Now it’s true that some hor fun with eggs thrown in can still taste fractionally shiok but yet most of the time, that ‘eggy’ flavor can be a little ‘disturbing’ because it masked away all those essential shiok flavors like the wok hei(if any) or flavours of any other ingredients like seafood or meat.

So if you are like me, someone who has always looked for nothing but the best quality hor fun available, you will be delighted to hear that I have found a really really shiok hor fun for just $3.50.

Thiam Seng Seafood is a cze char stall at Old Airport Road Food Centre and most of the items on the menu here are priced reasonable from $6. I have eaten at this stall a few times and some of the must try items are Oyster Omelette, Spare Ribs King and Cuttlefish Kangkong but that’s another story for another day. Today I’m going to tell you about the Hor Fun by Thiam Seng Seafood which in my opinion, is one of the finest plate one can find in Singapore for $3+.

If you are really particular about eating hor fun that is freshly fried from scratch, no use of dark soya sauce, no eggs thrown into the gravy, then this will surely hit your umami very very hard.

Seafood Hor Fun $3

For $3.50, this should be considered very good value with generous portion of ingredients but the thing that sets itself miles and miles apart from the rest of the $3 pack is the wok hei. FWAH! The wok hei is so strong that I was even burping with it a few hours after eating it. It just taste like one of those things I need to pay $10 for and the gravy just happen to be very shiok too. As a matter of fact, the whole plate just resembles Fei Lao Seafood’s opeh leaf version. I would really have trouble differentiating the 2 if this were to have bigger prawns/sea cucumbers and served on the opeh leaf.

I don’t know how much better a pack of $3 hor fun can get but for $3.50 at Thiam Seng Seafood, one can truly reap that kind of flavours that only exist when you have $10 in your pocket. If you have not been tempted to eat an Opeh Leaf Hor Fun because it will make you $10 poorer, then this is something you must try because it has all the characteristics of what a shiok $10 Opeh Leaf Hor Fun should be yet the damage is only $3.50.

Seafood Hor Fun $3

Price: $3.50

Recommendation: Hor fun and other cze char dishes like oyster omelette, cuttlefish kangkong and spare ribs king(all only $6 each!).

Conclusion: This is no doubt the best $3.50 I have spent for a plate of hor fun. No eggs used, translucent gravy, strong wok hei, plenty of seafood and pork liver used just mean that it is technically Fei Lao’s type of hor fun but with no-frills ingredients(no king prawns or sea cucumbers).

Likes: Strong wok hei, delicious gravy and generous amount of ingredients.

Dislikes: Portion a little small.

Address		Overall Rating
Thiam Seng Seafood Old Airport Road Food Centre Blk 51 #01-152 4pm – 11pm Daily		Food: 9/10   Authenticity: 9/10   Value: 9/10   Service: 7/10   Ambience: 7/10   Cleanliness: 7/10   Overall: 8/10

But to Singaporeans, the chilli sauce in a plate of Wanton mee is as crucial as chilli in a plate of Nasi Lemak. Alamak, no chilli how to eat? Unless you are not a chilli person then it will just leave you with whatever sauce that comes with it or ketchup in some cases. Unlike Malaysia’s Wanton Mee, Singapore’s version has no ‘national wanton mee sauce’ that’s been recognized by the entire nation.

So what’s the current exchange rate for Singapore’s Wanton Mee? I think one area in our Wanton Mee that is seemingly been underdeveloped is the char siew. Very few stalls actually put much effort into producing very tok kong(outstanding) char siew while the pivotal point of most shiokness in a plate of wanton mee is capped by the shiokness of the chilli which means in most cases, it’s really only the chilli that is defining the shiokness. The only wanton mee that has convincing reasons for me to eat without the chilli was at Crystal Jade and lately, I found out that Da Jie Famous Wanton Mee is on par with Crystal Jade as far the noodles is concerned.

While at Old Airport Road Food Centre recently, I was succumbed to the temptation to try out Hua Kee Hougang Famous Wan Ton Mee to see what exactly they are famous for. I mean other than the self-declared famous claim in the signboard aside, pasted all over the stall are also a lot of write-ups from many food reviews’ guides like U Viewers(Channel U), food columns in local tabloids like Lian He Wan bao and TNP, so I was thinking that the quality here won’t go too far south.

