This refers mainly to local Malay or Indian (usually Muslim) food, like lontong, mee rebus, tauhu goreng etc.
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Bosphorus Turkish Kebab
Ole Ole Bumbu (Lontong)
Warong Sudi Mampir (Satay)
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Queenstown Lontong
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sbg.din (Tauhu Goreng)
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Afandi & Family (Mee Rebus)
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Green Chilli Chicken Rice
Halal, Lontong, Mee Siam, Nasi Padang
Dec 2020
Serves various Malay dishes, their Lontong stands out head and shoulders above the rest
The halal stall with the longest Q at Marine Terrace Hawker Centre, I decided to give this stall a try. I was in the Q wondering what to order, then I noticed that everyone around that place had a plate of lontong (rice made into a cube served in a curry with bean curd and some cabbage and long beans).
Lontong has never been my favourite food, it is usually served in some diluted curry that doesn’t quite seep into the rice, leaving the inner parts of the rice a bit bland. Given the popularity here, I had to bite the bullet and give it a go, right? Good thing I was on a mission to buy porridge for my sister who was feeling sick and my brother in law’s choice was “anything”, I’ll share the tastelessness with him…. Ended up we were fighting to finish more than our half of the share!
Same thing happened when I bought this a few days later, to share with a friend who had similar perspective of lontongs as me, that they are usually bland and diluted. We ended fighting for every last drop of the lontong....
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The lontong here comes with some really tasty curry, I became a converted lontong lover, of only this stall, for the moment. Creamy and full, the curry had some real coconut goodness, mixed with their chilli sauce, it was quite a perfect curry. Not too spicy but it gave a punch, the kind that knocks you out… It also came with coconut flakes and dried jack fruit as condiment, which added taste and fragrance. The rice cubes were big in size, which is usually a dislike at first sight, but the curry was so tasty, you don’t have to worry about the inner parts of the rice being bland, there is enough curry to go with it, especially with the vegetables and bean curd soaked.
The secret to the success of this lontong would undoubtedly be the coconut flakes, and the dried jack fruits. Both are seldom seen in other lontongs. Of course, the creamy curry and delicious chilli sauce played a part too. Most definitely the best lontong in town.
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They also serve the dried version of the lontong, which you can order ala carte or with prawn, rendang chicken or rendang beef. Both the rendangs are scrumptuous too! The beef tender and tasty, I ordered the wet lontong to share with yet another friend and another fight ensued….
It is $6 with the lontong, $5 with the dried lontong, $1 is well worth the price for the curry!
When I ordered the chicken rendang to share with my brother in law, he kindly allowed me to have the rest of the chicken. I was touched by the generosity, then realised there were more bones than meat, thanks bro…. Later, I had no complaints, as the chicken rendang was crispy, it had crunchy skins and bits so even the bones are nice for one to nibble off the skins and bits, who got the last laugh bro!
Besides lontong, they serve nasi padang and mee siam. The mee siam comes with a dried version too. Which you can also have it as a set with prawn or the rendangs.
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Beef rendang
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Dried mee siam
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Dried lontong with beef rendang
The dried mee siam was good too, tasty and nice. I won’t say it’s the best thing in the world but I am sure I will have this again, and maybe once a blue moon crave for it.
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Fried noodle, or mee goreng
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Nasi Padang with fried chicken
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Londong, adding a beef rendang
Very impressed with this stall, it will be marked as a place of conversion. I always have high praises for the stall that can convert me to like any food item, for this, this one made me a born again lontong believer.
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Nasi Padang
Ole Ole Bumbu
50A Marine Terrace, #01-307 Marine Terrace Market and Hawker Centre, s441050
5am – 1pm (til sold out), closed on Mon
Kebab
Apr 2022
Authentic Turkish food, with delicious kebabs and chicken chop
Excellent independent kebab stall, brought to you by a Turkish immigrant, using all Turkish ingredients. Try the chicken kebab with butter rice and chicken chop!
Coming to you all the way from Turkey, Chef Okai brings you some delicious Turkish street food. Stall is open around 9am but the kebab needs attentive grilling and Okai would advise us to be patient and wait for the next layer to be ready before serving, so I patiently waited about 10 mins despite the kebab looking ready. It is always wise to heed the advise of a professional chef!
