Hai Xian Zhu Zhou 海鲜煮粥 (Yishun) 2nd Post

Tom Yam Pork Koka Noodles with Egg $3.50

Hai Xian Zhu Zhou 海鲜煮粥 is popular stall located at a coffeeshop called Choh Dee Place in Yishun; along Yishun Street 21. The expected waiting time is at least 30 to 45 minutes on a weekend morning.

Hai Xian Zhu Zhou's popularity is due to its Koka Instant Noodles dishes which is available with pork / chicken / seafood and/or tom yam flavour. They also offer other variety of dishes such as crispy noodles, mee sua, ee mian and porridge, but these are not as popular.

Menu

The prices of the dishes (menu) are listed in Chinese on the left of the stall.

Seafood Koka Noodles $5.50

This is the Seafood Koka Noodles which cost $5.50. It was pretty pricely for instant noodles that sold at a coffee shop. If you add an egg, it would cost an additional $0.50. It was served with a variety of seafood such as cuttlefish, sliced fish and prawns, and vegetables.

The addition of the prawns added a bright vibrant colour to this dish. There were a total of 3 prawns. They were big and fresh, and enhanced the taste and sweetness to the soup. As for the fish, it was just average while the cuttlefish added texture to the dish. The Koka Noodles was cooked just right; not too soft and not too hard, and the noodles was springy. Overall, this was a very decent dish. It is worth indulging in this every now and then despite the price.

Pork Koka Noodles with Egg $3.50

This is the Pork Koka Noodles with Egg $3.50. It consisted of vegetables, sliced lean pork meat, minced meat and an egg. The soup was not as tasty or sweet compared to the seafood version. Nevertheless, it was quite a decent dish considering that the main ingredient is instant noodles.

Tom Yam Pork Koka Noodles with Egg 

This is the Tom Yam Pork Koka Noodles with Egg, another popular item judging from the number of people eating this dish at the coffee shop.It also consisted of vegetables, sliced lean pork meat, minced meat and an egg. The Koka Noodles was cooked just right. As for the Tom Yam soup, if it was slightly less spicy, it would have been perfect. This would be quite a good comforting dish for a rainy day.

If you are a fan of Instant Noodles, you should give this a try. Instant Noodles has never tasted so delicious! While its possible to cook a similar dish at home, you would need some effort (e.g buying fresh ingredients from the wet market, boiling the broth with chicken/pork bones for hours). 

Hai Xian Zhu Zhou 海鲜煮粥 (Yishun)
#01-472 Choh Dee Place
Blk 233 Yishun Street 21
Singapore 760233

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761 Fishball Noodles (Yishun)

Minced Meat Noodles (mee kia dry with chilli) $3

761 Fishball Noodles is located in a coffeeshop at Blk 761 at Yishun Street 72. The stall operates in the morning to early afternoon offering fishball noodles, minced meat noodles (bak chor mee) and laksa.

The waiting time is at least 20 minutes even on weekdays. Not an easy feat considering all the other stalls including other neighbourhood stalls have a lesser waiting time.

Minced Meat Noodles (mee kia dry with chilli) $3

I have eaten at this stall several times. Every time I would order the Minced Meat Noodles (mee kia dry with chilli) $3, also known as Bak Chor Mee. They have got every aspect just right. The noodles was cooked just right and was not lumpy. The chilli sauce along with the noodles and minced meat was delicious. As for the fishballs, they were big, bouncy and not fishy.

The Minced Meat Noodles may not be the best, but it was certainly delicious. This is probably one of the reason why the waiting time is so long even on a weekday! Worth a try if you are staying around this area!

761 Fishball Noodles (Yishun)

Blk 761 Yishun Street 72

Singapore 760761

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Xiang Xiang Fishball Noodle香香 (Chong Pang Food Centre)

Fishball Noodle (Mee Pok) $3

Xiang Xiang Fishball Noodle香香 is a fishball noodles stall located in Chong Pang Food Centre in Yishun. 

