Welcome to Bedok.

There has been some talk on social media recently on the opening of a new beverage kiosk in Bedok — located at Blk 205 Bedok North Street 1, Crema Cloud is situated not far away from Bedok Bus Interchange / Bedok Mall / Bedok MRT Station; the same block also is home to a MIXUE outlet as well. Crema Cloud is the latest beverage kiosk to have opened its doors around Bedok — this comes after the likes of other establishments such as Koffee Kollective, Bumi Brew, Seasonal Brew and Bench Barista; all of which situated in different parts of Bedok. Operating as just a takeaway kiosk, Crema Cloud only occupies half the size of the typical HDB shophouse unit; the entire establishment having been decked out in white for a clean and minimalist outlook. Unlike Koffee Kollective, Bumi Brew and Seasonal Brew, Crema Cloud only focuses on espresso-based specialty coffee for its coffee offerings; otherwise, other beverage options available at Crema Cloud would consist of beverages classified into sections dedicated to Matcha • Houjicha and tea.

During our visit to Crema Cloud, we went for the Spanish Latte — this is an item that is being listed in the Coffee section of the menu and is available in both iced and hot formats; our order was made for the item to come iced. The Spanish Latte is one of the better ones that we had come across thus far; the coffee definitely provided a caffeinated punch here being sufficiently bold for a perk-me-up; the tasting notes being a cuppa that comes with an earthy and roasty flavour profile whilst coming with a good proportion of milk as a latte for the balance. Since the Spanish Latte is also known to come with a splash of condensed milk to sweeten things up a little by default, the Spanish Latte from Crema Cloud did come feeling pretty adequately sweet with the condensed milk having integrated well into the cuppa as well.

Platter for two sets up marinated meats, smoked duck, seafood and vegetables around the grill. The meats cook tender, seafood adds variety and the greens keep the broth light and sweet. I still prefer this branch among the others as the experience feels more consistent. The chilli lifts the flavours with a fiery kick and the marination across the meats makes them satisfying without needing much else 》$28 / Platter for 2

The sea salt blue pea was not bad with a gentle savoury touch. The chrysanthemum honeyscukle although pleasant, didn’t feel like their best. What struck me more was how heavily coloured the gelato seemed, leaning toward artificial tones. On the other hand, the ube mochi and pistachio rose both came with mochi folded in, adding a chewy texture that made the scoops more interesting.

Double Scoop 》$7.70 + $2 Premium Flavours

Went down to Bedok to satisfy my Thai food cravings. Prices are very affordable and these are my usual picks that never go wrong. The vermicelli seafood salad came tangy and refreshing, chicken creamy tom yum soup rich and comforting with fragrant basil minced pork that pairs perfectly with rice. Not forgetting Thai milk tea, smooth and sweet, rounding off a spread that’s simple and satisfying.

Thai Vermicelli Salad with Seafood 》$8
Tom Yum Soup 》$6
Basil Pork 》$6

It does seem that Blk 216 Bedok Food Centre and Market have a couple of interesting food stalls moving into its premises every now and then — the hawker centre is known for stalls such as Generation Coffee, What The Puff!, and Prawn & Mee which are pretty much regarded as stalls that are run by a new-generation of hawkerpreneurs in the local F&B scene. It has most recently seen yet another new hawkerpreneur move into its grounds — enter Omma Chicken Soup; these folks take up the corner-most stall unit situated within Blk 216 Bedok Food Centre that faces the Food Loft coffeeshop at Blk 217 Bedok North Street 1. Its unique stall signage is one that differentiates itself from the older stalls within the same food centre; one would also note how it claims that the stall serves up Pure Chicken Soup slow-simmered for eight (8) hours, and without the use of MSG, pork and lard. Specialising in chicken soup, the menu at Omma Chicken Soup is split into sections dedicated to Signature Omma Chicken Soup, Noodles and Porridge. There is also a small list of side dishes that one can opt for at Omma Chicken Soup as well.