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Actually, I was more curious than patient… the chicken kebab with butter rice was quite a big portion. This dish was similar to the local Hanianese chicken rice, just drier, with the Mediterranean feel instead of the South China Sea feel. Chunky chicken pieces in place of the local steamed chicken, drier but no less tastier.
The butter rice was very fragrant and comparable to our chicken rice. Pretty awesome.
One bite of the chicken, I quickly realised the need for the wait. Despite being drier, the chicken pieces were tender, but wonderfully crispy on the outside. They were brilliantly grilled on the kebab, and Okai’s grilling skills is top notch. This kebab was not like other more commercial ones I’ve tried. When kebab is mentioned, the impression is always small pieces of meat that is sauced up, the ones here were chunky and dry but very tasty; they look more like chopped from a carcass than sliced from a kebab. So much so I thought of going back to see if there was a chicken on the grill….
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Using only ingredients and spices from Turkey, this place is authentic. I can claim to have been to Turkey (just for a few days) but have not tasted anything like this too! LOL *Really did not explore that country enough to make a real comment like that….
I’m impressed enough with this place I will definitely return to try. Will update when the time comes!
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The lamb kebab was nice enough but not as impressive. Tasty and similarly crusty, it was not as tender. I prefer the chicken. I also returned to try the kebab roll. Let's put it this way, I'd definitely come back here if I feel like having a roll... nice and cheap but nothing much to write about if I'm honest.
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I had the misfortune another day to try the chicken chop as the burger was not ready (they have now stopped swelling burgers). Not expecting much, I changed it to a takeaway when I found something more interesting elsewhere. Back home, I thought it'd just be something to fill the tummy...
I got a big surprise, the chicken chop was brilliant! The batter a very tasty, paprika filled wonder. This was by far the tastiest chicken chop, without the aid of any sauces or gravies. It was also very tender, and a mix of breast and thigh meat were provided with the chop. The soggy fries that came with it was surprisingly tasty too, and i don't usually like soggy fries.
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Okai recognised me and gave me a nice souvenir one day. A money bag he said whatever I put inside, the amount will double the next day.... Let's see....
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Bosphorus Turkish Kebab The Power Point
505 Beach Road, #B1-28 Golden Mile Hawker Centre, s199583
Daily 1030am – 8pm (seen them closed on Mon)
Satay
Jan 2024
Thick and meaty satays
A week after writing this, I still constantly think of coming back here, this place has this magical draw, magical satay.
I came here during lunch for something else, walked past Warong Sudi and immediately changed my mind. I was not deterred even when they told me the wait would be an hour, despite the lack of any Qs, it was a Saturday.
Returned an hour later, they looked more relaxed, and thankfully the food came quite quickly, I barely had time to buy a drink, have 2 sips and check texts.
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First thing I noticed was how chunky the satays were, I may not be able to finish my usual 15 by myself here… Despite a sign saying “self-service”, ‘Bang brought the satay to me, excellent service.
The satay gravy was savoury and thick enough, and very sweet. It was pretty good but a little too sweet for me. This is common for satays from Malay stalls.
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Now to taste the lovely chunky satays. I had chicken, beef and mutton, understand that you can get intestines and hearts here too. Not that I was thinking of trying but heart was not available that day, to the disappointment of the father and son ahead of me!
Chicken satay was tasty, slightly sweet and had a Mediterranean flavour, it was a grilled a little to the dry side, also typical of the Mediterranean grilling.
The beef was slightly on the tough side, but juicier, just love the chunky bites. Likewise the mutton, which had a nice mutton fragrance, it was also more tender. I like the mutton satays the best out of these 3.
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The ketupat or rice dumplings were a bit damp, I’d most likely give it a miss next time.
What a meal, there was so much I struggled to finish. The gravy was a bit too sweet for me, I am very certain the typical customer loves it here, but this was the first time in a while I didn’t finish satay gravy and didn’t ask for more. Sugar being the latest evil might have changed my taste buds a little.
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The satays were full of flavours and in lovely chunks. No doubt I’d return for a filling meal, there was so much I did not need dinner! Great deal for the $0.70 per stick. 👍👍
Satay was my first love and I remember wanting to eat satay everytime we went for supper when I was a kid, when supper was a trendy bonus meal that was a lifestyle, we went out almost every night for that!
