Lim Kee *not bad* EDITED

Lim Kee
Bukit Merah Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road S(150163)
#02-49
- fried carrot cake (white)
- fried carrot cake (black)
- chwee kuey
- soon kuey
- Char kway teow

- I think this stall closes after lunch time.

Long time ago, I had a conversation regarding fried carrot cake with my father.  I don't exactly remember how and what, but I remember back then (and it was a long..long...time ago), I preferred the black version while my dad preferred the white.  And I do vaguely remember why the conversation begun was because we had a plate of chai tou kway that looked like the black version yet tasted a little salty.

And it was then I concluded that IMO, black chai tao kway should be sweet, and white chai tao kway should be salty.

Fast forward years to now, I'm a convert.  Given a choice, I'd choose the white one any day.  Having said that, I guess I can partly blame the Bukit Timah Chai Tao Kway for popularising the white version .  Plus its really quite hard to find a good black version.

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So, Lim Kee Chai Tao Kway.  Touted as 10 best Chai Tao Kway, as displayed by some certificate at the stall.

The moment I saw it I was impressed.  It totally differed from the contemporary chai tao kway!  Contemporary chai tao kway somehow is cooked like omelette style, where its chopped kway fried with stirred eggs into big chunks.

But this isn't!!!  And I thought this is how chai tao kway should traditionally look like!!! Win!

Take a closer look!  Win!

I like the taste.  It just feels traditional.

For the first time too, I could really taste how the carrot cake felt like.  But then again I rarely attempt to take note of the taste LOL.  And *disclaimer* I meant I could really taste how the white chunks of carrot cake tasted like.  Not how the whole plate tasted like.  Argh I'm not making sense, am I?

The cake tasted nice, it felt a little tough and wasn't soggy.  Full of flavour that is!

The overall combination was just good.  I have no idea what the green vegetables used was, but I felt that it blended well!  Probably that was why I thought it felt traditional!

As I said, this wasn't the contemporary type, where it was omelette style and where the egg was fried till crispy.

My first bite, I first tasted the chilli, which wasn't too spicy.  Then the fried egg.  Then the texture of the egg.  Then the chye poh that was used.  And finally, the flavour of the cake.

With a tinge of after taste making you crave for more.

Personally, I've never really liked to eat the cake chunks without the eggs.  But for this, I was actually looking forward to consuming the cake chunks alone.  Just so I can get to experience the taste again!

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Overall, I'd say this would be a potential favourite for the white version.

Not only because of the fact that it was more traditional, but also the overall taste.

I'll definitely try the black version soon!



*edited.  I have downgraded this stall to an overall *not bad*.

Click here for the reason why I downgraded it.

Ling Heng Roasted Duck Stall *not bad*

Ling Heng Roasted Duck Stall
Bukit Merah Central Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road S(150163)
#02-05

- roast duck
- roast pork
- char siew
- watercress soup
- melon soup

I'm not too sure if everyone agrees, but nowadays I have observed that it is not too difficult to get a roasted duck/meat stall going.

Well, perhaps not in Eastern Singapore.

But in Western Singapore, roast meat stalls seem to be doing quite well.

Hence, I find that when I try roast duck/roast meat/char siew stalls, I tend to be abit stringent.

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 I ordered roast duck drumstick, roast meat and char siew.  My holy trio when it comes to having roast meats ^_^ yes, it is a lot of calories, thus I don't do this too often nowadays.

While queuing up, the stall was just emitting the traditional roast duck smell, and kinda make me "crave" for it!

The Auntie was super friendly, and felt quite chatty.  She even asked if I wanted to add sauce for my rice.  Of course I want!  I simply love my rice to be covered in sauces!

The rice felt like normal plain rice, but the sauce was good.  You could taste the herbs that were used to make the sauce.

The skin of the roast meat was pretty crispy, and I find that overall it was quite well done.  I was able to taste the fats and the meat.  I prefer crunchier meats/fats (no, I'm not referring to the skin, I'm referring to the meat overall).  This wasn't that crunchy, but I find it not bad.

