Hawker

I don’t usually travel to the East Side much, but when I do, it’s always for a good cause.

This Hokkien Mee spot along East Coast Road is a hot favourite in the local food scene, and for good reason too!

The freshness of the plump prawns and the sotong really shined through, adding textures and flavours of their own

The yellow mee+white bee hoon combo was moist and savoury, mixing nicely with the slightly sweet chilli.

Within seconds of its arrival, the charred aroma wafting from the noodles screamed WOK HEI, giving that smokier and mouth-watering touch.

Their Fried Oyster and Pork Belly Satay are really worth a try too! No complaints about either.

Admittedly, I turned a blind eye to vegetarian food growing up but now I’m really starting to savour its greatness, after discovering the wonders of vegetarian cuisine.

For a healthy and delicious lunch fix near HarbourFront MRT, try Hong Yi Vegetarian, identified by its vibrant display of Cai Png dishes for sale.

Brown rice, fried Kway Teow and noodles are some of your carb options. I’d personally recommend ordering the Bee Hoon to fully soak up all the goodness from the different sauces and chilli too.

Apart from the mandatory veggies, the mock chicken and char siew are delightful accompaniments.

Star of the show is really the crispy beancurd skin, adding that extra crunch to your already satiating meal.

Hopping on another bandwagon today at Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice, located around Tiong Bahru.

Long queue ✅, highly efficient food preparation and service ✅, mouthwatering Curry Rice ✅

We opted for more proteins this time: Sweet and Sour Pork Cutlet, Braised Pork Belly, Assam Prawns and Sotong.
Together with some Chap Chye served alongside.

Their Scrambled Eggs with Beansprouts(in purple plate) are amazing. That subtle sweetness from the eggs just go SO WELL together with the savoury Nonya curry. It’s surely my must-order dish from here!

I do believe the Braised Pork Belly and the Sotong here are slightly tastier than the Beo Crescent ones. The curry isn’t overly spicy but fragrant and delectable as well.

I especially adore the Pork Cutlet because of its crunchy consistency only achieved by coating it with crushed Khong Guan biscuits before frying. Especially nostalgic bringing back memories of my grandmas dishing up their own pork chop recipes involving such traditional methods!

Sheng Ji Fishball Noodles was introduced by a good friend of mine a while back and I’ve been patronising it ever since.

Apparently, it’s been a hotspot for the weekday lunch crowd in the Bukit Merah area and I really wanted to find out why.

It ticks all the boxes of what a proper foodie landmark should encompass: Accessible, reasonably-priced, popular and downright delicious!

One bowl of their Dry Mee Pok/ Mee Kia/ Kuay Teow/whatever your noodle choice only sets you back $3, and you get a pretty decent portion in return.

Their soft noodles are the highlight for me. The sheer springiness of the noodles reflect the conscientiousness of the owners to sharpen their craft in order to churn out the perfect bowl.

Their appetising noodles are tossed in vinegar, fried lard and their homemade chilli sauce(if you want), and they go together AMAZINGLY well. It alone is enough to persuade me to return every single time!

Their soup version is pretty tasty too, but I’d personally recommend sticking with the dry version while sipping on the bowl of soup already provided.

Whenever I crave superb Char Siew and super springy Wanton Mee, first thing that comes to mind is this treasure of a spot in Tiong Bahru Market.

Best thing is over here, you can choose either Normal or Premium Char Siew. Their Premium Cut of Char Siew also known as the 不见天, involves a fattier cut of meat from the pig’s armpit, featuring clear visceral fats with charred, caramelised skin reminiscent of KL-style.

Even their normal Char Siew ain’t truly “normal”. Like its Premium counterpart, it is FILLED with texture, with the meat not being overly chewy and tasteless. You can actually savour the lean meat with a smaller layer of gelatinous fat in each bite. Most importantly, they’re generous with their pork!

They prepare their Wanton Mee Cantonese- style, yellow egg noodles and Choy Sum drenched in their slightly sweeter but OH SO tasty sauce. They really don’t scrimp on the sauce here!

