A different M3N and not MSN...

How different can a bowl of 'Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles'(M3N) be? If you have done up a survey asking groups and groups of people this question, probably you might be getting all sorts of answers. However, as for today, let me introduce you to something different...

'Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles'(香菇肉脞麵) Usually, I would go for the 'dry' version of 'Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles', but since it's my first time giving this stall a try and I realise that the stall owner has listed down the 'soup' version of 'Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles' as one of the specialities, I think that I should give it a try too. Just by taking a look at the bowl of noodles, one can easily spot ingredients like 'Pork Livers', 'Minced Meat', 'Seaweed', 'Mushrooms', 'Vegetables', 'Noodles', 'Bean sprouts', etc... Anyway for a start, the soup itself come with a very interesting strong aroma and taste. Despite of the fact that we are 3 or 4 tables apart from the stall, we still can smell the strong aroma of the soup itself. From the taste and the colour itself, it's probably a mixture of vinegar and some special ingredients. Regardless of the ingredients used, the taste of the thick, non-pepperish and superb soup would most likely be one of the thickest and flavoursome 'Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles' soup in Singapore.

As for the noodles that they have used over here, it's very different from what you are getting elsewhere. It's like a mini version of the common 'Mee Pok' noodles, which is much more thinner in terms of size. However it's much more tangy and chewy than the normal 'Mee Pok' noodles. Even when it's fully submerged into the bowl of soup itself, it doesn't end up to be soggy too. While mixing the noodles, the ingredients and a bit of soup together, the amount of goodness that I'm getting are fantastically good. A bit crunchy, a bit chewy, a bit of vinegar, in fact it's a mixture of different types of senses, which manage to blend together nicely and deliciously.

So where can you give the noodles a try?

The name of this stall would be 'Seng Kee Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles'(勝記香菇肉脞麵). It's located inside 'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  07:30 - 15:00 Daily
  (Closed on Mondays)

* Click here for the 'Facebook' page of 'Seng Kee Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles'.
^ Click here for the location of 'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre' on 'Google Maps'.
~ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find & get in
  'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre'.

Where did all the buns go?

Looking at the current market, if you are thinking of buying a bun, the price of a bun would range between a dollar to a few dollars. I kinda miss all the lowly priced and delicious buns. So where did all the affordable buns go?

Initially, I thought that this stall is selling some indulging dishes, therefore there's always a queue of people queueing outside this stall. However, it ended up to be a stall selling various types of buns only. Anyway, if you are thinking of getting fanciful buns over here, you will be very disappointed. They are only making simple buns like 'Kaya Bun', 'Curry Bun', 'Luncheon Meat Bun', etc... over here. Since I still have some space inside my stomach, therefore I ended up buying a 'Curry Bun' and a 'Kaya Bun' too. 'Curry Bun' As for the 'Curry Bun' over here, not only the price of the bun is relatively cheap, but the fillings of the 'Curry Bun' are pretty good too. The 'Curry Bun' has been loaded with a generous portion of potato curry and on top of that, the nice fragrance of a newly baked 'Bun' is pretty attractive too. It's pretty hard to come across such good 'Bun' in times like this.

So where can you give the 'Bun' a try?

The name of this stall would be 'Serangoon Garden Bakery & Confectionary'(實龍崗花園麵包西菓店). It's located inside 'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre', which is located near 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  09:00 - 15:00 Daily
  (Closed on Mondays)

* Click here for the location of 'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre' on 'Google Maps'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find & get in
  'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre'.

Slicing up a pig for a bowl of soup

Most of the time, a clear bowl of soup could easily win the hearts of the consumer. However, there ought to be exceptions. There are soups that might not look so nice, but at the same time can be remarkably delicious. For example...

'Pig's Organ Soup' We gathered at this place to have a low budget feast for lunch. As we were going around the place looking for good food, this is one of the stalls that have attracted a crazily long queue. The taste of the bowl of rice that was covered in braised sauce is pretty normal, however...

the not so clear bowl of soup can be a big surprise. The bowl of soup isn't pepperish at all and at the same time, the soup is pretty sweet and it have come with a very very strong taste of pork. On top of that, ingredients like pig intestines, pig stomach, pork liver, pork belly, lean meat, tomato and salted vegetable were added into the soup. In fact, if you really want to savour something a much more thicker bowl of soup, when you are placing your orders, tell them that you want all the meat and salted vegetables. Ask them to get rid of all the other ingredients. That would probably boost the taste of the soup to a completely new level. :P Before I forget, although this might not be that important, but the thick chilli sauce that they are preparing and serving over here can blend with the taste of the wonderfully prepared pig organs perfectly. :D

This should give you a rough idea of what they are preparing and selling over here. Besides for 'Pig's Organ Soup', there's 'Meatball Soup' too. They also have side dishes like 'Pig Trotters', 'Braised Meat', 'Braised Egg', 'Braised Beancurd', etc...

