Somerset Delicacies - Maxwell Food Center

Maxwell food Center in my honest opinion ranks among the best hawker center in Singapore. There are a lot of Choices, whether you come here for breakfast lunch or dinner. Coveniently located near Chinatown and the Tanjong Pagar area. This is also one of the more famous hawker centers in the island. Going about my routine of checking out the whole center first before deciding what to eat, I chose this place with beautiful pictures.
Especialising in stir fried dishes.. well.. stir fried rice and stir fried noodles to be exact.
Ordered myself a Seafood Horfun Dish.. which came out looking like this..
I like that the noodles were cooked just right and the soy sauce blended the horfun evenly not like in other stalls that it comes in ugly patches.. The amount fo seafood were substantial.. but sadly.. it lacked in seasoning... the size of the dish was good for one hungry man or two semi hungry individuals.

1 Kadayanallur Street #01-60 Maxwell Food Centre

Chinese Stall in Peoples Park Complex - 01-1130

This hawker center is one of the Busiest during the weekends, because of the throves of chinese migrants and foreign tourist who comes to Chinatown to see what is here, especially now that the Chinese New Year is fast approaching.
Was doing by routine of walking thru the hawker center, when i fancy eating a plate of Xiao Long Bao.. 6pcs for 4 dollars... i guess its cheap right?? Made within the premises, this places also does a variety of chinese dishes. But i guess their specialty are the buns as it is placed in the middle of the picture:)
So i got myself a plate. but sadly it looked like this....
a bit shrunk dont you think?
Good that it was served with black vinegar and slivers of ginger. But tastewise.. this was a bit of a letdown as i was expecting something more.. not much soup inside:(
The hawker center still have a lot to offer, like the places who does roast meats very well..

Tian Jin Fong Kee - People's Park Complex

THis place originated from a province in China named Tian Jin.. walking around Peoples park complex and seeing the beautiful photos at their stall. Who wouldnwant ot taste these fine morsels of fried dumpling of other wise konwn as "guo tie"
Everything will be prepared only when orderd, so you are guaranteed freshly made hot stuff.ONe order of 6 dollars will get you 10 pieces of dumplings


Crispy on the outside, moist filling of pork and Chives.. i wish they would expland and include other fillings like chicken or shrimp. But , no real complaints here, it was hot, it was crispy, and the filling was good:)

1 Park Road #01-100 People's Park Complex Singapore

Chui Kueh (Bedok) - Chinatown branch

Chui Kueh-- or loosely translated.. water cake has few basic ingredients, which include rice flour, water, oil and pickled radish.
This is one of the most simple dish that you can find in a hawker center here in Singapore. This chain of Chui Kueh shops can be found in a lot of hawker center and i chanced upon then here in Chinatown Hawker center in Smith Street.


Ordered myself a simple serving, consisting of 4 Chui kuen with the topping of pickled radish, i ommited the chili sauce as I wanted a plain old fashion Chui Kueh and nothing to numb the tastebud so i can taste why people sometimes line up for this.


It is really quite a simple dish, the silkiness of the kuweh combined with the flavors of the rash just mingled well together. People have this for dessert.. not really my type of dessert food, i would rather eat it as a appetizers just to wake up sht tastebuds...

Jia Ji Mei Shi - Chinatown Complex Food Center

Breakfast time. A very improtant meal of the day. Sometimes people are just too busy or ina hurry to prepare breakfast at home so they would just rush to a hawker center. And here i am.. being one of those people to rush to a hawker center to get a tummy full of food. Saw this line and was thinking. they must have something good. Bowls and bowls of porridge was being serve. I just have to order myself one. I got the chicken. no raw fish this time to accompany my porridge.


This came piping hot but a but the texture was a bit watered down, i like my porridge thick. Nevertheless, it came in a very big bowl and thoughb i was able to finish it, i was indeed full after.
#02-166
Chinatown Complex
335, Smith Street
Singapore 050335

Bonifacio - Telok Ayer St., Chinatown

Bonifacio is the name of one of Philippines’ National Heroes. He is different from Jose Rizal as this guy fought for the country using his might and his sword. While Jose Rizal fought using his pen.
This restaurant is the newest “fine” dining place that serves Filipino cuisine.
Tried a few dishes here
Sisig- Consisting of pork cheeks, liver, pork ears, sautéed in onion, garlic, spices then put on a sizzling plate then topped with an egg. 10SGD. Serving size was a bit small for the price. But it was good, a dash of hot sauce help uplift the taste of the dish. A nice dish to be partnered with a cold bottle of beer.
Inihaw na liempo( grilled pork belly)- the meat was tender and the marinate was simple salt and pepper and some lime, but I still prefer “sio bak” with the crispy skin. The skin here, is soggy and I don’t like eating it.
Bistek Tagalog- Beef tenderloin in brown sauce(20SGD)- again the price was a bit steep, the beef was tender though and the sauce is not what Singaporeans are used to. It a combination of sweet, salty with a hint of sourness.
Garlic Fried Rice- Filipino style fried rice that havent got much ingredients but emphasizes the garlic taste. Nice
Overall, the place was great, nice quiet and good place to unwind after a days work.