Omma Chicken Soup serves up three different variants of their soups across all menu categories; the Ginseng, Collagen and Spicy Collagen. We went for the Spicy Collagen Omma from the Signature Omma Chicken Soup section of the menu, and have opted to add Mee Sua as the choice of carbs to the spicy collagen soup — whilst Omma Chicken Soup does not describe the ingredients that goes into the making of their dishes, it can be observed that elements such as chicken, sesame oil, Chinese Red Dates, Lotus Seeds and wolfberries are added to the soup. Each serving of soup also comes with kimchi, pepper and soy sauce on the side. Going straight for the spicy collagen soup itself, we note that the soup comes only with a very faint hint of spiciness — something that those whom have low tolerance to spiciness should be able to handle; this is perhaps intentionally made so to allow one to be able to experience their chicken soup. Whilst not as rich as Tori Paitan broth that one would come across from a Japanese dining establishment, we did like how the chicken soup wasn’t particularly overwhelming; light and somewhat nourishing with a hint of sesame oil fragrance that lingers at the back of the tongue. The chicken meat does come juicy and tender; falls off the bone very easily and was very easy to eat, while we liked how the inclusion of wolfberries added a hint of sweetness to the dish when it is being chewed upon.

Was going past Tekka Centre and got to learn about a new stall that has opened up in the area where most of the Indian / Muslim stalls within the food centre are situated. Roti Kari is a pretty new entrant to the market; it is noted that Roti Kari is a little bit of a social enterprise that “train and equip ex-offenders with the craft of bread-making and the business skills to one day run their own hawker stalls”; the establishment being one that is supported by the President’s Challenge. Being a bakery stall, Roti Kari used to serve up a line-up of buns, Shokupans and Muffins that comes in various flavours, though it does seem that operations had been scaled back in recent times with the only offerings made available being a line-up of egg tarts that comes in both sweet and savoury variants.

Noting how savoury egg tarts are more difficult to come across, we found ourselves going for the Chilies Prawn Egg Tart — one of those variants that is listed as a Special Tart in the menu board. Going for the Chilies Prawn Egg Tart, we did find that the egg tart comes with chilies prawn filling in the middle of the tart — the crust of the egg tart being light and flaky without being too greasy, while the egg curd filling itself was soft and smooth though it does carry a bit of a sweetness on its own. This does create a savoury-sweet flavour profile with the chilies prawn filling which turns out to be rather similar to that of Hae Bee Hiam, though it does seem to carry a bit of a wetter and paste-like consistency that is more akin to that of Otah somewhat.

It does seem that one of the coffeeshops at Blk 123 Bedok North Street 2 had recently been through a little bit of a revamp — now a coffeeshop that is being run by BK Eating House, the coffeeshop does seem to be occupied by a number of new stalls. One of such stalls would be that of 豪香味 which takes up half of a stall unit sharing its space with another tenant that serves up Popiah and Rojak. 豪香味 is a stall that is dedicated to serving up Malaysian-style curry noodles — these folks do offer different variants featuring different meat / seafood options that patrons can opt for.

We went with the Fried Pork Curry Noodle Bee Hoon during our visit to 豪香味 that was made on a weekend dinner service. Whilst the menu does only indicate Bee Hoon in all of the dishes that they have to serve up, it is interesting to note that all dishes do come with the option of either coming with yellow noodles / Bee Hoon or both. From our order of the Fried Pork Curry Noodle Bee Hoon , one can observe the inclusion of Hakka Fried Pork for the dish; the other elements included will be the likes of mint leaves, fish cake, fried beancurd skin and long beans — this apart from the curry gravy as well as our choice of mix of yellow noodles and Bee Hoon. Going for the curry gravy, we did like that the curry gravy was fragrant without being particularly heavy-tasting; quite easy to have. Mixing in the sambal does further add a dimension of spiciness to the noodles — the spiciness being at a level which will work well for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. The fried pork does come a little bit on the leaner side for the meat; the batter being still crisp though does come with a hint of umami from the use of fermented beancurd during the preparation process. All other elements like the long beans, fish cake and the fried beancurd skin were good to have, though the addition of mint leaves was an interesting one that gave a cooling sensation when chewed upon.

