Love white carrot cake? Give Hup Huat White Carrot Cake (02-35) a try when you’re at Hainanese Village Food Centre. Only serving white carrot cake, it’s presented differently from your typical carrot cake as it’s cooked in squares, has a pancake like thickness and presented in a flower shape.

The homemade carrot cake cubes are soft and you can actually taste the radish itself. I noticed the cubes are relatively tiny compared to the ones you can find elsewhere.

The carrot cake is well coated with eggs. In fact the egg is pan fried till crispy and nicely coats the carrot cake cubes. And this gives it a nice oomph. This is different from most carrot cake where the egg is cooked till fluffy and doesn’t shape the flavour profile of the dish.

We added chilli sauce to the carrot cake for a spicer touch. As the chilli is well spread throughout the dish, I felt it blended too well into the dish and couldn’t taste it. Perhaps it isn’t too spicy for me to make a difference.

There’s a queue number system in place and you got to wait for a good 15-20 minutes at most. It’s a good carrot cake but I wouldn’t make the special journey out to Hainanese Village for this.

Essentially cheese fries and fried shallots. If you can get Cheese Fries and ShackMeister Fries at the same price, why don’t go for the option that gives you fried shallots too? The combination works pretty well I must say.

So it’s crinkle cut fries topped with their house blend of Cheddar and American cheese sauce. It’s cheesy and slightly salty as the artificial taste is absent, but I still prefer KFC’s cheese fries (perhaps it’s comfort food). The fries itself tend to be slightly soggy on my multiple visits here. Sometimes the frozen fries you get at the supermarket or at the Western food stall taste better.

So y’all probably have heard about Shake Shack’s LIMITED EDITION SHACKMEISTER burger ($10.90 for single/ $14.40 for double - pictured). 🍔Angus beef patties, melted cheese AND FRIED SHALLOTS on a potato bun. 🧅 It’s still not too late if you haven’t tried it cause it’s available until 16 November.

I love these fried shallots cause this isn’t your ordinary fried shallots you cook at home or get at the supermarket. They are thick in size and taste more like mini onion rings. That’s because they are marinated in ShackMeister ale and coated in flour, cayenne and paprika (same as the Chick’n Shack). It complements well with the burger as the fried shallots has a nice sweet, crispy crunch.

While Shake Shack’s burgers may not be the best in town and atas (posh) fast food at best, it does the trick. The patties are juicy since they are cooked to medium and the potato bun is soft and fluffy that holds the burger well.

I love eating clams. This was a simple yet tasty dish. The clams were generally fresh and the garlic seasoning was pretty light as compared to what you get at zi char places.

CBD does not lack good nasi lemak places. But if you’re back working in the office, you can try the fairly new Spice and Rice at Amoy Street Food Centre (01-15). Expect nasi lemak with fried chicken, butter chicken or curry vegetables.

I had the nasi lemak with fried chicken ($7.50). A rather generous serving of fragrant coconut rice, fried chicken leg, fried egg, fried anchovies (ikan bills), peanuts, sambal and cucumber. Although not part of the set, you’ll usually get a complimentary serving of curry vegetables. I added on some pan fried tempeh for $1.

What did I enjoy? 😋

Coconut rice was fluffy and fragrant. You could tell quite a good amount of coconut milk was used which gives it the rich taste.

The sambal was pleasantly pungent and slightly sweet as with all nasi lemak sambal. Would have more if I could. If you can’t handle spicy stuff well, don’t eat too much in one mouthful.

Ikan bills and peanuts are as good as you can get. Crispy and not too salty. I like to eat these two ingredients with the sambal.

Curry vegetables were a nice touch. It’s vegetarian, mild in flavour and pairs well with the coconut rice.

What could’ve been better? 💪🏻

The fried chicken leg was huge, juicy and crispy. However, as the fried chicken was refried upon order, the skin appeared slightly burnt. It was already fried golden brown (and would also look nicer for pictures 😂).

The tempeh was slightly on the dry side. Probably wouldn’t have ordered it on hindsight.

Would I be back? 🙋🏻‍♂️

Yes. I’m curious to try the butter chicken nasi lemak. I hope my fried chicken leg would be better next time.

Has anyone tried Mdm Leong Ban Mian at Amoy Street Food Centre (02-109)? Absolutely love their Dry Chilli Ban Mian ($4.50/5.50) which is based on a Hakka recipe. And the noodles are made in stall and no MSG is used.

