More curry noodling at Cantonese Delights (廣東小吃)

Breakfast at Cantonese Delights. Queue formed about 10 minutes before the stall opened. It was almost a half hour before we got our food even though we were early.

The stall has both curry yong tau foo and laksa yong tau foo. According to the proprietor, the difference is in the gravy. The latter has dried shrimps (hae bee) and a sprinkle of dried laksa leaf. I'm sure they also forgot to mention that the rempah is different as well,

This laksa bowl has gravy that's nice and lemak and quite drinkable. Out of the 4 curry noodle stalls at Hong Lim, these guys are still numero uno in my books.

Char siew's better than many. It's made in house but they aren't a specialist in these.

A few days later......

Since curry wanton noodles was a thing, I tried curry sui gao noodles. Added fried chicken.

Dumpling's decently sized, has a smooth slurpy wrapper and stuffed with shrimp, minced pork and diced water chestnuts. Not bad.

Lee Ji Xiao Chi (李記小吃), Holland Village Food Centre

Someone mentioned Lee Ji Xiao Chi (#01-23, Holland Village Food Centre, 1 Lorong Mambong) and their bee hoon recently and somehow, it got stuck in my head so we came down to try it. Got a plate of their stir fried bee hoon with gravy. Flavour's savoury yet light with adequate saltiness without much complexity. Felt much like a home cooked dish.

Nasi Padang Beach Road, Smith Street Food Centre

This stall (Blue Zone, #02-225 Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) is located at where Babas Peranakan used to be. Not bad tasting. Wouldn't be fair to compare them with  shops like Hajah Maimunah for the variety or quality so I won't. 😂 I think I also like the Babas Peranakan better. 

But...it's a decent eat. This plate had paru goreng, sayur lodeh and some achar. That and the gravy from the curried vegetables and a some sambal belachan which made it go down the hatch with ease. Don't mind coming back. Note to self: their sambal belachan doesn't pack much heat.

Eat May Know (食就知), Bendemeer Market & Food Centre

The quest for glutinous rice buns plods forward another step. Found this at Eat May Know (#01-32 Bendemeer Market & Food Centre, 29 Bendemeer Road).

The proprietor had no clue what this tasted like which I thought was odd. His answer to whether if these buns were sweet or salty was that they were neither. These glutinous rice buns were sweet for as far as I've encountered them. This wasn't different. Not getting the five spice flavour in this though it was still kinda enjoyable.

Song Fish Soup (宋鱼湯), Hawkers' Street @ 100AM

This was a bowl of fish maw mixed fish soup from Song Fish Soup at Hawkers' Street at 100AM (#04-05/06 100AM, 100 Tras Street). It's milky looking because we requested for milk to be added. Not bad tasting broth - I could taste a splash of hua diao in it. That being said, it's not as full bodied or impressive because the bar for which we're measuring it against has risen because of Hai Kah Lang. Will skip the fish maw option the next time because they aren't great. Not feeling like I'm getting much sliced fish compared to the fried ones out of this bowl too.

Toa Payoh 93 Soon Kueh (大巴窑93筍粿), Bendemeer Market & Food Centre

These soon kueh from Toa Payoh 93 Soon Kueh (#01-14 Bendemeer Market & Food Centre, 29 Bendemeer Road) tasted better than the ones used in Yong Xiang Carrot Cake - that being said, I don't know if being pan fried made me like those less.

Yong Xiang Carrot Cake (永祥菜頭粿), Bendemeer Market & Food Centre

Came to try Yong Xiang Carrot Cake (#01-35 Bendemeer Market & Food Centre, 29 Bendemeer Road) because they have something that's not sold anywhere else.

Said unique item is their stir fried png kueh and soon kueh - both stir fried like their radish cake with eggs. The skins of both kuehs weren't as crusty as I had imagined and the one for the latter was kinda thick. Now that I've tried it, don't think I will ever get them again. 

Radish cake was decent if unremarkable. What I gather was that they've been doing this for a long time and the queue kinda spoke for that. Their style involves chopping the radish cake into small bits. I usually prefer chunkier cuts.

白鸡尾饭 from Da Po at Hawkers' Street @ 100AM

It's been a while since I've last had chicken rice at Da Po and that was at their stall at Golden Mile. This branch at Hawkers' Street @ 100AM kinda reaffirmed my faith in them. Solid plate with tender meat and creamy livers drizzled with that light soya sauce and sesame oil. Even got a heart today. Chilli's lime-y and gingery. If there was a gripe, it'll be that the thigh was kinda small.

Ming Heng Boneless Chicken Rice (銘興起骨鸡饭), Jalan Bukit Merah

Came across Ming Heng Boneless Chicken Rice (#01-1688, 111 Jalan Bukit Merah) at the coffeeshop in the perpendicular block from Jalan Bukit Merah Food Centre. This was thigh meat (鸡尾) and an egg for $4.60. Portion felt a little small and the flavour in the rice was a little light - but I think it's decent and a totally legit plate.

One Ton Mee (一頓面), Bendemeer Market & Food Centre

Kolo mee from One Ton Mee #01-09 Bendemeer Market & Food Centre, 29 Bendemeer Road). Came with standard issue savoury saucing, salty minced pork and char siew. And a few wantons. Like three.

