monologue narratives.: 2023

I Queued for Foods in Singapore So You Know Which One is Worth To Queue

by Felly. - 9:40 PM

Every year in Singapore, they award some Michelin stars and Michelin bib gourmand to quite a few eating establishments, and after following online for quite some years, it definitely caught my attention just to see; what's so good behind that accolades? On such a small island there's a plethora of food everywhere, from Chinese, Malay/Indo, Indian, Western, and some trendy food, it's a nice place to do a little food adventure. Just in luck that I love food and trying new foods. So I made this trip maybe specifically to eat since I've been here quite few times and I've seen most of the tourist attractions in Singapore.

I haven't been to Singapore for 4 years. Last time, it was my first ever solo trip where I went to see my favorite band. But because I was so preoccupied with the concert, I only had one and a half day to visit other stuffs in Singapore. I ate a lot of Subways because it was convenient. It was filling, but quite generic and nothing to say about it, to be honest. But I have been following some Singaporean youtube contents to see which food that are popular in Singapore. And I kid you not, Singaporean love to queue. They would queue for food.

I will be covering mostly the hawker foods because they are cheap! I'm not rich enough to eat in Michelin stars restaurant but I definitely want to try Odette at National Gallery of Singapore one day if I were rich enough. (I was there, just outside, looking in and thinking about Carmy & team's new restaurant in Season 2 of The Bear).

Instead of ranking I'm gonna use the ✨Tier List ✨It is simply going to be separated into 4 tiers;

(disclaimer: i use comic sans ironically)

D Tier; wouldnt buy it again

Black Carrot Cake at Marina South Delicious Food

Maxwell Food Centre

I chose this by random tbh I was looking for black carrot cake. The part that I don't like is first of all, they're wet? No crisp, no wok hey, the overwhelming power is the sweet soy sauce. I can finish it, but it's not... the best.

FOODS AT MARINA BAY SANDS FOOD COURT

it is honestly SAD FOOD. We were in the area so there weren't a lot of options, or the options were wayyy too overpriced. We ate at the food court of MBS, full of tourist ofc, it was hard enough to get a table on a wednesday night and I've heard even the caifan / economical rice are over 10$??? What I got was Nasi Lemak for 6$ But it was a sad little chicken wing, rice was ok, no ikan bilis in sight they all managed to escape this prison and swim happily with Nemo. Eggs is normal? Sambal was not spicy at all you can't call that a sambal ma'am!!! Overall below below-average meal.

I also tasted the Nasi Briyani, it was for around 10$ I forgot, but the food was too pungent and hard to finish

Don't eat at tourist places :( even convenience store has better food for a lower price.

B Tier (Good! But no special “kicks” to me)

Ah Heng Curry Beehon

Hong Lim Food Center

Michelin Bib Gourmand Recommended.

Featured in Food King & Overkill Singapore (Get Fed)

Pretty huge stall, i was there before lunch so no queue. They highlighted the chicken in the show review, but for me, it taste just like boiled chicken, the curry taste didn't really seep into it. The curry is more of watery type, and I prefer the stronger thicker flavor. The best part is the taupok / tofu because they did good job of absorbing all the taste.

It was decent, but not special.

Hong Heng Prawn Mee

Tiong Bahru Food Market

Michelin Bib Gourmand Recommended

We went there at 3PM and almost of their closing time, so no queue. Randomly chose this stall because I thought why not give a taste to this hokkien mee. TBH I don't eat a lot of seafood because when they're not fresh they're so bad. This one the sotong is very fresh! I think the sambal is too weak, no kick at all. Overall, as I quoted from Aldrich (one of the food reviewers who were looking for best hokkien mee in singapore) it is too safe, but just because it's safe doesn't mean it's great. Still a decent plate of hokkien mee.

Zhen Zhen porridge;

Maxwell Food Centre

Featured in some food blogs of what to eat at Maxwell Food Centre

It's cantonese style congee. Personally for me the porridge is good but the taste of century egg made it a bit harder to eat. Maybe I'm just not a big fan of porridge, so I can't praise it too high. But the price is so cheap, starting from 3$!

