Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee (Hong Lim Food Centre)

$4.50 Fried Kway Teow Mee

If you are a fan of fried Char Kway Teow, you may have heard of this stall located at Hong Lim Food Centre; Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee. This stall has been mentioned many times on mainstream media such as The Straits Times, Yahoo Singapore and 8 days, and even received the Michelin Bib Gourmand award in 2018.

 

I visited on a weekday at around 10.30am and there was already a queue of around 10 persons in front. I waited for around 20 minutes before I received my plate of food.    

$4.50 Fried Kway Teow Mee

There are two versions available, either $4.50 or $5.50. I ordered the $4.50 Fried Char Kway Teow. 

$4.50 Fried Kway Teow Mee

This plate of Char Kway Teow really hit all the right notes. The wok hei (smokey fragrance) added on to the sweet and salty flavour of the dish which consisted of just noodles, kway teow, cockles, bean sprouts, fishcake, egg, and pork lard. It is amazingly how these ingredients could be fried together to produce such taste. There was not even any chinese sausage to enhance the taste. The cockles may look small, but they were plump and juicy.

$4.50 Fried Kway Teow Mee

Even if you try to get these ingredients and fried it yourself, you would not be able to get the taste as it takes skill to cook the wok hei flavour out. Moreover, the owner added his own mixture of umami soya sauce when frying the ingredients.

I was glad that I went early at 10plus in the morning. Because by the time I finished it was around 11am and the queue had grown in size to more than 20 pax. I really like this plate of Fried Kway Teow and am glad that I managed to try it. Rating this a die die must try dish! 

Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee (Hong Lim Food Centre)
531A Upper Cross St
Hong Lim Food Centre #02-17
Singapore 051531
Opening Hours: 6am to 3pm Monday to Saturday
                           Closed on Sunday

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Jin Ji Teochew Braised Duck & Kway Chap 金记潮州卤鸭 (Chinatown)

Bento Braised Duck Set $6

Jin Ji Teochew Braised Duck & Kway Chap 金记潮州卤鸭 has been a stall which I  had always wanted to try. I first got to know about this stall when Melvin, the owner, dropped me an email invitation to try his food. I declined the invitation since I preferred to make an anonymous visit.

 Since I happened to be at Chinatown Complex, I decided to pop by anonymously to try the food.

Menu

Being a foodie, I had already knew what I wanted to try. I wanted to try what was unique at this stall, the Bento Braised Duck Set, a creative way to modernise and serve duck rice in a different way.

Bento Braised Duck Set $6

The Bento Braised Duck Set $6 consisted of 3 yam rice balls, radish slices, cucumber slices, salted vegetables, ajitsuke tamago (Japanese runny egg) and braised duck meat. It also came with a bowl of miso soup soup. I would give full marks for the concept, creativity and presentation! What an idea! Photos of this dish on social media would be eye catching. So instagramable!

The braised duck meat was moist and tender unlike those that you may get elsewhere, where they are  sometimes tough and hard to chew. The egg was perfectly executed. I had not expected the yolk to be runny! Wow! As for the soup, it had a very forgiving herbal taste and was amazingly addictive. What I thought could be improved was the radish slices. I would prefer my radish slices to be softer.

I did not have to opportunity to try their Combo Jumbo set $8 yet. I wonder how their kway chap ingredients taste like.

Jin Ji Teochew Braised Duck & Kway Chap 金记潮州卤鸭 (Chinatown)

#02-156 Chinatown Complex

Blk 335 Smith Street 

Singapore 005335

Tel: +65 8139 2492 

Opening Hours: Sat to Thu 10.30am - 6.30pm

Facebook 

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Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice 联合本记砂煲饭 (Chinatown)

Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice 联合本记砂煲饭 located at a corner of Chinatown Complex Food Centre has been in operation for a long time specialising in Claypot rice. 

Further testimonial to the famous claypot rice. 

Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice specialises in Sausage Claypot Rice, Chicken Claypot Rice or a combination of both; Mixed Claypot Rice ranging from $5 to $20. Besides claypot rice, soup such as Watercress Pork Rib Soup, Chicken Leg Peanut Soup and Black Chicken Herbal Soup are sold. 