The char siew had the chao tar parts, that I simply love.  It was quite fatty too!  Overall it tasted good, but I thought there was a teeny weeny tinge of pork smell.

Finally, the roast duck.  The meat felt about tough, and lacked the oily/juicy feel.  The colour of the skin looked pretty good though, and the taste was passable.

I'm not a fan of soups, so I gave it a miss.

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Overall I'd say it's not bad.  They roast their own meats I think, which is probably a plus!

Shun Xing *not bad*

Shun Xing
Bukit Merah Central Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road S(150163)
#02-46
- Fried Fritters
- Butterfly biscuits
- Hum Chee Peng (I think its more right to call it Hum Chin Peng as it should be cantonese to begin with?)
   - comes in traditional flavours (salted, sweet) and their own flavours (coffee, pandan bean, red bean etc)

How do you like your you tiao?
Do you like it crispy?  Hard?  Soft?  Oily?

How I like mine?  I like it a little crispy on the outside, generally soft on the inside, with a little of the flour taste.  Of course, freshly fried ones will definitely fare better than those that have been kept for a while.  Thats a given for most for 99% of the foods available.

And how do you eat it?  Dipped into soya bean?  Add to your porridge?  Or add to your kopo-i?  Or with your bak kut teh?

I used to dip into my soya bean, until my dad said the best way to eat it is to dip into your kopi-o.  Back then, I never appreciated coffee, so I paid no attention.  But during the first few seasons of makansutra, the host said it was the best way to eat you tiao.

And some 4 years ago, I realised I needed coffee to not fall asleep during work, thus my preferences had changed.


Anyways, the whole food centre only had one stall selling you tiao, and this was it.

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First thing I noticed was the peppery looking thing in the middle of the you tiao.  Now, I'm not sure if it was done on purpose, but I'll probably go back there soon enough to find out.

Unfortunately, the you tiao was crispier than what I'd like.  Perhaps it was freshly made.  It also lacked the dough/flour taste that I like.

The thing about the crispy-ness was that after dipping the you tiao into my coffee, the whole thing just didnt taste right.  I mean, dipping it into liquid was to make it soggier, let the you tiao absorb the liquid, and then consume it, appreciating the you tiao, the sogginess, and the liquid flowing out from the you tiao.
This, unfortunately, did not feel that way.  The outside was still crisp, and it felt like the you tiao was unable to absorb the liquid.

The hum chin peng fared much much better!!  It was definitely salty!!  And had the taste of the dough!  Hum chin pengs don't need to be crispy in my opinion, and this held true for this stall.

Oh, the stall owners did not ask if I was taking away or having it here, so they just put their food into the plastic bag.  I don't think it mattered much, though I'd definitely have preferred the traditional brown bag hehe.

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Overall, it's not bad!  While the fried fritters aren't what I like, the hum chin peng fared much better, and I'm thinking if the hum chin peng is where the strengths of the stall is, given that they have so much unique flavours for their hum chin peng.

Choon Kee Fish Ball Noodle *nice*

Choon Kee Fish Ball Noodle
Bukit Merah Central Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road S(150163)
#02-43

Fish ball noodles again!

LOL!!

To be honest, this isn't the 2nd fish ball noodles I've had at this food centre.  In fact, it's the third.  And the fact that the very first stall I had, and no, its not Mei Ji that I covered previously, by default added beansprouts, I was super cautious in ordering.   I'd go "mee kia dry with chilli.  Got beansprouts?  I do not want beansprouts!"

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Alas!  It came with one strand of beansprouts! :(

Look at the photo, and it should be quite obvious that you can see the sauces.  I think cause they added soup to the sauce?  It was really quite a lot, and the mee kia felt slippery.

The first bite, I thought I tasted a chao tar taste in the chilli.  No it's not that the chilli came chao tar, but it's a taste that I have never been able to pin-point.  People who grew up eating the fish ball noodles at Kovan Food Centre (the two that used to be side by side each other) will probably understand what I'm trying to say.  My parents did explain that it was the usage of vinegar in the chilli though, and I remember my relatives love the taste.

