Hawkers

Love this hidden gem which is within walking distance from Paya Lebar Mrt Station(circle line exit). The hainanese kaya is made in-house, a good balance of sweetness and fragrance from the coconut milk. Expect to find a variety of familar local breakfast here, such as mee siam, nasi lemak, wanton mee(looks very promising), fried bee hoon and noodles!good breakfast fix + kopi at very affordable pricing!highly recommended! *Open 6.00 am to midnight (Daily)
#breakfast #JiakHiddenGems #JiakLocal #burpple

13 Stages, opened by Mark Lee, his wife, and two friends, sells 7 flavours of chicken rice and 13 flavours of coffee.
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Mala Chicken ($8.90) is a large chicken leg steamed in chilli oil. Sichuan spices cover it, with roasted peanuts, strips of bean curd skin, and long beans.
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Meat tears apart easily, tender and juicy. Fiery-looking this may be, but it surprises you with sweetness. A slow burn creeps up the back of your throat, but doesn't quite numb your tongue. The steamed chicken isn't marinated in the spices, allowing the subtle chicken flavour to come through. Avoid the chicken skin if you prefer, but the bouncy fats are tastiest. Your chicken rice is decent, fragrant, and not too greasy. The soup is light but not diluted.

Started by local celebrity Mark Lee and a few partners, this new spot in Kallang Wave Mall specialises in two things — chicken rice and coffee. The reviews from the Burpple community have been great so far, with many praising the juiciness of the steamed chicken legs (that's the only part they serve) and the nuanced flavour profiles of the coffee from 13 Malaysian states. Burpple Tastemaker Xing Wei Chua really likes how 13 Stages replicates the choices at specialty coffee joints, albeit with more familiar Asian flavours and brewing methods. There are seven flavours of chicken to choose from, with the Assam, Samsui and Mala ($8.90 each, with rice and soup) highly recommended by Burpplers. The coffee menu comes with detailed tasting notes, but first timers may fare better with the Gems of 3 States Kopi ($4.60), which features three small jars of the coffee flavours of the month.
Avg Price: $10 per person
Photo by Burppler Clare Ng

Lobster Nasi Lemak is the most expensive nasi lemak I've had. Price tagged as high as $22 gives you a plump lobster freshly imported from Malaysia.

Just think grilled lobster topped with melted cheese and sprinkled with aromatic blend of spices. Oh that creamy and succulent lobster meat... 😍 Not enticed yet?

The humongous lobster is laid on a bed of fragrant coconuty basmati rice with Lawa Bintang's homemade sambal chilli. Spicy enough but not to the extent of punching you in the face. Big love to the sambal peanuts and ikan bilis which was absolutely delightful. Though I'd like the egg to be oozing and runny, but I was enjoying other elements too much to care. 😉

Haven't had many thunder tea rice(s?) so I'm not the best judge but I think this was balanced both in taste and texture. The small is pretty big already so idk how big the 'normal' ($7) would be 😂

penang just got closer at $3.50; coconut-milk and cockles free. salivate immediately at the whiff of the assam fragrance when you receive your order. this is as close as you get; sourish piquant tang of everything penang assam laksa. think belacan, heh ko/prawn paste, lemon grass, assam and my favourite, mint leaves all mixed harmiously together in a fish broth. wish they go overdrive in taste and spiciness but sure enough to excite your buds already. a satisfactory bowl definitely! #burpplebtfc.

Penang Signature Assam Laksa #02-28

i know, i know there is another famous stall around here. but how do i not support the stall that i have been patronising since childhood? must have been what, coming 40 years and standing strong? unlike places that uses rock sugar, chin hock uses pure chinese herbs in their soup and licorice root for that sweet finish. too herbal you say? wrong. this heavy concoction of herbs is surprisingly well balanced and come together harmiously to tame that gamey taste that you usually register. so it feels all comforting and easy to drink this tasty, even tonic soup if i may. their super fork tender mutton meat is also worthy of mention because they only choose young baby lambs. again, 3 decades making mutton soup, their mutton game has to be strong here! #burpplebtfc
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chin hock mutton soup, #02-156

Good ol' Kaya Toast with Kopi & Teh. Opted for my Kaya Toast with no butter & they gladly obliged. Toast was perfectly crisp on the outside, yet still soft on the inside.

I wouldn't say this is worth travelling all the way here for, but it is a pretty good & authentic experience in an old-school small coffeeshop that is hard to come by.

豬什湯 Pig's organ soup $4
鹵大腸 Braised pig intestine $7
鹵肉飯 Braised pork rice $1.80

I have no issues with paying $10 for a slab of good braised pork, but sometimes the humblest $1.80 lu rou fan works the best magic. Fatty melt-in-your-mouth tasty-as-hell pork belly, above a bed of steaming hot rice, drenched in ladles of rich braising liquid. Couple that with some peppery pig organs soup and you've got a happy, satisfied belly. #Burpproved

I thought I wont really like pig organ soup but i really liked it. The braised pork rice was really tasty. Would come back for more.