Welcome to Commonwealth.

Was scrolling through social media and got to learn about the opening of Hu Wei Zhai 沪味斋 that is situated within an old-school coffeeshop named Guan Kim Restaurant at 源金餐室 — the coffeeshop being located at the foot of Blk 47 Tanglin Halt Road that is a short walk away from Commonwealth MRT Station. Hu Wei Zhai takes up a corner space within the coffeeshop that is located right in front of the beverage stall — a stall that specialises in serving up mainland Chinese fare, it is being said that the chef at Hu Wei Zhai originates from Shanghai, China. The food menu at Hu Wei Zhai is split into sections dedicated to Xiao Long Bao & Pan-Fried Buns, Dumplings and Signature Dry Noodles. Of particular note would be the Pan-Fried Pork Buns listed under the Xiao Long Bao & Pan-Fried Buns section of the menu; available only for lunch service, the Pan-Fried Buns (4pcs) are limited to a serving of twenty (20) portions per day and is considered sold out for the day when all of them runs out.

Considering how we are pretty much folks whom are into Sheng Jia Bao, it is needless to say that our trip to Hu Wei Zhai is purposely made due to the availability of the Pan-Fried Pork Buns on its menu. Hu Wei Zhai serves up their Pan-Fried Pork Buns in one single portion size of four (4) pieces per serving. Whilst the shape of the Pan-Fried Pork Buns at Hu Wei Zhai are not quite as neat as the Sheng Jian Bao that we have come across from some other establishments previously, we did find that the Pan-Fried Pork Buns at Hu Wei Zhai did come at a decent quality — the dumplings do come with silky smooth dumpling skin that was easy to chew through on the top; the bottom comes browned and crusty from the pan-frying process for a good variance of textures. Chewing through the Pan-Fried Pork Bun, each bun did come with a decent amount of pork filling within that was soft and easy to chew through without any undesirable porky stench; also inside would be the savoury broth that provides much flavour to the buns as well. Each serving of the Pan-Fried Pork Bun is priced at $6.80 — do visit them early for lunch hours considering its limited availability daily if wanting to give them a try.

[COMMONWEALTH, SINGAPORE] Guys, I don't know how many people know that there's another outlet of Macpherson Minced Meat Noodles, this time in the West-Central region tucked away in a quiet corner of Commonwealth Crescent Market. I've had it and I must say it's really really close to the original outlet at Tai Thong without the massive queue.

The Xiao Wan Mian ($7) comes with a big bowl of hearty soup that is really the winner. You know the owner spent a long time creating the broth, due to its thickness and incredible meatiness. It had an interesting sweet umami aftertaste that was greatly appreciated. The bowl was filled with ingredients and every one of them was quality hits. The liver slices were incredible, as it was not briney at all and was cooked just nice.

Now we move on to the noodles. Quite springy, these noodles were quite skillfully prepared by the owner, as it alternates between hot and cold water baths. The chilli sauce turns out to be a little too sweet for my liking, but the braised mushrooms won me over with its heavy umami flavours.

This was such a satisfying meal to have, especially when there isn't much of a queue! Do visit if you would like to try out some great bak chor mee 😍

Their beloved rendition features a warm thin clear soup / broth, infused with chicken, turmeric, lemongrass, galangal, and other herbs and spices, stewed over hours.
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The layered and robust meaty savoury sweet earthy herbal salty spice flavour of the soup / broth is wholesome and nuanced.
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The base of chewy yellow egg noodles, crisp bean sprouts, tender boneless shredded chicken, and crisp coriander, carry grainy sweet vegetal herbal meaty savoury flavour.
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The 2 unique additions are the crisp fried anchovies with fishy salty savoury flavour, and the thin vinegared chili with bright sour spicy flavour.
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Extra begedil / fried potato patty on the side, soft and tender with starchy earthy bitter savoury spice sweet flavour.
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Mee Soto And Soto Ayam
Queenstown Lontong
@ Margaret Drive Hawker Centre, 38A Margaret Drive #01-27
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2025/09/best-of-singapore-hawkers-mee-soto-ayam.html

Treated myself to some serious comfort food at my favourite old-school Western food stall (previously situated in Tanglin Halt Food Centre) and wow, their crispy chicken cutlet is literally bigger than my face! 😋

Golden, crunchy crust, tender inside and paired in that signature tangy-savoury-sweet sauce I can’t get enough of. It’s pure happiness on a plate. 💖

#burpple #burpplesg #stfoodtrending #straitstimesfood #sgfood #sgeats #foodsg #wheretoeatsg #whattoeatsg #sghawker #hawkersg #margaretdrivehawkercentre #no1westernfood

From Foong Kee
叉烧 烧肉
The crackling pork belly skin is irresistible, while the savoury char siu is tender and full of flavour.
Not bad indeed!

From Foong Kee
烧鸭
The duck skin is crispy, while the duck meat is tender, good balance and flavour.
Indeed satisfying!

The chicken cutlet at "No. 1 Western" is served with their signature sauce—a sweet and thick concoction that truly sets it apart. The cutlet itself was perfectly crispy on the outside, while the meat inside remained juicy and tender, making every bite a delight.