Xiang Xiang Fishball Noodle香香 is one of the more popular stall in this food centre. This stall has been around for a long time (more than 25 years ago) and has a loyal customer base. It is very popular and you can expect to wait 30 minutes for your food to be served during peak hours. This stall is one of the few which is not self-service. So you can wait for your food to be delivered to your table after ordering. Look at the number of awards displayed at the facade of the stall. They are popular for their fishballs and also old school style fishball noodles. Today, they have started selling their fshball at the price of $2 for 9 pieces of fishballs.

Fishball Noodle (Mee Pok) $3

I visited at 3pm for tea break as I know better than to order during peak hours. I ordered the dry version of the Fishball Noodle (Mee Pok) $3 with chilli. For $3, this was extremely value for money considering how generous they are with the ingredients. 

Fishball Noodle (Mee Pok) $3

The mee pok was topped with generous amount of bean sprouts, spring onions and pork lard. The chilli sauce at the bottom when mixed with the noodles was a perfect match and had me wanting for more. The noodles were well cooked; soft and springy (QQ). Coupled with the bean sprouts, it provided crunchiness to this bowl of noodles. 

Fishballs

5 pieces of fishballs were provided. And it is not any normal pathetic small-sized fish balls. The fish balls here were slightly bigger than normal (elsewhere). How good is the fish ball? Well, taste is subjective. So why not let me just say this and you decide for yourself. During (every) Eve of Chinese New Year, they sell lots and lots of the fish balls (if I am right, the number of fish balls they sell is close to a couple of thousands during this period). Many customers purchase the uncooked fish balls from them and use them for their reunion steam boat and other dishes over the festive period.

To conclude, this was Cheap & Good. Have you tried this? 

Xiang Xiang Fishball Noodle香香 (Chong Pang Food Centre)

Blk 105 Yishun Ring Road

#01-153 Chong Pang Food Centre

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928 Yishun Laksa (Yishun Central) 3rd Post

Laksa $2.80

Posting about this well-known laksa outlet in Yishun for the 3rd time. I have been eating this laksa since I was in Secondary School (that is more than  17 years ago)! You will not see any shop name but you will be able to know that you are at the right stall when u spot everyone eating the Laksa in a red bowl! Also, at the stall menu statues "Laksa" clearly. Over the years, this stall gained a following through word of mouth among those living in the north (Yishun). Gradually, everyone started calling this laksa stall as '928 Yishun Laksa' as the stall is located under Blk 928 in Yishun. This laksa stall is located just behind the Yishun Interchange, a stone throw away from Yishun MRT station.

I visited on a Sunday afternoon at 330pm. I normally visit at this timing as this is normally the timing with the least people; I can escape squeezing/queuing with the lunch/dinner crowd. But I was wrong that day. There was a long queue of more than 9 persons in front of me! Amazing how popular this stall gets through word of mouth!

 It was a 20 minutes wait.

The price of the Laksa has increased recently to $2.80 or $3.30 (for a bigger portion). Used to be $2.20 and $2.50 for the smaller bowl of laksa.

Dessert Menu

There also offer dessert. But I have never try their dessert before. If you want any dessert, you should just pop over to the next shop as the dessert stall there is more popular. Most people would have their laksa at this stall and then go over to the next shop for dessert. In the past, both the laksa and dessert stalls were located in the same shop.

Laksa $2.80

This is my bowl of Laksa which cost $2.80. It consists of fish cakes, crab sticks, dried toufu, hum (cockles), beansprouts, hard boiled eggs and thick bee hoon. The laksa gravy was light and rich. With fresh coconut milk, chilli and lots of dried shrimps that made the gravy so tasty and fragrant yet spicy. Also, the gravy was not oily. Despite the spiciness, the more gravy you savour, the more you will love it. It was so addictive that I would always finish the whole bowl of laksa gravy (not something which I normally do as its not healthy).

Do note that this eatery is not air-conditioned. Also, there are few fans. You will likely sweat, so wear something comfortable! This is worth sweating for! Still the best Laksa in Yishun.

Laksa $3

I also packed a bowl of laksa back home. The good news is that you can request for the gravy to be packed separately!

