Cheappppp N Good

Did not know a friend’s dad’s stall has a ‘cult’ following like that. This over 20-year stall probably needs no introduction for those staying in the vicinity judging by the 20-mins long queue we saw on at 10am on Saturday. The ‘default’ signature set of vegetarian White Been Hoon drenched in a light, silky gravy for $3.50 comes with a generous portion of sides:
- Signature fried “duck”, is a crispy, original creation that reveals layers of moist soy bean skin (swipe right for a full side plate of it we got in the middle)
- ‘Char Siew’ that is glazed in a savoury dark sauce
- Braised Beancurd
- Stir fried cabbage

It makes for a satisfying, filling vegetarian meal indeed and a tasty, differentiated rendition of the veg bee hoon dish...

Full review on IG: tiara_star

𝑪̲̅𝒊̲̅𝒕̲̅𝒚̲̅ 𝑯̲̅𝒂̲̅𝒍̲̅𝒍̲̅ 𝑨̲̅𝒍̲̅𝒆̲̅𝒓̲̅𝒕̲̅ ♡ Toasts and coffee/tea
A little late but better than never! Finally pulled myself down to @butterbeansg for their selection of thick toasts. Love the savoury Say Cheese! which features butter cream and a generous serve of the shredded cheddar. For the undecided, the PB & J which has the half of peanut butter (unsurprisingly tastes like @toastboxsg PB) and the other half of sweet strawberry.

There are also your kopis and tehs taken up a fancy notch to lattes. The BBrulee Kopi Latte ($3.20) stood out...

Full review on IG: tiara_star

Finally made a trip to @bakerybrera (nearest station Farrer Road) to check out the golden bakes. The Matcha Cruffin ($5) caught our favour - a well constructed croissant in a muffin shape. The not-too-sweet matcha filling spills out when you cut into the buttery, flaky layers. Swipe for the flow.

A tad pricey here despite the neighbourhood bakery positioning, but already looking forward to trying out the other cruffin flavours (PB&J, salted caramel anyone?)

Here to try out the Bak Kut Teh after hearing a few raves. But the star, is the Fried Porridge and the nondescript-looking Dry Mee Sua.
💫Dry Mee Sua ($0.50) - Springy egg noodles tossed in a hint of pork lard (?) oil and soy sauce. So simple, but oh so good.
💫 Fried Porridge with pork slices ($5) - Savoury in every spoonful of broken rice grains with a wok hei charred aroma hint. The meat slices were fresh and springy, and though my bro said there was a porky taste, I begged to differ.

More on IG: Tiara_star

Finally, finally here. This is prata in all it's originality, no frills. The plain prata is crispy on the outside. Pull apart and the interior is made up of light layers. Simplicity; not spectacular, but good.
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And good is enough. At least 20 mins waiting time on weekends.

What makes a good fish soup: light-tasting sweet broth with fresh fish slices that provides a succulent bite.
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This is the other fish soup stall at Amoy Food Centre that always has a snaking queue. Unlike its other counterpart, the uncle here cooks each fish soup bowl by bowl. Here, one bowl is $7 (bottom left) or you can have it with prawns ($15), which will add a prawn flavour to the soup. Verdict: Can understand why there's a queue, because the broth isn't just a plain canvas, but with a sweet complexity to it. They even throw in lard pieces, which brings it a notch up. But not sure if I'll be queueing anytime soon again, esp taking into consideration the price for the portion. Maybe, but only if there's queue time <15 mins.

25 minutes waiting time even on a weekday morning. Now how popular is this stall? It sells porridge and noodles variations, and is by no means any mind-blowing broth. 💫
Still, the meat pieces are well-seasoned and a friend says the pig liver - which I don't eat- is done just nice. For me, it's the soup, the springy noodles, vegetables and meat in one - an above-average food any day. ($3) Be warned, mealtimes waiting can go up to 45 mins.

Old-school butter coffee (Kopi Gu You), a cup of tea, and traditional toasted bread slathered with hainanese kaya, complete with a slab of butter, all served by an uncle in a white singlet, in this coffee shop which retains its old style. Can't get any more better in 'local' flavour. 💫

Just $5.80 for 2 toasts, 2 cups of Kopi with butter and a cup of tea - ask for siew dai (less sugar). Great to take a tourist too

Can't decide whether this is fishball noodles or bak chor mee (minced meat noodles). 💫
1. It has lots of minced meat (bak chor). 💫

2. There's vinegar in this, but there's also tomato sauce. 👀
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3. Then there's fishball and fish dumpling... and my friend says it's bak chor mee... 💫

But since the signboard is as such and there's 🍅 sauce(!? - how noodles can pair with 🍅 is beyond me), it should be fishball noodles. One of those stalls with a long queue at lunchtime at Amoy - be prepared to wait at least 20 mins because they cook one bowl at a time. Noodles here are cooked to the soft side.The star is the accompanying soup and lotsss of lard. Worth the queue? Well - it's about as much as I like tomato sauce in my noodles.

Finally braved the queue to try the iconic Han Kee 🐟 soup. The good thing is, the long queue really moves fast so this was out within 15 mins of waiting even at 1.15pm. Sizes here come at $5/$7/$9. FYI so you know how to order when the aunties - who seem to expect the whole world to know the menu/super eyesight from standing 20 people away to the front - bark at you💫
If yesterday's fish soup was chunky, this is really chunky. The thickness of the fish slices and generous portions in a ($5) bowl makes it a value-for-money. Great for a light lunch - even the accompanying bowl of rice is 'lite'. The broth has a more mass-market feel instead of the wholesome taste of yesterday's. It is an above-average bowl definitely, but iconic kind of wow? Maybe? 🙂

Fresh sliced fish soup with mee sua (vermicelli). Don't expect bold flavours, just simple, light sweetness in the broth with succulent, really fresh, chunky slices of fish meat. This is as classic old-school as it gets. They sell out of fav items such as fish head and fish roe by 12 noon. 💫

Be prepped to queue 15 mins at least during lunchtime. You get a choice of vermicelli or rice - think I will pick rice next time to just dunk it in the soup - goes better too ;)

Do you look at others' food and wonder 'where is that from?' when deciding what to eat in a hawker centre? Sometimes you really end up eyeballing a gem. ☺️ Partook in the Amoy food centre lunchtime lines today and saw this golden cutlet and tauhu telur on a few people's plates while waiting in a nasi lemak line(that was so slow and seemed like no end). Got frustrated at the queue, went around and spotted that stall. 💫
Uber-crispy, juicy-inside golden chicken cutlet; an eggy tahu telur drizzled with kicap manis (dark sweet sauce) and a glorious fried egg and kickass chilli. No wonder this nasi padang stall run by a Chinese couple is a favourite - they cook/fry as they serve along so the stuff is piping hot. Douse with the curry on the rice. Discovered a gem today.