Cendol Melaka @ Changi Villge Road

Ice cold dessert is the best remedy on a hot afternoon.

Was at Changi Village food centre for nasi lemak and there was a banner in front of a shop located directly opposite Mizzy’s Nasi Lemak stall (at the food centre). It totally attracted my attention where it stated traditional cendol at $.150. Traditional from Malacca. I have been to Malacca once and I have tried the cendol too. It's really nice and so, I told myself to head over after lunch.

For the $1.50 version comes the basic version with only cendol, gula melaka and coconut milk. With additional cost, there will be toppings like red bean and even durian. 

Okay, at a glance, I can't see any shaved ice and it seems that there was too much coconut milk. Gave it a few stirs and the thick of gula melaka and shaved ice was mixed with the green jelly flour. The jelly was really smooth. The cendol was not very sweet to my liking. 

If you happen to be around the area, no harm popping by to have this dessert!

Cendol Melaka

Address:
Blk 1 Changi Village Road
01-2046
S500001

Nasi Lemak @ Changi Village Food Centre

Heard so much about the nasi lemak at Changi Village Hawker Centre but it was too out of the way for me to head there for just nasi lemak. 

So happen that my job gave me the chance to pop by the area and there I headed to find the famous nasi lemak. Basically I googled and Mizzy corner appeared a couple of times and so, that's it. I looked for the stall and okay, no queue for me. 

Well, I was a little disappointed. Not that it is lousy but after all the hype that I heard of, this really does not live up to my expectation.

First, the rice was normal. The egg was normal. 

The chicken wings was not bad, served ho and crispy. 

The ikan bilis was a little too salty. 

Well, the chili was the best - spicy and sweet.

But sometimes I wondered, why does a plate of nasi lemak with a chicken wing, an egg and ikan bilis cost so much?

Nasi Lemak @ Mixxy Corner

Address:
Mizzy Corner Nasi Lemak
Changi Village Market and Food Centre #01-26
2 Changi Village Road

Zi Char @ Telok Blangah Crescent

The family just love to eat Zi Char. A nice place which we have been to a couple of times. Just below one of the HDB flats near the market.

Dim Sum Breakfast at Chinatown

Woke up early for a dim sum breakfast at Chinatown Complex Market. We opt for 香味香港点心 as 旺角点心 is not opened at 9a.m. Okay, both are located just a few stalls away, so if you are heading there for lunch, I think you can try both to see which is better. 

Located on the second floor of Chinatown Complex Market, some might find it a little warm to eat without the aircon. But for the affordable price you are paying for, just bear with the temperature. It is self-service and once you order, they are quite fast in preparing and serving you the food. 

I am not sure how the queue will be formed if the other dim sum stall is opened for business, but there is quite a reasonable long queue at certain intervals - not continuous long queue, if you get what I mean. 

There aren't many dim sum items from the stall but the typical popular dim sum are on the menu. Each item costs $2.20 (Yes, just $2.20) which is really affordable and the freshness of the dim sum is not compromised in any way.

Here's what we ordered - those served in plates are from other stalls - mainly because Mummy thinks they are good! 

Dim Sum- Yummy

The dim sums are served piping hot! For the Har Gow (the dumpling in white with prawn fillings), each plate serves three pieces and it was fantastic. The thickness of the skin was just right and the prawn was fresh and crunchy. Good. For the Siew Mai (the dumpling in yellow), it comes in four. The crunchiness of the dumpling was from the water chestnuts and it complements the fresh pork fillings. Each bite was great! 

For those who like savoury food, can try the chicken feet, the pork ribs and the bean curb skin . For the three items, they are really well-marinated though I found the bean curb skin a little too salty. 

For those who likes fried food, you can tried the fried dumpling. I did not try it so I could not comment further. 

Alright, jumping off to the next stall, we ordered the glutinous rice and the yam cake from 佳记美食. The queue is continuously long. But they are really fast in preparing the orders. Both items are not too bad though I thought they would be more generous in the ingredients. Not every bite of the glutinous rice is completed with peanuts and for the yam cake, I tried better ones elsewhere. 

Last but not least, coffee time! There is a queue in front of the stall - 五十年代. We just joined the queue. Not bad a cup of milk tea which was better than yakun and well, cheaper at $1. 

五十年代 milk tea

335 Smith Street
Chinatown Complex Market

五十年代
#02-048

香味香港点心
#02-101

Jia Ji Mei Shi (佳记美食)
#02-166

Ice Chendol @ Ghim Moh Food Centre - Golden Swallow Dessert

What beats the hot weather than a bowl of Ice Chendol - was around Ghim Moh Food centrre and decided to pop by to beat the heat. Saw the queue at stall 53 - Golden Swallow Dessert - and decided to get a cold dessert to down the heat - BBF J always tell me that this stall seems to be closed almost every other day and it would be hard to find it open. I happened to visit this food centre a couple of times and well, this stall is forever packed with a queue. So, I wonder if she is telling me that this stall does not open in the late evening - that's the time for working adult's dinner. 

