Hawker Fare

@wildcoco.sg serving up some serious competition in the nasi lemak scene! Hands down, one of the juiciest, meaty chicken legs I’ve had, with an addictive crispy fried spice blend that perfumes the entire chicken. Generous with the anchovies and peanuts too, I had a great experience creating spoonfuls of different textures and flavours. Personal preference; I do usually enjoy a slightly sweeter sambal with my nasi lemak.

Golden Mile Hawker has a new kid on the block; welcome @braise_luzhijia to the hood! Selling bowls of various cuts of braised pork with great accompaniments, I went for their recommended (and most ex) pork cheek option. Very tender and packed with the braised flavour, it’s also firmer and basically all meat and no fat, great if you always feel guilty indulging in lu rou. Shoutouts to their perfect oozy eggs and that braised gravy that had this addictively sticky consistency as well, as though a great deal of collagen went into it.

There’s quite a wide range of pork varieties to choose; from shank, ribs, belly and more. Prices actually start from $3 for a Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice, so it can be really affordable too.

@bellyluckynoodle at Hong Lim sells just one thing, and it’s this slightly mod take on kolo mee. Featuring springy, curly noodles that takes on the addictive salty, spicy minced meat sauce, two huge shrimp wantons, fatty char siew and a lava egg. It was surprisingly addictive, and those wantons were crazy huge and tasty. They’ve got tough competition in Hong Lim, but definitely something I wouldn’t mind getting again.

Pumped to find a new vadai store that just opened at Golden Mile Hawker! @theoriginalvadai (B1-32) might be new at Golden Mile, but apparently they have been dishing out killer vadai at pasar malams for quite some time now.

Packed some home and toasted them for five mins to get a warm fluffy inside, and crisp crust on the outside. The prawns aren’t the tiny little ones you normally get too, these were sizable and fleshy. Loved that they give the little green chilli padis for more of a kick as well! Gonna be hard resisting snacking on these every time I pass it by.

Tucked away in Golden Mile Tower, this cai png stall sells cheap but satisfying Nyonya dishes. Most diners here pick their own dishes cai png style, but we decided to order dishes to share instead. The assam fish is a great choice for that tangy, rich gravy. I also enjoyed their kicap manis chicken wings. Price ranges from about $3-5/pax.

I’m a sucker for silky smooth chee cheong fun, so when I saw a post about this hawker that makes her own from scratch, I knew I had to pay them a visit! Ms Liang Yuan learnt her craft from Guangzhou, specially grinding her own rice for these delicate sheets of kuay (usually rice flour is used instead).

The result is soft and light tasting which pairs wonderfully with the light flavoured sauce. The kicker here is their side of chai poh which you can add yourself for that salty, crunchy hit! Besides the usual CCF flavours like Prawns ($3), she also has interesting ones like Dried Shrimp Bang Kwang ($3) and Leeks ($2.50). Definitely a great find, this spot is popular with the residents in the area, for a good reason. 😋

My personal favourite was the Soy Sauce Chicken ($7-8/quarter); tender and moist with a tasty gravy to slather all over a bowl of rice.

If you’re staying at Potong Pasir then this should be next on your list of places to try! Opened a few months back by a young hawker who picked up his roasting techniques from a Hong Kong master, he serves up satisfying roast meats and noodles in this unassuming coffeeshop. His has a nice herbal flavour thanks the dang gui, herbs and spices he uses.

Comes with the drumstick/thigh, a side (actually a mountain) of bean sprouts, soup and rice. Definitely a good plate of chicken rice, though not my favourite. Chicken was tender and tasty, but the rice had a texture that I didn’t love, being slightly softer than I like.

Loved the bean sprouts in that light, savoury sesame sauce! Very value for money set.

Swing by the newly opened 11 Hamilton for comforting nosh and bakes from In The Brickyard! We tried a couple of items from their brunch menu and this shakshuka was pretty hearty, packed with soft bell peppers, tomatoes, beans and feta cheese. Dunk the perfectly toasted sourdough and mix up the two oozy onsen eggs for maximum satisfaction.

The space is modern and sports creamy pastel colours, a nice contrast from the grungier cafes you’ll usually find around the area. They’ll be launching a new weekday lunch menu from tomorrow onwards where it’s $15 for selected mains + drink, so that’ll be a great time to pop by!

“45 minutes wait. Ok?”, auntie says. Good things come to those who wait, and Chey Sua rewards those with the patience to get their carrot cake breakfast fix! It might not look like much, but meticulous care is taken to fry each plate of this fluffy, eggy mess. Slightly crisp, the generous amount of egg almost made this feel like a Thai omelette, and the kueh is ethereally light and soft. Then smeared across the surface is a layer of sambal that give it its red hue and a addictive sweet, spicy heat.

It’s been two years since I’ve had this, but it’s still on the top of my as one of my favourites.

Been a while since my last meal at Fatty Thai! Still a great rendition of Thai wanton mee, with meaty chunks of char siew and lotsa lard. It might look unassuming, but the noodles are tossed in a light but tasty sauce that packs a punch with chilli flakes. Only thing that fell flat today was the fried wantons that were kinda stale.