928 Yishun Laksa (Yishun Central) 

Blk 928 Yishun Central 1 

#01-155

Opening Hours: Tue to Sun 11am - 7pm

                         Closed on Mon

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618 Sim 菜頭粿 Carrot Cake (Yishun)

White Carrot Cake $2.50

618 Sim 菜頭粿 Carrot Cake is located at a coffee shop called Fujo Eating House tucked away at a quiet corner of Yishun estate. This stall is located at Blk 618 and is nearer to Khatib MRT station compared to Yishun MRT station.

I visited on a weekday and was surprised that there was still a need to wait for 10 minutes. I wonder what will be the waiting duration on a weekend.

618 Sim 菜頭粿 Carrot Cake sells both White and Black Fried Carrot Cake with the option to add prawns. Interestingly, the Black Carrot Cake is sold only on weekdays from 630am to 930am and they do not sell it on weekends or public holidays. Whereas the White Carrot Cake is sold during all opening opening hours.

White Carrot Cake $2.50

As we visited just slightly after 930am, only the White Carrot Cake $2.50 was available. We did not have to wait long as it was a weekday.

White Carrot Cake $2.50

The White Carrot Cake served with lots of diced preserved radish (chye poh) was beautifully cooked and delicious! Each piece had a crisp texture, and was firm and soft on the inside. At just $2.50, this carrot cake is totally value for money considering the huge portion. In addition, this carrot cake was not oily!

On another occasion, we visited on a Sunday morning just slightly after 10am. We ordered the White Carrot Cake with Prawns $3.50. We had to wait for a good 15 minutes before it was served to our table.

White Carrot Cake with Prawns $3.50

The prawns were cut into smaller pieces and fried together with the carrot cake. We all preferred their fried carrot cake without the prawns.

This White Carrot Cake is the best I have tried in this area! As such, I am going to rate this a must try. If you are staying in Yishun or in the North, you should give this a try! I will definitely go back for more and also try its Black Carrot Cake!

ps: I went on a weekday recently at 8am. But they were so busy that they decided not to fry the black carrot cake. In the end, I ordered the White Carrot Cake and had to wait half an hour! 

618 Sim 菜頭粿 Carrot Cake (Yishun)

Fujo Eating House

#01-3230 Block 618

Yishun Ring Road 

Singapore 760618

Opening Hours: Wed to Mon 630am - 3pm
                          Closed on Tue

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Hai Xian Zhu Zhou 海鲜煮粥 (Yishun)

Seafood Koka Noodles with Egg $5

Hai Xian Zhu Zhou 海鲜煮粥 is a stall located at a coffeeshop called Choh Dee Place in Yishun; along Yishun Street 21. 

What makes Hai Xian Zhu Zhou stands out is its Koka Instant Noodles which is available with pork / chicken / seafood and/or tom yam flavour. The stall also sells crispy noodles, mee sua, ee mian and porridge.

Menu

The menu pasted at the side of the wall next to the stall stating the prices of the dishes. The Tom Yam Koka Noodles price was missing. 

Left to right: Seafood Koka Noodles with Egg $5, Tom Yam Pork Koka Noodles with Egg $3.5

We visited on a Saturday afternoon for lunch. We had to wait for a good 20 minutes before our order was served. Do note, you would need to let them know your table number when ordering. We ordered the Seafood Koka Noodles with Egg $5 and Tom Yam Pork Koka Noodles with Egg $3.5. 

Seafood Koka Noodles with Egg $5

The Seafood Koka Noodles with Egg $5 was presented nicely. The addition of the prawns added a bright vibrant colour to this dish. From the above photo, you might not have known that this was cooked with instant noodles if I had not told you! 

There was a variety of seafood such as cuttlefish, sliced fish and prawns. Although the prawns were fresh, the sliced fish had a strong fishy taste. The soup had a strong hint of prawn flavour such that it masked the sweetness of the other seafood. The Koka Noodles was cooked just right; not too soft and not too hard, and the noodles was springy. 

Tom Yam Pork Koka Noodles with Egg $3.5

This was the Tom Yam Pork Koka Noodles with Egg $3.5.