So where can you give the 'Pig's Organ Soup' a good try?

The name of this stall would be 'Soon Huat Pig's Organ Soup'(順發豬雜湯). It's located inside 'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre', which is located near 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  09:00 - 15:00 Daily
  (Closed on Mondays)

* Click here for the location of 'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre' on 'Google Maps'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find & get in
  'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre'.

Looking 4 a light snack

We were having a low budget feast for lunch last weekend. Each of us have placed an order for a food item or 2 and share it among the group of us. Since I have already ordered something 'heavy', I decided to look for some 'lighter' stuff to go with it. Therefore...

'Curry Puff' Even though, the curry puff that they are selling over here are smaller than the average 'Curry Puff' out there, but it's definitely much more heavier than what you are getting out there. In fact, it have reminded me of the 'Curry Puff' that I have been getting since I was a kid. These homemade 'Curry Puff' over here were stuffed with ingredients like 'Potatoes', part of a 'Boiled Egg' and minced meat. On top of that, a non-spicy curry mix have been added into the 'Curry Puff' too. When I was taking a bite from the 'Curry Puff', the not too thick crust and the 'Curry' covered potatoes were pretty indulging. As you move on even further, the nice combination of all the ingredients, not only smells good, it taste deliciously good too. (In fact, I wanted to take a photo of the fillings of the 'Curry Puff', but I was busy enjoying the 'Curry Puff' that the same idea have slipped off my mind completely.)

So where can you give the 'Curry Puff' a try?

The name of this stall would be 'Rolina'. It's located inside 'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre', which is located near 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  07:30 - 17:00 Daily
  (Closed on Mondays)

* Click here for the location of 'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre' on 'Google Maps'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find & get in
  'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre'.

What can you do with 50 Cents?

If it's 20 years ago, you can buy a lot of stuff with merely 50 Cents. Back then with merely 50 Cents, you can get lots of sweets, hop on a bus and do a bit of travelling, etc... However, what can you do with merely 50 Cents today? Well, basically I'm not really sure myself but I do know that with merely 50 Cents, you can get yourself a bowl of...

'Beancurd' Selling at a relatively low price, you can treat yourself to a delicious bowl of 'Beancurd'. The stall helper are using the authentic porcelain bowl to serve the silky smooth 'Beancurd'. In fact, the bowl has reminded me of my grandma's place back then. She used to have all these porcelain bowls and I miss her cooking very very much. Anyway back to the 'Beancurd', on top of the silky smooth 'Beancurd', the stall helper has also added an acceptable portion of sweet syrup into the bowl of 'Beancurd' too. Just by taking a look at the cost of this dessert and the 'Beancurd' that I'm getting, this is definitely something that you should try when you have the time to visit this place, or when you are popping by this area. (By the way, it's so good that I have gone for 2 bowls of 'Beancurd' in the same afternoon. I have also tried the 'Grass Jelly' too, but I don't really like the idea of adding ice into a bowl of 'Grass Jelly'. But I personally still prefer the taste of the 'Beancurd' much much more. :P)

So where can you give the delicious 'Beancurd' a try?

The name of this stall would be 'Tan Soon Mui Beancurd'(陳順美). It's located inside 'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre', which is located near 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  08:00 - 22:00 Daily
  (Closed on Mondays)

* Click here to find out more about the 'Tan Soon Mui'(陳順美).
^ Click here for the location of 'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre' on 'Google Maps'.
~ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find & get in
  'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre'.

Traditional Noodles in the making?

I think I was a bit or maybe I'm too early for 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'. Therefore, I decided to walk around the compound and I managed to come across another Hawker Centre nearby. Hence...