In fact, the chilli was somewhat spicy, as compared to most fishball noodles stall.

Argh!  Fish cakes -_-"

The chao tar taste grew weaker and weaker the more I ate, and I thought it was mostly covered by the spiciness of it.

The ingredients were quite good, the fish ravioli thing (called geow according to wikipedia's mee pok article) was juicy.  Fishballs are what I'd like - juicy, some saltiness to it, and a bit of the fish taste.  The texture wasn't good, but the taste made up for it.

No comments on pork slices and of course, fish cakes.

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Overall, I do find myself liking the taste, thus I'd say it is nice due to my preference.

Liang Seng Mushroom Meat Pork Noodle *.....*

Liang Seng Mushroom Meat Pork Noodles
Bukit Merah Central Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road S(150163)
#02-21

Well, as I previously mentioned, I don't exactly like bak chor mee.  However, the commercialised version at .EAT is something that I've kinda gotten used to, despite the small servings and heavy vinegar taste.

Anyways, I felt like having noodles for breakfast, and I noticed a fair number of people having their noodles from this stall, so I decided to try it out first!

(In case, not all stalls are open for breakfast.  Probably around 25%?)

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The first look at this made me thought "wow!  Generous on the ingredients!!!"
Second thought was "wow!  The sauce so watery!"

To clarify, the 2nd photo was my super weak attempt to take a photo of the mushrooms, which is the black portion at the bottom left hand corner of the photo.

Anyways, my habit would be to have a taste of the soup first before I consume the noodles.  The soup felt quite tasty initially, but gave me the feeling that it was a litte, just a little, pepperish.  From normal white pepper of course.  And after awhile, perhaps due to the taste of the noodles (which I'll touch on a little later), the soup just went tasteless. Or bland, if you would prefer.

As mentioned, the sauce was like WOAH!  And it felt abit oily.  Hence the noodles turned out to be quite wet and slippery.

The sauce and the noodles tasted a bit on the weak side.  Totally lacked the vinegar taste, and wasnt didn't even feel like they added any salt or soy sauce.  Its similar to the soup.  Flavourful while chewing, but the flavour gradually disappears once you swallow.  And to top that off, there was no aftertaste.

Don't even feel like commenting on the ingredients as it was just...ok...and of course, fish cakes :(

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I'm rating this ..... not because it is bad.  It's because I can't find anything that I like about this stall.  Perhaps, to others, it might taste ok, but it definitely isn't even not bad in my opinion.

Soon Huat Mixed Vegetable Rice *not bad*

Soon Huat Mixed Vegetable Rice
Bukit Merah Central Food Centre
Blk 163 Bukit Merah Road S(150163)
#02-04

First off, I find it hard to judge mixed veg rice.  I mean, how to?  If the mixed veg rice sells sweet and sour pork, should I compare it to all sweet and sour pork?  Or other mixed veg rice that sells sweet and sour pork?

Having said that, I'll just judge with regards to other mixed veg rice stalls.

Also, I generally avoid mixed veg rice stalls.  Not that I don't eat at all, just that it will probably be the last option.   Unless the food looks superbly great, or it is convenient, or it has minced meat balls (like those at hainanese curry rice stalls).

Well, because I do want to review every stall, and plus the fact that my friend loves mixed veg rice, and that she must have curry chicken, enough said.

One thing for sure, the queue is definitely there for this stall.  I was like the 7th or 8th in queue despite going for lunch at 11.30am.   So it kinda made me wonder if this stall was really good.

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I ordered 3 meat (normally 2, but deciced to try curry chicken, as influenced by my friend) and 1 vegetable, and it was $4.  I have to say, the plate they use is unique!  Unlike most stalls that just serve you on a round plate.

The rice was abit on the hard side, but I could live with it as they were generous with the curry.  And I felt this way not because I ordered curry chicken and they gave me more curry.  Everyone else had a fair amount of curry too!

