Yan Kee Bak Chor Mee @ Boat Quay BK Eating House

Following our disappointment in not getting mee pok nor mee kia, I decided that I needed my fix of Bak Chor Mee. I consulted MakanSutra and gave Yan Kee a try. It was a beautiful morning and not crowded at all, so that meant we were able to chow down on the springy mee pok noodles after a short 10 minute wait.

This bak chor mee didn't have the usual crunchy lard pieces but it did have some ikan billis. Not quite the same thing but I actually enjoyed this version better than Lai Heng. The noodles were a little soggy (if they had cooked it for 15 secs less - they would have been perfect) but overall, the vinegar chilli soy mixture was better balanced. The piquant, spicy and salty sauce mixture was well mixed into the noodles and I like the subtantial amounts of minced pork. I would have liked the lard pieces but overall, it was a decent bowl of noodles. I would rate it 7/10.

Lai Heng Minced Mushroom Bak Chor Mee @ Toa Payoh Lor 6

After a long hiatus, I am back with a backlog of posts from before it got really crazy at work. One Saturday, BH and I ventured into Toa Payoh again to look for a really good bak chor mee.

Of course there was a long wait and we were already starving, so I ordered the mee rebus from the malay food stall that shared the coffee shop premises with the Bak Chor Mee.

After my disappointment with the mee rebus at Selera Kita, I was pleasantly surprised by this mee rebus. It had flavour and was tasty. There wasn't the cloying sweetness and the noodles weren't soggy. The bean sprouts were crunchy and delicate in the rich mee rebus gravy. I would rate it a 7.5/10.

I am not sure if it is a testament to how popular Lai Heng's Bak Chor Mee is, but when BH and I arrived at the coffee shop at 10am and placed our order, they were already out of mee kia and mee pok. I had to wonder, how many people had they already served?

I ordered the Bee Hoon and BH had the yellow noodles. Some how, Bak Chor Mee is not the same without mee pok or mee pok. You aren't able to judge the "kung fu" of the noodle blanching with beehoon or yellow noodles, and these noodles just don't have the right texture. The noodles also don't absorb as well the tart vinegary chilli and soy sauce mixture. So whilst we had did get to eat Bak Chor Mee, it left the both of us feeling like we hadn't really HAD Bak Chor Mee. There were generous servings of sliced lean pork and liver, and the minced pork and various pork cuts were very fresh. However, I didn't think much of the chilli. I would rate it a 6/10.

I don't think I will be back for this Bak Chor Mee anytime soon.

Kaima Thai Food Pig Out @ Golden Mile Food Centre

We were out for work in the city and I decided to buy my colleagues lunch at Kaima. While we were waiting for our food to be cooked by Kaima, I did my walkabout and bought some delicious Char Siu and Siu Yoke to tide us over.

Char Siu and Siu Yoke

It was juicy and tender Char Siu matched with a Siu Yoke that had the crispy crackling. Best part about both meats was that they were not overwhelmed by the sweetness for the Char Siu and saltiness for the Siu Yoke.

As we were all very hungry, I went overboard and ordered way too much food in addition to the $10 of char siu and siu yoke snackette. I got a tom yum kway teow, green mango salad, chicken red curry, fried pork (ahbudden!!), fish cakes and olive fried rice.

Kaima is a real find if you are after really good authentic thai food that won't cost a bomb. My favourite would be the fried marinated pork which are deep fried pork strips that are deliciously porky and tender. They go great with chilli, olive rice and a little heap of tangy crunchy mango salad. The Red Curry was good but didn't really make me ecstatic.....maybe cos I found it a tad too sweet. The fish cakes are hand made and deep fried. They have the nice zing from the kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. All that food only cost me $33. Kaima is amazing value for money and if you can take the heat of the hawker centre, please do make your way down to Golden Mile Food Centre. I would rate it 8.5/10.

40 Hands @ Tiong Bahru

BH and I had finished a most satisfying lunch at Zion Road Hawker Centre where we pigged out Char Kway Teow and Braised Duck and were thinking of a post lunch coffee (mainly for BH). As we were close to Tiong Bahru, I suggested 40 Hands which I had read about.