'Traditional Gan Lao Mee'(古法肉脞面) Hmmm.... This is very different from the normal 'Minced Meat Noodles'. For a start, the stall helpers have added lots of ingredients into this dish. Ingredients like fish balls, pork liver, mushrooms, minced meat, fish cakes, etc... have been added into this dish. On top of that, the dish itself have given me an interesting nice fragrance, which is pretty good. On top of that, the correct amount of sauces have been added into this bowl of noodles and the overall taste of the noodles and ingredients are heavenly. I think that the only drawback about this would be the portion of noodles that was given. How I wish that they could add a larger portion of noodles into the bowl for big eaters like me. :D

'Giant Home Made Fish Cakes' They are making and selling their own 'Fish Cake'. I wonder how long will it take to finish one gigantic 'Fish Cake' like this. @.@"

The name of this place would be 'Lao Song Huat'(老松發). It's located inside 'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre', which is located near 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  08:00 - 22:00 Daily

* Click here for the location of 'Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre' on 'Google Maps'.

A bowl of Dessert...

Since I have managed to donate my blood successfully, it's time for me to reward myself by treating myself to something special. And that would be...

'Durian Mousse' How often would you come across a 'Durian Mousse' in Singapore? Besides for the infamous 'Durian' feast at 'Goodwood Park Hotel', I think that the chances that one would come across a 'Durian Mousse' would be pretty slim. And one would probably has a better chance coming across a 'Durian Cake', 'Durian Ice Cream' or 'Durian Puff'. So what's the big deal about the 'Durian Mousse'? Everyone knows that 'Durian' by nature is a type of heaty food. However, that rule doesn't apply here. Although, you can still sense the 'heat' coming from the 'Durian' meat, but the rich, creamy and cooling mousse are much more stronger. And when you mix them together, it actually reduce the amount of 'heat' that you are getting from the 'Durian' and it still manage to sustain the fragrance and the taste of the 'Durian', which makes it pretty wonderful and suitable for a crazily hot day. (:D) (I think that their businesses will be even much more better if they can add a much more generous portion of 'Durian' meat into this dessert.)

The decorations of this place are pretty interesting. The staircase leading to this place has all sorts of interesting photos and signs pasted on the walls. And the pathway leading into the place have been decorated with all these miniature shops from the older 'Hong Kong' movies.

So where can you give the indulging 'Durian Mousse' a try?

The name of this place would be 'Dessert Bowl'(一碗甜品)...

And it's located near 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre', which is located along 'Serangoon Garden Way'.

Notes:

• Opening Hours:
  Tuesdays - Thursdays: 12noon - 10:30pm
  Fridays - Sundays: 12noon - 12midnight
  (Closed on Mondays)

* Click here for the exact location of 'Dessert Bowl'(一碗甜品) on 'Google Maps'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find in 'Serangoon Garden Way'.

Oily cake

An oily cake seems to be a complete joke. However, such things do exist. Introducing...

an 'Oyster Cake'(福州蠔餅). Although the size of the oyster that was used in this side dish isn't as big as a 'Hiroshima Oyster', but by adding a bit of spring onions, a bit of minced meat and deep fry all the ingredients together, you are actually creating something that was pretty unique. Though this 'cake' was pretty oily, but the taste was pretty interesting. Especially, when you can blend the taste of the 3 main ingredients(Spring onions, minced meat, oyster) together nicely. However, the drawback would be the fact that you have to eat it while it's hot and crispy. Trust me, you seriously wouldn't want to eat it when it's pretty cold and the texture of it is pretty soft. >.<""" (Which reminds me, this is suppose to a pretty common dish back then, however it seems to be pretty rare nowadays... sigh... I kinda miss the 'Oyster Cake' stall located at Maxwell Market already.)

So where can you give this oily 'cake' a try?

The name of this stall is 'I-Chai Food Speciality'(藝佳小食). It's located inside 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  Sunday - Thursday: 4:30pm - 12:00am
  Friday - Saturday: 4:30pm - 1:00am

* Click here for the location of 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre' on Google Maps.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that can be found in 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

More Crazy Seafood... :P

Before we end our journey at 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre', we are going to have more yummy seafood. Here comes...

