Centre Satay Bee Hoon

While browsing the social media for Satay Bee Hoon, Centre Satay Bee Hoon is listed as one of the recommended in the list. There are actually 2 stalls in the Food Centre that are selling Satay Bee Hoon. Although both have their own pool of fans, Centre Satay Bee Hoon stall is plastered with a handful of media articles and staff are dressed in uniform Tee.

Centre Satay Bee Hoon Stall

The plate is generously filled with the peanut sauce, covering up the vermicelli. We got the middle size portion at $5 and ingredients includes kang kong, cuttlefish, prawns, cockles, sliced pork, and tau pok.

Satay Bee Hoon - $5

The type of prawns was translucent and I preferred the usual pink with red tails prawns that I usually had.

Ingredients Revealed

The thick and savoury satay sauce was adequate to cover every strand of Bee Hoon. In fact, it blends in well and was not very spicy. 

Toss the Bee Hoon

Although Satay Bee Hoon may seem to be a simple and straightforward dish, the preparation of peanut sauce from scratch is laborious as one has to dry roast the peanuts first then cook with sauce over a long time.

Stay Bee Hoon

Overall, Centre Satay Bee Hoon serving and taste is decent. Coming from the Western Part of Singapore, my vote still goes to the one in Bukit Timah.

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Centre Satay Bee Hoon
Location: 724 Ang Mo Kio Ave 6, #01-12, Singapore 560724

Ying Yi Kway Chap Braised Duck Rice Noodles

A general Kway Chap Stall seems to be a crowd-pleaser. With a history of more than 20 years and popular in its vicinity. The stall was manned by a pretty bespectacled lady who had taken over her dad's role.

Ying Yi Kway Chap Braised Duck Rice Noodles

The Kway Chap Set for 2 consists of fishcakes, pork belly, Tu Pok & intestines. The innards were well handled with no additional funny taste. The chilli that accompanied the food was good enough.

Kway Chap For 2

The braised did not have an overpowering taste and was not salty. Everything was of a well-balanced taste and that includes the soup in the bowl of kway. The meal was simple and comforting for a breakfast.

Ingredients Plate

When it comes to local braised stalls like this, I can't help but have a taste of their duck meat. It is tender coated with some sweet thick sauce.

Braised Duck Noodle - $3.50

Overall, I find that food tastes decent but I'm the one who prefers soup to be more of herb taste and sauce to be more on the savoury side. I love that the food handling especially the intestines is well managed. 

Rating: 3 / 5

Ying Yi Kway Chap Braised Duck Rice Noodles
Location: Cheng San Market & Cooked Food Centre, 527 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10,#01-145 Singapore 560527

Desert Dessert

Was looking for some dessert shop nearby after dinner and just within walking distance, we brought ourselves to Desert Dessert (DD). Though the business name rhymes but it comprises 2 words with a different meaning. 

Desert Dessert

The shop is rather compact, cosy and the furnishing is rather simple with wooden tables and colourful chairs.

The shop offers ice cream, drinks and cakes. Even though there are only10 flavours of ice cream to choose from the tubs, I find that the colours are vibrant and attractive.

Flavours of Ice Cream

You can choose from the classic range (Single $3.60/ Double $6.60) like Earl Grey, Teh Tarik, Cookies & Cream, Triple Chocolate, Yogurt with nuts or Berry Berry Nice. Premium ones like Pistachio, Sea Salt, dark chocolate & Mango Passion can be ordered at an additional $1 on top of the classic pricing.

We had the waffle with double scoops of ice cream, both premium flavours, pistachio and Sea salt flavour. 

Waffle and Ice Cream

The buttermilk waffle was fluffy, pillow-soft when chewed and has a significant crisp at the edges. It was not too sweet and totally goes well with the sweet scoops of ice cream. It is then sprinkled with icing sugar and some maple syrup. Not too bad if you enjoy waffle like I do.

Premium Flavours

The pistachio flavour was good but I find that the sea salt was nothing that I expected. It was greyish blue in colour and tasted a tad bubblegum to me.

The operating hours are till late at night and I guess those who are residing in Ang Mo Kio will like to chill here.

Yummy

Rating: 3 / 5

Desert Dessert
Location: 163 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4, Singapore 560163

Hong Kong Street Zhen Ji 香港街珍記

Weekends are meant for good meals and with the sibling's recommendation, we have agreed to head down to Ang Mo Kio Hong Kong Street Zhen Ji for a Cze Char dinner despite the heavy downpour.

Hong Kong Street Zhen Ji

The dish was a noteworthy item just as recommended on their menu. Cuttlefish given was generous and was soft and chewable while the Sambal was not too spicy together with the cut pieces of Fried Kang Kong.

