Teochew St Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle 潮洲街香菇肉脞麵 (Chinatown)

Chinatown Complex Food Centre is one of the biggest hawker centre I have ever been too. I am not familiar  with what is nice over here. So what I did was to do a quick walk around and spot where the queues are and then zoom in to one that interest me. 

After walking round the whole hawker centre that took a whole 15 minutes (not thanks to the layout), I decided to try the Teochew St Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle 潮洲街香菇肉脞麵. What caught my attention was the word Teochew and the queue. There was a queue 5 people in front of me. I queued for at least 20 minutes before it was my turn to order. 20 minutes when there was only 5 people in front? Well, you heard this correctly!

There were only 2 people manning the stall. A uncle, who did the cooking and preparing. While the auntie took the order and collected the cash. Normally, in other stalls, the person takes the orders from customers  also prepares the ingredients for the chef (uncle). Not in this case. In fact, the uncle prepares all the ingredients himself. I even saw him going to the fridge and taking out more ingredients. Despite the queue, he was not anxious (kan chiong) and did take any short cut (kudos to him). I was certainly impressed as he took great care in cooking each bowl of noodles. 

Bak Chor Mee $3

I ordered the Bak Chor Mee 肉脞面. 

Bak Chor Mee $3

This bowl of Bak Chor Mee was excellent! The Mee Pok was cooked perfectly! Soft yet springy. A generous portion of ingredients such as braised mushroom, lean meat, minced meat, fish cake, crispy fish  and even pork lard was given. I especially like the braised mushroom as it was not only flavourful but also soft. The sauce; a mixture of vinegar, chilli, oil and (who knows what other secret ingredients) complemented well with the noodles and ingredients. It enhanced the taste of the whole dish and was lip smacking despite the spiciness. 

Bak Chor Mee $3

The soup (pork stock) was simple yet flavourful. The meat ball and fish ball was average, nothing to shout about.

It was a fulfilling meal for me. Not only did it taste good, it was also value for money with generous portion of ingredients and worth the wait (queue). This is one stall worth patronising and I am sure there are many more stalls worth a try at Chinatown Complex Food Centre. Anyone who frequently patronise the food centre here has any other recommendations? With so many stalls, I am sure there are lots of hidden gems here. 

Teochew St Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle 潮洲街香菇肉脞麵 (Chinatown) 

Blk 335 Smith Street

#02-23 Chinatown Complex Food Centre

Opening Hours: Wed to Sun 1230pm - 9pm

                         Closed on Mon and Tue
Location

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Source: Subway Singapore

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Yilmaz Western (Ang Mo Kio) - CLOSED

Edited: Closed. If you know where the owner has setup his shop can you pl let me know via foodiefc@gmail.com. 

Yilmaz Western is a stall specialising in western cuisine located in Coffee City Coffee Shop at Ang Mo Kio Ave 6. Normally, when I am in the area, I would order herbal soup from Xu Yang Tonic Soup. However, during my last visit, Yilmaz Western caught my attention.

Yilmaz Western serves some of its western dishes on hotplates (not every western stall in a coffee shop does that). On that specific occasion as I was enjoying my herbal soup, I heard a loud sizzling sound. Turning around, I saw a man carrying the sizzling hotplate with ingredients piled high up to a customer on the table next to me. Well, from that point in time, I knew that I had to try this the next time I am in the area. 

Yilmaz Western is essentially a 'one man show' (quoting the owner). Everything; from taking orders, marinating, preparing, defrosting, cooking, serving and collecting payment are all done by the owner himself (how does he cope? I am equally puzzled!). I ordered the Hotplate Grilled Chicken Chop and was expecting to wait for a long time as it was peak period. To my surprised I just waited less than 15 minutes. An amazing feat considering that there were a few other customers in front of me.

Hotplate Grilled Chicken Chop $6

The Hotplate Grilled Chicken Chop was served sizzling hot! I had to wait a few seconds for the sizzling and smoke to lessen before taking the photos. The grilled chicken chop was stacked on top of a whole lot of fries, with mashed potato and steamed vegetables (broccoli, cherry tomato and corn) at the side. With the exception of the steamed vegetables, the ingredients were all drenched in a special sauce. 

Hotplate Grilled Chicken Chop $6

A very generous amount of ingredients were given in addition, 3 sides were served; vegetable, mashed potato and fries. Mind you, its not bake beans, not coleslaw! Take a look at how much fries was given and how thick a cut the chicken chop was. The mashed potato was basically hidden behind these.

The sauce made a big difference. The more I dig into it, the more I love it. It seemed to be a kind of fusion of BBQ and Mushroom Sauce with herbal fragrant. Not too sweet, not too salty, the sauce was perfect; incredibly tasty and addictive.

As for the grilled chicken chop, it was well-marinated and had lots of pepper corns spread over it. With the sauce, it provided a refreshing flavour to the tender chicken chop unlike the norm; black pepper/mushroom sauce.

The fries were hard and seems to have been fried a second time (for those not covered in the sauce). But for the fries that were drenched in the sauce, there was a difference in texture. Crispy yet soft, tasty experience. (do give the fries at the bottom some 'stirring' as the hotplate might cause some of the fries to be charred) The mashed potato was normal, but again with the sauce, complemented it perfectly.

Hotplate Grilled Chicken Chop $6

I like the fact that the the vegetables were steamed and were very fresh. Moreover serving corn, cherry tomato and broccoli was unique. A nice change from what other western stall normal gives; coleslaw.

Overall, I was very impressed by this one man show! Fresh vegetables, well-marinated meat, generous serving and incredible sauce! The sauce stole the show. You will either love or hate it as the sauce is spread over all the ingredients. In addition, it is so value for money. Highly recommended. You won't know what you are missing till you give this a try!

Yilmaz Western is a hidden gem. Watch this stall, it has great potential to be the best western stall! I hope that this one man show can survive as it is no mean feat managing one stall alone. Can't wait to try it again!

*Edited: Went a second time on a Friday evening for dinner. This time waited for nearly half an hour as he had high volume of orders. Food-wise, it was still as good! 

Yilmaz Western (Ang Mo Kio)

Blk 728 Ang Mo Kio Ave 6

Coffee City Coffee Shop

Tel: 9144 8248

Opening Hours: Daily 1230pm to 1030pm
Location

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