'Sambal Stingray'
This is one of my favourites. No matter where I dine, as long as it
serve seafood, I would definitely order the 'Sambal' style 'Stingray'.
This dish was coated with a thick layer of 'Sambal' chilli mixed with
shrimps. Ever though there isn't a lot of 'Stingray' meat but the
spicy taste and the nice fragrance of the dish have satisfied my
taste bud thoroughly. :D

Top Left: 'Sambal Stingray'
Top Right: 'Sambal Sotong(Squid)'
Bottom: 'Salad You Tiao(Deep Fried Strip of Dough)'
As for the 'Sambal Sotong', I think that the chef have added too much
'Sambal' chilli. Even though I don't mind the spicy taste, but I think
some of my friends have some difficulty eating it. (:P) Besides for the
crazy spicy taste, the only thing that you will be getting would be the
chewy taste of the 'Sotong'. You still might be getting a bit of 'Sotong'
taste but it's pretty vague.

As for the 'Salad You Tiao', I was expecting a strong 'Sotong' fillings.
However, the taste of the fillings isn't obvious enough. Some of us were
arguing over the fillings that they were using in this dish. Though the
texture of the 'You Tiao' were pretty crispy, but the filling isn't chewy
enough, which makes it pretty dull. :(

So where can you give all these indulging seafood a try?

The name of this stall would be 'Boon Tat Street BBQ Seafood'
(文达街烧烤海鲜). It's located inside 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  5pm - 1am Daily

* Click here for the location of 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre' on Google Maps.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that can be found in 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

Gong Gong but not refering to Grandpa

Since our friend is approaching the 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre' it's almost time for us to go for the heavier stuff. Since some of us haven't tried the following dish before, this would be a good opportunity to try it.

Steamed 'Gong Gong'(Conch)
Since the other stall doesn't have any more supply of 'Gong Gong',
therefore we have to ask around for it. Luckily we managed to find
a stall that serve it. The meat was hidden within the shell and you
have to use a toothpick to fish out all the meat from the shell.
Basically the meat was pretty chewy and the odour isn't as strong
as cockles. I knew that some people out there would like to savour
it with a bit of chilli but as for myself, I prefer to have it
without any other additional flavouring.

So where can you try the dish?

The name of the stall would be 'Chomp Chomp BBQ Seafood'(忠忠海味园).
It's located inside 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  5pm - Midnight
  (Closed on Mondays)
• Their services are pretty fast and the waiting time isn't as long as the other stalls. :D (Probably because the stall is much bigger too. :P)
• By the way 'Gong Gong' in Mandarin can be '公公', which means Grandpa. (That should help you guys to figure out the weak link in the title of this post.)

* Click here for the location of 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre' on Google Maps.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that can be found in 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

Mee without Lard... ?

Hey, I'm still a human being not a poultry. Anyway back to our adventure in 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'. After giving more than 2 or 3 dishes a try, we decided to move towards the 'heavy' stuff. Introducing...

'Fried Hokkien Mee'
I have mentioned earlier that in Singapore, you can get 2 or more
different variations of the 'Fried Hokkien Mee'. As for the 'Fried
Hokkien Mee' over here, it's the dryer version of 'Fried Hokkien
Mee'. Besides for the way of preparing it, the proportions of the
Noodles to Bee Hoon over here would most likely be 1:4. Besides
for that the main ingredients of this dish were merely bean sprouts
and prawns. I'm pretty amazed that they didn't include ingredients
like 'Sotong' and 'Pork Lard', but yet they still can managed to
attract such a big crowd in patronising this stall.

Taste wise, since it's pretty dry, the Noodles still have this
smooth, springy, chewy touch. At the same time, based on the
taste that I'm getting, I think that the chef have added a bit
of pork soup into the 'Wok' while frying the dish. And when you
mixed the whole dish with the chopped chillies and the grind
chilli paste, topped with a squeeze of lime, the whole dish will
become heavenly. Oh Yummy... :P

So where can you give this dish a try?

The name of this stall would be 'Ah Hock Fried Hokkien Noodles'
(亚福炒福建虾面). It's located inside 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  5pm - 11pm
• By the way, though the stall helper has estimated a waiting time of 15 minutes, but I think that we have waited for long than 30 minutes for a plate of 'Fried Hokkien Mee'. Therefore, if you want to reduce the amount of waiting time, Think Smart, Act Smart. :D

* Click here for the location of 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre' on Google Maps.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that can be found in 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

Time for more Satays

Since we have to wait for our friend, we decided to kick off our dinner with some delicacies first. And at the same time, these dishes have to be some light stuff. Otherwise, we might ended up with a pretty awkward situation... with a group of us looking at a person having his own dinner... ==""" Therefore...