Thus began our journey to find this little cafe. Its address is located as 76 Yong Siak Road but really what it means is BLOCK 76 Yong Siak Road and it is unit 12. I circled Yong Siak Road 3 times before BH had a bright idea to call them to ask them where they were located. DOH.

It is a very cozy cafe with quirky design elements such as graffiti, used condensed milk cans as sugar packet holders and etc. With the small space, they managed to cram quite a few tables in there and a bar counter. Whilst waiting for BH to place our orders at the counter, I actually saw a lady bang her head on a wire rack which was located next to her seat. And I positively felt like The Incredible Hulk in those cramped quarters.

I normally abstain from coffee but I caused BH to raise her eyebrows when I said I would have a latte. We also decided to split a Bitter Chocolate Tart.

Bitter Chocolate tart

The Tart was ok. Wasn't mind blowing. The ganache was nice and rich, but I felt that it was too bland for a Bitter Chocolate tart. I didn't get the smokey nor richer depths that I would expect from a dark chocolate tart. The pastry was not short enough and was probably overworked. It wasn't crumbly nor flakey nor very rich. In fact it was quite hard and had a more biscuity texture. It was hard and an almost cardboard like texture.

I am not a coffee aficionado so I cannot wax on lyrical about coffee but BH said that the milk was too hot and as a result, you didn't get to savour the sweetness of the milk.

Latte

Cappuccino

On the whole I would rate the experience as a 6/10. It was nice enough but didn't really offer much to warrant another visit. But I have to say I was impressed with the selection of cakes, cookies and sandwiches. But as I had already had lunch, I couldn't try any of the sandwiches.

Selera Kita Mee Rebus @ Upper Changi Road Blk 58

My weekly Sunday brunch with the parentals resumed last Sunday after a mad mad week with work. They have lived at Bedok South for more than 15 years and when I used to live there, I would always partake of the Mee Rebus from Selera Kita. And since I had a hankering for Mee Rebus, I convinced the parentals to head to the market for breakfast.

As the Auntie has kept her prices very low, $1.20, $1.50 and $2.00, its no wonder that there is always a long queue for her Mee Rebus.

Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed. My noodles were over-cooked and soggy. And the savoury gravy which I remember so fondly had changed. Maybe over the course of time, I have remembered this Mee Rebus to be better than it actually was. The gravy was overly sweet and not particularly savoury. It did not have that umami-ish that I remembered it having. I would rate it a 6/10.

Chey Sua Carrot Cake @ Toa Payoh Lorong 1 Blk 127

One of my favourite hawker dishes is Carrot Cake. In fact when I used to live in Sydney I missed Carrot Cake so much I called long distance to get the recipe from my mother, and made it from scratch. I grated radish, squeezed it dry, then mixed in rice flour, water and steamed it. I made a pan of the Carrot Cake, cut it up and then fried it up with the thick caramelly dark sauce, light soy sauce and chilli. It was the perfect comfort food for two Singapore Girls (My cousin J and I) missing home in the midst of winter.

So besides trying to find the best bak chor mee, my other culinary mission is to find the best Carrot Cake in Singapore. Since this particular dish is high in carbs and fat, and has no real nutritional value, I wanted to start at the top and work my way down the list. Chey Sua Carrot Cake had been rated 3 pairs of chopsticks by Makansutra and when we got to the market, the auntie told me that there was a 30 min wait. Naturally, we agreed to the wait and I did my usual walkabout to see what else delicious was to be eaten at the market.

There was a long queue in front a stall which had two shopfronts, Teochew Handmade Bao. From what I could see, the baos were being made and steamed on the spot. I got a selection of Tau Sar Bao, Lianrong Bao, and of course Char Siu Bao for my darling pork star BH. I also got the Char Siu Rice.

