Hawker Eats

[WHAMPOA, SINGAPORE] was the first time at Whampoa Market at night and it was lit! Loads of people were feasting away and we did so as well, although the food we got was not as good as expected...

Let's start with the decent stuff first. The Special Fried Oyster 🦪 ($10) from Whampoa Traditional Fried Oyster was quite decent, with a good amount of egg and starch given. The omelette was fried well, not too oily, and you get some nice crispy bits. Oysters were fresh, and fried separately with some kind of chilli and garlic sauce. To be honest, I think the cheaper traditional fried oyster is good enough and there's probably no need to pay this premium.

Now for the not so good items... Hokkien mee 🦐 ($6) from Singapore Fried Hokkien Mee seems to be a popular one and the plate does look promising, but that's about it. I was finding flavour within the dish but it was lacking the seafood and meaty notes. The chilli had to be mixed in for flavour. This was way too starchy as well.

Mama Noodles 🍜 ($8) from Authentic Siam was also disappointing, as the soup was quite heavily watered down. Probably the only saving grace was that quite some seafood was given.

We cycled from the east to Whampoa to try out this hawker HAHA, I guess there's always hits and misses in every food adventure and I would like to share the not so good stuff as well. Are there other stalls I should be trying out? Do let me know! 😋

[QUEENSTOWN, SINGAPORE] I feel like most people might know this stall in Alexandra Village Hawker, but I would like to highlight that after having their dumplings for at least 10 years, their quality is still really good.

The must orders are their Chilli Oil Dumplings 🥟 and Fried Dumplings 🥟, both at an affordable $8 per plate. Their chilli oil dumplings are quite spice friendly luckily, making it suitable for most to enjoy. If you need an extra kick, they have more chilli sauce available at the side! The dumplings were very slurp worthy, with quite a sizable amount of filling within. The fried dumplings may not be too crispy on the outside, but the filling inside is so generous. It was meaty and honestly really shiok with the sauce from the chilli oil style!

Their noodles are more sub-par actually, but I still got it anyway 😂 The Dan Dan Mian ($5) had quite alot of minced meat, but the sauce was missing some flavour and noodles were too soft.

Really recommend the dumplings here, you gotta have them as a side while you get mains from other stalls 😆

[TANJONG PAGAR, SINGAPORE] I've been a long time patroniser of this stall, starting from the time I was an intern working around the area 😂 their quality does seem consistent over the years, offering fish soups that is really quite worth it considering there is little to no queue, as compared to the popular ones upstairs.

Their Fried Fish Soup ($6.50) comes default with milk, and the soup itself is flavourful yet not too salty. The thick rice noodles are perfectly cooked, with a surprising bouncy bite. They are very generous with their veggies, which is a nice touch! Fish slices are thick and meaty, sweet yet succulent.

I think what's special is that they add fried pork lard into this dish, which adds another dimension of flavour. The pieces were really fresh, with a satisfying crunch and explosion of umami flavours that makes you chase it down with soup. With that combination, you will finish the bowl quicker than you expected.

Definitely an option to consider while you're in Amoy Street Food Centre, especially when the recent wet weather calls for it! 🤩

[CHINATOWN, SINGAPORE] Yet another great find at Hong Lim Market! If you are a fishball noodle lover like me, you are going to love this one 🤤 I ordered the medium size portion of $6 and it came with 7 sizable fish and meatballs!

They specialise in making handmade fishballs & meatballs, and I must say they are definitely a notch above the rest. The texture of the balls are delightfully bouncy, with the meatballs definitely much meatier. Both are well seasoned and were not too salty. The soup itself has an old school flavour, but can be a little too salty! If possible you can let them know you don't want the preserved salted vegetables.

I actually love their noodles more, as they nailed both the texture and flavour. The noodles were satisfyingly chewy, with a bite that was really inviting. It was well seasoned with chilli that isn't too spicy and the amount of vinegar used was just right as well. I really can eat alot of the noodles by itself 😍

Ate this for lunch, and I was telling my colleagues that I can eat this for the entire week without a problem 😆 Note that this original Hong Xing does not have any other outlets, and their quality would not be represented by the other "outlets" you may find online!