Wanton Mee $3

For my $3 bowl, it came quite shiok. Like many other good wanton mees, the chilli sauce here ruled once again. It has that uncanny similarity to Fei Fei Wanton Mee’s chilli sauce but there is some kind of dark colored sauce below the noodles that makes this bowl of wanton mee a little more shiok. The char siews are, well very common and probably not the reason why they are famous I suppose.

Wanton

But, you know what? The shiokness didn’t end there. A moment later, I was to experience one of the best wantons I ever tasted. It is not easy to describe a good wanton but when you come across one, you know it. I guess this is one wanton that just cruised through my mouth, teeth and throat. Ok why I dubbed this one of the best is because everything about it is just lovely. Every single wanton was nicely wrapped and that muscular cum shining appearance is one good sign of its freshness. Once you put it into your mouth, you can distinctly feel the flavours of the fillings inside which pack some kind of tik poh or giam her taste and is quite simply mouth-chewing good. What I’m trying to say here is that it ain’t some kind of random minced pork you find in your common wanton but one with texture, juice, flavour and taste that is so enjoyable that I have to order a bowl of it.

Wanton Soup $3

Now I see why they are famous. Here is my undisputed wanton champion and I didn’t jump to that conclusion fast for I ordered a bowl of it and finished it up in record time.

So the chilli sauce and wanton is what that can make me come back here. The char siews are not bad and the only short fall for me here is the noodles which is not QQ at all. But until I come across a better wanton, the lack of QQness in the noodles won’t be enough to prevent me from buying a bowl of wanton mee from Hua Kee Hougang Famous Wan Ton Mee the next time I’m near Kallang.

Price: $3

Recommendation: Wanton and chilli sauce.

Conclusion: There isn’t much to talk about this wanton mee except that the chilli is shiok and the wanton super shiok. Not exactly sure what they are famous for but for just $6 I already found reasons valid enough for me to buy from them again if I happen to be near Old Airport Road.

Likes: Wanton is very shiok. Chilli is shiok.

Dislikes: Noodles don’t have QQness(not al dente).

Address		Overall Rating
Hua Kee Hougang Famous Wan Ton Mee Blk 51 Old Airport Road #01-113B Old Airport Road Food Centre 12pm – 12am Off: Monday		Food: 8/10   Authenticity: 8/10   Value: 8/10   Service: 7/10   Ambience: 7/10   Cleanliness: 7/10   Overall: 7.75/10

For any prawn noodles devotee, the big prawns’ version is, beyond any reasonable doubts a most blessed choice. In all honesty, $5 for a bowl of prawn noodles is comparatively cheap considering the fact that $5 can barely get you a meal at any of the fast food chains.

It’s just a a pity that we don’t see any big harmful Char Kway Teow or big sized satay in the market though I have to say that big or small satay is still a satay while a giant harm may actually look quite disgusting so if there is one food that is worth my $5 in a hawker centre, it is still the king prawn noodles.

The reality of getting king prawns in your prawn noodles nowadays is getting as common as upsizing your meals in Mcdonalds. One of the reasons is because we have stalls like Whitley Road Big Prawn Noodles who takes the effort to “globalize” it’s king prawn noodles brand by setting up a few stalls around the island. For those who remember, the story of Whitley Road Big Prawn Noodles began a few decades back at the Whitley Road flyover hawker centre where they moved to Lorong Telok sometime in the 90s and then went on to set up two more branches at Old Airport Road and Thomson Road.

Whitley Road Big Prawn Noodles $5

Like many of the other big prawn noodle stalls, Whitley Road Big Prawn Noodles has a range of prices from $4 to as much as $15. Here it goes a little more enticing by offering things like pig’s tail, pig’s liver or ribs with all kinds of combination at different prices so your choice is seriously aplenty.

For my $5 bowl, it only came with 2 middle size prawns which were sliced into half with the heads but upon closer inspection, I realised that whatever that should be inside the prawn’s head were missing! It was only the shell of the head that was attached to the prawns. And the prawns weren’t very fresh, so it lost 3 points there for me.

The soup was quite good with that familiar charming & pleasurable prawn-thrashing flavours and definitely comparable to Wah Kee or Hoe Nam. Where it fails for me is the chilli sauce which was very oily and a little bland in taste and flavour.

