chinatown food!
A few weeks ago, jo jl and i went for a little chinatown adventure!
1ST STOP:
Hai Seng Ah Balling
Chinatown Food Centre, #02-59
No pictures of the glimmering glutinous rice balls cos it came in a styrofoam bowl! (We sat very far from the stall and Auntie didn't want to lose her porcelain bowls.)
This is an Ah-Balling set apart from the rest. I used to think the Ah Balling at block 85 (with the peanut soup) ruled the world, but not anymore! Hai Seng has a sweet soup that is not too cloying, and doesn't leave that thirsty feeling like some soups with too much syrup.
The Ah-Ballings are hand-made on the spot, so the dough's texture was really chewy yet soft. Totally trashed 85's Ahballing which has inconsistent dough; sometimes too mushy, sometimes with hard bits of dough in them. And the fillings were quite unique too. You can choose from 6 flavours; red bean, green bean, peanut, black sesame, taro (i think?), durian. My faves were the green bean and black sesame. I don't like too sweet stuff so the green bean filling was a nice change from the usual flavours! The black sesame filling was a harder (instead of oozing outta the ball when you bite it kind) and more savoury (instead of sweet) paste than the usual black sesame riceballs. There was an intense "roasted" flavour to it too! Really nice :)
A bowl of 5 is at $2.50. Might be considered expensive, since 85 Ah-Balling only sells it at $1.50 for a bowl of 5. But you're really paying for quality here - the soup, dough, and filling are all a cut above other tangyuan stalls :)
2ND STOP:
Ann Chin ( 安珍) Popiah
Level 2 of Chinatown Food Centre
Jason bought this to try cos there were hordes of people flocking to that stall haha. The popiah skin is handmade on the spot too! I stared at the man for quite long... fascinating process of making popiah skin. Anyway, only one left because it was too yummy! Hahaha. Again, $1.60 for such a small roll might be a steep price, but this is a popiah that's pretty close to perfection. I could taste all the flavours bursting in my mouth... Garlic, sweet sauce, chilli, radish gravy... with crunch and unsoggy skin. Hahaha. Mmmmmm.
3RD STOP:
Ah Heng Curry Chicken Noodle
Level 2 of Hong Lim Food Centre
Okay I went to the wrong stall, I was supposed to get HENG Kee from Level 1, not Ah HENG. Hahaha. But it still wasn't too bad, there was a queue and all. I kinda prefer this to the Marina Square foodcourt's curry mee because Ah Heng's gravy is more easy on the throat. The chilli they provided also goes better with the curry; the MS chilli kinda tastes weird. But the chicken here is tough, and they only gave those two small pieces for a $3 bowl! Should have ordered a $4 bowl. And I would go back to MS for curry mee if I wanted a more sinful/decadent bowl.
4TH STOP:
Ah Kow Bak Chor Mee
Hong Lim Food Centre, #02-43
Okay I really didn't like this. Maybe BCM fans can enlighten me on why this is supposed to be a good stall? :/ I guess I wasn't used to the noodles, it tasted too eggy/noodly. And it tasted like an overload of vinegar. It just fell flat :/ Oh and the soup was such a disappointment! It was so bland and I think the uncle dropped in too much seaweed.
5TH STOP:
Hiong Kee Dumplings
Hong Lim Food Centre, #02-38
I think this was my favourite stop at chinatown! Maybe cos I've only ever had ordinary factory bak zhangs. We had the dumpling with chestnut, pork, and salted egg! Ooooh. The rice melted in my mouth but it wasn't icky/mushy!! And the pork was like real chunks of pork, none of the dried/sickly pork nonsense in factory bak zhangs. And aaah salted egg yolk, who can resist it? ;)
We had nyonya zhang also but I forgot what it was like. Fell in love with the bakzhang.
LAST STOP:
Barcook Bakery
They opened a new branch at Central, near Cheers! The Central branch was devoid of people, and there was like a tray of untouched raisin cheese buns. Didn't get to try those at the Hong Lim outlet cos we had to wait 45min. We tried some coconut bread and the ham&cheese, both were so-so. I think it was special only cos it's piping hot and fresh.
SO, in summary... Given a chance, I would revisit Hai Seng Ah Balling and Hiong Kee Bak Zhang. :) Still need to try so many yummy things there tho! And need to drop by Amoy's bak zhang stall, apparently it's even better than Hiong Kee. Can't wait for the next hawker adventure!