Singapore hawker food

Had the fried Hokkien Mee@ Bedok
& big pow. Kopi O at 50c is incredibly cheap
but only for a limited period only @ one of the

coffee shop where the Hokkien is!

Our favourite fried Hokkien Mee

Last weekend we travelled to Block 59, New Upper Changi Road to eat our favourite fried Hokkien Mee. Ah Lye the owner chef will open his stall and starting selling after 5 pm till late daily except on Monday.
This is the best Hokkien Mee and we are addicted to it since it was operating in Tampines years ago. The smallest serving (above) is $4 and largest is $8. Ah Lye's self-made ikan bilis sambal is nice and unique. The stock is made from prawn and pork bones. The name of the stall is Nam Hua Fried Prawn Noodle. Usually the Q is not very long.

One of the best?

Nam Hua Fried Hokkien Mee

Finally, I caught up with Ah Lye the fried Hokkien Mee hawker. Lye used to operate his stall in Street 82, Tampines and "retired" 10 years ago due to leg issues. I frequented his stall in the early 2000s and had since lost contact with him until recently when I visited block 59, New Upper Changi Road.
His Fried Hokkien mee is still as good and delicious as many years ago except that it is drier and the sambal ikan billis is not as tasty as compared to the past.
The price has gone up to $4 for a small plate. It was $2.50 back in the early 2000s. Well the $1.50 increase is reasonable.
Lye still has a big following. I think he could easily make $300 to $500 a day at his new stall.

The oyster omelette (Oh Luwak)@ AMK is marvellous

This afternoon I ventured into the Ang Mo Kio estate to have a go at the famous "339 AMK" oyster omelette. It's situated at Block 453A (Chong Boon Market & Food Centre) along AMK Ave 10.
It was absolutely delicious. I ordered the medium sized plate for $6. The oysters are big as you can see in the photos.
After finishing my Oh Luwak, I took some pictures of the stalls around the same food center. It was about 3pm and so most of the stalls were closed.

The Hokkien prawn fried noodles did not have a long queue as it used to be when the old hawker was the cook. I think he is semi-retired and let his son do the cooking.
Next, the Yu Fa Claypot Delights is another popular eating joint. It's famous for its curry sting ray, ginger pork etc. It's opened for dinner only.
All the above stalls are situated near each other. Car parking is free of charge on Sundays and public holidays. On weekdays, parking is $1.20 per hour (pro-rated basis)

Sunday meals, all hawker food

It was bachor mee for breakfast and all the above for dinner. The roasted meat ($7) was from blk 628 AMK hawker food center and so was the fried Hokkien mee ($4) and bubor cha cha ($2.50). The Hokkien mee may not look appetizing but it was really good. The bubor cha cha was fantastic. We were there about 4:30 pm and there was a long Q at the roasted meat stall. It was a worthwhile 20 minute wait.

After yesterday's disappointment with the 453, Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 fried Hokkien mee, we went to Yi Ji at 805, Hougang Central and try their Hokkien mee. We had been there before and it was delicious but sad to say this time the mee was not as good. It has also raised a small plate (above) from $4 to $5. The cuttle fish and prawn were dried and tasteless. If not for the nice flavoured stock, the dish would have been a disaster.

I had the ice-kachang from the nearby Kopitiam. After a 10% discount (had to use a Kopitiam pre-paid card), it cost $2.25c. This dessert served here is not as good as it should be. These days, the hawker food are of lower standards as compared to the 1950s,60s and 70s. The modern hawkers only care about making money and not very bothered with the quality of the food they sell. I have come across Bangladeshis selling Chinese food and China men making roti prata. Therefore, one should not expect the hawker fare to be as good as say from Malaysia.

Disappointing meals from Ang Mo Kio

Was at Blk 453 AMK Ave 5 hawker center and had the above fried Hokkien mee. It tasted different from the one we always eat whenever we were there. The cook is now a younger man and he is the son of the old cook (Mr Koh) whom we were told was too tired of frying the mee. No wonder, today's mee wasn't yummy. We will never again order the mee from this stall as long as the old man cook is not the one who fries the mee.

We tried the char kway teow next door. It was so so and was quite a disappointing evening for us. Won't recommend my readers to eat from these 2 stalls.

Hokkien mee,chendol and bubor cha cha for dinner

We went to a coffee shop near Hougang Central and tried the fried Hokkien Mee. It was as good as the one we had last week at Ang Mo Kio. The cook is from Malaysia. It is $4 per plate. The desserts (Bu bor cha cha and chendol) was so so.
Surprisingly, the place was not as crowded as it was supposed to be. It's was a Saturday night and I remember the last time I was there a couple of months ago, the place was very crowded. I also noticed that many eateries are not having as many customers as before. I was told that Singapore is going through a recession. Many people are retrenched and their spending power has been curbed. Others are being cautious and therefore not spending as much as before.

Today's meals and Mr Koh the hawker

Began the day with some sweet oranges and before that a cup of kopi O. Lunch was typical Japanese home prepared food. Dinner was a $6 plate of delectable fried Hokkien mee at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10.

A note about the Hokkien mee hawker:

Let's call him Koh. He is about 60 years old, slim and tall with a head of thin grey hair. He fries the mee in a large wok and his helper is his wife. Koh's mee is really good and my guess is that he is in this business for a long time, maybe 30 years or more. His stall is at the wet market and I think he is the original tenant and pays a nominal rent of about $400 a month to the HDB. His overhead is very low and judging by the number of customers he has everyday, his profit may be in the region of $12,000. He charges $3.50 for the smallest plate and $6 to the biggest (the one I had). He is not friendly at all and hardly say a work as he fries his mee...he does not have to be friendly as long as he could satisfy his customers' taste buds. He opens his stall at 3pm and closes at 10pm daily.
In Singapore, if a hawker or cook excels in his cooking, he will make tons of money.

Dinner@ Whampo Drive

Satay at the Whampo Drive Hawker Center was as good as the ones at Chong Pang and Changi Village.However, the satay sauce was not spicy as it should be. The ketupat were a little hard. Each item cost 60 cents.
Next, we ordered the fried Hokkien Mee. The long queue attracted our attention. It is common knowledge that if there is a long queue, it means the food should be good. Out of curiosity, I joined the queue and after waiting for 15 minutes, I got my $6 plate of the Hokkien Mee. It tasted fairly good but below my expectation.

Fried Hokkien mee brunch & Indian curry rice dinner

The fried mee stall is at the Jalan Kayu area (block 446 near a Chinese temple). The hawkers are Malaysians and they are pretty skilful at frying the mee as well as the carrot cakes etc.
As for the curry dish, it was at a stall on the 2nd floor of Sheng Shiong Building along Serangoon Ave 4 (not too sure). The above consisted of rice, long beans and curry chicken thigh. Quite good though. The place is air-conditioned too.