A new category focusing on “Food and Makan area review” has just been created. Other than travel and dancing, food is one of the most loved topics among Singaporeans.
If you have patronised a restaurant, cafe or food corner, you can give a food review. As long as you have tried it recently, you can write a food review. I have joined a couple of members, and I can see they just love good food. One day, these members can write for food magazines, and even be a food critic.
Please start a new Post, if you wish to write a food review.
Terence Seah
To enable members to share their food adventures and experiences, at different cafes, food courts and restaurants, each month, a new Post will be created.
This Post is now closed. Please look at the April Post.
Terence Seah
Aiyah!
I just saw that Terence has created another post on food! Do we shut down this one and move over?
Just when it is getting interesting…a semi-serious discussion on Singapore food origins…besides where to find good food.
Anyway, Andrew mentioned “Loh hei” which is a raw fish salad that was concocted (not exactly invented) by four chefs from four prominent Cantonese restaurants: Sin Leong, Lai Wah, Majestic, and a fourth I forget. The origin is a raw fish dish of Cantonese origin which you can still find at “chok” stalls. There are also other ethnic variations like Teochew and even a Peranakan.
Loh hei can certainly be counted as an original Singapore food available only during Chinese New Year!8
Update on Albert Centre hawker centre:
1 The rojak stall from waterloo st. has closed down!
2. The stall selling the delicious sesame glutinous rice ball is called Ho Ho (not Lucky – apologies.)It’s taste is still the same – delicious! But it now costs 90cts per piece (up from 70cts).
Thanks v much Daisy, Dorine and Jassmine for all the mouth-watering tips- I got not only one stall to go to, but other new ones have popped up. What a treat.
Hey Andrew pang-yeow, we have a Singapore word that means what you say “we have so many variety of foods” – rojak!
Hi Kenneth
Thanks for your enlightenment. So it means there is no special food that is developed in Singapore. But I can figure out one – Our LO HE ?? should be created first in Singapore, am I right?
I agreed with you – we have so many variety of foods (and tastes) in Singapore, HK and Chinese, so we called us the food paradise. But may be this is why our food cannot be Globalised.
In the other countries, if you asked 100 people what is the famous Singapore/HK food, may be no one can tell you one. But if you ask the same group of people what is the famous Vietnam food, a few of them can point out the PHO ( ???????).
Also if we ask what is the taste/distinguishing feature (??) of Chinese disks, no one can answer (even our Chinese also cannot tell). But for the Thai’s food, we will say they are sour and spicy and is quite healthy. So the Thai food is much famous than Chinese food in the Global platform.
Does it mean the more is not the better?
At Albert Centre, there’s a stall selling snacks like ham chim paeng.. . the sesame seed glutinous rice ball with green bean filling is the BEST i have eaten. Eat when it is still warm. Don’t keep overnight. I think the stall’s name is Lucky. Hope it’s still there and the quality is still the same.
Hi Susan CH,
Just to share one Indian Rojak which I know of in the east. It’s at Tampines S11 cofi shop near the library. You need to wait 45 mins for it.
The other day I went to try this authentic Putu Mayam make fresh at the stall at Simpang Bedok hawker. It was featured in Business Times too. I also like their appam and tosai is also worth the try.
Check it out!
Rgds
DT
Hi Kenneth & Susan
The 2 stalls are run by brothers and their faces are almost identical.
I much prefer Siraj, the stall at Albert Centre. Tried Sajis once and found the food and dip cold. Maybe I went at the wrong time.
I think a stall in Clementi was voted for having the best Indian rojak last year although Siraj was in the finals too.
Enjoy!
Bless you, Kenneth #11
You hit the nail on the head – how did you read my mind? It’s the Waterloo Street one that first came to mind. I typed “Whampoa Road” after that, but it just didnt click with the place during those schoolgirl days. So have to go for the next best one in my list, West Coast Rd. But Whampoa Road is famous for its Chinese rojak, right?
Thanks v much – so it’s still at Waterloo Street – omy, how come I never knew. I will certainly drop in one day, else this stall will keep haunting me till no end! Cross my fingers hope it’s still the original taste decades ago!
Hi Susan #9
I be the kind soul to tell you that the well-known Waterloo Street Indian rojak can be found at Sajis Indian Food, 262 Waterloo Street #01-29 or its sister stall at Albert Centre #01-120. No guarantee about the taste though!
Hi Johnny
From what Andrew wrote, I think you can start a “10 worst foodstall” list as well!
Heeheehee Andrew
I like your comments…is your laksa stall still operating?
Your conclusion about “local tastes” is quite correct…we are all conditioned and influenced by our surroundings and culture: this is why preferences and “tastes” differ from country to country and also from one race to another.
To answer your question on what is Singapore food and its difference with Malaysia:
Both countries draw on their food heritage from local Malay, Indonesian and Indian cuisines. Early migrant Chinese also brought their distinct dialect group recipes like Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese. A hybrid of Malay and Hokkien cooking evolved into Peranakan ciusine.
So, a real “rojak” of cultures and foods exist in Singapore with many Western, Thai and even the odd Yunnan and Tibetan stall may pop up.
Your previous homeland is more homogenous with its main Cantonese cuisine preeminent …the best of Chinese. And so the title of “Food Paradise”.
My answer as to why Singapore is regarded as a food paradise is the multi-cultural variety of foods available 24 hours round-the-clock!
