The Big, Crispy Roti Prata Kosong from Chindamani Indian Restaurant Outlet @ Serangoon North Block 151A [Singapore]

After scrapping my car a few years ago, it became inconvenient for me to travel to places not served by an MRT station. Okay, I admit; laziness usually kicks in! Therefore, even though serangoon north was a place I visited often in the past, it had been at least five years since I last dropped by.

Many small animal lovers would know the area as there are plenty of pet shops and aquariums; there's even a specialized store for chinchillas! Want to get a parrot that cost a few thousand dollars? That's the place to go! 

Random picture of a beautiful feline outside one of the shops.

I am not going to talk about pets today as I have no intention to keep one at the moment. Instead, I got wind of a stall selling super crispy roti prata from a new colleague and its location caught me by surprise as the pet shop next to the coffee shop was my customer when I was working in the pet industry, and I don't remember seeing the stall on my weekly visits! 

Mystery solved; Chindamani Indian Restaurant was only opened from 2008 and my stint in pet industry for business to business was before then! Anyway, why the word restaurant when it's clearly a food stall in a coffeeshop?! Guess there are grand plans for expansion! 

Do expect a queue which is the norm for any good food in Singapore! Obviously knowing that, I planned my visit to after 2pm to avoid the lunch peak but there were others who think like me. :( 

Wait wasn't too torturing with only about 4-5 persons in front of me; I got my prata in about 10-15 minutes and my order comprised of three kosong (empty) and two egg pratas. Please be assured that I don't have the stomach to eat so many! 

Mine usually consisted of just one kosong and one egg. With sugar on the side as I have that weird habit of mixing sugar with curry for that sweetened curry kick. So far, I had yet to hear of anyone who is using the same style.

Kosong Prata - hear the cackling! It's ultra crispy and compared to many kosong pratas sold elsewhere, this bears the uniqueness of being slightly bigger than the egg prata! Don't assume it was just a layer of crisp like tissue prata though as you can still find a satisfying layer of fluffy underside that wasn't too doughy. 

Egg Prata - in comparison, this was quite normal. I regretted not buying extra kosong even though that's already quite a bit of carbohydrates I was ingesting that day! 

Usually, I wouldn't comment much on the curry as it plays a role as a mere dip and too watery for my liking. This time, I felt the need to do so as the fish curry given was thick and flavourful.

I can totally understand my colleague's obsession with the roti pratas from this stall; it was one of the best kosong prata I had, with the enjoyable crispiness matched with the size of it. Should I revisit this weekend? 

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Address

Block 151A, Serangoon North Avenue 1, 

Within Zhi Yuan Coffee Shop (祭源咖啡), 

Singapore 551151

Map

As above.

Other Branches

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Roti Prata Kosong - S$1.20 each

Roti Prata Egg - S$1.80 each

Lontong Kering Ayam Besar from Muslim Food Stall @ Marsiling Lane Hawker Centre [Singapore] #marsilinglanehawkercentre

Following Joy Junction (Char Siew Wanton Noodle), Lai Xing Prawn Noodle and Uncle Pancake, I shall now be writing about the stall that was the actual reason for my visit to Marsiling Lane Hawker Centre.

It has a nondescript name; Muslim Food Stall and it appeared to sell many common Malay dishes, e.g. lontong, nasi lemak, nasi padang, mee soto, mee goreng, mee siam etc, that could be found elsewhere. Not exactly a stall I would purposely seek as I wouldn't know what to order! 

Thankfully, a youtube video mentioned a particular dish; Lontong Kering. I am not a fan of lontong as it felt more like coconut milk curry with vegetables that could be easily and expertly made by my mum. However, the guy was so enamored with the lontong kering; I was tempted to give it a try.

The lontong kering in the youtube video was served in a bowl whereas mine was on a plate tray laid with paper; maybe because I opted for the more expensive Lontong Kering Ayam Besar which included a piece of chicken thigh. Anyway, the difference with the normal lontong was the lack of gravy; kind of made sense as my friend told me kering means dry! 

I was utterly surprised with the compressed rice cake; it was smooth without an expected grainy texture. It's like your typical kueh with a harder texture and it didn't stick to our teeth! Best of all, it was darn shiok to eat with the accompanying sweet, spicy sambal chilli! 

Didn't regret ordering the chicken thigh; with curry drenched on it, it was less spicy than the sambal chilli yet no less delicious, especially when the meat managed to retain a tender juiciness that made it all the more irresistible! Another thing worth noting is that for a person who dislike bergedil (potato snack), I actually enjoyed the one here; it's like having the paste of a good curry puff that's deep fried! 

To be honest, I can't wait to try other dishes at Muslim Food Stall the next time I visit! 

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Address

20 Marsiling Lane, 

#01-114, Marsiling Lane Food Centre

Singapore 730020

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Lontong Kering Ayam Besar - S$6.00

Joy Junction Char Siew Wanton Noodle with Dumplings（僖家叉烧云吞面） @ Marsiling Lane Hawker Centre [Singapore] #marsilinglanehawkercentre

While my sister joined the long queue for Lai Xing Prawn Noodle at Marsiling Lane Hawker Centre, I prowled around the hawker centre in search for my next meal and chanced upon another stall with a queue.

Joy Junction (僖家) - offering local Chinese noodle favourites like char siew wanton noodle, I knew I would have to queue in order to check out what the hype was all about. Their dumpling noodle appeared quite popular but I definitely cannot stomach another plate of noodles; decided to add two pieces of dumpling instead. 

My wait was less torturing than my sister and I managed to get what I ordered in about 15 minutes. Contrast that with the 50-minute wait for Lai Xing Prawn Noodle! 

