The Prata Place (Upper Thomson Road)

Another visit to The Prata Place for supper. The first post can be found here. As the name of the eatery suggests, The Prata Place specialises in serving delicious Prata and Indian Cuisines and is Halal certified!

The place was packed as usual. We sat outside as we did not want to be come out smelling of prata and curry. This will happen if you sit inside (enclosed air-conditioned area). 

Plain Kosong Prata $1 (each)

I ordered 2 Plain Kosong Pratas. This is something which I think they did fantastic in. Cooked upon ordered, the pratas arrived pipping hot and were simply delicious! The pratas were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The texture and flavour was wonderfully managed, it was a joy tearing the prata into smaller pieces and eating it without any sugar or curry.

Curry

Alternatively, the prata can be dipped into the curry gravy given. The curry gravy had a good balance of taste that is a good hallmark of a good curry gravy. Much better than those at other prata shops and not overly spicy or oily. My favourite! 

Egg Prata $1.70

The Egg Prata was huge! It was crispy but not as fluffy as the plain kosong prata. Nevertheless, it was delish and one of the better egg pratas around.

The Prata Place is still a good place to satisfy my prata cravings. I will certainly recommend this eatery as the calories gained here is absolutely worth it! Hope that the eatery continue to strive. Many more good years to come!

The Prata Place (Upper Thomson Road)

1 Thong Soon Ave

Springleaf Garden

Tel: 6459 5670

Opening Hours:Daily 7am to 12am

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Ah-Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice 阿仔海南鸡饭 (Maxwell Food Centre)

Ah-Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice 阿仔海南鸡饭 is a chicken rice stall set up by Mr Wong Liang Tai, more commonly known as Ah Tai. Ah Tai was actually the former chef of the famous Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice and has been working there for the past 20 years. He had differences with the owners' daughter who took over the management of the business in 2010. After several incidents and heated arguments, Ah Tai was sacked in October 2011 (Both Ah Tai and the owners are relatives). Subsequently, he and a partner (who was a key helper in Tian Tian) set up a chicken rice stall just 3 stalls away from his former employer (Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice) at Maxwell Food Centre. 

Chicken Rice is a de facto national dish of Singapore. If you still have doubts, visit Maxwell Food Centre, and you will notice that there are already so many chicken rice stalls. One will be spoilt for choice when it comes to chicken rice as there are more than 6 such stalls in this food centre. With Ah-Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice being the new kid in the block, the chicken rice war at Maxwell has escalated. Several other chicken rice stall owners have expressed their unhappiness as they were concerned about their business. The least they need now is for another strong competitor next to them.  

As mentioned earlier, Ah-Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice 阿仔海南鸡饭 located at Stall No. 7 is located 3 units away from Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice which is located at Stall No. 10.

I visited at around 630pm on a weekday for dinner. There was no queue then. (By the way Tian Tian was closed that day). Anyone knows if there's a queue during lunch hours? 

Chicken Rice $3.00 + Gizzard $0.50

Chicken Rice $3.00 + Gizzard $0.50

What makes a good Chicken Rice? Well, there are three factors; namely the rice, the meat (chicken) and the chilli. I can't help but compare using these three factors to compare Ah Tai's chicken rice to Tian Tian's chicken rice which I had previously. 

In terms of rice, Ah Tai's rice was indeed fragrant and flavourful. However, it was hard and very dry. I prefer Tian Tian's rice as it was softer and more moist. 

In terms of meat (chicken), Ah Tai's version was decent. The timing was grasped nicely as the chicken was tender and tasty, not tough. However, all the good work was undone by.. well the way the chicken was chopped. Yes, the chopping style does makes a difference (ask the older generation or professional chefs on the way to cut meat, be it chicken, duck or pork and you will know what I mean). I have not gotten to the point where by I am such a professional foodie that I can point out this is a wrong cooking style. What makes it so obvious in this case was that it was so terribly cut that there were small pieces of bones protruding out or small pieces of bones that came off and was mixed with the rice and chicken. When I mean small, a comparison will be the size smaller than a half of the rice grain (in the photo above). Seems trivial, but it matters. With that being said, Tian Tian's version was much better as their chopping style was better and their chicken was drizzled in their special sauce that made it more fragrant and tasty. (The gizzards given were hidden below the chicken.) 

