Homemade Chendol from 99 Dessert in Cup @ Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre [Singapore] #bedokinterchangehawkercentre

My English isn't that good - I was thinking the above stall beside Lee Kee @ Bedok Interchange hawker centre had 99 desserts in cup form but upon a closing look; there was a missing letter "s" which likely mean the 99 on the signboard could have other meanings.

The specific subject under review today was the homemade chendol and contrary to the stall's name, it wasn't served in a cup although one could always argue this would be a cup with a wider base. For me, it's your typical plastic bowl with a taller height.

Looking like a snow capped mountain that was with brown slush rather than powdery white snow; this was delightful to have on a hot day! I did feel that it wasn't the deadly delicious gula melaka from the ancient city of malacca but it did its job to make me feel right at home with its sweetness.

Buried underneath was a mix of coconut milk, red beans, attap chee, jelly, corn and the signature green stuff (which gives the name of chendol to the dessert). While soft, I didn't think the taste of their homemade chendol was above average. Furthermore, maybe due to the corn and jelly, it gave the impression that I was having ice kacang drenched with gula melaka and coconut.

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Address 

208 New Upper Changi Road, 

#01-60, Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre, 

Singapore 460207 

(Next to Bedok MRT Station) 

Map 

As above. 

Menu 

As above.

Pricing

Homemade Chendol - S$2.50

Lee Kee Banana Fritter & Yummie Sweet Cake @ Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre [Singapore] #bedokinterchangehawkercentre

From some distance away, I got real excited when I saw the signboard of Lee Kee as I thought it was the resurgence of Lim Kee Banana Fritters that was formerly at Maxwell Hawker Centre! Upon a closer look, the mistake was obvious; difference between Lee and Lim.

Whatever the case, I am always keen to try Chinese style banana fritters and you do get other options like youtiao (Chinese crullers), sweet potato cake, green bean cake, tapioca cake, butterfly bun, red bean bun and even deep fried popiah and curry puff! 

Banana Fritter - a pity my stomach cannot squeeze in so much food; hence, the basic banana fritter would a must-order. One look and you should have noticed that the batter appeared thinner and lighter than my current favourite ones from Toa Payoh Lucky Pisang Raja. 

The fruit encased within was super ripe and the sweetness made it extremely wonderful as an after meal dessert. However, the pricing of S$1.50 is higher than Toa Payoh Lucky Pisang Raja even though the size seemed smaller. For a stingy person like me, I guess I would be better off with the thicker, larger banana fritters from Toa Payoh Lucky Pisang Raja; more for less! 

Yummie Sweet Cake - in the past, you wouldn't see me indulging in this heavy 'cake'. But a friend shared that it's quite hard to find this kind of cake nowadays and I always make it a point to buy whenever I see it for sale. 

Orangey middle portion was nian gao and it was soft like Japanese mochi! Sandwiching the nian gao would be a slice of yam and another slice of sweet potato. Traditionally, the nian gao would contain a higher ratio of sweetnesss to counter the earthiness from the yam but this one here was, sadly, not as sweet. Oh well, I guess this would be preferred by the older generation. 

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Address

208 New Upper Changi Road, 

#01-10, Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre, 

Singapore 460207 

(Next to Bedok MRT Station) 

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Banana Fritter - S$1.50

Yummie Sweet Cake - S$1.20 

Mei Xiang Prawn Noodle Lor Mee - Checking Out the Prawn Noodle @ Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre [Singapore] #bedokinterchangehawkercentre

When was Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre rebuilt?! It's been so long since I last visited that it looked nothing like the one I remember with low ceiling, one long row of back-to-back stalls and another shorter row at the back! 

Nonetheless, it's still a search of supposedly good food and the best way is to look out for the queue! After going one round around the food centre, the winner for the longest queue was Mei Xiang Prawn Noodle Lor Mee; quite amazing to have more than 10 persons waiting in line past 9am on a normal weekday! 