After ordering the wait game begins. If there is no queue, the minimum waiting time is 25 minutes as the rice is only cooked upon order. The claypot rice is first steamed over a gas stove at the initial cooking stage to speed up the cooking process. After that the claypot rice is transferred over to a charcoal stove. During peak hours, the waiting time can stretch to 1 hour. Regulars would normally call in advance and order so that they need not wait too long.

Mixed Claypot Rice $5

I waited for my claypot rice for slightly more than an hour on a Friday evening. Customers can adjust the amount of black sauce according to their preference. The Mixed Claypot Rice $5 was served with chicken, sausages, salted fish vegetables and rice. 

Mixed Claypot Rice $5

Mixed Claypot Rice $5

I felt that the claypot rice did not really manage to absorb the flavours from the other ingredients such as the salted fish, sausages or chicken. What I like was the fact that the chicken meat were so tender and flavourful. Overall, it was good, but not fantastic. Its not worth the wait of more than 1 hour for this.

Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice 联合本记砂煲饭 (Chinatown)

Blk 335 Smith Street 

#02-198/199 Chinatown Complex Food Centre 

Tel: 6227 2470

Opening Hours: Fri to Wed 430pm to 1030pm

                           Closed on Thur

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Ah Kow Mushroom Minced Pork Mee 亚九香菇肉脞麺 (Hong Lim Food Centre) - CLOSED

*edited - stall has closed down

 I am a huge fan of Teochew Style Bak Chor Mee (Minced Pork Noodles) and have always visited Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle (Lavendar) located at Crawford Lane to satisfy my craving.

Ah Kow Mushroom Minced Pork Mee 亚九香菇肉脞麺 located at Hong Lim Food Centre has been in operation for more than 60 years, like Hill Street Tai Hwa it also specialises in Teochew Style Bak Chor Mee. I have been eyeing this stall for sometime and took the opportunity to try this on a Saturday afternoon. 

I arrived slightly after 1pm and saw a long line of people queuing in front of the stall. There was more than 10 people in the queue in front of me. I contemplated patronising some other stalls as I was starving. But in the end, my desire to try this won the battle and I found myself queuing at this stall.

Other than the long queue, the only tell tale sign that this stall is famous/popular is the Singapore Hawker Legends Makansutra signboard showcased at the left of the shop front. 

Ah Kow Mushroom Minced Pork Mee offers just two items; Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle and Teochew Dumpling Soup which comes in 3 difference prices (again similar to Hill Street Tai Hwa). It also offers 6 types of noodles and the prices for adding extra ingredients were clearly stated on the menu pasted in front of the stall. 

The queue was extremely slow moving and I only got my food after queuing for 40 minutes! While I was in the queue, the greedy side of me decided on getting a Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle (Mee Pok) $4 and Teochew Dumpling Soup $4. After all, I had come down just for this and since I had to spent so much time queuing I may as well kill two birds with one stone and try both! Logical? 

Mushroom with Minced Meat Mee Pok $4

As with all authentic Teochew Style Bak Chor Mee, vinegar (an essential sauce) imported from China was added into the Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle (Mee Pok) $4. The ingredients which included minced meat, meat slices, braised mushrooms, dumplings and fried crispy flat fish (扁鱼) were fresh. I particularly liked the fact that they were generous with their fried crispy flat fish and braised mushrooms. However, the dumplings were disappointing as it lacked in terms of flavour and bite. Luckily, the special chilli sauce complement well with the vinegar (I requested for more vinegar). 

Teochew Dumpling Soup $4

The Teochew Dumpling Soup $4 reminded me of Xing Ji Rou Cuo Mian 兴记肉脞面 at Bedok 85 as it looked cloudy with minced meat floating in it.

Teochew Dumpling Soup $4

Teochew Dumpling Soup $4

The Teochew Dumpling Soup $4 consisted of 8 pieces of dumplings, minced meat, braised mushrooms, fried crispy flat fish (扁鱼), seaweed and Garland Chrysanthemum (Tang O).

It was a terrible mistake ordering this. The dumplings as mentioned earlier was disappointing. To add on to this, the soup was bland although it looks so flavourful in the photos above.. 