In terms of chilli, Ah Tai's version fared better. It was more tangy with a stronger oomph of spiciness.

(For the sake of comparison) In terms of presentation, I am very sure that Ah Tai's version loses out to Tian Tian's. Just take a look at the above picture and compare it to Tian Tian's version. Ah Tai's version was more sloppily done considering the fact that there was no queue... hmm..

Personally, I still prefer Tian Tian's chicken rice. The chicken and rice are better than Ah Tai's version. But despite all these, I still prefer my chicken rice at Golden Mile Food Centre.

For the record, if the taste is good and the presentation is lousy, I certainly do not mind! After all, never judge a book by its cover, appearances can be deceiving. 

Ah-Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice 阿仔海南鸡饭 (Maxwell Food Centre)

1 Kadayayanallur Street

#01-07 Maxwell Food Centre

Tel: 8137 6559 

Opening Hours: Wed to Mon 11am to 730pm

                         Closed on Tue
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Tai Seng Noodle House (Amoy Street Food Centre)

I have been to Amoy Street Food Centre several times during lunch time on weekdays. To say the place is crowded is an understatement. Wait till you see the queues that stretch more than 20 people long and the tables are not cleared as the cleaners could not cope with the crowd. 

This time, I came down for lunch at 140pm. The lunch crowd was starting to slowly disperse away and more than half of the tables in the level 2 food centre were empty. But the tables were full of plates, bowls, trays as the cleaners struggle to clear them. As you walk inwards, you will notice that some of the utensils including trays are on the floor as customers had to clear the tables themselves. 

I knew that this was a good opportunity to try out one of the stalls that always have a long queue during lunch. I decided to zoom straight to Tai Seng Noodle House as there was no queue and I was hungry. Normally, if you come during lunch time, there will be a long stretching queue. There were a couple manning the song. The uncle taking orders and collecting the cash while the lady boss prepares and cooks the food.

Not knowing what to order, I decided to order their Cha Shao Yun Tun Noodle (Char Siew Wanton Noodle). As usual (in fact I will say act smart..), I 'upsized' my order, ordering $4 instead of $3. 

I was quite shocked when the uncle gave me my order. It was messy and  big huge massive!

Cha Shao Yun Tun Noodles $4.00

This was the $4 Char Siew Wanton Noodle which was served with a bowl of wanton soup. They were extremely generous with the ingredients; char siew, noodles and even wantons. 

The Char Siew given was tough and mainly lean meat. If there was a better ratio of fats to lean meat, it would have been better. With such a generous portion of Char Siew given, I got quite tired of chewing the Char Siew. A very generous serving of noodles was given too. The noodles was well cooked, with springiness and not too soggy. It was delish when mixed with the sauce which ensures that each strand of noodles was well lubricated. 

Cha Shao Yun Tun Noodles $4.00

The Wanton Soup was normal, there might be some MSG added into the soup. It came with lots of wantons, more than 10 pieces. Although each piece of wanton was small, with such a generous amount given, it was very filling. I especially like the skin of the wanton which was smooth and thin with a chunk of meat fillings in it. (for the sake of comparison, the fillings of each wanton was slightly bigger than those given at Pontian Wanton).

I should not have 'upsized' my order and just order the $3 version. Although I finish the Wantons, I did not manage to finish the noodles and Char Siew. 

Tai Seng Noodle House may not serve the best food, but it certainly must be the most value for money food stall around. The portions given are huge. No wonder there is always a long snacking queue at this stall. I heard that the pork rib noodles at this stall are good. If I have another opportunity, I would be keen to try it. 

Tai Seng Noodle House (Amoy Street Food Centre) 

7 Maxwell Road

MND Building Annex B

#02-123 Amoy Street Food Centre

Opening Hours: Mon to Sat 930am to 3pm

                         Closed on Sun
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