Shake Shack.

at Jewel Changi

Beautiful, picture perfect burger. Not super mindblowing but it is a good burger, the brioche bun was the highlight because it stayed in place, it didn't absorb the moisture or turning into McSenget. The milkshake was good but not special, should've tried the frozen custard.

Fun thing to do in this shop is take the bar seat behind the store as you can see greeneries and the HSBC rain vortex while you enjoy your burger.

Monster Curry

at Bugis Junction

hand to scale.

It was our last dinner at Singapore! We wanted to do something in the area so we choose Monster Curry. It was okay (honestly i forgot that i had this), the gimmick is i think the plate is so HUGE.

I think we shared the monster combo curry, it has the Pork Katsu, Pork Shabu-Shabu, Shrimp Tempura & Fried Fish. It was okay, average and you cant go wrong with curry. However, we thought they had spice levels that were wayy less than what I expected. As Indo when you heard level 1 you think of 5 cabe, but even their level 4 is not spicy for me loool.

SPECIAL SECTION?

A2B Veg Restaurant

across Mustafa Center

Vegan Indian store I ate with friends because we visited Little India and want to hit some Indian food. We were there because Tekka Center is renovated :( So no hawker Indian food. Disclaimer I have very little knowledge in Indian food aside from prathas. So it was my first time trying lots of stuffs, that's why I can't put them in a special tier? It is definitely between A and B.

Things we tried: Plain Dosa, Garlic Naan, Ghee Masala Dosa, Idiyappam, Idli, Chai.

In general Indian food has spices that made the food so good, often they gave us dips but I don't know what are they, but our favorite is the Plain Dosa; crispy and salty, so good to share and not too expensive (I think around 3$) We prefer this over the Ghee Masala Dosa, while it has better buttery taste, but the structure is a bit damaged and less crispy. The ghee tasted like cheese tbh. The Garlic naan is also VERY garlicky, we had some sort of butter chicken replacement but I can't remember the name. Idliyappam is like this noodle-like thing with neutral flavor that we dip into the curry sauce (the curry is good)

My least favorite thing is the Idli, it looks like kue kukus but a bit too sour. (Idk why the waiter were questioning us when we said we want to order Idli too??)

Thanks to Chelsea and Vincent for this meal!

A TIER

The Most Famous Chicken Rice on the island,

Tian Tian Chicken Rice

at Maxwell Food Centre

Featured in Michelin Bib Gourmand.

The stall is decorated mostly in blue and especially with the face of the late Anthony Bourdain, also another sticker is an accolade from Gordon Ramsay. Even at 9.30 am some people with tourist attributes and locals alike are queueing for this stall. Singapore is very well known for its Hainanese Chicken Rice, and this is arguably one of the most famous chicken rice on the island. (Next to Hawkerchan Soya Chicken maybe, but a friend said they actually prefer this one)

When I saw the queue wasn't too long, I jumped right in! The service was quick honestly. I chose the 6$ boiled chicken labelled with "The Most Popular")

I've heard that this is a Cantonese style of chicken rice, with a thick sauce that doused over my chicken right when they want to serve. Personally, I think it's the highlight. Nothing that I hate bland boiled chicken, so the sauce helped a lot to make it so tasty. All the individual elements are extremely well done. The chicken is juicy and I enjoyed the layer of chicken skin, it's a bit thick yet not rubbery, it helped with the sauce. The rice is in just the right consistency; not too dry and not too wet. Lastly, the chili is a bit more acidic and quite fresh! I think it's not too spicy, but maybe could be a little spicier for my taste (later i learned this is just the type of chicken rice chili)

I've eaten chicken rice before. But I think it's all the little individual elements (chicken is moist, the sauce is tasty, the rice is just right consistency!) that made it different than other chicken rice stalls. I would say it's still worth it to queue to know what an ideal chicken rice tastes like!