Overall, the Bak Chor Mee was a decent. It was better than most other stalls, but not a die die must try. Moreover, Hill Street Tai Hwa's version was much better. As for the Teochew Dumpling Soup? My advice would be to give it a skip.

Ah Kow Mushroom Minced Pork Mee 亚九香菇肉脞麺 (Hong Lim Food Centre)

#02-42 Hong Lim Food Centre

531A, Upper Cross Street

Opening Hours: Thurs to Sun 8am to 5pm

                         Close from Mon to Wed

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Mei Heong Yuen Dessert 味香园甜品 (Chinatown)

Mei Heong Yuen Dessert 味香园甜品 a well-known traditional dessert stall, also owns the Farmer Brand groundnuts 农夫牌花生. The stall expanded last year and open a branch at ION Orchard.

Although Mei Heong Yuen Dessert occupies three units of the ground-floor shop house in Chinatown, the place was full on a Saturday night. Luckily, the staff were efficient and the turnover was fast. We found a table fairly quickly.

Menu

Menu 

Look at the menu, Mei Heong Yuen Dessert offers a wide variety of desserts.

Peanut Paste $3

I decided to try the Peanut Paste after all they own the Farmer Brand groundnuts. Where else would be a better place to try peanut paste.

The Peanut Paste was amazingly fragrant and smooth. There were no peanut bits present. In terms of thickness it was just nice and not overly diluted. Initially I feared that it would be too thick. The perfection of this peanut paste allowed me to polish off the whole bowl without feeling jelak and had me longing for more. What a satisfying bowl of Peanut Paste.

Walnut Paste $3

Walnut Paste $3

On another occasion, I tried the Walnut Paste. It was priced at $3 too. Mei Heong Yuen's Walnut Paste did not disappoint. It had a smooth consistency and thickness. Full of walnut fragrant and flavour, I have to admit that this is one of the best Walnut Paste I have tried. It would be worthwhile to note that not many dessert stalls sells Walnut Paste.

Sesame Paste $3

On the third occasion, I had the Sesame Paste which was priced at $3. It was a hat trick (3 times) of paste. Similarly, it had the same consistency and smoothness. Quite a decent bowl of sesame paste.

Mei Heong Yuen Dessert is a good bet if you are looking for desserts. They sell a variety of desserts such as paste and shaved ice. 

Mei Heong Yuen Dessert 味香园甜品 (Chinatown)

65-67 Temple Street

Kreta Ayer Conversation Area

Tel: 6221 1156

Opening Hours: Mon - Fri 1030am to 8pm

                        Sat - Sun 1030am to 10pm

Website

Location

Mei Heong Yuen Dessert 味香园甜品 (ION Orchard)

2 Orchard Turn

#B4-34 ION ORchard

Tel: 6509 3301

Opening Hours: Daily 1030am to 10pm

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Tiong Shian Porridge 長城粥品 (New Bridge Road) 3rd Post

Another visit back to Tiong Shian Porridge 長城粥品 at New Bridge Road. I realised that whenever I visit Chinatown, I will always visit Tiong Shian Porridge for dinner. Having to travel all the way from the North, how could I miss such an opportunity. If you would like a quick introduction of this, check out my previous posts. 

As usual (from my previous visits), we waited around half an hour for our food to arrive.

The good thing is that the food always arrive all together at the same time! 

Raw Fish (small) $3.90

Tiong Shian Porridge's Raw Fish which ordered by almost everyone who patronise this coffee shop. The Raw Fish was served with slices of raw fish, ginger, chilli, shallot, spring onion, lettuce and a lime. The sauce underneath seems to contained sesame oil. The fish was fresh with no fishy taste. Soft and smooth with a hint of sweetness. A must order dish. How I wish I could order this fish and add it into my Chinese New Year Yu Sheng! 

Braised Beancurd $2.60

The Braised Beancurd (Lou Beancurd) was soft, smooth and silky. The sauce and the chilli provided complement the beancurd perfectly. This is the only beancurd dish that I know is served with chilli! Shiok! Another dish worth ordering. Simple yet delicious. 

Chicken Porridge $3.20

The chicken given in the Chicken Porridge were well marinate and tender. However, the porridge was on the salty end else it would be perfect. 

