Happy Congee (Waterloo Centre)

this was good!!! big portion, and the youtiao inside remained crispy throughout!!! sauce could be more lah and skin could be thinner but wtv this from random coffee shop.

The curry in the IPOH CURRY CHEE CHEONG FUN ($4.50) was too sweet and got jelak after a while.

We also had the HONG KONG BOAT CONGEE ($6) which is not pictured. It was hellaaaa thick must stir properly. There’s quite a lot of ingredients inside but a lot of congee too. Very comfort food taste i like!

Having tried Happy Congee’s Rice Noodle Roll with Fried Dough Sticks previously at two separate locations (their Hougang outlet, and their Waterloo outlet), I was pretty ecstatic when I have came across a post on social media about their newest item — the Ipoh Curry Chee Cheong Fun which they had just recently released.

The Ipoh Curry Chee Cheong Fun here comes with all the goodies — long beans, green chili and curry pork skin (yes, you read it right); all that with the chee cheong fun swimming in curry gravy. Probably have to make a disclaimer that I have had it when it was a little cold (it was raining heavily on the day that I made the visit, and the item arrived on the table for quite a while whilst I was buying my drinks which took a fair bit of time due to the queue) — could definitely imagine it being more “shiok” if I was able to enjoy it hot. Some may find the curry gravy a little bit on the greasier side, though I was personally fine with it since it was pretty flavourful from the curry spices on its own. Unlike their usual Chee Cheong Fun which is done in Hong Kong-style, the Chee Cheong Fun used here is towards the local variant — the same ones which we are used to seeing as a breakfast dish and even comes with the same sweet sauce that adds more contrast for the flavours of the dish amidst all the curry gravy; the Chee Cheong Fun being in sliced rolls and still pretty silken with a bit of chew despite drenched in all that gravy. The long beans provided a variance of textures by adding a crunch, while the green chili on the side gives a slight zing that was refreshing against the gravy, though I would personally prefer sambal to give the curry an even spicier punch. The curry pork skin was undoubtedly my favourite; chewy and almost jelly-like, I really loved how it had soaked up all those flavours of the gravy — if one enjoys taupok in their curry, then curry pork skin provides much of the same with more texture.

While the hype for their rice noodle rolls have gone down since it has been some time since they were all over social media, I would say that it also makes it easier to enjoy the variety of rice noodle rolls without having to wait excessively in-line for their food; and especially so since they have opened quite a number of outlets since their debut at ARC380. While I am really into the stone-milled rice noodle rolls that Chef Leung’s Authentic Rice Noodle Roll and Rice & Roll has to offer, Happy Congee’s variant works when I am craving for a good one — especially when it has multiple outlets situated across the island.

Remembered making the trek to Blk 682 Hougang Avenue 8 for dinner when dine-in was still allowed under Phase 3 back then — pretty surprised to find a Happy Congee outlet at Blk 261 Waterloo Street in the same coffeeshop as Leong Yeow Hainanese Chicken Rice which had seemingly been through a revamp with a couple of new stalls moving in (including Liang Ji Char Kway Teow, which is making their move here after the closure of Xin Tekka).

Being one who would settle for the usual item if I was satisfied with what I had during my previous visit, I found myself revisiting the Rice Noodle Roll with Dough Stick again at this new outlet — had to resort to takeaway considering that I had visited this outlet during the Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) period when dine-in is disallowed. I would say that these will definitely be better when had on the spot — the item is freshly-made, so one can actually expect the dough sticks here to come all toasty and crispy within. Taking away does affect the quality of dough sticks a little where it may get a little soft and limp, so one may want to exercise a bit of discretion with distance and timing in mind when it comes to ordering this item. Otherwise, the rice rolls are smooth and silken, while the dough sticks come in a pretty substantial portion where it’s almost the same girth as the dough sticks that come from hawker stalls serving up fried fritters (as opposed to the daintier ones that come with similar dishes in dim sum restaurants). Doused in light soy sauce, there was ample sauce to go around for a slight savoury note, while the chili does come with a slightly savoury note and a lightly spicy kick to just tickle the taste buds.

It seems that Happy Congee is massively expanding their presence after the success of their outlet at BGAIN Eating House at ARC380, with outlets sprouting up at various locations across the island — a pretty welcomed move though we do hope that the quality stays consistent in the long run; a challenge for most establishments that is heading in this direction of expansion.