What really stood out, though, was the special sauce. It reminded me of the sauce from a Western food stall at Clementi Hawker Centre that has shuttered about a decade ago—a nostalgic flavor that brought back fond memories. This unique sauce is exceptional, and I haven’t come across anything quite like it at any other place. It’s truly one-of-a-kind and worth trying

Was scrolling through social media one day and got to know about the existence of Wildfire Hotplate. These folks are apparently quite a new addition to the local F&B scene here — located within the Foodmore coffee shop that is located at 115B Commonwealth Drive, Wildfire Hotplate is situated within walking distance from Commonwealth MRT Station; the stall being in the same coffeeshop as one would find Teenoy Thai Kitchen as well. Occupying a stall unit that is located right beside the stall serving up fish soup and egg fried rice, Wildfire Hotplate should be quite easy to spot with its colourful signage that illustrates the various food items that they have to offer. As the namesake suggests, Wildfire Hotplate is an establishment that primarily focuses on dishes that are served atop hotplates — itself being a western cuisine stall that also sees other items such as mains, pasta and burgers being listed on the menu as well which is on top of their hotplate dishes.

Wildfire Hotplate actually does provide patrons with quite a bit of flexibility for their Hotplate series of dishes. For a start, patrons do get to choose between a variety of grilled and fried meats here — while the Hotplate dishes does come with a sunny side-up, season vegetables and fries on the side, patrons do get the option to add-on other meats to the Hotplate dish that they have opted for; there is also a choice for patrons to add on pasta to their order as well. Patrons can also get to choose their desired choice of sauce for their order of the Hotplate dish as well; one being the Black Pepper, while the other would be the Brown Sauce. For our order of the Signature Grill Chicken Chop, we went with the Brown Sauce. We liked how these folks had seemingly included a small theatrical segment during the serving of the dish where patrons would be called via the electronic buzzer to collect their order to see the order being flambéed before the sauce is being drenched atop the meat. The Signature Grill Chicken Chop comes with a slab of grilled chicken that is is well-brined for flavour; we liked how the chicken chop itself was juicy and tender — the brown sauce that is being drenched atop the meat being all savoury and comes with bits on onions as well.

The sunny side-up that came with the dish was also done right with the egg yolk still being runny and molten; all that whilst also not reeking of any undesirable stench of overused oil. The season vegetables is a mix of carrotss, corn nibs and broccoli — provided a refreshing crunch and gave the dish a wholesome balance against the meats and starches. The fries that came on a separate plate were crisp and free from grease; suitably seasoned for flavour. With prices of its hotplate dishes priced from $11 to $16.90, the hotplate dishes at Wildfire Hotplate are priced a little bit on the higher side even when compared against the usual western fare served up at similar establishments within the heartlands. That being said, we do find the quality of the food to be of a pretty good level; not forgetting that they also included a theatrical aspect that isn’t quite typical of food court / coffeeshop/ hawker centre stalls around — that sort of spot where we wouldn’t mind shelling a little extra for a bit of a treat that is different from the usual.

Treated ourselves to a hearty tze char meal at Two Chefs!

Long time since we last came here! Here is what we ordered:
-Fried sliced fish with ginger and spring onion ($12 for small)
-Coffee Pork Ribs ($12 for small)
-Hotplate Beancurd ($10 for small)

Hearty comfort food! The food was also served pretty quick! The hotplate beancurd was not what we expected though! (lol no photos to see when ordering)

You can use CDC vouchers here to pay too! We have finished using all our CDC vouchers with this visit!

Li Yuan Japanese Fusion Mee Pok!

Long time since I last ate this, and there is some revamp in menu!

We got the Japan fusion mee pok miso /shoyu (dry) to try! ($7 for small portion, $8 for large portion). You can also opt for spicy options for the miso/shoyu base. Comes with a huge slice of tonkotsu, sliced pork, minced pork as well as imitation abalone.

Rich and savoury flavours! Love the chewy mee pok texture too!

📍710 Clementi West Street 2, #01-247, Singapore 120710

Regularly sold out well before their official close of business each day, this beloved stall has been serving their hearty rendition since the 1960s.
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The generous portion has a base of dense chewy soft compressed rice cakes with grainy sweet flavour, in a rich creamy broth of turmeric, galangal, lemongrass, coconut milk, toasted grated coconut, and other spices, resulting in a punchy sweet savoury earthy spice flavour.
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Stacked high with soft stewed vegetables (cabbage, string beans, jicama turnip) with vegetal sweet spice flavour, a bouncy whole hard boiled egg with eggy sweet flavour, and spongy tofu bean curd with grainy sweet notes.
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Their unique garnish of fried ikan bilis / anchovies lends a contrasting crispy crunchy texture, and robust salty savoury flavour to alleviate the richness.
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Lontong Sayur Lodeh
Queenstown Lontong
@ Margaret Drive Hawker Centre, 38A Margaret Drive #01-27
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2024/07/best-of-singapore-hawkers-lontong-sayur-lodeh.html

Commonwealth Crescent has plenty of good food. And another solid stall here, is Hong Kee porridge.

This is also another popular stall here, with decent Google ratings. This is the thick porridge style, not the watery teochew style.