Jiji Wanton mee
at Hong Lim Food Center

The red plate is from Outram Park Char Kwey Tiau

The queue is insane OKAY

Michelin recommended from 2016 - 2023
Featured in LOTS of food blogs & videos (Zermatt Neo's top 3 favorite wanton mee in singapore? Featured in Overkill Singapore (successor of NOC's Food King), Miss Tam Chiak, etc etc.

The distinctive branding with purple bowl and signage is hard to miss, also not to mention the queue! Hong Lim is highly popular, lots of queue everywhere. I think it was interesting to see people in the queues, some of them were locals, you can tell by they don't even bother to dress up to a hawker, just with sleeveless top, short, and a flip flop. Other types of people who queued were ang mohs (or white people), chinese tourist with family, and I am the curious person who's just trying to blend in.

This was honestly the longest time I queued for food in Singapore. It was around 45 minutes? We stayed not far from Hong Lim, so we went here TWICE for breakfast. First time we were here, it was closed, and I was there for the second time. The options started from 4.5$ and I got the 5.5$, I honestly think it's just the number of the wantons you get and the amount of noodles.

The stall is only ran by two strong women, quite insane that I think of it again. Once it's your turn, you say what do you want, and you put your cash into a machine that will give you the change. Then the auntie started to cook the noodles freshly in front of you.

For 5.5$ it contains a lot, some fried wanton, boiled wanton, charsiu and the noodle itself! I think the boiled wanton is better than the fried wanton. The auntie also told me the soup is for me to drink not to pour over on my noodle. The soup is enriched with goji berries and tasted healthy on its own.

I have no idea why I write such a detailed review about this place specifically, maybe because i waited a long time so i noticed every single details? Overall, it was an incredibly well done meal! Again all the individual elements made it such a powerful meal and it was generous. I don't know if I ever want to queue for that long again, but I'm glad I know about it.

Holland Village XO Fish Head Beehon

at Smith Street

Items ordered: XO Fish Head Beehon, San Lao Hor Fun, Prawn Paste Fried Chicken

Highlights: Fish Beehun (new taste for me) & Hor Fun (wok hey)

I've heard a lot of what people call as Zichar Place and I guess this is one of it. For those who don't know: an economical food stall that provides a wide selection of common and affordable dishes which approximate home-cooked meals. (Taken from Wikipedia)

What I thought was Zichar is mostly for eating with company/family (TBH) but yeah Singaporean always have options on the price/sizing which was nice I guess?

The store I went to was a branch of the store from Holland Village (hence, the name). I honestly have never tried Fish Head Beehon, so it was a unique experience. The beehon is also thicker than what I am used to, this is the size of normal yellow noodle, the soup is milky with XO sauce, the fish head provided nice broth, but I am not a super fan of just fish in soup (they tend to taste a bit bland) but overall it was very well done.

The Hor Fun was also good, the name I'm used to with this dish is Kweytiauw Siram (it is like kweytiaw, just the noodles are even bigger, and even though it was doused in thick sauce, somehow I can still feel the wok hey taste! It also has fish and lots of tauges.

The third dish, Prawn Paste Fried Chicken is very tasty with marinated flavors, I don't know if it is prawn or not, but definitely good! It was crispy and all.

Overall it was a nice Zi char experience, there were five of us and i left very full. Maybe just the drinks options were limited, but the food was splendid!

Li Xin Fishball Noodles

at ION Orchard

(Original store got a Michelin Bib Gourmand reccs, the store that I went did not)

This is very popular, I saw it on everyone's social media (and they have plenty of stalls apparently everywhere... the one I ate was in Food Opera ION orchard.) and within the food opera, this stall was the one who had the most queue. Granted it was my first dinner in Singapore and so I want to TRY EVERYTHING.