Dried Chilli Frog Leg (small) $8.00

Dried Chilli Frog Leg (small) $8.00

The must order, Dried Chilli Frog Leg. It was well executed. The frog meat was well marinated and well coated with immense flavours of spiciness and sweetness. So delectable. 

Plain Porridge $0.60

A bowl of plain porridge for me to savour by adding the sauce from the Dried Chilli Frog Leg.

If you are wondering where to get a good bowl of porridge with Dried Chilli Frog Leg or what to eat in Chinatown, Tiong Shian Porridge is unlikely to disappoint. To me the food here is irresistible! 

Tiong Shian Porridge 長城粥品 (New Bridge Road)
265 New Bridge Road
Ann Kway Building
Tel: 6221 1596 / 6222 3911
Opening Hours: Daily 8am to 4am
Location

Tiong Shian Porridge 長城粥品 (Whampoa Drive)
Blk 82 Whampoa Drive
#01-973
Tel: 6254 0952
Opening Hours: Mon to Fri 9am - 230pm, 4pm - 12am
                        Sat 9am - 12am 

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

Tiong Shian Porridge 長城粥品 (New Bridge Road) 2nd Post

Another visit to Tiong Shian Porridge located near Chinatown MRT station along New Bridge Road.

Tiong Shian Porridge needs no introduction among foodies. Readers of FoodieFC would have known that I am a great fan of this place. Despite living in the North, I still find myself (with her) making a special trip down here. (I am a foodie!!) For the benefit of doubt, Tiong Shian Porridge specialises in serving porridge and claypot frog leg! Yet again, during this visit, the place is packed!

The lady who determines if you get 1 piece more or less meat.

Raw Fish in the freezer

Look at the number of plates of Raw Fish in the freezer!

Here's how to order: Find a empty table (or share a table). Make your order at the cashier and inform them of your table number. Lastly, pay and wait for it to be delivered to you. We waited for around 20 minutes this time before getting our food. Lucky us! During our last visit, we waited for half-an-hour.

Raw Fish (small) $3.90

Tiong Shian Porridge is also know for its Raw Fish. You can observe this for yourself when you are there. Almost every one orders this! The Raw Fish consist of slices of raw fish, chilli, ginger, lettuce, spring onions and shallots. All you need to do is to squeeze the lime juice and mix the ingredients up! The fish is fresh with no fishy taste. This is a must order! For just $3.90 you get so many pieces of raw fish and it taste so yummy.

Braised Bean Curd $2.60

We observed that most people ordered the Braised Bean Curd (Lou Bean Curd). Hence, we decided to order one too. The Braised Bean Curd was unique. It was very soft, and silky smooth on the inside. The sauce on top complement the dish well especially when paired with plain porridge. Add in the chilli at the side to give it a spice it up.

Shredded Chicken Porridge $3.20

The Shredded Chicken Porridge was on the salty end. However, I must mention that the shredded chicken was well marinated and cooked. Very flavourful and soft chicken meat!

Dried Chilli Frog Leg $8.00

Ordered Dried Chilli Frog Leg again. Right amount of sweetness and spiciness. The frog (meat) was tender and flavourful having adsorbed the sauce. Delicious! 

Plain Porridge $0.60

As usual, I ordered a bowl of Plain Porridge for myself. The reason for ordering this is to add the sauce from Dried Chilli Frog Leg and the frog leg into this! It will transform into the best plain porridge ever.

Again, Tiong Shian Porridge is one of my favourite food destination especially for porridge or claypot frog leg.  The down side is that you have to be prepared to sweat it out eating this as this place is not air-conditioned. (this is something worth sweating for). Should you have difficulty finding seats, there's level 2!

Tiong Shian Porridge 長城粥品 (New Bridge Road)
265 New Bridge Road, Ann Kway Building
Tel: 6221 1596 / 6222 3911
Opening Hours: Daily 8am to 4am
Location

Tiong Shian Porridge 長城粥品 (Whampoa Drive)

Blk 82 Whampoa Drive

#01-973

Tel: 6254 0952

Opening Hours: Mon to Fri 9am - 230pm, 4pm - 12am

                          Sat 9am - 12am