Local Things

Nothing quite gives me homey feels like a bowl of congee. I love the silkiness of Mui Kee’s congee - my faves being the century egg&lean meat and the sliced fish. But more importantly, the sliced raw amberjack is a must order.

Probably one of my fave tapioca cake kueh places. Texture is dense and smooth with a really nice tapioca flavour. If you happen to catch them while they are fresh and still warm... 🤤

📍: ABC Brickworks, #01-129

The best thing to have on a rainy midweek day. Rich, creamy and full of flavour. I love piling on the sambal to add a little more of a spicy punch.

Amazingly the queue wasn't as long as I anticipated - I'm guessing the Sunday crowd wanted a little lie in. We went with a combo of sliced fish + scallop ($14.50), sliced beef ($12.50) and the homemade pork meatball ($12.50) congees. After being warned that the wait would be 30 minutes, we sat patiently sipping rather mediocre coffees from the stall next to Mui Kee (don't bother unless severely caffeine deprived).

The congee was worth the wait though! Smooth and flavourful. I think I read somewhere that they use soy milk? Is that why it's so smooth? Each come with a crispy youtiao and half a runny century egg. Of the three bowls, the sliced fish + scallop was the winner. I never knew porridge could have wok hei. 🤤 This was worth the early wake up call to get here for 7.30am. Also, I never knew but Casa Verde is the perfect spot to dog-watch. So. Many. Doggos.

Note: drunken chicken is only available after 9am.

Is it just me or are most hawker pad thai noodles really sweet? This was only ok. I found it... a bit wet, way too sweet and lacked the wokhei fragrance that you typically get with a good ol' street side pad thai. Shame, I usually like the food from this stall.

📍: Phati & Jane Thai #01-25

Every time I'm in the area (which is rare), I have to come by and have my fave. This stall makes great wantan mee - the noodles have great bite, the charsiew is legit and the kailan (the standard of which is often neglected) is blanched to perfection. I can't get enough!

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📍: Wah Kee Noodle #02-125

Not the best dry YTF I've had, but it sufficiently hit the spot during raging hunger. The deep fried beancurd skins in particular were super tasty! 🤤

Unfortunately the vegetables were quite undercooked and we had to leave our aubergine pieces because they were actually raw. ☹️Apparently, they are better (but much busier) at lunch time so, I wouldn't come back in the evenings.

These leave you in a crumby mess, but it is worth it. The pastry is light and airy, and the chicken/potato filling is sahhh good.

Recommended by a friend who knows I am fussy, this stall has a reputation of having a queue at 7am and I get why. The portions are generous, the noodles are well seasoned, have good bite to them and are not too sweet (a problem I personally have with lots of noodles here). One thing I appreciate is that the charsiew is legit - none of this dry, flavourless pink coloured meats. Even the soup isn't just a bowl of ajinomoto laced water. I was quite impressed.

Also, if you like chilli with your noodles, the one from this stall is quite shiok and packs a spicy punch. But if you're a wantan mee purist and only eat it the Cantonese way, stick to the pickled green chillies.

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📍: Amoy Street Food Centre #02-125

While AV was shut for a face lift, work lunches became incredibly drab as we did not have our usual haunts to run to. I'd been craving for my fave prawn noodles for many weeks and now that AV is up and running, all is right with the world. Love the prawn & pork rib noodles from Ming's stall. The prawniness of the broth is so deliiiicious and the prawns are enormous. I usually get the soup version (because soup), but I was in the mood for a little spice. With the dry version - the noodles are tossed up in a soy and chilli concoction. Sahhh good.

Also, if you get it to go, they pack the soup separate and they give wet wipes for you to clean your fingers after eating your prawns. 😭 So thoughtful.

I love kung pao everything and this was no exception - the sauce was great and just spicy enough, it went so nicely with plain porridge. However, I'm not sure if I'm convinced about eating frog. Amazingly, this was my first time trying it after years of avoiding it because... 🐸. Everyone else around me thoroughly enjoyed it though. So, I guess it's really good - if you like frog. 😂

Really enjoyed the texture of the porridge here. A lot of places have it really really smooth (almost blended like baby food) which is not my preference - I like the rice grains still whole for texture. They were generous with the century egg and the porridge was very flavourful. Perfect rainy day (or any day!) food.

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