This brought back memories of the good old days, with the exception that the satays were so much nicer and chunkier.
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Warung Sudi Mampir
14 Haig Road, #01-21 Haig Road Market and Food Centre, s430014
1030am -7pm (5pm on weekends), closed on Wed, Thu and Fri
Halal (Others)
Dec 2023
Flavourful and tasty to the max
On my first visit, I tried 4 items here (burp), it was a quiet December weekday at 930am yet there was a long-ish Q. Waited about 15 minutes.
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Mee rebus here seemed popular so I went for that, good choice! Nice thick noodles in lovely thick gravy. Gravy had a strong peanut undertone, flavour was intense; however, the thick gravy would disintegrate to become watery as you stir it, despite this, flavour remained intense. Served with thick sliced green chilli, fried shallots, a piece of bean curd and an egg, it was mildly spicy but very tasty.
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Had to order the star dish the stall is named after, the Lontong. It was incredible! Extremely tasty and delicious, full of coconut flavour, the Lontong was very thick and creamy, savoury and filled with intense and flavours.
Served with an egg, big pieces of bean curd, cabbage and rice cubes, the intensity of the flavours were so strong, everything was seeped in its flavour. With a mildly sweet, strong creamy and coconut flavour in the gravy, it was boosted by the addition of a good dose of pickled coconut slices. A scoop of chilli was added but this was more savoury than spicy. There were also some very fresh and crispy deep fried anchovies, delicious, adding some contrasting bite to the otherwise soft dish. Brilliant inclusion.
As I ate, I kept thinking that if it was legal to do so in Singapore, I might ask to marry the Lontong...
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I thought it was a good idea to try their only meat available here, just a piece of fried chicken wing for protein, and, well, oil... lined with a good dose of curry flavour, the wing was as tasty as it looked. If you look at it and got motivated to ask me, "but the wings don't look very good". I will tell you we might not have the same taste, but we have the same taste in aesthetics... It was quite dry and tough. Yes, what I meant was that it wasn't good...
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I also had some of the tempting samosas packed 4 in a plastic bag. The crispy skin had turned soggy soft, not the most pleasant but can be forgiven. The curry within the samosa was fragrant and tasty, making it easy to forgive the soggy skin. I probably won't go around recommending this as great but would likely buy them again for own consumption.
Definitely didn't dare to bring to back home for Mrs Ziggy... Just not sure the mood and reaction. Could go either way but definitely won't get a thankful hero's kiss, for sure.
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Episode 2
Why does its name only have “lontong” when everything else is just as nice…? I wondered as I was trying their mee soto, with bee hoon. The soto gravy was absolutely delicious, filled with copious amount of freshly fried shallots. The bonus was the generous amount of pulled chicken, in thick slices as well, something unusual. Well worth the $4 it was priced at. I was deeply impressed!
Thinking there won’t be much ingredients, I ordered a begadil to go with the soto mee. I was by then numb of surprises, so it was great, within expectation. I have never tasted a better tasting fried ball of potatoes. Came with some chilli and freshly fried anchovies. Delicious upon delicious.
One anchovy dropped on the table, shouldn’t be eaten. Really? Like my best friend from school days used to say just before we went for stomach churning curry at Golden Shoe, “some food is worth camping at the toilet for!”. I took the risk….
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I have yet to try their mee Siam, it was not available the few times I was here, asked a lady who was helping take orders which would be good days to come for mee siam, "dunno, depends on her mood la", pointing at Chef Kak.... I hope her mood was mee siam when I drop by again.
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Queenstown Lontong
38A Margaret Drive, #01-27, s142038
Daily 630am – 2pm, irregular rest days, please contact 91822189
Halal, Others
Sept 2023
Nice rice, nicer chicken and nicest green chilli!
This stall has a crazy long Q during lunch, other times, there would hardly be any Qs, but business is brisk.
Initially I thought this was one of those Muslim version of the Hainanese chicken rice, no no no… These I cannot even use the word similar to compare them! It is not, and it turns out to be unique.