And I like my rice more "wet", so this is a plus!

There are some mixed veg rice stalls that come across as not putting enough effort into cooking, and I'm glad to say this is not one of them.

The sweet and sour pork was pretty ok.  Curry tasted standard, and slightly on the spicy side.  The vegetables (erm, broccoli and cauliflower?  Ok I'm super bad with my vegetables and I only started eating veg in my twenties.)

The ngoh hiang tasted nothing like what I'd like...but then again, I shouldn't compare to proper ngoh hiang stalls.  Either way, I ate this a few days back and I can't remember how it taste like.  So I guess it's not worth mentioning.

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Overall, it's really not bad.  As I've mentioned, it's really hard to judge mixed veg rice, but I find that this, overall, is one of the better ones I've had.  The other two better ones are at Boon Keng, and at Dover, the same coffee shop as the XO fish head bee hoon.

Mei Ji Fishball Noodles *not bad*

Mei Ji Fish Ball Noodles

Bukit Merah Central Food Centre
Blk163 Bukit Merah Central S(150163)
#02-03
- fish ball noodles
- wholesale premium fish balls
- prawn ball soup
- fuzhou fish balls

Fish ball noodles have always been one of my favourite foods.  No, not the bak chor mee, or stall that sells bak chor mee/fish ball noodles.  I am quite particular about this.  Must be a stall that only sells fish ball noodles.

I grew up eating fishball noodles, with my favourite at joo seng, then subsequently, toa payoh, some food republic food courts and lorong ah soo.

Why must only sell fish ball?  Because I don't like too much vinegar.

Also, I am super particular about beansprouts with my noodles.  I simply cannot stand having fish ball noodles with beansprouts.  Don't get me wrong, I do eat beansprouts.  But somehow I find that beansprouts add a certain raw taste to the noodles.  And I think I am like the only person who is ok with beansprouts yet is particular about this.

Finally, I mostly eat mee kia dry.  Some people might think, why mee kia?  Why not mee pok?  I used to not understand why too, but I've realised that mee kia is less susceptible to being overcooked and thus becoming soggy.  Whereas mee pok generally turns out soggy, and is more slippery (no idea why, perhaps due to the way it is made, or maybe because the surface area bigger and thus more oil on it).  Probably the only time when I'll have mee pok is when the place is famous for mee pok, ie. Ru Ji Kitchen at Holland Drive Market.

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This soup says it sells premium fish balls, prawn balls, and fuzhou fish balls.  Well, if given a choice, its fish balls for me any day!  But i'd definitely like to try the fuzhou versions one day.

For people who don't know, fuzhou fish balls are generally bigger than normal fish balls, and have some minced meat in the middle.  So when you bite on the fish balls, you will get fish meat and of course, minced pork meat.

Anyways;


The stall owner got my order wrong.  I was given mee pok instead of mee kia, thus minus points liao.  Haha no la, im still quite fair.  I didn't ask for a change though.

I thought that the soup was tasty.  I'm sure it wasn't because of too much MSG, but the soup has a fried onion taste that I like.  The soup also looks somewhat oily; I'm guessing some people can't stand it.  But I can! ^_^

The noodles felt somewhat tasteless in my opinion.  The chilli was spicy, but lacked the taste.  I thought it might be they were weaker on the light soy sauce side.

The texture of the fish balls didn't meet my expectations too.  The external texture felt rough.  Personally, the most important part of the fish ball is the taste; it should feel slightly salty and have the taste of the fish (note, not the fishy taste).  I think the stall lacked it in this department.

I am not commenting on fish cakes because I do not like fish cakes.  I eat, but I just don't like it.

Finally, the Prawn Balls.  It was nice!!! Everything I'd ask for!  Had the taste and the texture!  Like!

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Overall I'd rate this not bad.  It's definitely alright, in my opinion.  And if not for the prawn balls I think I would have prolly rated this ..... instead of not bad.