[COMMONWEALTH, SINGAPORE] Guys, I don't know how many people know that there's another outlet of Macpherson Minced Meat Noodles, this time in the West-Central region tucked away in a quiet corner of Commonwealth Crescent Market. I've had it and I must say it's really really close to the original outlet at Tai Thong without the massive queue.

The Xiao Wan Mian ($7) comes with a big bowl of hearty soup that is really the winner. You know the owner spent a long time creating the broth, due to its thickness and incredible meatiness. It had an interesting sweet umami aftertaste that was greatly appreciated. The bowl was filled with ingredients and every one of them was quality hits. The liver slices were incredible, as it was not briney at all and was cooked just nice.

Now we move on to the noodles. Quite springy, these noodles were quite skillfully prepared by the owner, as it alternates between hot and cold water baths. The chilli sauce turns out to be a little too sweet for my liking, but the braised mushrooms won me over with its heavy umami flavours.

This was such a satisfying meal to have, especially when there isn't much of a queue! Do visit if you would like to try out some great bak chor mee 😍

[CHINATOWN, SINGAPORE] Yet another gem in Hong Lim Food Centre 😍 @thenoodlememories specialises in making Malaysian style handmade noodles, and I can tell you, the spice level is very close to what I had in Malaysia 😂

At just $5.50 a bowl of Malaysian Dry Chilli Noodles 🍜, you get quite a hefty amount of ingredients, from crispy beancurd skin to black fungus to minced meat chunks. The noodles were well drenched with a good amount of soya sauce that isn't too salty, but packed with loads of umami.

Mixing all of the ingredients up, the gooey egg yolk acted as a glue to combine all of the different ingredients together, forming quite a cohesive flavour of sweet and savoury with loads of textures coming from the black fungus. Noodles were a little al dente but I wished it was slightly harder.

How can I not talk about the chilli... I ordered small spice and it was already on fire 🔥. The dried chilli flakes had amazing kick, and the spice level is definitely 1-2 notches up from other places.

Will I order this again? Definitely. But maybe an even lower spice level so that I can enjoy the flavours more 😂

[CHINATOWN, SINGAPORE] Finally, after surviving a 40 minute queue at 1130am on a weekday, I have tried the Tai Wah Noodles in Hong Lim Hawker Centre!

The mid sized dry minced meat noodle bowl at $9 came quite generous with loads of ingredients, from dried sole fish to meatballs to pork dumplings. The noodles were a little al dente, but nicely seasoned with a balance of chilli paste and vinegar. Their chilli had quite a lot of heat and I liked that the vinegar wasn't too forward tasting.

As for the ingredients, their pork dumplings are really the best among all given. They were quite plump and flavourful! Meatballs were unlike the usual commercial ones, as it was quite bouncy. However, the liver pieces were unfortunately overcooked 😭

For this portion, a small bowl of soup is given, unlike the large ones (with the ingredients inside) I've seen in the reviews. Seems like you need to go for the $11 portion!

Probably the biggest question is whether I will queue for this again... Maybe not 😂 Definitely an above average bowl of BCM, but does not warrant the long queue unfortunately and it was quite expensive 🥹 it's a try-once kinda thing for me!

[CHINATOWN, SINGAPORE] Many people don't seem to know that Chinatown Complex Hawker Centre is actually quite known for their steamed fish head dishes, with at least 5 stalls selling the same thing. Seng Kee 119 is known to be the original steamed fish head stall and I've had it 5 years ago and standards seem to be the same!

The Steamed Fish Head ($20) was traditionally doused in a thick fermented bean sauce that can be quite salty on its own. The fish itself was very fresh, as its meat was flaky yet bouncy, with a natural sweetness. This is still good to share among 3-4! The pork lard was fresh as well, adding extra umami to the dish.

However, now thinking about it a few hours later, the flavour may be heavy on the fermented bean, but it seems rather... one dimensional. Perhaps other stalls that have innovated may be able to provide a new flavour combination that can entice me to go back 😂 wonder if anyone has tried this dish from other stalls that is worth a try?