SHANGHAI CHEE CHEONG FUN - Chinatown Complex Food Center

Shanghai Chee Cheong Fen
Chinatown Complex Food Centre
#02-174
335 Smith Street Singapore 050335
Chee Cheong Fun is always fun to eat. As a side dish to a good meal. Chinatown Complex houses one of the better chee cheong fun, they make it at this stall, though not made to orde each time. They tend to make it by batches and keep it warm in a steel refrigerator like appliance
Ordered the Char Siew Chee cheong Fun- I find the cheong fun wrapper a but thick, as I love my chee cheong fun wrapper more relax looking and not so stiff, I like the the sauces they doused the cheong fun with though, like their chili sauce and sweet and salty thick soy sauce that just suit the cheong fun very well.

Heng Ji Chicken Rice - Chinatown

A lot of votes went to this place during Dr. Leslie Tay’s chicken rice polls, and I don’t wonder why. This is the most queued chicken rice stall in Chinatown Complex.
Ordered myself a 3 dollar potion and this is what I got. The rice was very fragrant and tasty but I don’t like the rice they used as it crumbled easily
, either its overcooked or the rice quality was poor. The chicken however was good. Moist but not as moist as Tian-Tian.
They also make their own chili sauce, as u can see, they make it a bit darker.

Heng Ji Chicken Rice
Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre
Blk 335 Smith Street
#02-131

Maxwell Fuzhou Oyster Cake - Maxwell food Center

I grew up only knowing of Orh Chian as the way Oyster Cake or Oyster Omellete is. Not knowing there is another way of cooking Oysters. Here it is done when the batter is placed in a large ladle putting oysters and prawn inside then ladleing another layer of batter on top and deep frying it until it become an UFO or an Unidentified Fried Object.
Price at 2.00SGD a single cake is fried till crispy, keeping the inside still moist. There were a few oyster and a prawn insde.
It tasted a bit like a corndog.. but seafood flavor. Hahaha. A bit oily if you ask me, I think good to eat with rice rather than munching on it alone. a bti on the pricey side but still a lovely snack.
Maxwell Road Food Centre
Stall 22
10am to 6pm Daily except Sunday

Chew Kee Eating House

This road in Chinatown has 2 stall with the same name selling the same products. I came here to taste this one first and will try the other next time out. Ordered myself a Chicken Noodle set, which is a dry Chicken noodle with accompanying soup.
This is quite a change from chicken we are used to eat(Hainanese). THe soup i didnt like too much, it was a bit bland for me.
This chicken has a soft sweet skin and very flavorful meat. The noodles were quite ordinary egg noodles. The Chicken is what made the dish good. Tender and juicy. Will try out the other chicken place soon and compare
8 Upper Cross Street
62220507
9am - 7pm
Closed every Friday except on Public Holiday

Lan Zhou La Mian - Chinatown

La Mian is a specialty in Northern China. There is a distinct technique of pulling and rolling the noodles out. Here in Singapore, this is the guy who mastered his noodle making,
Located in the middle of Chinatown. This noodle place packs in the customers.
He is proud of his noodle making skills that he stretches the dough in both direction, using both his left and right hand. He claims only he does this technique to have the noodles to be consistent on both end unlike the usual la mian where the maker only stretches the dough in one direction.
I ordered myself a ban mian. Which is like a Chinese Bolognese. Topped with minced pork in black bean sauce. The noodles were indeed very delicious and it was quite good.
The sauce though for me lacks character and depth. It tasted very underseasoned and could have used a bit more salt and pepper.

The noodles here were the clear STAR. They offer a lot of other things, but that’s for the next review.:)
19 Smith Street
Singapore 058933
6327 1286
Open Daily 12pm-10:30pm

Hill Street Fried Kway Teow- Chinatown Complex

No guys this isn’t the one in Bedok, this Is in Chinatown complex food center. Thinking that having the same name as the one in bedok, the taste should not be far right? This is the 2.50SGD
Too bad, this fails in comparison to the one in Bedok. The noodles were overcooked and mushy. It was more sweet than savory.
But it was better than the one in Tiong Bahru

Tuck Kee (Ipoh) San Ho Fun

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I have heard legends about IPOH cuisine being the best cuisine in Malaysia.. but don’t tell that to the people from PENANG. Hahahah
Here in Singapore there are a few places offering Ipoh food and I chanced upon this place in Hong Lim with a very long queue.. so it must be good right? It is not that cheap to deserve a long queue so the other assumption would be it must be really good.
On the display window showed the rice noodles they used and pasted there are the wards they got and the pictures of the food they serve.



Ordered myself a 5.00SGD portion; it looked so good. With the prawns and crayfish and thick gravy And indeed it was good.
The prawn and crayfish was freshly cooked and tasted sweet… not dessert/candy sweet but savory sweet, The gravy just hugs each strand of ho fun and was also very nice. Truly one of the best Ho fun I have tasted here in Singapore