Fried Kang Kong Sambal with Cuttlefish 鱿鱼蕹菜 - $12

Large chunks of fish meat with slices of ginger and vegetables together with thick bee hoon are the usual sights that we expect from Cze Char's stall Fish Meat Noodle Soup. I was rather disappointed with the soup as it was rather bland without much taste but on a good note, usage of MSG is minimal.

Sum Kee Fish Meat Noodle Soup 珍记鱼肉粗米粉 - $7

The pork ribs are indeed very flavourful with sweetness and sour taste. It was intense and the amount of meat given was generous. It's recommended just as what they state on their menu.

Sum Kee Pork Ribs 珍记排骨王 - $10

"Wok Hei" taste from the "San Lao" Hor Fun was present. This individual serving of Hor Fun had a significant use of fish slices as well as bean sprouts.

Sum Kee "San Lao" Hor Fun 招牌三捞河粉 - $6

It was a tasty and recommended dish on its menu but, to be honest, it's good but not to die for as there are better ones out there.

Fish Slices and Bean Sprouts

The exterior texture of the roll was indeed very thin and crispy, unlike what I had in most Cze Char Stall. As for its fillings, its rather ordinary, pairing up with the sweet sauce provided.

Crispy Prawn Roll 珍记虾枣 - $10

Though the cereal prawn was packed with fragrance and hints of milk powder, we still find that the taste of prawns was kind of lacking and bland. 

Cereal Prawn 香脆麦片虾 - $22

The taste from the "star" of the dish was not up to our expectation but instead the cereal that is complimenting the prawns taste better as a whole. Well, I would have skipped this dish.

Close up on Cereal Prawn

With some hits and misses, if I'm going for popular dishes like San Lao Hor Fun, Fish Meat Noodle Soup and Crispy Prawn Roll, I will most likely go to the usual Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hun. However, their menu was rather standard and not with a variety like Hong Kong Street. In addition, with so many dishes ordered, we felt that the price was reasonable & pocket friendly for a popular Cze Char place like this. It is definitely a good place for a family meal during the weekends and do note that reservations can be made in advance for big groups only.

Rating : 3 / 5

Hong Kong Street Zhen Ji 香港街珍記

Location: 158 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4, 01-590, Singapore 560158

Yummy Yap Eating House

A good breakfast suggestion by the pal and we headed all the way from the West and into Ang Mo Kio area, reaching out to Yummy Yap Eating House. 

Yummy Yap Eating House

Yummy Yap Eating House is humbly located below the old HDB estate. Interior was modernly furnished and seating spaces are rather limited.

Interior

The rich and savoury prawn broth makes the Pao Fan so tasty. It is served with prawns, fish cakes and slices of pork. Together with the grains of pearl white rice, there is no regret ordering this.

Prawn Soup Pao Fan 虾汤泡饭 - $6

The Prawn Noodle Set A comes with a default bowl of prawn noodle with choice of dry or soup version and a bowl of braised chicken feet. I had a combination of yellow noodles with Kway Teow and had chosen to add chilli to my breakfast. They use the thinner form of Kway Teow (Kway Teow Kia) and I'm kind of impress by my first mouthful of noodles. Instead of having just chilli, condiments like ketchup was included. It tasted well enough and reminded me of some childhood noodles.

Set A - Prawn Noodle & Chicken Feet (A 套餐 虾面+凤爪+香菇) - $8

 Ingredients amount was acceptable with slices of pork, fish cakes, Kang kong and best of all, there are 3 full plump & juicy prawns ~ at least we did not get half of them compared to some other places. 

Ingredients in a closer look

Braised chicken feet were great. The braised taste was prominent and with tasty mushrooms too.

Braised Chicken Feet with mushroom

Drinks were ordered separately after we had done our meal. However, we both agreed that the drink had too much syrup for us and skip them. We could barely even finish up a third of the cup and concluded that we should have bought 1 cup and share between us instead.

Lime Juice - $2

Overall, the standard of food is definitely there and given the chance, I don't mind making a return for other stuff on the menu. Besides their signature prawn noodle, it is known that they are serving delicious pork belly rice too.

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Yummy Yap
Location: 159 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4, #01-532, Singapore 560159

Gim Tim

Gim Tim is a reputable name and has always been flocked by families who want to enjoy a decent and authentic cuisine in the heartland of Ang Mo Kio. Opening its door since 1975 and serving quality food to her customer, Gim Tim has been seen popular with many. Gim Tim is located in rather humble air-conditioned restaurant below the HDB Blocks, for those who is not very familar with Ang Mo Kio area, the landmark to spot may be the Market & Food Centre in Ang Mo Kio Ave 4. Growing from this into establishing a group of resaturants with 3 outlets serving finest Hokkien, Sze Chuan and Cantonese cuisine.

Gim Tim

Cooridoors

Wet Tissue

For weekends, its hardly that you will get a table without a reservation as it is usually fully booked with tables of happy family. Fortunately, we walked in early and got ourselves a table and was served by friendly staff. One good point to note was that you can see that Gim Tim employs senior citizens around as servers I felt very comfortable with.