Interestingly, wantons are also dumplings although their Chinese terms are different. In this context, wanton refers to the smaller dumplings with not much meat. The dumplings in this case were chockablock full of filling which consisted of minced pork and prawn; average tasting and didn't wow. 

The noodle was covered with dark sauce and I was puzzled that it was surprisingly not sweet. I even found it a bit bland and required the green chilli to up the palatability. Texture wise, it's the springy rubber-band kind that I enjoyed. Char siew was lean yet well-marinated for me to keep throwing piece after piece into my mouth!

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Address

20 Marsiling Lane, 

#01-29, Marsiling Lane Food Centre

Singapore 730020

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Char Siew Wanton Noodle - S$3.00

Dumpling (2 pieces) - S$1.50

Lai Xing Prawn Noodle (来興蝦面) @ Marsiling Lane Hawker Centre [Singapore] #marsilinglanehawkercentre

On their first visit, enthusiastic diners would usually seek the stall with the longest queue in a hawker centre. Not for me as I often do not have the luxury of time and patience but this time at Marsiling Lane Hawker Centre; my sister happily took the role of queuing while I roamed around for other food. 

The queue she joined belonged to this Lai Xing Prawn Noodle (来興蝦面). Now, another reason why I didn't display much excitement was because I generally don't have a craving for soupy stuff unless they had been verified by friends or family members, or I was taken ill. 

After a tormenting 50 minutes, my sister was finally back with the prawn noodles! The one thing attracting my immediate attention was definitely the small serving of crispy pork lard. p.s. not fantastic. Costing just S$3 (excluding an additional S$1 for extra prawns), this bowl of prawn noodle confirmed wouldn't burn a hole in your pocket.

But most importantly, how would it fare against its more expensive competitors? To be frank, it's quite a novelty to have flat rice noodles that were not as wide as your typical kway teow and they actually ranked higher in palatability than your usual yellow noodles / bee hoon.

I didn't have a good expectation for the soup as it appeared too light for my liking. There's still a tinge of sweetness although it's not the kind coming from the richness of the prawn heads. The prawns were good; deshelled for ease of eating and so fresh with an enjoyable crunchy sweetness! 

  

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Address

20 Marsiling Lane, 

#01-05, Marsiling Lane Food Centre

Singapore 730020

Map

As above.

Pricing

Prawn Noodle - S$3.00

Uncle Pancake @ Marsiling Lane Hawker Centre [Singapore] #marsilinglanehawkercentre

There's a famous granny pancake but when I was at Marsiling Lane hawker centre a few weeks back; I chanced upon a Uncle Pancake stall! Guess it wouldn't be long before we would hear about a niece / nephew pancake.

Whatever the case, I am always happy to find pancake stalls at hawker centres as it means I could have them as an after-meal filler. Even if my tummy is full, they would still be considered as a dessert that wouldn't be too heavy on the stomach. 

To be honest, I was ultra full that day! However, among the few types of pancakes available in Singapore, the one cooked using the above griddle is my favourite and like what one of my friends would say: "there's always room for desserts!"

The operators appeared to be super busy that day and my order (consisting of peanut, chocolate rice and coconut pancakes) was immediately placed in the clear plastic bags after they were cooked. From experience, I knew this would result in sogginess as the heat would continue to dissipate from the hot dough. 

Although there remained a light crisp layer on the most outermost crust (as we tried them within a minute after collection), the internal texture had already turned expectedly limp and soggy. It's a great pity since the fillings were pretty decent but I guess there might also be people who prefer pancakes of a softer texture. 

The one with coconut filling also seemed to be overcooked as the color shade was much darker. Taste was still quite okay and it, thankfully, didn't have that burnt aftertaste. 

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Address

20 Marsiling Lane, 

#01-07, Marsiling Lane Food Centre

Singapore 730020

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Peanut Pancake - S$1.00

Chocolate Rice Pancake - S$1.00

Coconut Pancake - S$1.00

Signature Cheng Tng from Tian Tian Yuan Dessert House (甜甜园甜品屋) @ Tiong Bahru Hawker Centre [Singapore] #tiongbahruhawkercentre

Following a serving of the old school chee cheong fun at Tiong Bahru hawker centre, the next thing that came to mind was definitely a bowl of ice cold local dessert! I had something in mind from another dessert stall but my sister got turned off by a customer in front of her, in the queue, who wasn't wearing a mask and happily coughing away.

She decided to try the other dessert stall instead; Tian Tian Yuan Dessert House. To be honest, I wasn't excited as the other stall was featured in a number of blogs and I thought it would be better worth a review. 

Turned out it was a good move from my sister as Tian Tian Yuan Dessert House appeared to have a signature cheng tng which happened to be the dessert I had in mind that day! I can't resist cheng tng and more so if the stall-owner expressed confidence to name it as their signature.

Costing S$1.80, this bowl of cheng tng didn't appear to be any much difference from other competitors. Like an iceberg, the tip can only show so much detail. 

I took a sip and found it a bit bland. Stirring helps obviously and the taste was so much better; it had that traditional cheng tng flavour that I absolutely relished but there were more! Hints can be found in the above picture.

In addition to common cheng tng ingredients, there were also red beans, green beans and slices of Chinese chestnuts. That's a rather unique combination as I can vaguely taste traces of red bean and green bean soup in this bowl of cheng tng! 

Needless to say, this was a joy to have in the hot weather and I cleaned it up in no time. I was glad my sister decided to order from Tian Tian Yuan Dessert House as it definitely benefited me although my sister was rather disappointed with the ice kacang she had. From our observations customers appeared to order more ice kacang from the other stall and more cheng tng from Tian Tian Yuan Dessert House.

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Address

30 Seng Poh Rd, 

Tiong Bahru Food Centre,

#02-61, Singapore 168898

Map

As above. 

Pricing

Signature Cheng Tng - S$1.80