After visiting the ice cream bar for three times, I finally got the chance to try their gourmet waffles with hay & honey ice cream ($10.50). The charcoal waffles is surrounded by salted caramel and lavender petals while a small cup of salted egg sauce is served separately for you to drizzle into the waffles before eating. It's a celebration of flavours in your mouth.
KEK is one of those rare zi char places with friendly and prompt service. Go for the unique Claypot Pig Liver with rich liver sauce for liver lovers, and the Claypot Drunken Prawns in lovely herbal soup. The star dishes here are their Moonlight Horfun with raw egg, and their Salted Egg Crab! There are both outdoor and indoor seating, call ahead for reservations!
Mellben needs no introduction to all crab lovers. The crab bee hoon has addictively rich, creamy sauce that keeps people coming back for more, despite the insanely long queues. Besides the excellent crab, go for the Salted Egg Pork Ribs, and Salad You Tiao. Don't forget to order some greens to balance this meal ;) Make reservations ahead of time to avoid queuing for 2 hours!
Everyone knows char kway teow is a sinfully delicious dish, and good ones are hard to find. The char kway teow here is coated in a sweet, special mixture of sauces and with noticeably more egg than elsewhere. Plump cockles, beansprouts and good ol' crunchy pork lard make this even better. Freshly fried, greasy char kway teow laden with wok hei? It doesn't get better than this.
Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee
#02-17, Hong Lim Food Centre
Mon - Sat: 0600 - 1630
Closed on Sun
There are two kinds of people in life: those who like their hokkien mee wet, and those who prefer it dry. But Nam Sing may just please both crowds. Each spoonful brims with the aromatic, umami-rich prawn seafood stock that has been patiently fried with the noodles. Served simply with cut red chili, soy sauce, squeeze the lime all over to brighten up this dish, and slurp up this perfectly moist plate of noodles. Give them a ring before you go down, or count on your luck for them to be open, as they close the stall as they wish.
Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee
#01-32, Old Airport Road Food Centre
Mon - Sun: 1100 - 1900 (or when sold out)
Good things come to those who wait. Especially when it comes to Old Airport Road's Toa Payoh Rojak. With more than 40 years of experience, they've mastered the art of making excellent rojak. The uncle attentively grills the yu char kueh to a crisp over charcoal, ensuring that you don't get soft, soggy pieces in your rojak. The combination of condiments is almost perfect, and the prawn paste they use is the star. Rojak is one of those dishes that you don't get bored of eating, because of the contrasting textures and flavours you get (sweet, sour, spicy, salty) with each bite.
Toa Payoh Rojak
#01-108, Old Airport Road Food Centre
Mon - Sat: 1200 - 2000
Closed on Sun
Tian Tian needs no introduction. Serving arguably the best chicken rice in Singapore, you'll never not see a queue at this stall. From the rice to the chilli, everything is worth raving about. The chicken, delightfully tender and juicy, sits atop a bed of perfectly cooked, fragrant rice. Have it with the ginger and chilli, with the latter getting its brightness from calimansi juice and not vinegar. Tian Tian truly captures what hawker food should be: cheap and so, darn, good. Even Gordon Ramsay can't beat it.
Tian TIan Hainanese Chicken Rice
#01-10/11 Maxwell Food Centre
Tue - Sun: 1030 - 2000
Closed on Mon
You HAVE to go early to get your hands on their ondeh ondeh if you want to try it, because it sells out really quickly. And early means by lunch time at around 1230, which is a major bummer for those of us who are not early birds. Bite into the coconut-coated super soft ondeh ondeh and you get a burst of liquid gula melaka, which might tastes like liquid gold. They're handmade and addictive; it'll be surprising if you can stop at one. Their tapioca cake and muah chee (which is slightly different as they're filled with peanuts instead of coated) are superb as well.
Xing Xing Tapioca Cake
#01-31, Maxwell Food Centre
Mon - Sat: 0800 - 1400
(Sold out before 1300)
Closed on Sun
Another stall at Maxwell that has gained a following is Jin Hua, serving bowl after bowl of steaming hot fish bee hoon. Whichever way you like your fish soup - milky or non-milky broth, sliced fish or fried fish - you'll be satisfied here. You can get fish head bee hoon here as well, if that's your thing. Tasty broth, a good serving of sliced or fried fish, noodles, complete with the addition of tofu, seaweed, vegetables, and tomatoes for slight sweetness make for a good, hearty meal.
Jin Hua Sliced Fish Bee Hoon
#01-77, Maxwell Food Centre
Mon - Wed: 1100 - 2030
Fri - Sun: 1100 - 2030
Closed on Thu