The Prawn Mee broth is packed with flavour and extremely addictive. Every single time, I can’t help but keep scooping and drinking it until it looks more like a sauce than soup.

The prawns were pretty plump and fall off the shell easily, while the pork ribs were quite tender and chewy albeit small.

Not many Nasi Padang stalls in SG do it like they do. I present Istimewa Nasi Padang in the Alexandra area, within close vicinity of ABC Brickworks Market.

My standard order would be a 2 meat 2 veg selection.

The meats would be their super lemak Beef Rendang and chewy Beef Paru Goreng(Fried Beef Lung) if it’s up your alley. If not, there are other amazing alternatives like their gigantic Ayam Goreng (Fried Chicken) in drumstick or wing versions as well as their Sambal Sotong.

My veggies would be their Sayur Lodeh(Vegetable Stew in Coconut Milk) and their sweet Sambal Goreng. Their Sambal Goreng is really one of the best around.

This is probably my favourite Nasi Padang stall around so far, with its WIDE variety of dishes and ingredients for people of all palates.

This rather well-known stall actually serves up one of the BEST crispy pork bellies we’ve had in Singapore and lives up to the hype.

Honestly, with one singular bite, I was already sold. What sets it apart from others is that crunching sound when you bite into the crackling Sio Bak skin. The meat-fat ratio was just the way I liked it, slightly on the fattier rather than leaner side, giving it a more deliciously light feel.

Upon first glance, this plate already had me salivating over how the rice and meats were lathered with their gooey, sweet sauce and the glistening roasted pork belly skin. I’d recommend you ask for the fatter cut of their darker Char Siew, so as to get the ultimate GLUTTON experience.

For starters, Huat Heng Fried Prawn Mee at Shunfu Market does a pretty darn good version of it. As a regular at the stall, I’d recommend ordering the Mee Pok or Mee Kia version for a slightly different take on the usual “boring” Yellow Mee.

The lean pork was fresh enough and the prawns were relatively huge la. What REALLY got me was that they were already DESHELLED for us. (Starts the day off well tbh).

The star of the show was the super GAO GAO(thick and concentrated) broth to go along with the dry noodles. You can literally imagine the hot simmering pot of soup at the back of the stall, rich with prawn shell essence and the many flavourful spices that help to zhng up the broth, just with one sip.

Tbh, Tong Fong Fatt doesn’t really need a super comprehensive review. It has always been my go-to for a no frills, delectable plate of white chicken rice.

I’m an absolute sucker for BONELESS cut chicken rice and this hawker pioneer offers a fantastic rendition of it. I guess one of their only downsides is that it might not be very popular with roasted chicken rice fans, for obvious reasons...

In my humble opinion, their Ghim Moh outlet serves the BEST tasting chicken rice, however we do urge you to check out Tong Fong Fatt’s other stalls around Singapore too.

Upon constant recommendation by a good friend, we decided to give the highly-acclaimed Roast Paradise a go. Being very accustomed to the quality that Fatty Cheong provides, this place clearly didn’t disappoint.

What made it stand out was the relatively darker and glazed KL-style char siew with a very SOLID ratio of fat to lean meat. It’s especially pleasing to someone with a palate on the sweeter side like myself. The game changer for this stall was indeed their homemade Hakka Noodles can be added on (and I highly insist you do). Each bite was super springy and soft, giving the noodles a very “Q” texture.

Their bee hoon starts from $1 onwards and doesn’t need many ingredients to spice it up. This is thanks to their signature sweet sauce that provides the OOMPH to this common dish. Mix it together with their tangy homemade chilli and you have an unstoppable duo that starts your day right.

Throw in a Sunny Side Up or a crispy Fried Spring Roll and you already have a complete meal. Other classic complements include their Chicken Cutlet, Fish Fillet or Fried Luncheon Meat and it probably still won’t even cross the $5 mark.

If you’re still not full enough, a more watery Peanut Porridge might be good to wash down the oily Bee Hoon or consider trying out their Chee Cheong Fun too!