Can anyone be so kind as to tell me where can I find a really good Indian rojak. Have been waiting for a long time to sink my teeth into, tried (but not many) and have been disappointed. Seldom watch TV food trail programmes, so have no idea.
West Coast, somewhere near the food centre used to be famous but I dont know whether it still operates there.
Sorry, me again, last one I promised
Hi Johnny
Don’t just mention the good places, also have to tell us the bad place, let us go far, far away from it – like the one we eat after the March monthly meeting.
I don’t know the name of the place. My comments are – small in quantity, bad in quality, expensive in price, mess in service. If you want to try how bad it is, you should be hurry, I predict it will closed down (??)within two months or earlier, haha
Still early to go out, so want to write more:
I have two questions:
Question 1 – even I migrated to Singapore for about 20 years, I still don’t know what is the real Singapore local food. I always confuse them with the Malaysia food. Can anyone enlighten me (I mean the food developed in Singapore)?
Question 2 – In a CNY meeting, one foreigner friend asked – “Your Singaporean/HK people always regard your place is “the food paradise (????)”, but why there is no Singapore/Hk food go Globalized? May be the people in other part of the world will say the Singapore/HK food are good while they are visiting Singapore/HK. But in the Global platform, even the Vietnam Raw Beef Noodle (PHO – ???????)is much famous than your Singapore/HK food, Without mentioning the Thai’s food which is even more famous than the Chinese food. Are you agree with what this foreigner said?
Hit the button wrongly, here is my rest comment
…. But when they come back to the places they born, their memory back, they like the “local taste” again
My wife and I knew we cannot have that kind of memory for laksa, so we changed to sell the heaviest noodle in the world – “One Ton” noodle. Then no matter you are Singaporean, Hongkee, foreign visitors, all liked my wife’s ??? haha.
I do not talk about the eating places (I am not qualified, haha). I want to talk about the taste – “local taste”
1 year after migrated to Singapore, my wife asked me to quit my job and helped her to set up a food stall to sell food. I asked what she want, she said up to me. As I am lazy – no research, no planning, I just get a stall of a small coffee shop in Outram Park area which selling laksa, prawn noodle, lor mian etc. I asked the previous owner of the stall taught my wife how to prepare the food.
Among the food, my wife likes the laksa much, and she put a lot of effort to make it good. She invited our friends (migrated from HK) to taste her laksa. The feedback was encouraging.
One day, one friend (a local Singaporean) came to our stall. My wife specially treated him with the laksa. After he tasted, his comment was so disappointed – “Can this be called laksa???”
Then he gave us a few addresses for us to try, We went with some HK friends to try. But we could not found the good of laksa in those place. Most of our friends even said our one is better than them.
We trusted our friends (HK and Singapore)speak their truth. So I discussed with my wife what is “wrong”, and we got a conclusion:
My wife has put a lot of effort to make good the laksa. She modified a bit the ingredients and the method which she think is good for the taste. Due to that, my HK friends like it. But when the Singapore friend tried, he found this is not the taste in his memory, so he give a different feedback. We got a conclusion – “TASTE CONNECT WITH OUR MEMORY”
When people travel elsewhere, they put down their memory and Open to the taste he get, so they usually give a high marks for the foreign food. But when they come back to the place they borned,
I know there are favourites but mine for Teochew beef kuay teow soup is a stall at the Whampoa Food Centre.
The soup is full of flavour and the meat very tender. Best of all is the chilli sauce. It is spicy and the stall owners are not stingy in doling out the sauce when asked for extra.
Sedapppp!!!
Recently we have had dinner at Ya Hua Bak Kut Teh. They was voted top ten in the “Singapore Hawker Master”. Also selected as CEOs’ hawker favorite. I believe food taste is very subjective. Twenty-two of us tasted it and seventeen responded for a rating as follows:
Out of the seventeen, ten of us rated below 5 upon 10. One said it was peppery and saltish and four commented meat was hard/not tender. Another who voted 7/10 commented “favour more herbs and sauce, place was comfortable, although we were near the entrance.”
Four who rated below 5 mentioned one at Rochor coffee shop and the other behind Changi City as their preferred store to eat ba kut teh. I personally found the serving of its meat is more then i usually ate at Jurong East hawker centre. Only three confirmed not going back there to eat even after 3 months.
My main focus at the moment is to try all the top ten “Singapore Hawker Master” before going to those hawker’s food favoured by the CEOs.
Eat While We Still Can! :)
Why not add a review rating like $$$$$= most expensive, ***** = best quality for money and ##### = most clean food outlet.
Let me be the first to talk about 2 great outlets in Lor 4 Toa Payoh. Blk 92 Ocean Curry serves the best Chinese mixed dishes. All items, from vegetables to meat to seafood taste real great. Recommended are Big sambal prawns, braised sotong, curry mutton, YTF, cockles, herbal chicken (weekends only) and their ever famous Curry Fishhead ($22 for regular). Prices per dish range from 70c (vege) to $4.50 (herbal chicken-quarter portion). Come early before 11.30am or 6pm to avoid queue. Food is restaurant standard. Very rare find.
Next is Tim’s Restaurant at Blk 95 serving western/Nepalese dishes. Beef, chicken, pork, spaghetti, salad. Recommended food – beef tenderloin at $18 and beef/lobster combo at $22. No GST or SC.
Have been to these places countless times – highly recommended if you are in TP area.