Tom Yam Pork Koka Noodles with Egg $3.5

It consisted of vegetables, sliced lean pork meat, minced meat and an egg. The Koka Noodles was cooked just right. As for the Tom Yam soup, if it was slightly less spicy, it would have been perfect. This was quite a good dish for a cold day.

Personally, we both preferred the Tom Yam Pork Koka Noodles. Instant Noodles had never tasted so delicious! Perfect excuse to eat instant noodles (in moderation - hopefully).

Chicken Porridge with Egg $3.50, Pork Porridge with Egg $3.50

During another visit on a Saturday, we decided to try their porridge for lunch.  We ordered the Chicken Porridge with Egg $3.50 and Pork Porridge with Egg $3.50

Chicken Porridge with Egg $3.50

Chicken Porridge with Egg $3.50

The Chicken Porridge with Egg $3.50 was served with chunks of chicken meat, egg, chopped coriander, fried shallots, You Tiao (deep fried dough fritters), and a dash of soya sauce and pepper. The porridge was disappointing. It was watery, tasteless and not heated up enough such that the raw egg which was added could not even get cooked properly.

Pork Porridge with Egg $3.50

Pork Porridge with Egg $3.50

The Pork Porridge with Egg $3.50 was served with slices of lean meat, minced meat and liver. It was also watery and tasteless. Enough said..

The porridge at Hai Xian Zhu Zhou was such a let down. You would be better off ordering their Koka Instant noodles. 

Hai Xian Zhu Zhou 海鲜煮粥 (Yishun)

#01-472 Choh Dee Place
Blk 233 Yishun Street 21
Singapore 760233

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Vanda Terrace (Orchid Country Club) 2nd Post

Hainanese Chicken Rice $8.50

This is my second post on Vanda Terrace at Orchid Country Club. The first post can be found here. In a few words, Vanda Terrace is essentially an Alfresco dining outlet serving local cuisines. 

A notification system for calling the staff or asking for the bill. This is becoming common in F&B outlets with the tightening of the foreign labor employment. If you take a look around you whenever you eat out, you would likely have noticed the after effects of such a policy. Many F&B outlets have close down because of labour or rental issues. Well.. lets go back to the food. 

Hainanese Chicken Rice $8.50

Since I was here for lunch, I had to order the Hainanese Chicken Rice $8.50. It has been years since I ate this chicken rice. The reasons being that it would normally be sold out after lunch time and I visit during dinner time. The Hainanese Chicken Rice consisted of chicken rice, steamed chicken, soup and garlic-chilli dip served in individual bowls/plates. 

Hainanese Chicken Rice $8.50

Vanda Terrace does not serve roasted chicken. They serve only steamed chicken. The steamed chicken was cooked perfectly; so succulent and delicious. In addition, the portion given was so generous and meaty (not layered). As for the chicken rice, it was fragrant and not overly oily. The Hainanese Chicken Rice did not disappoint. Yummy! 

Laksa Paradise $7.90

Every time we visit, someone is bound to order the Laksa Paradise $7.90. 

Laksa Paradise $7.90

Consisting of thick beehoon, prawns, cockles, fish cake slices, chicken, quail eggs, bean sprouts and dried beancurd, this laksa was another dish that never disappoint. It may not be the best, but it was certainly above average. Worth the calories. 

 Javanese Chicken Curry $9.90

Another regular item which we frequently order is the Javanese Chicken Curry $9.90. 

 Javanese Chicken Curry $9.90

The main item in this dish is the Chicken Leg in cooked in Javanese curry. There are so many types of curry. This version is spicy, sweet with a hint of lemongrass and cinnamon spices. The curry itself is very addictive and it goes perfectly with plain rice. As for the chicken leg, it was cooked just right. So tender! 

Oriental-Style Chicken Wings

Oriental-Style Chicken Wings which was crispy and well marinated.  

