Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hun Restaurant 荷兰村XO鱼头米粉酒楼 (Dover)

XO Fish Head Bee Hoon XO鱼头米粉 $7

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hun Restaurant 荷兰村XO鱼头米粉酒楼  is a zi char stall located in a coffeeshop in Dover Crescent popular for their XO Fish Head Bee Hoon.

This stall is also well-known for their customer service which is terrible. Despite that, they still attract customers from all over the island. It is a testimony of how good their XO Fish Head Bee Hoon is.

This reminds me of some Hong Kong cha chaan teng where the more the service attitude is terrible, the better the food tastes.

The zi char stall sells a variety of food. You will need to ask for their menu. As you can see from the signage, the prices of their most popular item is clearly displayed. This reduces the number of requests for the menu as many people are here for just the XO Fish Head/Meat Bee Hoon.

For myself, I made a special trip down to specially their XO Fish Head Bee Hoon.

XO Fish Head Bee Hoon XO鱼头米粉 $7

I ordered the smallest version of the XO Fish Head Bee Hoon XO鱼头米粉 $7. It would have cost me $1 lesser if I had ordered the fish meat version. But I am one of those who loves fish head. It is in fact the real deal. If you are also a foodie, you will probably agree that fish head is better than fish meat.

XO Fish Head Bee Hoon XO鱼头米粉 $7

The XO Fish Head Bee Hoon was delicious! The soup which was cloudy, was tasty, creamy and intense XO taste. Surprisingly, I liked the soup and drank most of it. Not bad for someone who does not fancy liquor. Slices of ginger was added to balanced out the flavours and get rid of any unpleasant fishy smell. They were so generous as there was so many chunks of fried fish head in the bowl. They had given nearly the whole fish head (lips, grills, eyes, etc). Moreover, the fish head was so fresh.

Now I understand why the XO Fish Head Bee Hoon has been so highly raved about. In my opinion it is a real hearty bowl of XO Fish Head and value for money.

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hun Restaurant 荷兰村XO鱼头米粉酒楼 (Dover)

Blk 19A Dover Crescent, #01-05

Singapore 131019 

Tel: +65 6778 3691

Opening Hours: Mon to Sun 1130 am - 2pm, 5pm - 11pm

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Eng Kee Fried Chicken Wings 榮記炸鷄翅膀 (Commonwealth)

Eng Kee Fried Chicken Wings 榮記炸鷄翅膀 is a well known stall located at a old coffee shop in Commonwealth Drive HDB estate. 

Eng Kee Fried Chicken Wings is essentially an economic noodle stall offering bee hoon, noodles, sausages, eggs, fishcakes, otah, luncheon meat, vegetables, etc.

This stall is well known for their fried chicken wings. There is a perceptual queue at this stall even during non-peak hours. It has been said that the original owner sold the stall off and has opened a new one at Red Hill Food Centre. 

I have heard so much about this stall and has been wanting to try this for ages. Since I was in the area, I decided to try this for myself. I ordered the noodles, bee hoon and two pieces of fried chicken wings. 

The noodles were average, a waste of calories. As for the chicken wings, they were the bomb! The chicken wings were big, meaty, tender and succulent! Very well executed frying technique as they were not greasy at all. The wings were just so juicy. At $1.20, this is just so value for money. The chicken wings at Eng Kee Fried Chicken Wings 榮記炸鷄翅膀  is a must try! 

$1.20 each

It was so good that I queue up again and packed  8 pieces of chicken wings back home. I envy those who live at the HDB flats nearby. I would practically be buying this every week if I am staying there.

Eng Kee Fried Chicken Wings 榮記炸鷄翅膀 (Commonwealth)

117 Commonwealth Drive

#01-711

Singapore 140117

Opening Hours: Mon to Sat 12pm - 10pm

                         Closed on Sun

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Hock Heng You Tiao 福兴油条 (Tanglin Halt Food Centre)

Hock Heng You Tiao 福兴油条 is a stall located at Tanglin Halt Food Centre specialising in deep fried dough fritters. This stall is located two units away from No. 1 Western Food 驰名西餐. The Hungry Bunny recommended this stall since I was at Tanglin Halt Food Centre. 

Hock Heng You Tiao sells a variety of deep fried dough fritters such as You Tiao, Salted Hum Chim Peng (Hum Jin Peng), Butterfly Bun and Lotus Paste Hum Chim Peng. 

Everything at Hock Heng You Tiao are freshly made! You may have noticed from the photos above, the owner was kneading, rolling and folding the dough preparing the next batch of Hum Chim Peng and You Tiao. After which, his daughter would help to deep fry them. The owner's wife also helps out at the stall. Each item at the stall costs only $0.70. 

Savory (Salted) Hum Chim Peng $0.70

Savory (Salted) Hum Chim Peng $0.70

I bought a Savory (Salted) Hum Chim Peng $0.70 to try out when I was there. I must admit that it sure was good. The Hum Chim Peng was soft, chewy and fluffy. I especially love it when I reach the part which was savoury. 

Having tried this out, I decided to purchase some home. 

Butterfly Bun $0.70

The Butterfly Bun $0.70 was fried with sesame seeds which gave it an extra fragrant. It is similar to You Tiao except for the fact that it had a different shape and was sweeter in taste.