I made it back to the table just in time for the arrival of the Carrot Cake, so that meant the Carrot Cake got my full attention and I didn't try any of the Baos. BH sampled all three and said that they weren't all that. The lianrong bao was not very good and tasted more of green bean. And the skin wasn't that thin. I tried the Char Siu rice and I found it way too sweet. I was puzzled as there was a really long queue for these baos......can anyone enlighten me as to why? My theory is that it's cos the baos only cost 50 cents. What was worse was that BH got really sick in the afternoon. And the only difference was that BH ate the baos and I didn't, which means that one of the baos were contaminated. I would rate it a very dismal 4/10.

By the time I attacked the Carrot Cake, I was really hungry. And I am not sure if it's a case of expectations that were too high due to the Makansutra rating or if I am really a Food Nazi (BH's pet name for me). The carrot cake was crispy and eggy, and the auntie had really made the effort to coat each segment of the carrot cake in this crispy eggy mixture and fried it at a high enough heat to create a batter-like coating that kept the carrot cake moist. However, besides this feature, the carrot cake was quite pedestrian. I suspect that the chilli is not made by the auntie and bought wholesale from some supplier as it was very bland and had only one flavour profile - sweet. It was spread over the fried carrot cake in a random haphazard pattern which resulted in bits of the carrot cake being sweet and others being completely tasteless. There was no savoury element to the carrot cake and no other flavour besides the sweetness from the chilli. I was sorely disappointed with this carrot cake and can only give it a 6/10. I will not be returning for anymore of this carrot cake.

Hawker Food at Newton Circus Food Centre

My friend J hijacked her friend S from Sydney who was on holiday in Hong Kong to spend some time in Singapore. S who had been to Singapore before wanted to have some sambal stingray which she remembered fondly from her last trip.

J and I were trying to figure out where good sambal stingray was to be had at a location which was close to S's hotel which was at Robertson Quay. We settled for Newton Circus as it seemed to be the most likely place to have sambal stingray and was close to Robertson Quay.

I did not want to have to drink the tasteless beer on offer, so I packed a cooler of my lovely Belgians. Although I got teased by my friends and BH for being a snob, I was able to enjoy the beer I wanted to drink.

Petrus

BH and I got there early ( as always, we are always early or on time) and "choped" a seat. Immediately we had someone trying to push seafood onto us and the drinks auntie trying to get us to order a drink. As I had a cooler of beer, I didn't need to order any drinks, so I had to send her away without an order.

I had also done a little research and discovered that the Oyster Omelette from Hup Kee is supposed to very good, so I made a beeline for that and ordered some pork satay from the neighbouring stall to satisfy my porkasauras BH.

Oyster Omelette from Hup Kee

Pork Satay from R&B Stall

The Oyster Omelette was good but not as good as the one that I had had at Old Airport Road. The starchy bits were a little gluey and did not have the pleasant crunch from Old Airport Road. However, besides the Pork Satay, this was still the best dish on the table. I would rate it a 7/10. The pork satay was juicy and tender and we finished all of them. A worthy effort and rated at 7/10.

J ordered a load of seafood from a stall: BBQ Sambal Stingray, Crispy Squid, Clams in Chilli, Sambal Kang Kong. And with the exception of the Crispy Squid, it was all VERY bad. The sambal stingray was tasteless and limp. The Clams were overcooked and remarkably bland. The Kang Kong was ok.....but then again, how do you screw up Kang Kong? I would rate it a very dismal 4.5/10.

The carrot cake was unspectacular and scored only a 5/10 with me. The chicken wings were easily the worst dish we had. It did not have a crispy skin, nor any flavour. It was so bland, I had to wonder if they had even marinated the chicken wings. I would rate it a 3/10.

So this leads me to the question......what is happening in our hawker centres? Have the cost of operating become so prohibitive that only sub standard renditions of our hawker favourites can be served? Are hawkers cutting corners because that is the only way they can afford to stay in business? Singapore is being touted as the next food capital of Asia, but J and I were frankly embarrassed by the food at Newton Circus last night. It was not representative of the excellent hawker food that we have come to love and enjoy in Singapore. What makes me concerned is that Newton Circus is marketed to tourists as the place to go for good hawker food. And in my opinion, that was not the case.