Jian Po Shui Kueh (Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre)

 

I was curious as there was quite a short queue in front of this stall. I didn't know what it was selling. Thus I decided to check it out. To  my surprise it was Chwee Kueh. Basically I am not a fan of Chwee Kueh as they are too oily and some are really stingy with the Chai Po. And I simply can't put that plain kueh in my mouth when there is not enough chai po.

I have to say that this is the best that I have eaten so far, perhaps it's because I haven't been trying out too many chwee kueh in my life.

What I like most about this Chwee Kueh is actually the Kueh itself! It is salty even if you don't eat it together with the chai po! It is the first chwee kueh that I eat without the chai po! But of course it wouldn't be perfect if not for the chai po and the chilli. They just go well heavenly together! The chai po is not too oily too.

Address: 30 Seng Poh Road Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre

Food: 4.5/5 Burps
Service: 3/5 Burps
Price: 4/5 Burps

178 Lor Mee (Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre)

I have tasted the lor mee here a couple of times and it still remain as one of the top in my list for the lor mee around!

The main reason why I like this lor mee so much is because it is not overly starchy. Many lor mees are too starchy and thick that I can hardly finish every bit of them.

So I ordered the one with the shark meat and it just taste good each time I eat it.

Address: 30 Seng Poh Road Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre

Food: 4/5 Burps
Service: 3/5 Burps
Price: 4/5 Burps

Teochew Fishball Noodles (Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre)

There wasn't much people queuing when I was there about 6+pm. In fact, non of the stalls have any long queues. But when I left about 7+pm, there was a short queue in front of the stall.

Basically this is definitely not the best teochew fishball kway teow that I have ever eaten. I would say that it is not too bad and given so many stalls that are already closed when I was there, this could be one of the more popular stall at that point of time.

I like this kind of thick kway teow for fishball kway teow as it feels more authentic. The fishballs are springy but lack the taste of real fish. I usually like to have ketchup and chilli added to my kway teow/ mee pok dry. But the kway teow here doesn't quite seem to absorb the taste of the ketchup and chilli together well.

Address: 30 Seng Poh Road Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre

Food: 3.5/5 Burps
Service: 3/5 Burps
Price: 4/5 Burps

Zhen Ji (真记) Bak Chor Mee

There are so many delicious bak chor mee all over Singapore. And I would think that this is one that is worth recommending. Although not the most delicious one ever, it is worth giving it a try. Zhen Ji Bak Chor Mee is located in Bendemeer Market and Food Centre. Be prepare for at least a 15 mins queue.

I always add tomato sauce to my bak chor mee if the stall owners are not too grumpy and fussy. So I normally order dry mee pok with chilli and get them to add in tomato sauce too. It taste better and in my own opinion, it taste better. The mee pok at Zhen Ji is springy and as you can see that it comes with 2 fried wanton, 2 meat balls, fish cake, fish dumpling and mushrooms. The used the gravy from the mushroom and the stall owner added alot of them and mixed with the mee pok.

Address: Block 29 Bendemeer Road Bendemeer and Food Centre  #01-21

Food: 4/5 Burps
Service: 3.5/5 Burps
Price: 4/5 Burps

Liang Zhao Ji (梁照记) Duck Porridge Duck Rice

There is always a long queue to this very normal looking stall selling braised duck rice and porridge at Whampoa Market. It is located just next to the very famous Hoover Rojak. I have eaten this for many times and I have to say that the standard fluctuates. The queuing time is about can goes up to 30 mins easily during peak hour.

I prefer the porridge to the rice because it is not too watery and I can still taste the texture of the grains. It will be good to go with some duck liver, gizzard and braised egg. Remember to stir well as most of the sauce in the porridge is at the bottom of the bowl. So stir hard and evenly till the porridge turns a little brown before eating.

Basically the taste of the duck and the sauce are pretty standard. But not the rice. The rice that I have tasted on this particular day is extremely hard. It feels as though the rice is not thoroughly cooked. But there are times when the rice are much softer.

Address: 90 Whampoa Drive  #01-07 Whampoa Drive Makan Place

Food: 3.5/5 Burps
Service:3.5/5 Burps
Price: 3.5/5 Burps 

Sim's Place Prawn Noodles

Situated at Bendemeer Market and Food Centre, there is a prawn noodle stall which is always seen with a long queue at most times. They usually finish selling the prawn noodles after lunch time.

I like this prawn noodles because you are able to substitute prawns for something else. I usually prefer to have pork liver and intestine. If you are a pigs' organ lover like me, then do opt for this instead of the usual prawn.

Since it is famous for it's prawn noodles, therefore I ordered the prawn ones to post it instead. You can see from the colour of the soup how thick and rich the taste will be. Yes it does looks very plain because there is only prawn, beansprout and noodles. Don't be deceive by the looks of it. I have ordered the prawn noodle soup but add another 50 cents to get an additional bowl of soup. It taste good by adding in some chilli powder too.

Address: Block 29 Bendemeer Road Bendemeer and Food Centre  #01-42

Food: 4/5 Burps
Service: 3/5 Burps
Price: 4/5 Burps

China Whampoa Handmade Noodles and Bee Guan Coffee Stall

I would still think that this is one of the better ban mian that I have tasted so far. I haven eaten this for many times and I just don't feel sick about it. The soup of many ban mian, such as Qiu Lian Ban Mian is rather thick and that makes you full very quickly. However this only Ban Mian stall in Whampoa serves it's ban mian in light clear soup which makes you want to have more of the soup. The soup remains piping hot even if you take away.

The man in pink is the owner of the stall. He will be the one taking orders and his wife will be cooking at the back. A lot of times, the stall owners of these hawker stalls tend to get abit impatient and short tempered whenever the queue is long and customers complain about the wait. The stall owner of this ban mian stall remain calm and would apologize for the long wait (which I feel that he need not have apologize because it is not his fault for the long queue!) to this customers.

