For our mains, we ordered a plate of duck rice from Long House Soo Kee Duck Rice, and we were served a plate of messy-looking rice, topped with duck meat with a hard-boiled egg served along the side. However, the dish was awesome! 😋 The duck meat was really tender and there were no bones at all, so it is not a hassle at all to finish the duck meat. Furthermore, we love that some of the duck meat still has a layer of skin/fats on them, and we really love those chewy portions too!
However, what we thought really differentiated this duck rice from other duck rice is the rice itself! Soo Kee's version drenches the rice in a sweet gravy that was full of flavour. As a result, the rice doesn't taste dry and boring at all, unlike that at many duck rice stalls around Singapore! There is chilli served along the sides, and it is only slightly spicy and has a tinge of sourness to it as well (probably from lime), but we thought it adds another type of flavour to the rice if you like it!
This is one of the tastiest duck rice that we have had in Singapore and for only $4++, you should definitely try it out if you are planning to have a meal at Balestier Market. 😋😋😋
We were looking out for cheap food options in the Novena area and we chanced upon Balestier Market! To start our meal, we ordered two popiahs from Miao Sin Popiah, which cost around $2 each. One highlight for us would be the generous serving of peanut crumbs, which makes the filling really crunchy! While the skin was a little thicker-than-usual, we felt that it was useful because the turnip from Miao Sin was a little wet. Thankfully, the Popiah skin didn't break easily but it would have been nice if the turnip were a little drier. The spicy level at Miao Sin Popiah (if you indicate that you want spicy Popiah) is pretty mild, so if you really want your popiah spicy, you should indicate that you want more chilli.
Surprisingly, Miao Sin Popiah also sells other fried items such as carrot cake, and we will be sure to try that in future as we saw good reviews about those too!
Balestier Market was pretty empty on a Saturday afternoon, and given that there are air coolers in this hawker centre, it actually makes for a decent environment to have a conversation with friends! The only downside is that it is not really near any MRT station, and you probably need to take a bus to get there.
From a corner stall with a long rows of variety of cooked dishes to select.
Tasty plate of mixed rice, chosen the braise pork, fried egg omelette and savoury lady finger (okra).
Not bad indeed.
From Bugis St Chuen Chuen Chicken Rice
Another local delicacy.
Fluffy fragrant chicken rice.
Blanched bean sprouts covered by fried shallots and chopped parsley.
Succulent chicken over the slice cucumber.
Seriously enjoyable portion.
👍👍👍
The Pig Organ Soup ($5.10 with yam rice) here boasts a huge variety of ingredients, from loads of spine meat, to well cooked portions of liver. The soup here is indeed refreshing, as it isn't too salty, and it is packed with flavour from the salted vegetables. All ingredients go so well with the vinegar chilli. Will be back for more 😍
From Boon Pisang Goreng
Deep fried banana fritter, consistently sweet snack from the stall.
Always enjoyable with a crunch especially it’s fresh off the wok.
Highly recommended!
Not the biggest fan of oysters, but the ones here were large and fairly fresh. Portion could be more generous. I liked the crispy egg bits!
Price: $5
#halfeatenblog #balestiermarket #oysteromelette #burpple
They were closed for quite some time, but I went recently and was very happy to see them open again 😊 One of the better duck stalls around in my opinion.
Price: $3.50 + 50cents for egg
#halfeatenblog #duckrice #balestiermarket #burpple
The chicken was really tender and the soy sauce very flavourful! I loved the chicken and that the portion is generous. The rice wasn't my favourite, as I felt the balance of flavours was slightly off.
Price: $4 (+70cents for braised egg)
#halfeatenblog #balestiermarket #chickenrice #burpple
They serve white and black carrot cake in $3.50/4.50/5.50 portions. This is the white in medium size! Their sambal chilli is spicy but good. And the carrot cake is fried till crisp. One of the better carrot cakes around in my opinion!
Price: $4.50
#halfeatenblog #balestiermarket #longhouse #carrotcake #burpple
Steamed Chicken Rice from Bugis St Chuen Chuen Chicken Rice
Formerly the outlet from Lavender Food Square, the steamed chicken here remains tender and flavourful, which can be had with a variety of sauces! It comes with rice which was fragrant but was otherwise unremarkable.
Seafood Aglio Olio
6 dollars only😋😋😋
Prawn, fish with carrot slices add some spiciness to the spaghetti 😙 Damn nice!!!
Cheap and Simple dish❤️
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Chicken wings were rather soft and smoky but not really juicy.
As one of my dining companions remarked that the mutton satay was dry and while i concur, even against the superb chicken and pork satays, the mutton one was passable.
How nostalgic! Used to be my go-to prawn mee place@longhouse before they moved to balestier and that was before i started using burpple! Glad to have rediscovered this hidden(?) gem.
The dried version boasts a rather simple and piquant chili oil with fried shallots and pork lard. Not as flavourful as you might like it to be but definitely incredibly aromatic. And it's definitely good enough to eat on its own.
While theres a nostalgia factor, objectively i have to say that the half prawns with shells were rather annoying to dislodge without using ur hands but thats really the main complain i have for this dish. Broth was sweet and yummy, and the prawns were juicy as well. The pork ribs however were forgettable.
Despite the fact that they have moved from Longhouse to Balestier Market, this Yu Sheng by Chuen Chuen has a special place in my heart. In fact, each year I will have to buy Yu Sheng from them at least 3 times during the Lunar New Year Period.
What's so special? Well I believe it has got to do with the combination of their plum sauce in relation with the generous portion of vegetables.
In view that the Wolf Herring can no longer be used for Yusheng, Chuen Chuen replaced it with baby abalones. If you don't like it, you can always ask to replace them with more jellyfish. Yippee!
Available in different portions priced at S$28.00, S$38.00 and S$48.00 respectively.
A humble stall by the side of Balestier Market selling herbal soup and herbal chicken. The Lotus Roots, Pork Ribs and Peanut Soup (S$4.00) tasted natural as I did not feel thirsty after the meal. It's simple and I felt like I am having a home-cooked meal with a bowl of rice at an additional 50c.
As you can see, it's well documented that I come from a family of gluttons. We had 3 scoops of ice cream right after this.
Take something already tasty (in this case, the famous "otah" from Muar), accessorise it a little (with some beaten egg, plus a couple of squid and prawn bits) and serve it in a snazzy style (hello sizzling hotplate). It ain't rocket science but this sure was gratifying.
Who doesn't love chicken rice? 😍😍 See our article on Boon Tong Kee at www.thehungrygeek.com