Gim Tim

I must say that I was not very hungry but I had an impressive start with their deeply fried golden brown Xia Zao (Prawn Dumplings). Dipping into its sweet and savoury sauce was truly heavenly. The taste of it was indescribable and definitely unique on its own. I haven't tasted such different Xia Zao anywhere else!

Deep Fried Xia Zao - $12 / $18 / $24

Vegetables were not stated on their menu somehow and we had ordered the stirred fried Kai Lan with garlic. Nothing extra special about the dish, its quite standard.

Kai Lan with Garlic - $10

Replacing the bowls of rice, we had the fried traditional tapioca roll. If you enjoy the Hakka Abacus Beads / Seeds, I bet you would pretty much enjoy this dish! Ingredients were almost or identical to the Hakka dish with dried shrimp, spring onions, bean sprouts and tapioca. The catch in the dish is none other than the thin and springy slices of Tapioca Roll complemented by the sweet tasty sauce as well as the fragrant of fried dried shrimp. Yummy!

Fried Traditional Tapioca Roll - $12 / $18

The true blue classic Hokkien dish that I'm waiting for! Since everywhere is emphasizing on healthier food, I guess this is why Kong Bah has become lean nowadays! Slices of "Bui Bui" (Fatty translated from dialect) meat has gone lean!You can still see the distinctive layers on each and every piece of the Kong Bah though it was deeply coated in its toothsome braised sauce. Sandwich this good stuff in the fluffy smooth pau with a portion of lettuce and enjoy the absolute juicy-ness that comes to your mind as you sink your teeth into the meat! It was ever-so-satisfying!

Steamed Preserved Meat Served with Bao (Kong Bah Bao) - $12 / $18 / $24

Kong Bah

Here comes the Teochew's Favourite, Or Nee aka Yam Paste! Marvelous, suiting the taste buds! With mashed Taro mixed with Gingko nuts and corn kernels, its naturally sweet with minimal use of sugar and coconut milk. I thought it was good as they had given good consideration to older folks who enjoy the desserts!

Sweetened Taro Paste with Gingko Nut (Or Nee) - $4 / $15 / $30

Taro

Nothing fanciful spotted from the Mango Puree with Pamelo, perhaps the way they served in a cup got our eyes wider? It was something running of the mill and not much comments about it.

Mango Puree with Pamelo & Ice Cream - $4 / $15 / $30

Gim Tim, I have always wanted to visit them many years back after hearing pleasant things about them via words of mouth and I was very pleased to visit them!  The spirit of their stuff and atmosphere of dining is something I'm looking forward to and you can see happy faces enjoying meals with their families of generations. It's a good place for family gathering and also if you enjoy such cuisine.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Gim Tim
Location: Blk 157 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4 #01-546 Singapore 560157

Soi 19

Though Soi 19 Thai Wanton Mee has been around for 2 years, it only become talk of the town recently on social media platform. Due to my recent trip to Bangkok which lead me into an increasing urge for Thai Food, I find that it's time I should make a trip down to Soi 19 in Singapore. And with the constant reminders from their Facebook page posts, I could not help it but allowed it to tempt me further.

Soi 19

We drove into Ang Mo Kio district and began our search. The queue was long just like what everyone was talking about, thus we were well prepared for a wait.

The style of Thai Wanton Mee was dry but filled with aroma especially from its free flow of crispy pork lard. The bigger portion costs $5 and you are entitled to Char Siew, 2 fried wanton, 2 soup wantons, "lap cheong" (chinese sausages) , blanched vegetables and chopped spring onions.

Wanton Mee - $5 (Big)

Though those egg noodles were dry, the noodles were springy in texture and evenly coated with shallot oil. What's more, the strands of noodles did not cluster together into a lump.

Close up on the big bowl

Having a bowl of original version costs, $3.50, a dollar more as compared to a usual bowl of wanton mee, lessing out the sauce and moist texture, that's what you have got at Soi 19, Ang Mo Kio. The smaller version has only 1 fried wanton as compared to the big bowl and also chinese sausages were no where to be seen there. For additional flavours, condiments like chilli flakes, green chillis

Wanton Mee - $3.50 (Small)

The wantons were juicy and each of them was wrapped in its tightest form, revealing the shape of its filling.

Wanton

With such concoction where Wanton Mee looks plain into its simplicity, it kinda jog my memory to a stall in Chinatown Hawker Centre which has the noodles served exactly in Simplicity but it falls under the chinese kind of wanton noodles.

Having tried Wanton Mee from Bangkok, I would say Soi 19 in Ang Mo Kio may have the closest taste here in Singapore to Bangkok's. Well, what's more can I say? At least we dont have to fly a few hours to Bangkok to enjoy it. :)

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Soi 19 
Location: Blk 151 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5 Singapore 560151