Saturday, November 1, 2008

Makan Treats From The East And North East

After weeks of waiting the upgrading works at Changi Village hawker center is finally completed. I know the first thing that comes to mind at the mere mention of Changi Village would be the well-known Changi International Nasi Lemak that serves a never-ending queue of customes. However, there are other stalls that's worth exploring and one of our prefered stall would be Rong Ji (pictured below). Came to know about them through a local variety food program and has since been their loyal customers for years now. I've tried both their Hor Fun (Ipoh & Chicken Chop), Bak Chor Mee and Wanton Noodles, and my vote goes to the Hor Fun. Although I have to agree that the authentic Ipoh Hor Fun is unbeatable for it's smooth as stain texture, this is no where near, but the taste is commendable for a local standard. If still unconvinced, they are also on Makansutra's billboard. Note though their friendly competitor - Amigo - next door, too, serve both versions of Hor Fun and has their own pool of loyal customers but Rong Ji is still my choice if I have to decide between the two.

The Chicken chop is crispy and the gravy is light yet flavoursome.

This is a newly opened Fried Hokkien Noodle stall just across from Rong Ji. Their signboard screams plain and boring, but it was the Live To Eat certification that caught my attention. I say it's a cross between Tian Tian Lai at TPY Lorong 1 and Thye Hong @ Food Republic, though I would prefer it if they had used a bit more stock while frying the noodles, as it was a bit dry. Despite this I rate them 3.5/5. I'll try them again.

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Woke up to a rainy Saturday morning... Perfect! Unfortunately my Mee Siam supplier across the road is closed for renovation so had to crack my brains on alternatives. Finally, we headed down to He Ji at Jalan Kayu (few shops down from Jerry's BBQ) for wanton noodles. We were quite excited when we saw that their noodles are made from duck eggs, because the first time we tried similar noodles was in Johor, Pontian, and it was absolutely fantastic; the noodles has a nice crunch to it from the first strand you pick up to the final bits after a satisfying meal... It was heavenly... BUT we were disappointed by this self-acclaimed "people from all over the world knows about them" noodles. Crunch at first bite and it was soggy thereafter. Nonetheless, they were quite generous with the charsiew which was also mediocre (2.5/5).

I'm a fan of dumplings and theirs was acceptable. If only they had water chestnuts and black fungus like how my Mom does it, then it would be good. Taste wise - 3/5.

Non-spicy vs spicy vesion. I think the former looks more appetizing though Hubby said there's nothing to rave about.

"It takes some skill to spoil a breakfast - even the English can't do it." ~ John Kenneth Galbraith

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