A breathtaking view of the Golf Course from our table. =D 

Vanda Terrace (Orchid Country Club) 
1 Orchid Club Road
 Golf Clubhouse, Orchid Country Club 
Tel: 6750 2200 
Opening Hours: Mon to Tue 730am to 10pm 
                         Wed to Sun 730am to 11pm

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Arnold's Fried Chicken (Yishun 10 Cinema Cineplex)

I was thrilled when I heard that Arnold's Fried Chicken was opening an outlet in Yishun. The last time I last ate Arnold's Fried Chicken was in early 2012 at City Plaza. With this new outlet, it will be so much more convenient. Arnold's Fried Chicken specialises in serving fried chicken, has been around for more than 25 years and is one of the first Singapore fast food joint to be certified Halal.

Arnold's Fried Chicken in Yishun is located at Yishun 10 Cinema Cineplex (just next to North Point), 5 minutes away from Yishun MRT station. We visited on a Friday evening and there was a queue (around 20 persons) outside which stretched to Wendy's. Nevertheless, we decided to queue after all there was just 20 persons in front of us. Guess how long we queue? You would not believe it... Read on to find out the answer. 

Menu

The menu which looked so much more colourful and appetising compared to their old menu! Easy to read too. Good job! 

The answer to how long we queue: we waited for a total of 1hr 20mins from the point we started queuing to the point we received our food. There was virtually 3 queues in total. 

The first queue was to queue to get a chance to reach the counter to order the food (without making payment). Once you manage to order, you will be given a queue number where you would be placed in a second queue; to wait for a table. When your queue number is called, you would make payment and then be give a buzzer which would activate (shake) to inform customers that their orders were ready. This was third queue. 

2 Piece Meal $6.60

Good news for those who prefer the 2 Piece Meal. It cost only $6.60, a 20 cents (3%) increase compared to 2012.

2 Piece Meal $6.60

The 2 Piece Meal consisted of 2 pieces of crispy fried chicken served with mashed potatoes (normally comes with fries, but we switched to mashed potato) and coleslaw. 

Half Spring Chicken Set $7.10 and a Root Beer (Reg) $2.10

I ordered the Half Spring Chicken Set $7.10 and a Root Beer (Reg) $2.10. The price of the Half Spring Chicken Set has increased by $1.20 (20%) compared to 2012. I am not sure why there was such a huge disparity in increase in prices for the two sets. I should have just ordered the 2 Piece Meal. 

Half Spring Chicken Set $7.10 

Half Spring Chicken Set comprised of a 1/2 deep fried spring chicken served with potato fries and mashed potato (normally comes with coleslaw, but I switched to mashed potato).

Half Spring Chicken Set $7.10 

The freshly fried chicken was still pipping hot when it was served. It was crisp on the outside and the seasoning of spices and herbs made the skin so sinfully addictive! The meat inside was succulent and well marinated. As seen in the above photo, it was still moist, not dry!

I hope they would review the queue system soon. I want visit Arnold's Fried Chicken again as the chicken was delicious. But the thought of the queue system along with a possible 1 hour 20 minutes wait are the deterrence. If you really want to visit, my suggest is to go during non-peak hour or to just order as takeaway (please note, there is a takeaway counter with a way shorter queue. I believe the waiting time is way shorter as there's only 1 queue). Another area of improvement would be the service - clearing and cleaning of the tables so that the turnover would be faster. On several occasions, we noted that when customers have eaten finish and left the table, the staff tasked with cleaning the tables were chatting away and only started cleaning the tables when instructed by another senior staff who was manning the counter. 

Arnold's Fried Chicken (Yishun 10 Cinema Cineplex)

51 Yishun Central 1 

#01-04 Yishun 10 Cinema Cineplex 

Singapore 768794 

Tel: 6757 7732

Delivery Hotline: 6276 6537

Opening Hours: Daily 1130am to 10pm (last order: 945pm)

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Arnold's Fried Chicken (City Plaza)

810 Geylang Road 

#02-99 City Plaza  

Tel: 6746 2372 

Opening Hours: Daily 1130am to 10pm (last order: 945pm)

Arnold's Fried Chicken (Hougang) 

21 Hougang Street 51 

#01-49 Hougang Green Shopping Mall 

Tel: 6386 9015 

Opening Hours: Daily 1130am to 10pm (last order: 945pm)

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