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Bismarti rice is used here, it looked like normal cooked rice but the fragrance was obvious from the rice itself. Mixed in some of the green chilli, and whatever the chicken dripped onto it, I vaguely heard it roar before coming to life! Just one word, mmmm-hhmmm! (Ok, that was 2, and they were not words, hope you get what I mean)
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The chicken is heavily marinated, likely boiled or baked then fried to get a hint of crisp. My takeaway order was de-boned. It was not as tender as hoped, but very tasty from the various spices used to flavour it. There would be hints of crispness, and it remained rather succulent, very appetizing, wonderful!
Looked like they serve only chicken legs here, the whole leg can be seen amongst the chopped up pieces.
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All the chicken pieces would be covered in a green sea of chilli, with some red sambal chilli by the side.
The red sambal chilli was very spicy, and paired well with the chicken and green chilli. The green chilli looked like it was made up of a mix of shallots and green chilli then nicely pickled or cooked together.
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Every eat-in order comes with 2 pieces of fish crackers, I didn’t get it as mine was a takeaway, looking at it from afar, I consoled myself that I wasn’t missing much…. This view was later confirmed when I went back to eat on site. Customers were also entitled to take as much soup as they like from an electric pot in front of the stall, including takeaways, I took some, the soup was tasty enough, not fantastic, had a hint of mint and ginger.
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Whatever they did, this green chilli is a brilliant creation! Delicious, easy to consume, and went perfectly with the chicken and the bismarti. Though moderately spicy, when mixed with the sambal, can be potent. Hitting 8 on the spicy scale.
This was one of the best thing I’ve tasted in a while, wonderful, and I will definitely bring people back here for more, people who can fit the schedule to sneak out between 1030-1145am….
Green Chilli Chicken Rice
49 Sims Place, #01-09, s380049
Daily 1030am – 2pm
Tauhu Goreng
Jul 2024
Very good tauhu goreng specialty stall
Abg.din is a tauhu goreng specialist, they do sell some local desserts, curry puffs and nasi lemak but these are likely to be on consignment.
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The nasi lemak here was actually quite decent, fragrant and tasty rice, accompanied by either a fried chicken wing or fish, and some nice fried peanuts which I thought was the best of the lot. Curry puffs were ok, good amount of ingredients but ordinary taste wise.
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The tauhu goreng, or a slab of lightly fried toufu with peanut sauce over it, was very good. Savoury with a slight sweet bias, the peanut flavour was strong.
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There are not many tauhu goreng stalls around, and Abg.din is one of the better ones.
My favorite was from Glory along East Coast Road, loved it so much I still have cravings 10 years after Glory closed its doors!
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P.S. The curry puffs here weren't too bad either....
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Abg.din
15 Bedok South Road, #01-01 Pasar 16@Bedok, s460016
630am – 1pm, closed on Mon
Mee Rebus, Mee Soto
Feb 2024
Excellent mee rebus
The thing about trying a food item I am indifferent to, it’s not easy to be excited over it. When I say the mee rebus here was impressive enough, you should move it up a rank or two!
On a dull Wednesday morning when everyone seemed to be still asleep, we drove past Haig Road Market wandering around and decided to stop here, but thanks to jiak kaki Alan, he introduced us to this excellent mee rebus.
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With nothing but an egg, and some sliced chilli and fried scallions, this mee rebus sat on some pretty thick gravy. Gravy was delicious, impressively staying thick throughout (a lot becomes liquified as the starch used no longer bind the liquid together).
A good intense basic meaty and savoury taste, this gravy combined well with the yellow noodles to bring home a good meal.
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Likewise, the soto bee hoon had a very strong beef/mutton broth, accompanied by a good amount of pulled chicken in thick slices, and fried scallions. I was asked if I wanted chilli with it, yes thank you. It was pretty spicy, I needed quite a bit of water to wash away the spice, but it was brilliant. I made a note to self to ask for the chilli when I have the mee rebus here next time, as they didn’t give me the option to add their wonderful chilli.
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The mee was just the mee soto with added beef balls (bakso) . Same wonderful chilli padi was added too. The bakso wasn’t that great, looked factory made, so I’d just go for the mee soto instead of the bakso. Mee hoon seems to go better with the soto broth so I’d suggest the mee hoon soto.
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Afandi Hawa & Friends Mee Rebus
14 Haig Road, #01-21 Haig Road Market and Food Centre, s430014
1030am -8pm, closed on Wed