Though they are purportedly one of the better big prawn noodles around, the value of my $5 here didn’t score very well. For $5, I thought it should be quite easy to make a bowl of prawn noodle adorable but I was left figuring where the bulk of $5 went. Not sure if a more expensive version can do justice but if I want to spend $10 for a bowl of prawn noodles, something is telling me that it might be better to do so at Wah Kee or Hoe Nam.

Whitley Road Big Prawn Noodles $5

Price: $5

Conclusion: Soup was shiok, everything else failed to hit the spot for me. If you like prawn’s soup and nothing else, this is it for you.

Likes: Soup.

Dislikes: Prawn head missing. Prawn didn’t tasted fresh. Chilli sauce was quite bland.

Address		Overall Rating
Whitley Road Big Prawn Noodles Blk 51 Old Airport Road #01-98 Old Airport Road Food Centre Tue-Fi: 9am – 8pm Sat-Sun: 9am – 9pm Off: Monday		Food: 7/10   Value: 5/10   Authenticity: 8/10   Service: 7/10   Ambience: 7/10   Cleanliness: 7/10   Overall: 7.5/10

Back in the thirteenth century, the Chinese were already ahead in food “creativity” as noted by Marco Polo when he saw Chinese eating pests(eg. snakes) and pets(eg. dogs,cats). But today, the Chinese are still ahead as they are still eating many things that are still causing a bit of controversy. For example, things like sea cucumbers are enjoyed as a delicacy but it is no more than a rubbery tasteless thing to westerners. Trust the Chinese to show you what to eat, I’m just surprised that we haven’t seen an earthworm burger after all these years!

Although the situation suggests that China’s food culture is the most controversial of all the food cultures in the world, there is one thing that no one can deny: The Chinese succeeded in making food out of nothing in many different ways. In that sense, there’s not a slightest doubt that China is, at the very least, a top student in the School of Wok and possibly a few decades ahead of the rest of the world in culinary “technology”.

Pig intestine is easily one of the most celebrated pig’s spare parts in the hawker centre. The exotica of it knows no bounds and I personally consider it one of the shiokest things in Chinese cuisine when cooked right.

Ex Blanco Court Food Centre (3rd Storey) To-Ricos Guo Shi

To-Ricos Guo Shi at Old Airport Road is a kway chap stall formerly operated at the 3rd storey of Blanco Court Food Centre. To Rico is obviously a South American word and definitely a mismatch for a Kway Chap stall but what many don’t know is this, they actually started the business selling chicken wings and it was only later on that they decided to switch to selling kway chap and they couldn’t be bothered to change the name.

This is possibly the only kway chap stall in the whole island that operates from 2 units(side by side) and as if that’s not enough of a sign to tell it is a good kway chap stall, the queue was super long at lunch time. The wait was almost 30 mins with about 10 customers in front of me.

To-Ricos Guo Shi Kway Chap $4

The flavour of the “lor”(braised gravy) here charmed me. What I dread in a bowl of kway chap is the overpowering herby flavour but at To-Rico, it is only very subtle and the overall taste was infact quite pleasant. The intestines were quite good with a little springy texture that expounds a nice “lor” pungent. The boey chye and tao pok were pretty weak in flavour but nonetheless complemented the entire bowl of kway chap very well. The “signature item” here is the pig’s trotter but it is quite a big portion so you definitely need to have at least 2-3 mouths for that.

The flavour is well balanced and quite good for me though the overall taste fall short of being absolutely outstanding. It was definitely a satisfactory bowl of kway chap but I was expecting one that can floor me. I guess the overall richness and complexity of the flavours can do better. The intestine was good but not great. I will need to find a few mouths to come back here to eat the pig’s trotter and see whether it can justify the remarkable queue.

To-Ricos Guo Shi Kway Chap $4

Price: $4

Recommendation: Pig’s trotter is what they’re famous for.

Conclusion: Quite good no doubt but have rooms for improvement. Quite a generous plate of “spare parts” for $4. Won’t be long before I come back to try the braised pig’s trotter.

Likes: Herby flavour of the “lor” is very subtle only.

Dislikes: The taste wasn’t intense enough.