Anyway, my advice would be to have these deep fried dough fritters on the spot after buying. It is best eaten when it is freshly fried. Those that I bought home and ate the next morning became a tad too tough on the outside. Nevertheless, Hock Heng You Tiao is worth a try. 

Hock Heng You Tiao 福兴油条 (Tanglin Halt Food Centre)

Blk 1A Commonwealth Drive

#01-11 Tanglin Halt Food Centre 

Singapore 141001

Opening Hours: Tue to Fri to 4pm to 830pm

                         Closed Sat to Mon

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No. 1 Western Food 驰名西餐 (Tanglin Halt Food Centre)

No. 1 Western Food 驰名西餐  is a popular stall which serves Chinese old-school style western food. This stall is located at Tanglin Halt Food Centre, a relatively ulu place (for me). I did not know about this stall until I read it about it on The Hungry Bunny, who highly recommend this stall (Thanks for the recommendation!).

No. 1 Western Food is operated by Mr Ong Choon Chiang, who is now 68 years old, with his wife (it is no mean feat to stand for hours and cook at the age of 68 in front of the hot grills and wok of oil). He first started selling western food more than 40 years ago before the days of McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).  In 1981, he shifted to Tanglin Halt Food Centre and has continued to ply his trade at this food centre till today. No. 1 Western Food is one of the more popular stall in this food centre and is well-known among residents in Tanglin Halt for its crispy Chicken Cutlets. A key differentiation / USP (unique selling point) is his very own special (secret) sauce which I shall elaborate on further below.

Special Sauce

This unique tomato-based barbecue special sauce, whipped by Mr Ong is added onto all the food served. Whether it is Chicken Cutlet, Chicken Chop, Pork Chop, Lamp Chop, Beef Steak or Fish & Chips, this special sauce is added on top! This special sauce is what made it stand out among other western stalls. It is no surprise that the recipe for this sauce remains a secret (During past interviews with The Straits Times interview, Mr Ong did not divulge any details of the ingredients other than the fact that it was made of tomato.).

Pork Chop and Chicken Chop

On certain days, they can sell as many as 100 plates of Chicken Cutlet. This explains why there are so many pieces of Pork Chop and Chicken Chop at the side of the gas griddle.

I ordered Pork Chop and Chicken Cutlet on two different occasions. In the photo above, you can see that my pork chops are being cooked on the gas griddle.

After a while, taken out from the gas griddle and grilled over an electric grill before being served.

Pork Chop $5

The Pork Chop $5 consisted of 2 pieces of pork chop served with baked beans, slices of cucumber and tomato, and fries. The special sauce was added on top of the pork chop.

Pork Chop $5

Pork Chop $5

Although the two slices of Pork Chop were quite thin, they were quite well executed. The exterior of the pork chop was slightly crisp and had a slight hint of smokey aroma (probably both were achieved because the pork chops were put onto the electric grill just before being served). The pork chop was not tough and was well marinated (you have to try the part of the pork chop without the sauce to taste the original flavour).

As for the special sauce, it was addictive and well...special. It had a fine balance of delicately sweet and salty with a hint of tomato flavour. It made a whole world of difference to the taste if you were to add it on the pork chop. The sauce goes very well with the fries and cucumber too! I had a great time dipping them into the sauce.

The Pork Chop was quite decent and worth a try.

On another occasion, I ordered the famous Chicken Cutlet. My chicken cutlet was deep fried in the wok filled with oil at the extreme right of the above photo.

Chicken Cutlet $5

The Chicken Cutlet $5 consisted of a piece of crispy breaded chicken cutlet served with baked beans, slices of cucumber and tomato, and fries. The special sauce was added at the side. I was greedy and requested for more sauce.

Chicken Cutlet $5

Look at how thick the Chicken Cutlet is!

Chicken Cutlet $5

The Chicken Cutlet coated with a thin layer of bread crumbs on the outside was so crispy. The interior was incredibly juicy, tender and tasty (even without the special sauce)! I tried hard to recall, but can't remember when was the last time I tasted such a tasty chicken chop. The Chicken Cutlet was perfectly executed; the flavours and moisture were all locked in! I must emphasis that I have not eaten such a delicious piece of Chicken Cutlet before and this is really out of this world, in a league of its own. I was glad that the special sauce was not added on top of the Chicken Cutlet as it allowed me to savour the original flavour of this piece of Chicken Cutlet. This Chicken Cutlet is the best I ever had in a hawker centre! It is a must order! As for the sauce, it did not go wasted as I dipped all my fries into it! Shiok!

I can't believe that I have not heard of this stall before (so much for being a foodie. But well, its never too late!). Price wise, it was reasonable! If you have not tried this, I would highly recommend for you to try this soon. Do note, unlike most western stalls, this one is self-service. During peak hours, you can expect to wait (queue) for more than half an hour. During my visits, I noticed that some customers would order and come back later to collect their food.

ps: Tanglin Halt Food Centre is about 10 minutes walk away from Commonwealth MRT station.

No. 1 Western Food 驰名西餐 (Tanglin Halt Food Centre)

Blk 1A Commonwealth Drive

#01-13 Tanglin Halt Food Centre 

Singapore 141001

Opening Hours: Monday, Wednesday to Sataturday 4pm to 930pm

                         Sunday 1pm to 930pm

                         Closed on Tuesday

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