363. Uncle Lee's Hong Kong Noodle & Rice

The wanton mee stall in the telok blangah crescent market and food centre that is always with a queue. The owner with a greyish beard (胡须佬) managed to capture the likes of many patrons. It was highly recommended by one of my bosses and there we went to our lunch on a beautiful friday. There was a queue but nice food is always worth the wait.

Soy sauce chicken, the chicken steeped in a sweet soy based sauce. You wouldn't want to miss this. The fat tender chicken is calling out to you. I felt the marinade and the sweet braise sauce said it all. It was great. The breast meat was juicy, needless to mention the tender parts. The slight flaw lies in the chicken being not cooked through at some of the innermost areas.

Wanton mee. The noodles were good, perfect chewy, the wantons were wrapped with springy prawns, toothsome combination. The wantons' partner, Mr char siew, did the plate of wanton mee a disfavour. They didn't put up their best. It may not be the best wanton mee but it was above average.

Further 2-3 stalls away, you may also want to try the chewy handmade fishballs that were pretty good. A tad saltish though due to the uneven distribution of salt.

Comfort food for the stomach and with great company, there is no reason to reject eating!


11 Telok Blangah Cresent

#01-127

331. Canton-i

Caramelized Cashew Nuts @$3.50/dish

Munch some cashew nuts while you wait for your main course. At first I thought it was walnuts but no it wasn't. 2 servings were served.

Prawn Wanton Mee @$7.80

Canton-i's signature dish. The texture of the noodles were different from those we could get in Singapore. It was made the Hong Kong taste. But, it came as a big disappointment. The noodles though with a tinge of tangyness, was too dry.

Twin combination of duck and roasted pork

The portion was too pathetic.

Abalone Porridge @$17

It was made slightly more runny instead of the thick type which we usually have that would have stuck on to your spoon. It was good but too costly.

Beef Brisket Noodles @$7.80

The beef brisket was good but the same thing with the noodles. I think they should have added more sauce to the noodles. Too dry.

Seafood Fried Rice

Eat Faster! The hotpot was so hot that you should eat with a fast pace to prevent the rice from being burnt. And with this, the rice became dry and hard, drowning the tastes of the fried rice.

Roasted Duck Noodles @$7.80

The praise for the roasted duck laid in the skin. It was very crispy and not so much of fat. I supposed the fats was melted off.

Overall bill worked out to be about $112 for 5 pax. I lost the receipt so I couldn't remember the cost of some of the dishes. We had tea which came at $3 per pax. In my opinion, paying $112 to have just noodles and porridge was too expensive. What's more, the food we had were pretty normal, not so much to the extent to make me return for the second time.

Someone said the higher level in Ion you go, the pricier it gets. Canton-i is located on level 3, standing together with Marmalade Pantry and other big retail brands.

Canton-i
2 Orchard Turn
#03-14
ION Orchard
Tel: 6509 8368

309. Jing Hua Fish Head/Sliced Fish Bee Hoon

Sliced Fish Bee Hoon @$4

The Maxwell Food Centre is crowded on working days and even on a Sunday morning! As usual, Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice had a very long queue and I could see the other hawkers "hawking" at the queue with their big big eyes. I once saw how the neighbour stall owners talking curtly to the people queuing for Tian Tian to move away from their stalls.

Walking further in, I saw another queue and I decided to join the queue. A table directly in front of the stall sat 3 persons savouring on their fish bee hoon, slurping in the hot bee hoon and I wondered if it was really so delicious. I noticed the young chef used a very big fire. The fire flames engulfed the pathetic aluminium pot which has been 'working' non-stop and I wondered again how healthy is this way of cooking? Definitely not on the top list. So after a cool wait of approximately 20 mins, I got my bowl of sliced fish bee hoon.

The fish slices were cut in big slices, doubled the size of batang fish slices we usually have for fish bee hoon. And of course, they are not using batang fish. However, I also have no idea what kind of fish they are using. The bee hoon smelled nice with the sesame oil and huadiao wine. The stock was tasty. The sliced fish bee hoon was slightly above mediocre but I wouldn't say it was heavenly nice.

There was also a long queue for the Hainanese Curry Rice in the same row of stalls. Ah Singaporeans!

Maxwell Food Centre
1 Kadayanallur Road
Singapore 069184

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206. Shan Katong Laksa

Katong Laksa....not at Katong but Holland Village. It is called Shan Katong Laksa. Other than laksa, they also sell nasi lemak. Both attracts a number of patrons at lunch. Each bowl of laksa sold at $3.50. It was quite nice. The prawns was tangy. I think it could have been bicarbonate or something added to it for its tanginess. No clams for me. I don't like clams, clams has a weird taste. However, I loved bamboo clams. I felt the laksa base could have been heavier. Looking at the colour of the laksa base, you could have guess that it was quite mild. A medicore bowl of laksa. With chili added, the laksa was much better but the whole bowl of laksa would be pretty oily. I didn't dare to add scoops of chili like what my colleague did, I added half a scoop. I think the best katong laksa is still the one at Katong.