Address		Overall Rating
To-Ricos Guo Shi/Blanco Court Food Centre (3rd Storey) #01-36 Old Airport Road Food Centre 1130 am – 230pm Off: Monday(open if holiday)		Food: 7.5/10   Value: 8/10   Authenticity: 8/10   Service: 7/10   Ambience: 7/10   Cleanliness: 7/10   Overall: 7.5/10

Unfortunately, it’s not globalization but the speculation of commodities that has pushed food prices up. Globalization has a hand in it by tying the trade markets together and then the mother nature takes over. With more people betting on staple foods, it effectively(or artificially) drove up demands which put the supply in dire condition which then led to hoarding.

So just imagine that if all of Singapore’s wet markets are shut and we have a centralised one which everyone goes to, then if the prices are expensive, you still have to buy right? And when prices go up, it’s across the board. That’s what globalization has done.

The result of it is that, in Singapore, $2 foods are hard to come by nowadays. Fortunately there are some hawkers that do not take advantage of the cost hike and still subscribe to conservative views.

$2 Char Siew cum Roast Pork Rice

Tong Xing Roasted at Old Airport Road Hawker Centre is one of such stalls. I discovered the $2 meal sometime back and the quality of the roasted meat here is surprisingly quite outstanding. The funny thing is that whatever I ordered from this stall, it’s always $2. Even when I get a mixture of Char Siew and Roast Pork, it’s still $2.

The best part of this $2 deal is that everything is roasted in the stall every morning. I personally think that the Char Siew is one of the better ones around. The Char Siew strips are thin and very well roasted – with bits of charred around the sides and corners. The sauce which has a unique sweetness to it tasted very appetising to me everytime.

I have tried the Roasted Duck, Char Siew and Roasted Pork and all are good. This is one roasted meat stall that I would even buy from if it were to cost me $3 a meal.

Hard to find disappointment here, even the chilli sauce is good. For a stall which is a one woman operated, whom still bothers to roast it’s own meat and whom still doesn’t believe in pricing her food higher to offset the higher material cost today, I think this must be one of the most underrated stall in Old Airport Road Hawker Centre. I’m sure a “Everything $2″ sign at the front of the stall would have people coming from everywhere forming queues in no time. So if you are around Old Airport Road area and need a meal, lend your support to this stall, for these kind of stalls are fast diminishing in the market and they definitely deserve more accolades than they are receiving.

$2 Char Siew cum Roast Pork Rice

Price: $2

Recommendation: $2 mix roast pork and char siew as the meat seems to double but price remains the same.

Conclusion: A very good Char Siew here which has a unique sweetness. Well roasted and definitely authentic. I’m just surprised this stall is not well known. For $2, I think there can’t be anything to be faulted. The sauce is just as good and my plate of rice wasn’t exactly very small in size too. This is what it takes to complete a fantasy $2 Char Siew Rice dream!

Likes: Char Siew is very well roasted and the sauce is very good. Only $2 for 2 meats!

Dislikes: A bit more fats on the Char Siew would be nice.

Address		Overall Rating
Tong Xing Roasted Blk 51 #01-158 Old Airport Road Old Airport Road Food Centre 11am to 7pm Off: Thursday		Food: 8/10   Authenticity: 8/10   Value: 9/10   Service: 7/10   Ambience: 7/10   Cleanliness: 7/10   Overall: 7.5/10

The truth is boiled chicken is actually eaten in many places but it’s source is always credited back to Hainan. Like in Indonesia, steamed chicken is often called Ayam Hainan. Heck, there are a few billions people in Indonesia and they still need a Hainanese to teach them how to boil a chicken!

It was said that, Hainanese usually can cook well. Not sure about the others but I definitely take pride in producing good food whenever I had guests.

Hainanese can cook well because a lot of them came here as cooks onboard ships. So when they finally settled in this part of the world, obviously they are going to utilise the skills they acquired. And so a lot of them were in the food business which were ran by the whole family and that’s how you get the ‘good cook’ reputation with Hainanese.

Traditional Hainanese Curry Rice at Old Airport Road Food centre is actually a family business. For those who are familiar with the Hainanese Curry Rice at Maxwell Hawker Centre, the man tending this stall is the brother. Therefore the taste is uncannily similar.