There are about different types that you can order. Prawns, Pacific Clams, Sliced Fish, Fish Maw, Pg's Kidney. They also serve different kind of noodles such as You Mian, Ban Mian, Mee Hoon Kway, Ee Mee, Bee Hoon, Cintan Mee and Mee Sua.

Be prepared to queue for at least 30 mins. We waited for about 40 mins for our bowl of you mian and ban mian.

Abalone Clams You Mian and Ban Mian

Price: $4 per bowl

The homemade chilli sauce is a MUST! Mixed it in the soup or dip it with every mouth of noodles. No matter what, the chilli is a MUST try.



While waiting for our ban mian to be ready, we saw alot of people ordering some special drinks from this very normal looking drinks stall beside the ban mian stall. The stall looks exactly like any other drinks stall in the hawker center. The stall owner was very busy making drinks, delivering them all by himself the moment that we sat down. We noticed that he was really busy for a good 30 mins without a minute of rest in between.

When I finally see that he's free, I went up to him and ask him about his special drinks. The first thing he did was to pass me this to me. So it was a printed article by ieat ishoot ipost featuring his famous orange peel and sour plum drink. It cost only $1.50 per cup. Each cup also comes together with a cup of ice water. The uncle told us that we should not stir and mix the drinks. When we have drink half a cup of it, we can pour the ice water in to mix. The taste will still be there. I did what he told me to, but I would prefer not to have pour in the water as it becomes more bland. The taste is still there but I prefer it stronger, sweeter and more sour. So if you like strong taste like I do, then try not to pour mix in the ice water.

He also sell the more concentrated version in bottle form. Uncle also told us that this can be use for about 10 cups of drinks. Each bottle cost only $3! It is very cheap!

So who says you can only order the usual can drinks, tea and coffee from the drinks stall in a hawker center. Bee Guan gives you the most thirst quenching home made drinks at only $1.50 a cup! What a creative uncle we've got here! He is also friendly and chatty all the time no matter how busy he is.

Address: 91 Whampoa Drive #01-24 Whampoa Drive Makan Place Block 91

Food: 4.5/5 Burps
Service: 5/5 Burps
Price: 5/5 Burps

Wah Kee Big Prawn Noodles

Went there about 2.30pm and there was still a queue when we reached. Not surprising at all actually. And we were glad that there was a queue instead of seeing the stall close for the day. So we queue for about 20 mins or so. This is consider rather short because I queued about 1.5 hours the previous time because I came during the lunch hour about 12.30pm.

There was this old lady queuing in front of us and the lady boss insisted her to take a seat as the floor may be slippery. When her noodles was ready, the auntie asked the old lady to go back to her seat and she will bring the noodles to her. By the way, it is suppose to be self service. We were really touched to see this as the lady boss herself is not young too. When it was our turn, she chatted with us and told us that it is dangerous for old people to fall and so she insisted to bring the noodles to the auntie instead of letting her carry by herself even though it is suppose to be self service. Uncle came out from behind the stall and started chatting with us too. He told us that he has been standing ever since 5am. They did not have any helper because they used to have one who stole their money, thus they decided not to have any. Uncle showed us his hand from all the washing and peeling of prawns over the years.

Auntie showed us her hand as well and surprisingly they look really smooth for her age!

They also told us that after tomorrow (24 Mar 2013) they will be close for a month because uncle has to go for eye surgery. Hope uncle recovers soon so that we don't have to miss his prawn noodles for too long!

We asked them to pose a picture for us and they are sporting enough to give us a big smile!

We ordered the $8 portion, one dry and one soup. The prawn noodles come in $3, $5, $8 and $10. For big prawns you will have to order $8/$10 portion. Both are just as good seriously. Just like what uncle said, you wouldn't feel thirsty after drinking the soup. True enough I didn't feel thirsty like how I always will after eating most prawn noodles. The soup is really rich with the taste of prawns. It is thick  and really tasty. Uncle also told us that they will fry the pork lard and shallot themselves. The dry prawn noodles taste extremely yummy because of the fried pork lard and shallot. They added that for soup one as well. The prawns are really fresh and uncle told us that he prepares the prawn only when customers order so that the prawns are not left there for too long. This is also the reason why the queue is slow moving.

 

While we are eating, uncle came over to have a chat with us as they have finish selling everything and they have close the stall for the day. He told us that a lot of customers complained that his wife (the lady in the picture of course) has bad attitude. Some scolded her online and was spread around the hawker center. He then defended his wife and said that she is a kind hearted lady. If she sees pregnant ladies queuing for the noodles, she will demand the husband of the pregnant lady to queue up and carry the noodles instead. If the pregnant lady came alone then she will insist to bring the noodles to her table. And yes, we just witness her thoughtful side awhile ago. Uncle also said that he has many regulars and there is this group of Japanese who will patronized his stall regularly because they love his prawn noodles. He will serve them first even when there is a long queue because these are his regular customers who have been supporting him for 20 over years. There are also some VIPs whom he has to give face to and thus he will also allow them to skip the line. However there are customers who will be very unhappy about it and scolded him or his wife. When he told me this I thought it was fair for him to serve these regular customers and VIPs first since they have been buying and supporting him for decades!

So if you would want to have a taste of this already very famous prawn noodles, you got to be patient. The queue can be very long and slow moving because uncle and auntie are already old and they do not have any helper. I would say that it is worth queuing for hours to just drink that soup and I will definitely visit again.


Address: Blk 41A Cambridge Road #01-15 Pek Kio Market and Food Centre

Food: 5/5 Burps
Service: 4.5/5 Burps
Price: 4.5/5 Burps