make a guess...

Incidentally, the chef/owner of the restaurant I'm featuring for my next post likes to hang out at Sin Hoi Sai Eating House!

How do I know? Well because of this post that's why!

Here's the chef...



His name is Aston Soon.
(picture taken from ieatishootipost)

Do you know which restaurant is going to be reviewed next on Eat East already? If not, stay tuned!

I don't think I've mentioned this before (because shy lah), but...

When I was working in TODAY this year, one of my responsibilities was to do food reviews. And while looking through some files in my computer today, I found this review I did on Waraku in June this year.

So besides this, you can also read my earlier review on Waraku that I wrote for the paper!

Supper on a Saturday night

Last Saturday, I was craving for some fried noodles for supper. No, not your usual fried yellow noodles you find in the hawker centre, but deep fried noodles in seafood gravy. Popularly known as sang mee in Cantonese-speak, this is my favourite zi char stall noodle dish. And one place that does it particularly well is Sin Hoi Sai, so I made my way down to satisfy that noodle urge.


Fried noodles fried to perfection

I love sang mee because of how perfectly the slightly "eggy" taste of the crisp noodles intermix with the savouriness of the thick gravy.

Thin yellow egg noodles are quickly flash-fried to give it a very crispy texture and a beautiful golden brown colour. The thick gravy that is poured over the noodles is flavourful, which means that the stock that Sin Hoi Sai uses is chock-full of flavour. The medium serving, priced at $5, is generous enough for two to share. The ingredients such as sliced pork, sliced fish, squid and prawns that the eatery uses are extremely fresh as well. The prawns give a satisfying crunch and carry with it a hint of the sea, while the pork is tender to the bite. Eaten with some sliced red chilli, it is the perfect supper food. 4.5/5


Fresh ingredients, tasty gravy and crispy noodles...simply yum.

Besides serving sang mee, Sin Hoi Sai is your regular zi char stall which has been around for a good number of years. Both outlets (one at Tiong Bahru and the other along Katong) do a roaring business, and it is not difficult to understand why. Taste-wise, most dishes meet the mark and besides cooking up regular zi char dishes, they also serve up more unique ones like steamed frog legs with chicken essence.


Great food and unpretentious ambience at a good price...what more could you ask for?

Sin Hoi Sai is great for not only its sang mee, but also for a good and reasonably-priced no frills eating experience.

Address:
Sin Hoi Sai Eating House - 187 East Coast Road (near the Joo Chiat junction)
Open from 5pm - 4am daily
Tel: 6440 6956

Tiong Bahru outlet: Blk 55 Tiong Bahru Road #01-59 (nearby Tiong Bahru market)

Read what others have to say about Sin Hoi Sai's other zi char dishes here. And even the New York Times has gotten into the action - read about Sin Hoi Sai in the "Where to Eat" section!

Comfort food when you're under the weather

A few days ago, when I was down with a bad virus and having eaten only watery oats for a day, I started to crave for something that was soupy and light but delicious. And immediately, fish bee hoon (vermicelli) came to mind.

Unfortunately, there weren't any stalls selling fish bee hoon nearby my place, so I just had to make do with looking at some pictures I took of a particular fish bee hoon that I tried recently.


Comfort food

Let's start with the good: The stallowner was generous with the crunchy green vegetables and pieces of fish (I counted 6 chunks of fish in my bowl!), the thick bee hoon was springy and not soggy, and for $3, it was overall a pretty big helping.

The bad: The fish was a tad over-fried, making it slighty tough to the bite. I also felt the soup base - which I must say, is the most important factor in determining a good fish bee hoon - did not have enough oomph. Maybe the stallowner was just having an off day (I say this because my friend who frequents this market always waxes lyrical to me about this stall, so I trust that it has some standards!), but the broth was not rich enough with the essence of fish, making it rather bland. 3.5/5


The friendly stallowner caught in action

Nevertheless, I would give this stall a second chance and revisit it based on the fact that the stallowner and (I presume) his wife, are both very friendly people and because at $3, this large bowl of fish bee hoon is good value for money.