This cost us 30 minutes and S$4 (with extra ingredients). Since I am not into lor mee, my sister had to make do with prawn noodles. I thought there would be mee kia or mee poh options but we could only choose from either yellow noodles or kueh teow! 

Knowing my aversion to yellow noodles, my sister had to make the quick decision to go with the lesser evil. Not a great option for dry prawn noodle though as it was bland and the only taste I recollected came from the chilli paste mixed into the kuey teow.

Eventually, it's still a better choice to just throw in the small bowl of soup accompanying our noodles; which beget the question on why we didn't ask for soup in the first place! Anyway, the taste of kuey teow was elevated significantly with the broth although this wasn't the kind of flavourful prawn stock you get from prawn noodle stalls; instead, it was infused with more pork than prawn. 

Not my kind of prawn noodles; even the ingredients like prawns and fish cakes failed to impress me. To be fair, many customers appeared to be ordering lor mee. Maybe some of you could confirm if the lor mee is indeed one of the better ones around in Singapore. 

Judging from the queue, which was even longer when we were done with our prawn noodle, I guess there must be some truth pertaining to the stall's food.  

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Address

208 New Upper Changi Road, 

#01-10, Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre,

Singapore 460207

(Next to Bedok MRT Station)

Operating Hours

6.00 am to 3.00 pm

Pricing

Prawn Noodle - S$3.00

Add Ingredients - S$1.00 

Pa Bul Lo Korean Charcoal BBQ - Skip the BBQ @ Serangoon Garden [Singapore]

Do you believe in fate? I do as I personally feel that things happen for a reason and fate did determine that we arrived a tad late to check out a popular eatery at Serangoon Garden. 

With plenty of hungry diners ahead of us, it was decided unanimously we would proceed to another restaurant a few doors away; Pa Bul Lo Korean Charcoal BBQ.

It's always great to be served chilled water at proper Korean restaurants, at no charge! Anyway, though the name of the restaurant has a charcoal BBQ in it, the griddle in front of us was obviously gas-powered. Turned out the meat were partially-grilled over charcoal in the kitchen first; not an issue for me since I have the tendency to burn the meat. 

Despite the bottle of cold water, my friends saw the need to order a bottle of Makgeolli for sharing. Alcohol drink is a must whenever I meet up with these two secondary school friends and they (both ladies) are much better in holding their liquor! 

Completed our ordering and here comes the side dishes, including the condiments and lettuce for our BBQ meat, and the sauce for the pancake. What did I like the most from the side dishes? Definitely the tangy sliced radishes! I think I asked for refill at least twice! 

Pa Bulgogi Beef - at S$52.00 a serving (about 360g), it was pricey! I found the presentation pleasing though given the huge chunk of shredded spring onions. Boy, I felt healthier already! 

Sadly, the bulgogi wasn't amazing, at least for me, to command such a high price. Indeed, it was slightly different with a heavy dose of pepper but I think my pocket would better appreciate the S$6.50 bulgogi beef at Hwang's Korean Restaurant @ NUS University Town instead. 

Kochujang Pork Belly - similar to Pa Bulgogi Beef, this was served with a heap of shredded spring onions! 

There was, again, that strong peppery taste, in addition to the spiciness from the kochujang. To be frank, it was a refreshing twist for the taste buds although as with Pa Bulgogi Beef, the steeper price was hard to stomach for a poor man like I! 

Sundubu Jjigae with Rice - I have never liked Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew as the taste was usually watered down and loaded with too much spiciness. The one here at Pa Bul Lo was a far cry from what I used to have.

The soup had a thick consistency and was chockfull of flavours from the sea! The tofu was silky soft and I actually craved for plain rice to better enjoy the broth with the tofu. One word; shiok! 

Seafood Pancake - the Korean style pancake is one dish I love to order for sharing and I thought I have eaten enough of them that nothing would surprise me anymore, until I took a bite of the above.