Had managed to learn about the existence of SJD Carinderia Filipino Food whilst scrolling around the phone during our lull time — these folks had been a fairly recent addition to the Bedok neighbourhood. Situated within the coffeeshop at the foot of Blk 57 New Upper Changi Road, SJD Carinderia Filipino Food is situated pretty close to the The Marketplace @ 58 which houses both the wet market and food centre for the neighbourhood. Other notable stalls that also operate from the very same coffeeshop that SJD Carinderia Filipino Food is at would include that of Katong Jago which serves up fried carrot cake and Char Kway Teow — these folks had moved here ever since they had left the now-defunct Brunners Coffeeshop at East Coast Road. As the namesake suggests, SJD Carinderia Filipino Food serves up Filipino cuisine — whilst the menu does list quite a number of communal dishes, we did note that there is also the option to go for individually-portioned dishes served with rice as well.

For those whom are not aware, the Adobo is quite an iconic Filipino dish that typically involves elements like soy sauce, vinegar and garlic. For the Adobo at SJD Carinderia Filipino Food, they seem to have went for the use of pork — the cut of meat here being that of the pork belly. There is a good mix of fatty parts and lean parts here with the lean parts giving quite a good, meaty bite while the fatty parts come with a more gelatinous texture overall. Given the elements involved in the making of the Adobo, the Adobo does come round feeling pretty much similar to what we would typically identify as braised pork belly; there is definitely the caramelisation of the sauces which gives the dish a savoury touch without any undesirable porky stench. It also comes with a touch of black pepper that gives it a slightly spicy kick in the finishing notes — overall a good accompaniment to white rice on the side.

It has only been fairly recently that Nasi Kandar Saddam has made their expansion into the Singapore F&B scene; with that being said, the Kuala Lumpur-based brand had since opened their second outlet here. Still located within a Al-Mubin Food Court coffeeshop, the newest outlet of Nasi Kandar Saddam in Singapore is located at the foot of Blk 418 Bedok North Avenue 2; these folks take up a corner stall unit within the coffeeshop. Serving up a authentic style of Nasi Kandar that one would expect to find in Penang (where the dish was said to have originated from), the dishes that are made available for one to choose from are pretty similar to what is already offered at their first location in Singapore along Changi Road — there are some suggested combinations as illustrated in the signages though patrons can simply pick and choose what they fancy from behind the display cases as well.

Having tried a similar combination previously at yet another Nasi Kandar concept that had just opened their doors in Singapore, we went for the Nasi Kandar + Ayam Madu + Sayur — it was also needless to say that we decided to go for Kuah Campur for our order; this essentially meant that we had a drizzle of all gravies that were available. We did find that the quality of the food is pretty much consistent to what we had experienced previously at their Changi Road location; the highlight would definitely be the mix of different gravies of which the inclusion of Masak Hitam would be our favourite — this helps add the hint of earthiness and smokiness to the Nasi Kandar that makes it taste pretty authentic aside from the richness of the other curry gravies included, making the Nasi Kandar carry a pretty complex dimension of punchy flavours that makes it so good. We definitely preferred the Ayam Madu that we had ordered here over the Ayam Goreng that we went for during our visit to the Changi Road location; the chicken does seem
a little more freshly-prepared and came slightly more tender and moist, while the sticky and gloopy red sauce would be the honey that provided a hint of sweetness to balance things out with the gravies for sweet-savoury note — all that without being overwhelmingly sweet. The Sayur came in the form of shredded cabbage cooked with turmeric and mustard seeds that came light savoury with a crunch that provides a more wholesome vibe to the meat and carbs here.

Managed to learn about the new JO-YI 觉意 when we were passing through the Bedok neighborhood — these folks are a new addition to the stretch of shop units located at the foot of Blk 136 Bedok North Avenue 3. JO-YI 觉意 takes over the former premises of the now-defunct outlet of hay, gelato. there, being an establishment that not only serves up gelato in cups of with waffles, but also vegetarian dim sum alongside beverage options like coffee, matcha, soda fizz, and both western / Chinese tea.