PS: Maybe you can try it and let me know if the stallowner was indeed having an off day or not!

Address:
Hup Soon Fishhead Mee Hoon - Blk 58 New Upper Changi Road Hawker Centre and Market, #01-208
Open from 8.30am - 3.30pm daily

Eng Seng - crabby delight!

So did you manage to guess the dish I was talking about in my previous post that warranted the long queue? Well, if you haven't already guessed, it's black pepper crabs of course!

Situated along a small lane off Still Road, Eng Seng Restaurant is somewhat of an institution for black pepper crabs. Forget about East Coast Seafood Centre - Eng Seng is the place that people in the know flock to to eat crabs!

It's usually full house on weekends, so be prepared to wait for a table, wait for your food...you get the picture.

Besides being notoriously well-known for its crustaceans, Eng Seng is also notorious for its snaking queues that magically form each day at around 5.30pm onwards. As seen in my previous post, the queue just keeps going on and on...perhaps there really is some truth in the saying that Singaporeans love to queue huh?

The queue...

seems never-ending.

I was lucky I reached there at 5.15pm on a weekend and immediately got a table, so I suppose the trick is to go as early as possible to beat the queue. Soon after I reached, loads of people started appearing at the coffeeshop and a snaking line formed. Perhaps it was just the weekend crowd? Out of curiousity, I asked the loud-mouthed and imposing lady who runs the place like clockwork (didn't dare to ask for her name then, but after reading some other blogs posting about Eng Seng, I found out her name is Ah Hwa), and she told me that "mei tian dou hen mang lah!" (Translated: Everyday is this busy!)

Ok, so now we know: the queue is there everyday. But are the crabs at Eng Seng really worth the 45 min - 1 hour wait?

*drumroll*

You know what, they are! There's just something unique about Eng Seng's black pepper crabs ($32/kg) that taste so remarkably different compared to other seafood restaurants. The usual black pepper crabs served at other restaurants are quite one dimensional (ie: they just taste peppery), but at Eng Seng, I was pleasantly surprised at how my tastebuds were treated to crabs that were were salty, spicy and sweet altogether! The reason is because the chef adds sweet black sauce into the fragrant black pepper sauce mixture. The resultant texture of the black pepper sauce is slightly like that of honey and it coats the pieces of fresh, succulent and sweet crab very well such that you get to savour the delicious sauce in every mouthful. 4.6/5

Don't they look tantalising?

Now, if only you could smell how good they were!

Besides crabs, Eng Seng is also quite famous for its Chinese style mee goreng (fried spicy noodles). Unfortunately, they were sold out when I wanted to order it. So I settled for plain rice instead. However, I had some superb dishes to go with the rice.

One of them was the stir-fried tofu with assorted vegetables and seafood in egg wash gravy ($8 for a medium portion). This simple dish was very delicious thanks to the addition of really fresh prawns and slices of squid that were wonderfully tender. The chef was generous with his greens as well - there were juicy mushrooms, crunchy cauliflower and carrots, amongst other vegetables. The tofu was fried to a delicious shade of brown and the egg wash gravy was very flavourful. 4/5

Lighter and healthier dish to offest the "heaviness" of the crab

I also loved the prawn paste chicken I had during dinner. This dish, however, is not from Eng Seng but from a stall inside the same coffeeshop as Eng Seng called Owl Hot Plate BBQ. I daresay this prawn paste chicken is even better than some I have tried in restaurants! This stall was really a pleasant find. At $9 for a serving of 15 chicken wings, it is a reasonable price to pay for some fantastic-tasting wings. The chicken was marinated very well and the deep savouriness of the prawn paste seeped into the chicken wings adequately. The chicken wings were deep fried to perfection and when I bit into one, the chicken juices were oozing out freely. Now that's what I call a good piece of fried chicken! 4.8/5

Absolutely to-die-for prawn paste chicken...

From Owl Hot Plate BBQ

Overall, I had a really satisfying dinner, thanks to the gorgeous-tasting black pepper crabs, healthy and light tofu dish and of course, the find-of-the-day prawn paste chicken wings! I'll be back for more of Eng Seng's crabs soon...even if it means I have to queue for them!