[HOLLAND DRIVE, SINGAPORE] Kolo Mee fans, I can't emphasise enough the need to come here to try this lesser known combination of kolo mee noodles and yong tau foo, because it makes such a satisfying meal! They do it here at Lao Chen Ji, a popular stall in Holland Drive Food Centre.

I just had to ask for large noodles (total $5.50 with 5 ingredients), because they were so darn addictive 😍 the noodles were adequately chewy and they were well coated with lard and their signature chilli sauce. This was full of umami and heat, really shiok!

Their soup and yong tau foo ingredients are purposely made rather relatively bland, to act as a contrast to the rich, heavy tasting noodles. The meatball was bouncy and rather meaty; a must get here!

Definitely a recommended stall here if you are coming for your work lunches 😋

[HOUGANG, SINGAPORE] Fish soup fans, this is for you. If you love a deep savoury umami soup, this is one bowl you need to try. Ah Shun Fish Soup's rendition of black and white fish soup ($7/10) is definitely not healthy at all 🤣 with a huge emphasis on flavour. The soup itself is heavy on its fish broth flavour and is further accentuated by the fried shallots. Their fried fish slices are placed separately, and there is a reason why. The batter was amazingly light & crunchy, with a deep dried fish flavour. I highly suspect they put some kind of dried fish powder in the batter as well. This makes it extremely addictive!

Yes, the bowl I have here is $10 and may seem expensive to many, but the quality of fresh fish slices really seems to justify the high cost. The texture was soft yet firm, and has a really good bite to it. You get about 6-7 slices of that sweet succulent fish for you to savour each bite!

With about a 40 min wait time during peak weekend hours, will I do it again? Maybe not anytime soon, but when I do, I know it's gonna be a good treat.

[MATTAR, SINGAPORE] Don't remember the Circuit Road Hawker Centre being so crowded at night, but there were so many dishes I wanted to try 😍 among all of them we had 3 that caught our eye:

The Fried Prawn Mee from Tian Seng was like a roller coaster ride; I was shocked & disappointed at the start when I saw that the bigger $5 portion was so small... But once I tried it I fell in love 😍 the umami prawn & garlic flavour was so intense, and the noodles were cooked just right! Although the wok hei might be slightly lacking, but such intense prawn flavour is really hard to find. This might be one of my top 5!

I've had oyster omelette ($5) from Ghim Guan quite a few times, and the standard remains high. This rendition is wetter than others, but rich in flavours. I love how eggy this whole dish tastes and that the oysters were plump and juicy!

Lastly, the Claypot Chicken Rice ($7) from Nanxing was just decent, felt like there was nothing much to say about the rice. The chicken was very tender and fresh though!

Such a nice place for dinner, with quite a huge variety of stalls to choose from! I think this is a lesser known hawker which you should try visiting 😍

[MULTIPLE OUTLETS, SINGAPORE] If you are looking for full on umami flavour, @haemeesg's prawn noodles have what you need. I've always loved their prawn broth from their prawn claypot steamboat outlets, but their dry noodle sauce is even better!

They sell renditions of their prawn noodles from $6.50 for the basic bowl, to $11.50 for the one with jumbo prawns. I suggest getting the dry version, as their noodles are tossed in their handmade chilli sauce that has a lot of umami flavours coming from the amount of garlic and dried shrimps used. Chilli packs quite a punch as well!

Their jumbo prawns are indeed huge, but I personally will get their Mixed Organ Prawn Noodle ($9.90), as it is packed with loads of pig organ ingredients that are very well cooked. Their liver slices were still bouncy, and they had sliced kidneys as well that had a good bite!

To pair your noodles, you can get their mixed fried ingredients (wu xiang). It's decent, just nothing much to shout out about. The chilli sauce to pair with the ingredients is great though, as it has a nice citrus kick!

Thank you for the invite @haeclaypotsg, my family and I had a good meal 😍 Yes many might think that it's quite expensive for a hawker meal, but the abundant quality ingredients definitely made it worth it!