So for $1.30, I managed to get a bowl of ice chendol. With all the ingredients like red bean, grass jelly underneath the heap of ice shave, the stallholder poured over the condensed milk and Gula Melaka Syrup. Nice and sinful dessert!

Chendol

Golden Swallow Dessert

Ghim Moh Food Centre
Blk 20 Ghim Moh Road
#01-53

Jing Hua Fried Fish Soup @ Maxwell Road Food Centre

Maxwell Food centre is really a food heaven with many choices. I love to head to Maxwell whenever I am around the area. 

This time round, I headed to Jing Hua Fish Soup stall. There is always a queue at this stall and today, I decided to queue as well. It was a wait of 20 minutes before I reached the front of the stall - ordered the Fried Fish Soup with rice. 

This is simply the most delicious fish soup - the milky fish soup topped with the fried fish slices, the tofu, the vegetables, the seaweed and the fried shallots is marvelous. The broth was very tasty and great and the sesame oil further enhanced it.

Do drop by to eat it if you are nearby! Besides fish soup, they also serve Fish porridge, bee hoon fish soup....

Fish Soup

Stall 77 

Maxwell Road Food Centre
1 Kadayanallur Street #01-97

Apollo Fresh Cockle Fried Kway Teow @ Marine Parade Food Centre

A trip to the east for a healthy evening - cycling trip at East Coast Park for a prelude with my Bali-trip-mates. After the hour of cycling, we decided to walk to Marine Parade Food Centre for dinner. 

The food centre is pretty crowded and most of the stalls are still open. So many choices and guess what, I ended up choosing a sinful dish - Fried Kway Teow. Had been thinking of eating it since a lunch date and finally I got to eat it. 

The only Fried Kway Teow stall that I noticed and there was only one person in the queue. Got in the queue behind her and within minutes, order was taken and the dish was presented to me. Self Service like all other stalls, I obediently took the plate and walked to my table.  

A very basic dish with the very traditional ingredients like cockles, bean sprouts and sausage. The kway teow was not too dry like those I ate before - it is more 'watery' but great. Unlike some stalls, there was no fishcake. Though greasy, you will not grew tired of it. Definitely worth the indulgence in this "high-calorie'' local delight, especially after the cycling exercise. 

Fresh Cockle Fried Kway Teow

Marine Parade Food Centre
#01-174

Hin Fried Hor Fun @ Ghim Moh Food Centre

Back to Ghim Moh Food Centre for lunch as I was around Bouna Vista area and did not want to eat at Star Vista. As it was during the lunch hour, I decided to follow the crowd as I did not have any cravings. Definitely not a soup dish as it was a hot day after all. Indeed, I saw this queue in front of Hin Fried Hor Fun stall. 

The queue

I joined the queue and decided to order the Fish Fried Hor Fun as I do not take beef. Basically this is a stall that is run by two men, one cooking and the other taking orders. The Hor Fun, the ingredients and the sauce are prepared separately. The Hor Fun was fried over a heated work. I waited a while for them to cook the fish. However, the sauce is precooked before hand and was kept warm at the side. It is spooned over the hor fun and fish when I ordered it. 

The stall owner was quite generous in their quantity. The Hor Fun was infused with the ''wok hei'' smell. The fish was tender and fresh. The combination of the sauce, hor fun and fish was great. It would be great if they would give more vegetables. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this Hor Fun.

Fish fried Hor Fun

Ghim Moh Food Centre
Blk 20 Ghim Moh Road
#01-44

Claypot Laksa and Avocado @ Alexandra Village Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa

Alexandra Village Food Centre is considered a great place with many good food. Situated in a neighbourhood, it is also near to Queensway Shopping Centre, Ikea and Anchor Point. 

Happened to be nearby during lunchh time and thus, decided to head there to look for good food. Queues always attracts me to take a second look at the stall and this time round, it is the stall with a bright yellow signboard. "Claypot Laksa" is what the stall is selling. I have my fair share of laksa but this is the first time I saw Laksa served in a Clapot. Laksa, one of the local hawker delights in Singapore. This high-calories but indulging bowl of noodle dish has captivated the tastebuds of many Singaporeans. I made my decision then, and joined the queue. While waiting, I saw that this stall has many newspaper cuttings and photos with celebrities.

Zhen Shan Mei Claypot

I have to say, the laksa gravy is thick and nice. The tau pok absorbed the gravy and made it very nice to eat. Besides tau pok, there are also cockles, fishcakes and shreds of chicken. You can decide how spicy you want the gravy to taste by adding the additional chilli. The combination of taste is really good. I guess with the claypot, it kept the dish hot throughout. 

Claypot Laksa

Had Avocado shake for desserts. Reasonably priced at S$2.50, this thick avocado is really great.

