Hawker Hits

(PARTIALLY SPONSORED) As a Cantonese guy I love my braised meats, and @thebraisedhouse speaks my comfort food language. They don’t just offer the usual braised pork belly, their menu options include shredded braised pork, braised chicken and smoked duck. We went with an order of The Braised House’s Signature Braised Chicken Bowl ($11.50 nett), Minced Pork Bowl ($8.80 nett), and a pair of Kong Bak Paus ($3.50 apiece).⠀
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As advertised, the Minced Pork Bowl was full of minced pork that soaked up all the superb sapidity of the braise, and The Braised House decided to spice it up with the inclusion of some chili into the mince. Not only was it supremely savoury, it was also surprisingly spicy. The mince was surprisingly delightful to devour with the sauced up rice, and the five quail eggs. No really, each Minced Pork Bowl comes with five whole quail eggs. Now that’s what I call protein power.⠀
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For the quality and quantity of food served by the braised house, I reckon their prices are quite a bargain. I could see myself ordering another braised bowl again, that’s for sure. Thanks for organising this, @scalemicroinfluencers & @thebraisedhouse!

(PARTIALLY SPONSORED) As a Cantonese guy I love my braised meats, and @thebraisedhouse speaks my comfort food language. They don’t just offer the usual braised pork belly, their menu options include shredded braised pork, braised chicken and smoked duck. We went with an order of The Braised House’s Signature Braised Chicken Bowl ($11.50 nett), Minced Pork Bowl ($8.80 nett), and a pair of Kong Bak Paus ($3.50 apiece).⠀
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Both rice bowls were sauced to the socks with the umami soya sauce based braising broth. The Signature Braised Chicken stars a pair of chicken wings that have been braised till tremendously tender. The low & slow braising has also infused every fibre of chicken with the striking savouriness of the braise, and each bite is a tasty one. The bowl is also loaded with an abundance of Chinese mushrooms, braised peanuts and a portion of xiao bai cai (leafy greens) for a massive meal that’ll satisfy your hunger and your need for flavour.⠀
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For the quality and quantity of food served by the braised house, I reckon their prices are quite a bargain. I could see myself ordering another braised bowl again, that’s for sure. Thanks for organising this, @scalemicroinfluencers & @thebraisedhouse!

Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon is famous, or so I’ve been told. I consider myself a curry chicken connoisseur, but I usually eat my curry with rice or bread instead of noodles. Still, I’m always up for a good curry, so I ordered the large bowl for eight bucks to see if Ah Heng is as good as advertised.⠀
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Truth be told, it’s alright. It’s sufficiently salty with a notable bit of sweetness, but it was awfully oily. The spice levels were manageable, but I simply had to turn up the heat with the superb sambal that Ah Heng has. It’s unbelievably umami, sufficiently spicy and thick, and Ah Heng could make a pretty penny if they packaged & sold their sambal chili. As for the rest of the bowl of curry chicken noodles, well, Ah Heng is rather generous with the portions of tau pok (beancurd puff) and potato chunks, and there’s a fair bit of chicken in there too. The chicken is tender and fairly juicy but bland, relying heavily on the curry for flavour.⠀
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Ah Heng’s curry chicken ain’t bad, but I don’t find myself hankering for a second helping any time soon.

Easy come easy go seems to be the unfortunate catchphrase of many F&B businesses these days, as the famous Nian Nian You Yu at Maxwell closed mere months after opening. However, Fish Village spawned right in as its direct replacement, also specialising in steamed fish and miscellaneous seafood. On the evening I visited, they were slammed with an odyssey of orders, so they won’t be worrying about a lack of business for now.⠀
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Besides steamed fish, they offer this BBQ Fish at eleven dollars flat. I thought it was a sambal stingray at first due to its presentation, but it’s a sea bass fillet that’s been smeared with sambal chili. The sea bass was flawlessly fresh with a firm texture on the flesh, but taste-wise, the sambal did all the heavy lifting. It was swimmingly spicy, supremely savoury and sufficiently smoky. With such fabulous flavours for just eleven bucks, you can’t lose.⠀
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Fish and seafood are exorbitantly expensive these days, so to find such fresh produce at such a bargain is truly a blessing.