Hainanese Curry Rice 7.5/10  

Hainanese Pork Chop(more like cutlet) 8/10  

Hainanese Stewed Cabbage 7.5/10  

I went with the pork chop, stewed cabbage and the famous Hainanese minced pork which are, apparently what the stall at Maxwell Hawker Centre is famous for too.

The stewed cabbage was very good. The flavour found the right balance and went very well with the curry and rice. I should say it is very ‘Hainanese’. The difference between ‘Hainanese’ cabbage and others is that Hainanese cabbages seem to have been boiled before it is being cooked in some sweet sauce as oppose to those in chap chai peng stalls which is stir fried and more on the salty side. The thing about stir frying vegetables is that you lose that bit of volume even if you maintain the crunchiness. Somehow vegetables that have been boiled first taste better and because they are cooked already, it didn’t need to spend a lot of time in the wok so therefore can always maintain their volume.

Hainanese Minced Pork 8/10  

Hainanese curry on rice 7.5/10  

Though Hainanese cabbage is called stewed cabbage, I actually doubt it’s been stewed for long since cabbage would lose it’s ‘crunchiness’ after a while in the pot but stewed cabbage in a Hainanese Curry Rice stall always has a certain amount of crunchiness with good volume .

I’ve ate at the Maxwell Hawker Centre’s Hainanese Curry Rice stall many times, so the flavour here is really something I can relate to. The pork minced is distinctively Hainanese style. It was just exactly how I expected it to be. More fats than meat, melt in your mouth effect and was a little sweet. Definitely as good as the one at Maxwell Market. A die die must order dish if you ask me. No plate of delicious Hainanese curry rice can be completed without it!

The Hainanese Bak Pa or the pork cutlet(though it’s often referred to as pork chop) here is very similar to one at Maxwell Market too. It has a hint of that sweetness and is also orange in colour(not sure why) but really goes very well with all the other dishes and sauces. By itself, it may be nothing to rave but remember, that it’s not meant to be eaten by itself.

Hainanese curry rice is all about mixing everything together and it may look like swill to some but it is seriously delicious to people who dare to explore beyond it’s appearance.

Price: $3

Recommendation: Minced pork, pork cutlet and cabbage. Some other dishes like fried potatoes are also good.

Conclusion: This Hainanese flavour is something I can relate to. It has a good flow of sweetness through every dishes. The curry was pretty mild but nonetheless quite good to go with all the dishes. If you like your food to be a little sweet, you might just fall in love with this.

Likes: All the individual flavours and tastes complement each other very well.

Dislikes: Would be good if the owner invest in a good food warmer. I’ve eaten a few times from this stall and the food is usually a little on the cold side.

Address		Overall Rating
Traditional Hainanese Curry Rice Block 51 #01-128 Old Airport Rd Market Hawker’s Food Centre 11.30am to 9.00pm Tel: 9182 1195		Food: 8/10   Value: 8/10   Authenticity: 8.5/10   Service: 7/10   Ambience: 7/10   Cleanliness: 7/10   Overall: 7.5/10

So what are the things that connote a shiokadodo plate of delicious crab? The first is that the crab must be ‘chee’(fresh). The definition of ‘chee’ is that it not only has to be well and alive, it also must not be kept in the holding area for a long time. It’s the time they were caught to the time they are being slaughtered that decides the ‘cheeness’ of it. Therefore it all still boils down to the basic, that is, a steady flow of customers is required so that there are little leftovers and so that ingredients are always ordered fresh because it’s always cleared within a day. This applies to all perishable goods and ideally we would like to eat something that is freshly delivered on the same day, right?

When crabs are fresh, you get big chunks of meat in the claws, in the bodies, heck even those tiny legs can offer something when you crack open it. Another way to judge the ‘cheeness” is to see whether the meat sticks to the shell or not. If it is really so chee until the ‘cheenesst’ possible, you will actually see something like the shell(eventhough cracked) still sticks to the meat until you may need to suck each strand out which may seems a tedious task but it’s a clear representation of ‘cheeness’. When it’s not that ‘chee’, well I think we don’t have to go through that for I’m sure we all have been there eaten that, at least once in our lives. The second is the sauce. There are many places that can dish out terrific sambal chilli crab sauces but for me the best chilli crab sauces are those that doesn’t make you feel ‘jerlad’ after eating it. Any plate of chilli crab or any food for that matter that leaves a bad aftertaste is not good enough, period.