So I queued a little, maybe 15 mins or more? I didn't count. Their speciality is ofc the fishball noodles, you can choose 5 different types of noodles (I think i choose glass noodles) and the highlight is the fishball!! I grew up eating fishball, but it was never this QQ before. QQ is the nice spot between tough and too easy to destroy, it's a little bouncy and nice tasting.

If you have time and you want to queue, it's a good experience!

Ya kun Kaya toast set
at People's Park Centre

Probably already super well-known so I'm not going to write a lot of details.

This is a staple in Singapore, even the locals still think this is the best kaya toast in Singapore. You're not in Singapore until you have this as Breakfast. I think they're nice, when I was younger I used to hate the half-boiled egg, but now i like to dip my kaya toast inside the half-boiled egg. (Tried to recreate at home but RIP idk how to cook half-boiled egg it's always too overdone) Their coffee is also good, it's not the instant one they use a long kettle for making Kopi Tarik I like it.

Outram Park char kwey tiaw
at Hong Lim Food Centre

Michelin Bib Gourmand Recommended

This is another super famous one just across jiji. Honestly I have been curious since 2019. We queued together with Jiji, but the Outram Park Queued finished faster, I guess because they have more people? The taste is a bit more spicy and it has slight wokhey undertone. However it is a char kwey tiaw on the wetter side, which I expected it to be dryer. They added fried lard, which is SO GOOD (sorry but yeah I don't see them a lot). I bought it together with wanton mee but at that moment i prefer my wanton mee, might be biased.

Mookata @ Siam Square Mookata

Thank you Beth & Ben for this one!

This wasn't on my radar but I think it's such a good place to eat especially with friends. I know that Mookata is originally from Thailand but I have never been to Thailand and I think it's so fun to eat! Nothing could go wrong with some marinated meats and sauces plus it's a good communal food. There were 6 of us eating and the buffet was around 30 SGD we thought that was too expensive. So we did a la carte and spent 17 SGD per person (so full of delicious meat)

What I didn't know is they cook the meat with pork lard, which is WHY IT IS SO GOOD. But also that makes this food non-halal for any moeslim friend reading. Beth ordered a lot of marinated meats (guaranteed good taste) and we avoided the seafood since they said it's not super fresh. We also ordered some noodles and veggies to go with it.

We got a tower of green thai thea drink as well for drinks, definitely enough! and rice ofc. The sauce is sort of a non-spicy sambal I'm not sure what it is in it but good!

Siam Square Mookata is located in multiple branches, but this one was at Clarke Quay Central.

The company was also the reason why I enjoyed it so much, it was nice! Catching up with food is always a good idea.

(we got dessert by don don donki later, it was matcha ice cream buy 2 get 1 lol)

Cantonese Delight's Chicken Cutlet Curry Rice

at Hong Lim Food Centre

Cantonese Delight is featured in so many Singaporean media, the very well-known menu is the Chicken Cutlet Curry Noodles and not rice, but we were feeling like eating rice so why not.

The queue was a bit long, maybe around 15 mins when we were there, and it was 10 am on a weekday. They close quite early at 1.30 PM

This is not even my order but OH WOW I got blown away thinking about the Hainanese Curry for a few days... the taste is so familiar yet so unique, it's not the thick japanese curry roux, not Indian curry not even Indo's kari!!! The consistency is a bit more watery but still thick. The contrast between the crispy chicken cutlet and I like the rice doused with curry sauce. Chef's kiss.

I think this is very worth it to queue!

The Queue! it goes to looong back.

So yeah! That's my overdued in-depth food review, I hope that it would help someone decide to go on food adventure in Singapore. I walked past Tiong Bahru Bakery a few times and there is no WAY I'm paying 8$ for that pastry please, so i passed. I also could do a little, smaller sections on drinks. But we'll see!

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The Post-Mortem Brunch Experience

by Felly. - 5:10 AM

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monologue narratives.

I Queued for Foods in Singapore So You Know Which One is Worth To Queue

SPECIAL SECTION?

The Post-Mortem Brunch Experience

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