Katong Laksa

Holland Village

29B Lorong Mambong

203. Yee Cheong Yuen Noodle Restaurant

The former Yee Cheong Yuen Noodle Restaurant is now called Yi Bao. My colleague told me how it used to be. They have to queue up for their noodles and unlike now, it is air-condtioned and waitresses serve you your noodles. However, on their bill, it is still registered as Yee Cheong Yuen and the business is still as good as before.

No doubt, the prices hiked. Yi Bao offers quite a handful of snacks and local dishes.

Chestnut drink
Ipoh Hor Fun

I had a set which consisted of the Ipoh hor fun, a glass of chestnut drink and a bowl of 3 prawn dumplings for $7 (w/o GST). The hor fun was very smooth and soft. I thought the gravy was a tad too black. And Hey...there's no mushroom in my Ipoh hor fun! Lacked the mushroom fragrance. But, the chili sauce was good. It was a very fulfilling lunch.

Prawn dumpling soup @$4

The prawn dumpling was decent. Slightly hard and I felt could have been more flavoured. It was light and not oily.

Steamed chicken noodles @$5

The noodles was springy, not the instant noodles kind. It was the same sauce used for Ipoh hor fun so don't expect any surprises.

The bill totalled up to $19 for 2 pax, inclusive of GST. I would say it was slightly expensive for just noodles.

Many people may just make do with any food, even if it was very unpalatable. I'm most probably the one who would rather go an extra mile for better food. I'm those who would be happy and de-stressed if I have had nice food. And guess what I have finally got for myself.. ...check out my next entry!

Yi Bao
31 Lorong Liput
Holland Village
Daily 8:30am - 11pm

189. Swee Kee (Ka-Soh) Fish Head Noodle House

Ka-Soh....it was very crowded on weekdays, very hard to get a table especially at lunch times. Surprisingly, it was not crowded on a Sunday.

I thought it was pickles but it wasn't. I was amazed. Those were the fried pork lard. It was the first time I came across having fried pork lard served together with the pickles. Then....my parents started their long ago stories where people only ate rice with fried pork lard bla bla bla. I'm pretty disgusted by how one could have eaten that thing with rice. Some ate the pork lard (in dense liquid form) drizzled over rice. Yucks!

Fried chicken in prawn paste (Har Jiong Gai) @$11.80

I smelt of the pungent prawn paste even before this dish was served on the table. The prawn paste was so strong. I thought this dish should have been a thumbs-up but it wasn't. Pretty disappointed. It came like fried chicken left untouched for some time. I know some restaurants had their fried chicken added with red colouring to make them look more appetizing. But, I must say I'm all against colour additives. I find the chicken pretty tasteless. Not so well-flavoured.

Salt & Pepper Prawns @$18.80

Prawns was big and the meat was firm. It was mediocre. It didn't really make me wow-ed.

Buckwheat Vegetables @$6.50

This was my favourite dish. A plate of greens. I like buckwheat vegetables. This type of vegetable is very crunchy and though didn't look appetizing at all is very tasty. Simply fried with garlic, it tasted better than any other dish.

Braised Tofu @$8.50

Egg tofu was cut in long strips instead of the usual coin size. It was braised with chye-po, minced meat and mushrooms. It was delicious and went very well with plain rice. However, it was very oily. What remained in the plate was a pool of oil and I, for an instant, was annoyed by that sight.

Fish Slices Hor Fun @$13

It wasn't as good as I have expected it to be. I had thought it should be very tasty since they are the expert in this dish besides the fish head noodles. The thinly sliced fish slices were very fresh but overall the hor fun lacked the oomph. Also, it was oily. It was far-fetched than Hong Kong Street's version.

Overall, the bill was $74.45 for 5 pax. I felt it was slightly expensive for the dishes we had and the dishes were pretty oily.

Swee Kee(Ka-Soh)

96 Amoy Street

179. The Asian Kitchen

I was greeted by two diligent workers from The Asian Kitchen, a waiter and a waitress when I entered the basement of Republic Plaza. A few times, I passed by at lunch hours, it was crowded. I don't have the intention to have Chinese food for dinner but changed my mind. Good service attitude makes a difference for me, especially after my encounter with Leng Kee.

Asian Chinese loves red because it is a prosperous colour. Being a loud colour, it does make the place more vibrant too.