What I enjoy about the ban mian here is the handmade noodles. The noodles are of the right thickness and are cooked al dente (or QQ). This results in a chewy and springy texture.

The chilli that’s served with the noodles is also worth an extraordinary mention. The dried chilli is fried with dried shrimp to give it a mildly spicy, savoury and flavourful kick to the noodles. Do mix it together with the noodles and dark sauce for maximum flavour. The chilli could’ve been spicier though.

For the ingredients, you’ll get some minced pork, mushrooms, black fungus, fried egg and choy sum. It’s then topped with fried ikan bilis (anchovies) and fried shallots. A small bowl of lightly flavoured soup is served.

Decided to add on the braised pork belly ($2) and I didn’t regret it at all. It was soft, tender and balanced in terms of meat to fat ratio.

If you do a bit of Googling, you can read Mdm Leong’s inspirational story on her life and the beginnings of this stall.

P.S. Y’all could probably guess by now that I have a penchant for eating noodles at the hawker centre. 😂

Nothing extraordinary. I wished there was a bit more ingredients in the pancake. Eat this fast as the pancake skin gets soggy quickly. The fish sauce dipping (nước chấm) is good though.

Has anyone tried Mdm Leong Ban Mian at Amoy Street Food Centre (02-109)? Absolutely love their Dry Chilli Ban Mian ($4.50/5.50) which is based on a Hakka recipe. And the noodles are made in stall and no MSG is used.

What I enjoy about the ban mian here is the handmade noodles. The noodles are of the right thickness and are cooked al dente (or QQ). This results in a chewy and springy texture.

The chilli that’s served with the noodles is also worth an extraordinary mention. The dried chilli is fried with dried shrimp to give it a mildly spicy, savoury and flavourful kick to the noodles. Do mix it together with the noodles and dark sauce for maximum flavour. The chilli could’ve been spicier though.

For the ingredients, you’ll get some minced pork, mushrooms, black fungus, fried egg and choy sum. It’s then topped with fried ikan bilis (anchovies) and fried shallots. A small bowl of lightly flavoured soup is served.

Decided to add on the braised pork belly ($2) and I didn’t regret it at all. It was soft, tender and balanced in terms of meat to fat ratio.

If you do a bit of Googling, you can read Mdm Leong’s inspirational story on her life and the beginnings of this stall.

P.S. Y’all could probably guess by now that I have a penchant for eating noodles at the hawker centre. 😂

Sashimi grade Hamachi Tuna Crudo served with fennel & orange salad. Seasoned with orange oil and black salt.

If I were not mistaken, we were served five thin slices of hamachi. But I gotta say that the hamachi was fresh and the minimal seasoning makes it possible to taste the mild and clean flavour of the fish.

Pasta Bar is probably synonymous with its fresh, hand made pasta that’s made daily. I was excited to try after hearing good things about it and after a few unsuccessful attempts at getting a table.

The pastas here are pretty good but the portions are relatively paltry for the price.

Autumn special. Ravioli-like pasta that’s originally from Piedmont stuffed with duck confit and porcini and served with butter and duck jus. I love the ample truffle shavings atop the pasta.

It’s a pity that there were only several pieces of ravioli for this dish despite the price. My friend didn’t enjoy this but I enjoyed it on the contrary. Taste is subjective.

Pasta Bar is probably synonymous with its fresh, hand made pasta that’s made daily. I was excited to try after hearing good things about it and after a few unsuccessful attempts at getting a table.

The pastas here are pretty good but the portions are relatively paltry for the price.

Homemade tagliatelle cooked al dente. Love how the beef ragu is so flavourful and meaty. Those slices of beef are so soft and tender. And to top it with aromatic, nutty shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano enhance the flavour of the pasta.

Pasta Bar is probably synonymous with its fresh, hand made pasta that’s made daily. I was excited to try after hearing good things about it and after a few unsuccessful attempts at getting a table.

The pastas here are pretty good but the portions are relatively paltry for the price.

Freshly made tagliolini cooked al dente in a luscious, buttery uni sauce. Instead of tobiko, I wouldn’t mind having some fresh uni and ikura sitting atop the bed of pasta. Not my kind of pasta as I prefer something more substantial.

Pasta Bar is probably synonymous with its fresh, hand made pasta that’s made daily. I was excited to try after hearing good things about it and after a few unsuccessful attempts at getting a table.

The pastas here are pretty good but the portions are relatively paltry for the price.