Avocado Shake

Alexandra Village, Singapore 150119
Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa (Bukit Merah Lane)
Stall #01-75
Exotic Juice
Stall #01-19

Hup Kee Wu Xiang Guan Chang @ Maxwell Road Food Centre

It has been 4 years since I last stepped into Maxwell Road Food Centre. Used to patronize the food centre when I was working around the area. There are many food varieties to choose from and the quite popular and I guess have gained more popularity stall will be Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice - where Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay visited for the Singtel Hawker Heroes challenge. And Yes, Tian Tian won Gordon!

But I wasn't craving for chicken rice but Hup Kee Wu Xiang Guan Chang. A simple bee hoon with some side dish. Normally I will go for the set as I believe that all the 'best selling' dish will be in it. For S$3.60 (ok, I remembered 4 years back, it was less than S$3), you get a big plate of bee hoon with 4 different dishes. This stall has many newspaper cuttings and photos with celebrities - this shows how famous it is!

Hup Kee Wu Xiang Guan Chang Set - S$3.60

I have to say, the ngor hiang (五香 / Chinese Five-Spice Pork Roll) is really special as it is red in colour on the inside. I guess it got to do with the spices that the stall owner uses. The ngor hiang are really tasty but small in size. Next is the deep fried fritters on the side. I always wonder what it is made of  as I could not really taste it. I thought it was potato or sweet potato but to my surprise, it is actually deep fried egg. A nice surprise though. Last, is their specialty -guan chang (贯肠) which is their pink pork sausage. It is handmade by the stall owner. It is tender and nice and goes well with the sauce. 

The accompanying  sauce is actually a thick gluey sweet sauce with chilli. Please let the owner knows if you do not take chilli so that he can give you the sweet sauce instead. When mixed, the spicy sweet sauce is lovely. All in all, the bee hoon has got the right texture that went well with all the dishes. 

This dish from this stall brought back memories of me and my ex-colleagues. Is time to ask them out to revisit our favourite Maxwell  Road Food Centre. 

Maxwell Road Food Centre
1 Kadayanallur Street #01-97

Char Siew Wanton Mee @ Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre

My current job allows me to travel around the western part of Singapore and one of my colleagues was recommending a wanton noodle stall at the Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre. But he did not tell me the name of the stall and mentioned that the queue for the stall is always long. So today, I happened to be around the area and I just went to look for the 'long queue wanton noodle' stall. 

I hope I queued at the correct stall. The name of the stall is 'Hao Hao Noodle House' (好好面食之家). It was around lunch time and there were a couple of patrons in front of me. The waiting time is not long at all despite the queue.  

Guess what, for just $2.50, you can get a plate of noodle in Singapore. I think it is quite hard to find such an affordable price in Singapore. Inflation is going up but not from this stall. The man preparing the noodle flip the noodle up in the air before putting it on the plate. Not sure why he did that action but I guess it must have a purpose behind it. Perhaps to improve on the texture of the noodle. 

The noodle is chewy and springy and the portion is relatively huge for just $2.50. I think at other stalls, this plate of noodle could have cost up to $3.50. But I guess the trade off is the quantity of char siew they gave. Though not a lot, but the char siew is tender and nice. There are three wanton (dumplings) in the soup. The ingredients in the wanton is fresh. The dish is good and when mixed with the chilli, soy sauce an lard, the flavours and texture is very well balanced.

Char Siew Wanton Noodle

Will pop back to this stall to try their other type of noodles if I happened to be around the area. 

Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre
Hao Hao Noodle House
118 Commonwealth Crescent #02-83

I love Ice Kachang!

Hot weather again and I got to work outdoor. No office work means no aircon to beat the heat especially when the area you were at does not have a nearby shopping mall. So the next best thing to do is to eat something cold. Ice kachang was the first thing that came to my mind and I went to search for it at Ghim Moh Food Centre. I remembered BFF J told me about a stall at this food centre that sells good local desserts and that the stall owner does not work daily. She mentioned that it really depends on luck if you want to try out the desserts at this stall. But the couple of times which I went, the stall is always opened. Probably I had better luck than her?

Anyway, there were a couple of people in queue when I reached. I guess hot weather will bring good business to desserts stall. Most of them ordered Ice Kachang as well. For the price of $1.30, definitely worth it to get another bowl. But the artificial colouring deters me from doing so.

I remembered, as a kid, I love to eat Ice Kachang. I guess it got to be due to the fact that my family seldom dined out. So in the event that we ate at hawker centres, my parents would order ice kachang for us. As kids, having to eat shaved ice was like a luxury. Eating ice kachang brings back childhood memories. 

Ice Kachang

Ice Kachang is not purely shaved ice. It has hidden 'gems' under the shaved ice. The ingredients that this stall had are red beans, corn, attap seed, and some jellies. Quite a good deal and remember to mix them in order to taste the best of ICE KACHANG!

The hidden ingredients

Golden Swallow Dessert
Ghim Moh Market and Food Centre
Blk 20 Ghim Moh Road #01-53