Pork & vegetable dumplings @$3.90 (4 pieces)

These were freshly made, the waiter told me so. The skin was very thin. The filling wasn't too salty nor were they juicy like xiao long bao. Taste was average. Didn't wow me.

Pan fried dumplings @$5.90

It was pretty similar to the ones I had as seen above. I regretted for not ordering a different filling for my steamed dumplings because it was like tasting the same dish, the only difference being the texture of the skin. The skin was crispy but not to the max though they looked like any minute later, the skin on the bottom is going to be charred.

Zha Jiang Mian @$7.20

It was delicious. The minced meat mixture cooked with fermented soy beans was not too salty nor spicy. The chili oil wasn't too much in amount. The freshly cut cucumber gave the crunch to the noodles and also minimised the grease. Handmade noodles triumphed over machine made noodles.

The noodles was a tad too little for the price it was charged, or rather I would say the noodles was slightly overpriced. They ain't the only one with handmade noodles.

Avocado Snow Shake @$5

It was good but a tad too expensive. Velvety smooth shake without lumps of ice. I hate shakes where the blenders just didn't work well enough to cut the ice.

Total bill was $25.89 for 2 pax. Overall, the taste of food and service of food were above average but slightly pricey for just noodles and dumplings.

The Asian Kitchen
Republic Plaza
9 Raffles Place
#B1-01
Singapore 048619
Tel: 6438 3884

177. Leng Kee

It was near lunch hour which explained for the crowd at Bukit Timah Market Food Centre. Not all of the stalls were opened. I had intended to get a pasta but Mien was not opened for business.

So, I opted for the fish slice noodles at the opposite. Business was brisk for them at lunch hour. I was pretty turned off by the stall owner's and helper's attitude. I felt they were too rude. I have heard the uncle telling one of the customers that if he doesn't want to wait, it's okay that he cancels his order. Not nicely but curtly. While I was making my order with the uncle, the helper shouted loudly at me to make way for him. There was ample space for him to walk pass though. No wonder some time ago, the TV kept advertising on work attitude. No doubt they are very busy at the peak hours, having to cook so many bowls of noodles and fish soup but bad attitude towards customers will eventually cause them to be at the losing end.

*Review on food was not affected by their work attitude.

The fish slice noodles @$2.50 each was just so-so. I would say it was relatively cheap for they have added a generous amount of batang fish slices. But I felt they weren't really very fresh. Soup broth was clear and sweet.

Braised pork and beancurd skin @$5

The meat was soft and went well with plain rice. Spice content wasn't too heavy.

Bukit Timah Market Food Centre
Leng Kee
#02-192

162. Soon Lee Fried Kway Teow

Tiled flooring, cart designed stalls and bright lighting. The revamped balestier food centre looked so much better. At least it would not flood when it rains. I was there at lunch time. I'm quite surprised that it was not crowded at all. Business didn't seem as brisk as it is during dinner time.

The uncle frying the kway teow. I reminded him twice that my kway teow has to be less oil. I loathed my kway teow to be oil-laden. It makes me sick. No doubt the revamp was good because it made the dining environment cleaner and thus healthier but this also resulted in the hike of food prices.

Yes. My char kway teow wasn't oil-laden. I felt it wasn't black enough. Taste was just so-so. It lacked the wow. The black carrot cake was pretty good if the carrot cake didn't have the slight sourish taste. I guessed it was going to turn bad soon.

Balestier Food Centre

Balestier Road

138. Famous Pontian Wanton Noodles

I have seen the other outlet at Bugis, just outside the OG complex. Their business is quite good everytime I passed by but I have never try it. Partly because I just can't persuade myself to eat under the umbrella on a 32+/- degree day. The business at the outlet which I have visited is also good with the morning crowd. I didn't realise that I could actually have my wanton noodles with black sauce until I saw the photos I have taken. I got my noodles with chilli sauce.

Frankly speaking, I have no idea what is so great about the wanton noodles. I stood there watching the lady cook my noodles. The mee kia she used was a darker colour compared to those noodles stalls have used. Those noodles stalls usually have the variety of noodles in their glass display cabinet. The mee kia or mee is usually of bright yellow. The one at this stall was in greyish yellow. It was like her mee kia was dirty. But still, many ate the wanton noodles from this stall, even though, just next stall is also selling wanton noodles. Could it be the brand thing?

The noodles were hard. The chilli was slightly too sweet. I had to pour the bowl of soup into my wanton noodles, making it a bowl of soup wanton noodles, just to wash away the chilli sauce. The wantons were just so-so. Nothing special about them. I felt if I had ordered chilli with black sauce, my wanton noodles would have taste better. Each bowl selling at @$2.50/$3. I got the $2.50. It was cheap though but the taste needs to be further improved.

Famous Pontian Wanton Noodles

Boon Lay Food Market