Meat on the thin and crispy pancake was exclusively octopus and instead of a salty, soy sauce based dip, it was sweet and went perfectly with the pancake! I can't wait to return to have another bite of the seafood pancake! 

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It was a satisfying meal for me, given that the two ladies didn't have a big stomach! However, my eyes still popped a bit when I received the bill. The next time I drop by, it would likely be just Sundubu Jjigae with Rice and Seafood Pancake. Should I continue to feel hungry, it would be a short walk to Chomp Chomp hawker centre! 

Address

63 Serangoon Garden Way, 

Singapore 555959

Map

As above. 

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Pa Bulgogi Beef - S$52.00

Kochujang Pork Belly - S$38.00 

Sundubu Jjigae with Rice - S$13.00

Seafood Pancake - S$22.00

Makgeolli - S$25.00

(Subject to GST and Service Charge)

The Move Out - for My Beloved Books

It's been almost 5 years since I moved out of my parents' flat but as their house is always there and no rental charge would be imposed; there are still a lot of things that I continued to keep there. For example, the tons of books, photo albums and personal mementos.

Contrary to popular beliefs, I love to read and had amassed quite a bit of books, especially from authors like Matthew Reilly, Jeffrey Archer and even the very localised Neil Humphreys. There were more by other authors but given the space constraints within my 3-room flat; sacrifices are necessary. 

One book series I couldn't afford donating would be the Crayon Shin Chan manga! That main Japanese comic character (and his family) provided me with much laughter when my spirits were low and I remember anticipating the new volume whenever I walked past the newspaper vendor. A must-keep! 

So many books and there's no way I could haul them back to the house without a car. Thank goodness for the large luggage bag! You can never imagine how convenient it is; via this mode, I had moved my collection of Absolut Vodka bottles and even my precious piggy banks! 

Briyani 47 - The Mutton Briyani That Caught Me By Surprise @ Yishun Block 343 [Singapore]

Today, I am going to write about a stall located within a coffee shop that's nowhere visible from the main road; I myself didn't know about it until I happened to jog past one bloody hot afternoon via the sheltered linkways all over Yishun! 

I noticed a nasi briyani stall there with the name 47 and coincidentally shortly after, a friend shared about it with me on Facebook. Decided to finally check it out and was surprised to find a queue! In the two times that I jogged past, there was no queue but then; the signboard was switched off so it's highly likely they were already sold out for the day.

Queued for fifteen minutes and I managed to secure the last second serving of Nasi Briyani (Mutton). Chicken was already sold out and the fish was running fast. Boy, I didn't know the foods were such hot property, especially when it opened only at 11.30am and things were already running out before 2.00pm! After which, I also saw many customers who came and left, with disappointment written on their faces. 

From the look of it, I really didn't understand the fuss at first. No papadum and gravy was given and it sure looked a bit dry and plain with the pickled cucumbers-carrot mix, giving it some needed cosmetic. All things changed when I took my first bite.

Mutton was properly diced up and mixed in with the basmati rice that was so aromatic due to the deep fried onions; the meat was tender with just a bit of fat and it sure didn't overwhelm the taste buds. Most importantly, it was boneless! The lack of gravy, thought to be thoughtless at first, turned out to be a blessing in disguise as each chunk of mutton was already coated with curry and was flavourful on its own! You absolutely don't need that extra bowl of gravy to up the palatability.

For that extra oomph, mix in each spoonful with a bit of the pickled vegetables. Sweet, crunchy and not as spicy as its colours implied. As you can see, there's almost nothing left on my tray after 15 minutes! p.s. the portion is generous for just S$6.50 and to me, it's also placed higher on the taste ladder compared to the nearby Bismi Briyani (Lamb Chop) at Yishun Park Hawker Centre.

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Address

Block 343, Yishun Avenue 11,

Within The Traditional Taste Coffeeshop,

Singapore 760343

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Mutton Briyani - S$6.50