During those days when Jackson Food Centre was still in operation, I had to visit it quite often. It’s not that the food there is fantastic but just that Chili Crab produced by a Cze Char stall there was seriously good. It was so good that everybody I’ve brought to eat at the stall, praised it to no ends. Now maybe it was silly of me not to note down the name of that cze char stall because I almost had a cardiac arrest when I found out the closure of Jackson Food Centre in one of my visits. All that greeted my jaw dropping face was a piece of flat land and so I haven’t a clue what is happening to that cze char stall and finding out where it moved to is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. If any of you know which stall I am talking about and have information of where it’s moved to, drop me a mail ok?

So where do I go for chilli crab nowadays? I’ve been to Changi Teochew Kitchen at Changi Village, No Signboard Seafood Restaurant at Geylang and Long Beach at East Coast. And something that’s not unbeknownst to me, all those experiences provided evidence that restaurants do not necessarily produce the best chilli crabs in town. Well perhaps restaurants have so many items on their menu that they couldn’t just rely on a delicious plate of chilli crab to pull the crowd and so they can’t be bothered.

Fresh Crabs

Mattar Road Seafood Barbecue(玛达律烧烤海鲜) is a seafood stall tucked somewhere in a little corner at Old Airport Road Food Centre and it seems to be quite something. In the past, I’ve actually walked through that stretch of the food centre a few times and know that a few Cze Char stalls are doing business at that end but somehow never bothered checking them out because obviously we don’t go to Old Airport Road to eat Cze Char right? I mean Old Airport Road Food Centre is really about hawker fares because there are so many good hawker food in the market.

But this time, while walking along that stretch, I noticed that a crab picture that is printed on the signboard of a stall is quite huge. It is so huge that it seems to be shouting ‘CRABS! We are famous for CRABS!’ I asked to see their menu and saw that there are no meat dishes and only seafood. I was further told by the lady that Chilli crab is one of their signature dishes. Lo and behold, that quickly rang a ‘MUST TRY MUST TRY!’ on the spot and I thought that it might just be the zigsaw puzzle piece to replace the missing piece lost at Jackson Food Centre! And my hope was further boosted by the many many newspaper articles that is pasted on the front of the stall.

Chilli Crab at Mattar Road Seafood Barbecue

The chilli crab came with a familiar sambal, sweet and savoury tomato sauce. There were signs that seem to suggest ‘Buah Keluak’ is being used here and also a lot of grounded peanuts. The sauce is shiok though I would wish they had beaten more eggs into it.You can see from the picture that the crab is very ‘chee’ and one of the ‘cheenest’ ones I’ve had for a long long time. Overall for me it is about 85% to my favourite one at the late Jackson Market Food Centre. The other dish we ordered was the sambal sweet potato leaves. It was not bad though I thought it could be nicer if the sweetness level can be reduced a little.

Sambal Sweet Potato Leaves

The crab costed us $25 while the sweet potato leaves was $8. Though not exactly comparable to my favourite one but at $25, it is still great value considering the crab is quite big and extremely ‘chee’. Definitely worth another visit soon to try other items on the menu.

Price: $25 for crab and $8 for sambal sweet potato leaves. No charge for rice.

Recommendation: Chilli crab( Heard they’re also popular for butter crab)

Conclusion: Not the best but 85% there. At least you’re only paying half the price of what would otherwise cost you in restaurants where the standards also won’t be any much better than this. The crab here is one of the freshest I’ve had in a long long time. A clear sign that they have a good flow of customers.

Likes: Freshness of the seafood, sauce was good though could do better with more eggs(I think).

Dislikes: A little too sweet though not really that bad.

Address		Overall Rating
Mattar Road Seafood Barbecue 玛达律烧烤海鲜 Blk 51 #01-63 Old Airport Road Food Centre 4pm – 11pm Tel: 6447 2798 Off : Tuesday & Wednesday		Food: 7.5/10   Value: 8.5/10   Service: 7.5/10   Ambience: 7/10   Cleanliness: 8/10   Overall: 7.5/10