Didn't that just make it wanton mee with kolo mee squiggly noodles and minced pork? Anyways, the bowl was decent tasting if unextraordinary. What upped the ante and impressed me though was their sambal which packed considerable heat. I asked for more halfway through for that extra oomph to help inhale the rest of the bowl and it left my lips burning. It was worth it though.  

Zeng Ji Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice (曾記起骨鶺飯), Marine Parade Central Food Centre

Trying out another chicken rice stall (#01-52 Marine Parade Central Food Centre, 84 Marine Parade Central) from Marine Parade Central Food Centre. This one has a longer and slower moving queue. Got the serving with half 白 and half 烧. No additional charge for request for thigh meat. For some reasons, the details elude me but it was all round a pretty good plate as I remember it. 

Xiu Ji Ikan Bilis Yong Tau Fu (秀记江鱼仔釀豆腐), Smith Street Food Centre

We've seen the queue at Xiu Ji Ikan Bilis Yong Tau Fu (Green Zone, #02-88 Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) almost every time we're in the vicinity. Finally killed the cat to join that queue to find out what they might have been doing right.

One can get the basic bowl for $4 which includes noodles and 4 pieces of their yong tau foo. I topped up a couple of extra pieces. Not bad tasting. Came with the standard soya bean soup. I kinda liked the gentle savoury saucing they drizzled over the noodles. Watch out for those ikan bilis to avoid getting stabbed in the gums.

Tai Wah Pork Noodle (大華肉脞麵), Hawkers' Street @ 100AM

I've been disappointed by Tai Wah Pork Noodle more than a couple of times due to the inconsistency of their bcm standards across different outlets. Hence I was understandably wary of their noodles from new outpost (#04-05/06 100AM, 100 Tras Street). This was a $6.50 bowl of mee pok 白. Turned out that it was actually pretty good. Noodles were firm with a nice bite and the bowl was pleasantly lard-y. The meatballs may not be as stinky and there's less flavour of dried sole in the wanton, but I think I will come back another time for a bigger bowl.

One week later......

This was the larger $8.50 bowl. One more dumpling and meatball from what I could tell. The amount of noodles seemed the same. So it's still kinda small-ish for that what they're charging but still a solid tasting bowl. Quite sure their branches in coffeeshops are slightly cheaper than this one in the food court.

McDonald’s x Old Chang Kee's Curry Potato Chicken Burger

McD and Old Chang Kee's "collab". Burger looked ugly when it was unwrapped. Like a pouty clam. 😂

I kinda like this one because of the curry potatoes which together with the egg and chicken made it a little reminiscent of the OCK puff. Chicken had a crunchy skin with what I thought to be a hint of ginger.

One week later......

So here's the double meat version. Fried chicken doesn't stack well for a hand held sandwich and those curried potato cubes were falling out much faster than the single meat version. The potato-to-chicken ratio was kinda "imbalanced" if you catch my drift.

116 烧腊•麵, People's Park Food Centre

Chanced upon 116 烧腊•麵 (#01-1092 People’s Park Food Centre, 32 New Market Road) one evening and got a plate of triple roast rice. We were sure we've seen them almost every time we've been in this food centre and have never afforded them nothing more than a cursory glance.

Pretty decent plate of roast duck, roast pork and char siew. $10 for this one. Meats were arguably tender yet with a good bite to them with no melt in your mouth BS. I liked that the rice was moist and tender - unexpectedly great pairing with the garlicky chicken rice chilli which served as a counter to the richness of the proteins.

Nasi lemak from Aziz Jaffar Muslim Food

Decent quality nasi lemak from Aziz Jaffar Muslim Food. Sweet and spicy sambal as per usual and savoury coconut rice which was adequately salted for flavour. Didn't find anything else particularly outstanding but I'd say they're an viable option for Malay styled nasi lemak at Chinatown's food centre if one has a hankering for a plate.

A recent bowl of mee pok from Liang Seng Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle (樑成香菇肉脞麵)

So the auntie at the stall confirmed that they don't do Sundays anymore.

The Ceylonese Affair, Mei Ling Food Centre

Came across The Ceylonese Affair (#02-17 Mei Lin Food Centre, 159 Mei Chin Road) recently. The stall does only briyani and appam. 

It's actually not bad tasting. That being said, it was different from the more flavourful briyani that most of us might be used to. The rice was spiced but I'd call the flavour infusion gentle. 

This was their butter chicken briyani which featured their fried chicken with butter chicken sauce. Understandably, most of the flavour came from the sauce. Came with achar on the side. Those brown bits scattered on top were fried onions. Nice.

Tarik, Arab Street

I noticed Tarik (92 Arab Street, #01-02) some time ago and made a mental note to come back for some of their tea. Making a mental note these days aren't as effective anymore because...out of sight is out of mind. Very often. But we were in the vicinity today.

Was spoilt for choice. Ended up with Boss Fav which was basically a saffron masala tea.

I liked it. Even though it was iced, it didn't taste diluted even till the end. Pretty creamy and moderately spiced with discernible notes of ginger in the saffron. Will come back to try the hot one another time.