Full disclosure: this is the first time I’ve ever eaten Zhong Guo La Mian Xiao Long Bao’s oft vaunted Xiao Long Baos. Yes, it’s 2024 and it’s only now that I’ve sampled the signature menu item from this critically acclaimed hawker stall, but I finally did it and I got a review to share.⠀
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I’m gonna just say this right off the bat: Zhong Guo La Mian Xiao Long Bao (I’m just gonna abbreviate them as ZGLM from now on) XLBs are nowhere near as soupy as I was expecting them to be, and truth be told, I was a little disappointed. The soup is definitely delicious though, and the minced pork filling is equally excellent. So, why have so many people gone absolutely nuts over this? Well, mom was wrong this time: sometimes, beauty is only skin deep.⠀
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The dough wrapper that encased the dumpling was daintily delicate and tremendously thin. It was so delicate that I found myself holding my breath & being extra delicate when handling a Xiao Long Bao, almost as if I was defusing a bomb. I would even say that the dough wrapper was on par with DTF, the OG Xiao Long Bao merchant, which is quite a lofty compliment. While the traditional condiment of black vinegar & julienned ginger is a prime pairing with ZGLM’s delicious dumplings, I posit that the homemade chili ZGLM has is a far better choice. It’s subtly spicy, splendidly sour and is the yin to the yang of the XLB. ⠀
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At the low, low price of $7.50 flat for ten of these stellar XLBs, it’s no wonder why so many people have waxed lyrical about ZGLM. Unfortunately they are a bit far from Smith Street Taps, but the ethereal experience of consuming these excellent XLBs with a cracking cold pint is well worth the extra effort.⠀

Besides their sublime Yu Kong Hor, @tuckkeeson also does a less intense but equally delectable Dai Loke Mee ($8.80 for a big plate). It’s essentially KL style Hokkien Mee, but this was the first one that wasn’t sweet upfront. Instead, this was subtly smoky, restrainedly redolent, and is the more modest counterpart to the rich & luscious Yu Kong Hor.⠀
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The udon-sized noodles were pleasantly bouncy with a satisfying spring to them, and each thick strand was well coated with the savoury soya sauce mix that it was stir-fried in. Just as with the Yu Kong Hor, the Dai Loke Mee was garnished with an abundance of sliced pork, shrimp and a bit of leafy green veg. The Dai Loke Mee is delicious yet light enough that one could polish off a full plate alone and still be left feeling chipper.⠀

Thank you for having us @tuckkeeson, and thank you for organising this tasting @shiokafoodie!

@nasilemakayamtaliwang has hopped over onto Singapore’s shores to hawk their Michelin recommended nasi lemak, but it wasn’t until they set up shop outside the open air mental asylum known as Yishun that I finally got to try their food. I got the Nasi Lemak Ayam Sambal Kecap ($7.50, additional $1.50 for begedil) because it was spice rated at two chilies instead of three chilies, but I soon found out how woefully under equipped I was to take this plate on.⠀
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The Sambal Kecap on the grilled ayam (chicken) leg was murderously violent, and I found myself having to throw in the towel & scrape it off the chicken after a few bites. I really should’ve turned up with a bottle of milk, but hindsight is twenty twenty. Although the sambal kecap was shockingly spicy, it was still pretty flavourful. The chicken leg was supremely smoky, but a little dry in some parts. It wasn’t too bad when dipped into the more mellow regular sambal served on the side, and the less spicy sambal had a nice subtle sweetness to it.⠀
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The coconut rice was aromatic and noticeably fragrant, and the grains were well cooked and appealingly fluffy. The fried ikan bilis & nuts were incredibly crisp and delicious, but what really got my attention was that perfect fried egg. Look at that subtle white colouring. The tasteful crisp edges. Oh my God, it even has a runny yolk…yeah that settles it, Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang fully deserves the Michelin recommendation and the Netflix hype.

101 Fried Carrot Cake at Albert Centre provides a decent orh luak 101. 101’s orh luak is of the moister variety, although not as wet as Lim’s Fried Oyster. There are a couple of crispy bits lurking around in this messy, mouthwatering mound, but it’s soft & gooey from the fried tapioca starch mixed with a decent amount of eggs. For ten bucks flat I got ten oysters on this hot heap of eggy & starchy goodness, and it was so sinful yet so right.⠀
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The oysters were plump, fresh and fried till just about cooked, minimising shrinkage. The briny bursts of the oyster gelled well with the gooey starchy bits and fluffy eggy omelette bits, but combined with the oil used to fry everything, it can and does get monotonous & overly cloying. That’s where the scintillatingly spicy & sour chili sauce comes in to enliven everything with its spiciness. Its sourness also rinses off all the grease from all that gooey fried goodness and keeps your tastebuds sharp, and the garlic notes round off the savouriness of the entire dish.⠀
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At just $10, the fact that you can get an orh luak 101 crash course at 101 Fried Carrot Cake is pretty neat, and it’s why we need to keep Singapore’s hawker culture alive & well.