Address:
Eng Seng Restaurant - 241 Joo Chiat Place (Junction of Still Road and Joo Chiat Place)
Open from 4.30pm to 10pm (the crabs are usually sold out by 9pm though). Closed on Wednesdays

And here are some other links you can check out on how people are waxing lyrical about Eng Seng's crabs!

The queue

It's a well known fact that Singaporeans like to queue..but (pardon the shaky video) check out this queue! I haven't seen one this long for quite some time.

Question: what exactly are they queueing for? Well, I'll keep you in suspense for awhile..the answer will be revealed tomorrow!

Hint: If you want to guess, it's a dish many Singaporeans are in love with, it's spicy and although it is widely found in many places, not many can do it well!

Happy guessing!

Black, dark, sweet and very very delicious

Hands up those who like carrot cake. No, not the ang moh version - the Singaporean hawker version.

I'm guessing there must be many hands shooting up right now. And it's not difficult to see why. Carrot cake, or chye tow kueh as it is more popularly known as to locals, is soul food to me. When I was growing up in the Tiong Bahru area (and we all know that Tiong Bahru market has some of the best hawker food around), I would never fail to have a plate of carrot cake at least twice a week. Health enthusiasts out there are probably shaking their heads at my terrible dietary habits right now. But how can anyone resist a plate of well-fried, slightly sweet, crispy yet moist and fragrant plate of carrot cake?

Unfortunately, the stall that I used to frequent at Tiong Bahru market has since closed. And I've been struggling to find another stall that serves up carrot cake the way I like it to be.

So you can imagine how rapturous and excited I was when I stumbled upon this gem of a stall in New Upper Changi Road! The taste of the carrot cake is very similar to the one I used to eat when I was a kid. But you know what the best part is? Not only is the taste similar, the price of the carrot cake is also the same! You can get a very satisfying plate for ONLY $1.50 (or $1.20 for a carrot cake without eggs)! And no, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. I couldn't help thinking to myself: "This stall never increase price...no inflation meh?"


Check out how wonderfully cheap the carrot cake is!

Anyway, just take a look at this carrot cake. Isn't it a beauty?


Now you see it...

The carrot cake is generously fried with lots of garlic and chye poh (preserved salty radish), which is the way I think all good carrot cake dishes should be done. The carrot cake itself is also soft and wobbly without being mushy. The taste is fragrant and the bits of salty chye poh in the dish combined with the sweet dark sauce that coats the carrot cake is the best taste in the world - savoury intermixed with tinges of sweetness. There is a good wok hei ("essence" imparted by a hot wok on the food - definition from Wikipedia) flavour in the carrot cake and the chilli packs a really good punch too.

What I like very much (and was pleasantly surprised) about this stall is that the stallowner makes it a point to "cut" the bigger pieces of carrot cake into smaller bits whilst frying it. This, to me, is the ultimate show of skill and knowledge in frying carrot cake. If the pieces of carrot cake are too big, there will not be enough flavour permeating through it. Hence a good carrot cake stall should fry the carrot cake in smaller bits so that when customers eat it, there are crispy bits for added texture and also, each mouthful is bursting with flavour. Many carrot cake stalls don't do that, and when I request them to, some even "tsk tsk" me rudely! So credit must definitely be given to this stall for doing that without being told to! 4.8/5


Now you don't!

The stall serves up both the white and black versions of the carrot cake. I only tried the black one though, but seeing how cheap and delicious the carrot cake is, you can bet I'll be scurrying back to try more!


Credit must be given to this auntie who fries her carrot cake so superbly!

Address:
Siglap Market Carrot Cake - Blk 58 New Upper Changi Road Hawker Centre and Market, #01-223
Open from 6am to 2pm daily (or earlier if they are sold out)

For carrot cake afficionados:
Here's a link to those who want to try their hand at making their own carrot cake at home! (and abit of a history on carrot cake!)
http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/about_singapore/fun_stuff/recipes/carrot_cake.html