son has well and truly taken over and Dad refused to have his picture taken and insist that the limelight be shone upon his son instead. But after much coaxing he finally relented. I just wanted to post his picture so that those of you who have been eating at this stall for eons will perk up and say, "Hey, I have been buying from this man since his son was still waist high!" Hands up anyone?

Conclusion

Very good white Carrot Cake and worth having a plate on your table as part of your hawker feast.

Carrot Cake
Stall 36 Chomp Chomp Food Centre
(Front of the food centre on the right)
Opened 5.30pm to 12 midnight
Closed on alternate Tuesdays



What to do next?

Check out other famous Carrot Cake places.
Try the two famous Hokkien Mee there Che Jian and Ah Hock!
Make sure you also get a plate of BBQ Stingray from Boon Tat Street BBQ.
RK House Prata from a across the road is also quite good.

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Ah Hock Hokkien Mee: The Old Man is Back!

With Amagada


Fans of Ah Hock Hokkien Fried Noodles at Chomp Chomp can rejoice as the Old Man who has been frying Hokkien Mee there for the last thirty years has finally come out of retirement and is now back in a frying frenzy.

Chomp Chomp is one of those places that somehow still manages to keep its old world charm despite its recent renovations. The fact is that I haven't been to Chomp Chomp for at least 25 years, so actually I am not that familiar with the place. But, when I got there I could just feel the buzz in the air. Maybe it is just that it is cramped and looks as if there are too many stalls and too few seats. Or perhaps it is the sound of clanging woks and the extra saturated smell of frying food in a tight space that creates the atmosphere of intense anticipation. Whatever it is, hawker food needs to be eaten in a place such as this which is why it loses its charm when served in a Hotel.



Yes, there is that element of authenticity in the Hokkien Mee. It could be because it was fried by a man whose white hair was flying in the wind like a modern day Beethoven conducting a symphony or the queue of people waiting in line, but somehow all these visual cues also add to the whole Hokkien Mee experience.

Tastewise, it was very good. They use the thin bee hoon here and the noodles were very well fried. I was a little disappointed that there was no pork lard or pieces of pork belly which would have added that extra oomph. Otherwise it was a Hokkien Mee that I certainly wouldn't mind eating again. 4.25/5

Conclusion

So are you a fan of this Old Man? Let us know how long you have been eating there!

Ah Hock Fried Hokkien Noodles
Chomp Chomp Food Centre Stall 27
Serangoon Gardens
5.30pm to 12 plus
Closed once a fortnight

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Chai Chee Pork Porridge: This Teochew Ah Hia actually prefers Hainanese porridge!

Ah, an anonymous reader quipped that being Teochew I only liked the grainy kind of porridge. Not true, not true. My favourite kind of Jok is actually the Hainanese style one which has broken grains in it. I guess it might be something I grew up with. I remember eating Jok almost every Sunday morning with my Dad when we were still living in Toa Payoh lor 8 and it was this kind of Jok. Best thing was that there was a You Char Kway stall in the same market were this old man used to sell 10 for a dollar. Happiness is dipping a freshly fried You Char Kway into hot porridge!



For me, I like my porridge with lots of savoury minced pork balls which have been well seasoned with sesame oil. So the porridge here certainly hit the right buttons in my books. The porridge was nicely flavored which, according the the aunty is attributed to long hours of cooking with the best pork bones a hawker can buy. 4.25/5

Since we are talking about porridge, can I ask our readers what you usually do with the egg? Do you break it, leave it to cook or leave it out entirely?

Conclusion

Great bowl of porridge with savoury minced pork that hits the spot when you need something to warm the tummy on a cool night.

Chai Chee Pork Porridge
FengShan Food Centre
Bedok Blk 85
Opened till late

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Battle of the Bak Chor Mees at Fengshan Food Centre

With Cactuskit and ToothFairy

No. 7's Bak Chor Mee

Ok, many people know about this two Bak Chor Mees at Fengshan Food Centre. But which one is better? Before we set out to answer that question, another interesting thing of note is that when we talk about Bak Chor Mee, most people refer to the dry version with vinegar, chilli and whether they want liver or not. But somehow when they talk about the Bak Chor Mee here, everyone seems to know that we are referring to the soup version of this dish. It almost seem as if this is the only place to eat Bak Chor Mee soup.

So back to the question of which is better. Both stores have got its fair share of accolades but the inner stall (No. 7) seems to get a longer queue of people. So, is this a case of people simply following the crowd or is No. 7's Bak Chor Mee really significantly better than No. 8's?

In true ieatishootipost fashion, we sacrificed our money and calories so that you, dear reader, don't have to.


No. 8's Bak Chor Mee

Just by looking at the 2 bowls of Bak Chor Mee, one notices that No. 8's bowl is bigger. However, the contents of the noodles look quite similar. Perhaps No. 8's has just slightly more minced pork than No. 7's.


No. 8's Bak Chor Mee

Tastewise, the noodles of both stalls were similar. (I wouldn't be surprised if they shared the same supplier!). The soup of No. 7 is just slightly more tasty then No. 8 but the difference is so small that unless you ate them side by side, I doubt that you will be able to tell the difference.

Conclusion

So there you have it. The herd mentality works! The stall with the longer queue does have a better bowl of noodles. However, if you asked me, I would just order from whichever stall has the shorter queue on my next visit.


Xing Ji (Inner Stall)
No. 7
5pm to 1am plus
Closed Mondays

Seng Hiang (Outer Stall)
No 8
5pm to 12.30am Open daily
Fengshan Food Centre
Blk 85 Bedok North Road

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