The availability of vegetarian dim sum was the main draw that brought us to JO-YI 觉意; the selection of vegetarian dim sum on the menu at JO-YI 觉意 is not particularly wide, with only six (6) items being made available for patrons to choose from — think items like Chee Cheong Fun, Chwee Kueh, Siew Mai, Pandan Chicken, Lotus Leaf Rice, and Bags of Blessings. There isn’t much being described about the Pandan Chicken on its menu; the only description being “juicy chicken wrapped in Pandan leaf” — the Pandan Chicken also coming in a portion size of five (5) pieces per serving. Considering how these are vegetarian-friendly offerings of Pandan Chicken, these are actually clusters of mushrooms shaped in a way similar to that of Pandan Chicken that is wrapped within the Pandan leaves. We did find that the level of savouriness does come quite similar to what one would expect out of a typical Thai-style Pandan Chicken offering with the texture of the mushrooms coming quite similar to that of a juicy and tender chunk of chicken without being as greasy as what the usual tends to be; some parts also coming a little crisp around the side though not quite the same as what one would expect from the usual. That being said, the lack of distinct gingery and lemongrass notes does make it fall a little short from the general flavours for such an item. Overall, still quite a decent attempt by these folks to serve up a vegetarian version of the dish.

Got to learn of the folks behind So Lemak starting out yet another new concept named Satay Kaki whilst scrolling around social media — a show that the folks at So Lemak hadn’t been resting on their laurels even despite the closure of their Ang Mo Kio outlet. For a start, Satay Kaki actually shares a space with So Lemak’s original location within the FoodLoft coffeeshop at Blk 217 Bedok North Street 1 — the operations of both Satay Kaki and So Lemak being within the same stall unit. There has been some modifications being made to the So Lemak stall so as to incorporate the existence of the new concept; the most distinct of the lot being the orange signage that mentions “Satay Kaki” beside the original “Nasi Lemak” header that used to front the stall alone. Other attempts in making the offering of satay more obvious would be the marketing collaterals played on the screen at the stall, as well as some decals indicating satay offerings on the glass display as well. Satay Kaki offers satay in three (3) different meat options; Chicken, Beef and Mutton, whilst also offering Ketupat (i.e. rice cake) that can be added to the order as well.

Satay Kaki charges all satays at $1 a stick, with the minimum order to be made for satay at ten (10) pieces; they also do allow patrons to mix-and-match different meat options for a single order, though each variant of meat is available to be ordered via denominations of five (5). Considering so, we found ourselves ordering five pieces of the Chicken Satay and five pieces of the Mutton Satay. As expected, the order of the assorted satay here does come with a small bowl of peanut sauce on the side, as well as sliced cucumbers and onions. One thing we had noted about the satays at Satay Kaki is how the meats (and especially with the Chicken Satay for the matter) is being marinated in a way that is a little bit on the savoury side — this does seem to be slightly odd if one enjoys the satay as-is on their own, though dipping it into the satay sauce does help return back that usual sweetness in the marination of the meats of what one would expect from satays elsewhere. There is a slight hint of smokiness from the grilling process of the meats that can be detected from the satay, and our preferred meat between the two was actually the Mutton Satay; though carrying a gamey note, the marination does provide a sufficient depth of flavours, while the meat still comes relatively easy to chew. Apart from bringing back the sweetness of the satay, the satay sauce also comes with sufficient crushed nuts for that nuttiness that one is looking for — there is also a subtle hint of lemongrass that runs at the back of the tongue that keeps things refreshing as well.

The gravy leaned tangy and slightly sweet, very different from the richer Malay style. The bee hoon soaked it up nicely and the squeeze of lime gave a refreshing lift. With egg and tau kwa on the side, it came together as a simple, homely bowl without being heavy 》$3.50

📍Low Seng Kim | #01-06