@mrburger159 Chinese name (堡大人）is a fun play on the name of Justice Bao, an old TV drama from way back when. Their food is equally whimsical, with Ramly burger being their chief offering, supported by a cast of other burgers encompassing an American Style Wagyu Beef Burger, Thai Style Chicken Burger, Japanese Fish Burger, and a China Mala Chicken Burger.⠀⠀
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The Japanese Fish Burger is slightly simpler but no less savoury, with a pair of crunchy battered fish fillets sauced up with wasabi mayo, garnished with a slice of American cheese and lettuce, and sandwiched between two halves of a bun. The fish fillets are quite dense, as a meaty fish was used in this fillet, and the briny taste is notable. The wasabi mayo comes in clutch here, wiping out the naturally fishy taste of the fillets with its nose tingling heat and lubricating everything with its creaminess. The cheese should’ve been melted more, but it bound everything together quite well and added an extra saltiness.⠀
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Mr Burger doesn’t cook up the best burgers, but their innovative burgers are deeply satisfying nonetheless. And for that reason, I’ll be back.

@mrburger159 Chinese name (堡大人）is a fun play on the name of Justice Bao, an old TV drama from way back when. Their food is equally whimsical, with Ramly burger being their chief offering, supported by a cast of other burgers encompassing an American Style Wagyu Beef Burger, Thai Style Chicken Burger, Japanese Fish Burger, and a China Mala Chicken Burger.⠀
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Of course, it would be remiss of me to skip Mr Burger’s signature Ramly Burger, so I ordered up a Chicken Ramly Set for just $6.90. All the classic components of the Ramly were present & accounted for, starting with the thin mystery meat patties encased in a thin omelette blanket, and copiously sauced with mayonnaise, sweet chilli sauce & a touch of black pepper sauce. However, Mr Burger has upgraded the Ramly by adding in crunchy shredded cabbage, which provides a sorely needed crunchy contrast to the soft & floppy textures of everything else. Oh, did I mention that it’s copiously sauced to the socks?⠀

Mr Burger doesn’t cook up the best burgers, but their innovative burgers are deeply satisfying nonetheless. And for that reason, I’ll be back.⠀

Ban Mian is a pretty common noodle variant in Singapore, and @jiak_song is probably one of the more prominent ban mian merchants. Apparently it’s a business started by a former Masterchef Singapore finalist, so there’s an expectation of excellence even before your first bite into these noodles.⠀
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Jiak Song does live up to its name, fortunately for us consumers. They primarily pride themselves on Mee Hoon Kway, and they have offerings as exotic as Mala Ban Mian and Tom Yum. However, I decided on a simple bowl of Braised Pork Belly with Minced Pork Ban Mian for just $5.50, and I added pork slices on for an extra buck because it’s always bulkingszn. My noodles are simple, but they sure are satisfying.⠀
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All the noodles are handmade, so you can look forward to toothsome, slightly softer than normal noods that still retain a sprightly spring. The noodles are coated in a savoury soya sauce, and its savouriness is sufficiently satisfying. Not only does the sauce flavour the noodles, it also powers the minced pork & sliced pork quite adequately. The braised pork belly was brilliant, with a tremendous tenderness that required minimal chewing and maximal flavour instilled into the fatty cut of pork.⠀
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Some days you just feel weary of everything, even food, and your hunger demands satisfaction but your appetite is absent. Jiak Song Mee Hoon Kway’s noodles are the perfect remedy for those dreary days, capable of filling your stomach and comforting your soul in one bowl.

Here’s another recommendation from fellow @burpple #tastemaker @wobblethebui, who is an eminent expert on noods. Grandfather Food Empire Bak Chor Mee always has a long snaking line, partially due to its popularity, but mostly due to there only being one aunty cooking one order at a time. Despite turning into a grandfather while waiting for my bowl, the wait was worth it.⠀
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I ordered the medium option for six bucks and it’s easily the biggest and most satiating bowl of bak chor mee (minced pork noodles) ever. This bowl is like the deep end of a pool: it’s a lot deeper than it looks. The bowl was full of perfectly cooked mee pok (flat noodles), coated in a smashingly savoury & spicy sauce. It’s stunningly savoury, slightly sweet & sour, and unbelievably umami due to the inclusion of ti poh (dried, fermented sole fish) powder in the noodles. The sauce is undoubtedly the powerhouse of this bowl, and boy does it contain a lot of power.⠀
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Besides the mountain of springy noodles, Grandfather was equally generous with the minced pork, sliced lean pork, meatballs and sliced Chinese mushrooms. The soup on the side is equally exhilarating, with a rich, porky sapidity that’s clean and clear of any offensive odours, but somehow manages to maintain a noticeable tinge of sweetness with every sip.⠀
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While it isn’t the most legendary bowl of bak chor mee ever, you can definitely tell your grandkids stories about this one.