'Satay' - A mixture of Chicken, Mutton and Pork Satay
Just by looking at the skin colour of the 'Chicken Satay', one could
easily identify one thing. The skills of the satay stall owner is
amazingly good. You are not getting a lot of burnt bits on the 'Satay'
yet they were prepared deliciously. Either we were starving or the
'Satay' were amazingly tasty that we manage to finish the whole
plate of 'Satay' within minutes. (I wanted to type 'seconds' but that
would be a bit too exaggerating, since there was 30 sticks of 'Satay'
and there's only 4 of us... :P) Despite of the good 'Satay', the taste
of the 'Satay' rice and the 'Satay' sauce were pretty normal and the
amount of 'Satay' sauce that was given was definitely not sufficient.
(At least, not sufficient for 30 sticks of 'Satay'...) Too bad, I
can't get the sauce from some other places that serves good 'Satay' sauce.

'Rojak'
This stall also sells pretty good 'Rojak' too. Though I'm not really
a die hard 'Rojak' fan, but for some strange reason, it have manage
to attract my attention and I ended up grabbing a few bites from this
dish. Probably it's either the amount of nuts that was sprinkled on top
of it or maybe its the sauce that attracts my interest or maybe it's the
slightly a bit spicy taste that has attracted my interest. Either ways
we managed to empty the whole plate of 'Rojak' without any difficulty
so I guess that should explain how good it is. :P

So where can you give the delicious 'Satay' and 'Rojak' a try?

The name of this stall would be 'Traditional Hai Nam Fang Yuan Satay'
(傳統海南芳園沙爹). It's located inside 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

* Click here for the location of 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre' on Google Maps.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that can be found in 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

Moving a step into the past...

If an individual has been staying/living in Singapore for a very very long time, you probably have eaten a simple plate of 'Carrot Cake' before. As far as I know, the 'Carrot Cake' during the 80s and 90s were slightly a bit different from what we are getting today.

'White Carrot Cake'
Though the 'Carrot Cake' over here looks pretty much the same as what
what you are getting elsewhere, but in fact there's a hidden ingredient
to it. The secret ingredient would be prawns. XD As far as I can remember,
most of the 'Carrot Cake' stalls out there used to have this. However,
probably due to the increase in their expenses, most of the stall owners
have dropped the idea of including prawns in their 'Carrot Cake'. That's
just too bad... :(

Anyway, the texture of the 'Carrot Cake' were pretty soft and by adding
a bit of chilli and a few prawns into the 'Carrot Cake', it have
definitely push it to a completely different level. Taste wise, though
it's much more lighter than the normal 'Carrot Cake', by taking a few
bites from this 'Carrot Cake', it have definitely open up my appetite for
more food. :P Especially, when the 'white Carrot Cake' were meant to be a
healthier variant of 'Carrot Cake', it acts as a pretty good appetizer too.
So what are we having next?

By the way, where can we give this 'Carrot Cake' a try?

The name of the stall would be 'Carrot Cake'(菜頭粿).
It's located inside 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  5:30pm - midnight
  (Closed on alternate Tuesdays)

* Click here for the location of 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre' on Google Maps.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that can be found in 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

The Search for the Biggest Mug of Sugarcane Juice

For the next 2 weeks, I would probably be posting about our findings at one of the infamous food centre of Singapore. For a start here comes...

'Biggest Mug of Sugarcane Juice' in Singapore?
I guess the caption for this photo has pretty much explain
everything. The size of the mug was probably 3 or 4 times bigger
than the average mug of a 'Sugarcane Juice'. Despite of the
humongous mug that you are getting, the taste of the 'Sugarcane
Juice' are pretty concentrated. Best of all, the owner has
provided 2 separate straws for each mug. Therefore if you want to
share your drink with another 'friend', you can do so...
(Scenes of 'Lady and the Tramp' started flashing...)

By the way, where can you give this cooling drink a try?

The name of this stall would be 'Muar Sugarcane'(麻坡甘蔗王).
It's located inside the infamous 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre'.

Notes:

• Business of this stall seems to be pretty good and they tend to forget about their orders. Therefore, I would highly suggest that you should try asking them again if you have waited for more than 15 minutes. :D

* Click here for the location of 'Chomp Chomp Food Centre' on Google Maps.