Exploring Chinatown Eats Part 2 @ Chinatown Complex Food Centre

"Let's go eat Ma Li Ya Virgin Chicken!" and that was how we ended unanimously with our brunch location. It was a 15 minutes walk from Parkroyal Collection Pickering. As it was raining the day before, we were glad to have better weather on the day we want to walkabout.

Chinatown Point

thank you for your hard work

lets explore Chinatown

Ann Chin Popiah

Duo Ji

We visited on a Sunday morning, smack right during breakfast time and popular stalls like The 1950s Coffee were having crazily long queues. Our table were at a far corner, and observed that most elderly seated there had this coffee with the same logo so we decided to get the same.

coffee from Tou Shou Di 

our morning fuel

Thank you Ivan for getting the chee cheong fun and the roasted meats. Thank you Hence for getting the soy sauce chicken, and thank you Tracy for getting the traditional wa kuih and drinks.

Roasted Pork Belly and Char Siew (mixture of lean and half-half ratio meat) from Fatty Ox

The char siew from Fatty Ox even when fatty, had a rather firm mouthfeel. I loved the caramelised bits on the char siew and the crackling from the pork belly.

Ann Chin Popiah @$1.60 per roll

Ann Chin Popiah was listed in 2019 Singapore Michelin Guide and has been around for ages. Packed with ingredients and tasted healthy. Inexpensive as I have encountered neighbourhood popiah stall in coffeeshops with a $2 price tag.

kopi from Tou Shou Di

The coffee from Tou Shou Di stall was likeable. Traditional coffee and 'gao' enough (and warm enough) but I think can reduce on the sweetness slightly.

It is extremely rare to come across a stall selling 碗粿, so we bought one to try. Soft, gelatinous with slightly sweetish savoury sauce that's still mild. Best eaten when still warm and with chili.

碗粿 (wa kuih)

chee cheong fun from Duo Ji

yam cake from Duo Ji

Am not sure if there are others like us who eats roasted meat and soy sauce chicken in the mornings...but I'm a fan of Maria's Signature Soy Sauce Chicken. It is so tender so good! Tried it twice and twice it delivered consistently good quality. I thought the HK Styled version was drier hence, strongly recommend the signature soy sauce chicken. The braised beancurd is pretty well done and the choice of water tofu is good with all the savoury lovely sauce.

Ma Li Ya Signature Soy Sauce Chicken @$10 for half chicken

  

Hong Kong Style Soy Sauce Chicken @$7 for half chicken

Signature Braised Beancurd @$1 per piece 

We saved the HK Style Soya Sauce chicken for teabreak, with wine. The adventure continues in next article. Watch out for the next blog post!

Fatty Ox HK Kitchen

Address: 335 Smith St, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, #02-84, Singapore 050335

 安珍 Ann Chin Popiah

Address: 335 Smith St, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, #02-112, Singapore 050335

头手弟 (Tou Shou Di)

Address: 335 Smith St, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, #02-114, Singapore 050335

阿公碗粿 (Ah Kong Wa Kuih)

Address: 335 Smith St, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, #02-116, Singapore 050335

玛俐亚处女鸡 (Ma Li Ya Virgin Chicken)

Address: 335 Smith St, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, #02-176, Singapore 050335

多记 (Duo Ji)

Address: 335 Smith St, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, #02-216, Singapore 050335

Exploring Chinatown Eats @ Hong Lim Market & Food Centre

As our hotel was just next door to Hong Lim Market, we braved the rain and went about looking for food. Bustling as always, the famous stalls like Ah Heng Curry Chicken, Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sar Hor Fun, Tai Wah Pork Noodle all sported long queues.

Lucky us managed to find a seat and excited, we went on our way to scout for food.

The Old Stall Hokkien Street Famous Hokkien Prawn Mee

Decided to try the prawn noodles and the queue looked manageable. The uncle was really friendly.

Hokkien Prawn Mee with Pig Tail @$7

halved prawns

Unfortunately, am more used to the stronger broth of prawn noodles. This version tasted too mild for me. The pig's tail was nicely collageny but porky.

There are interesting eats as well and Tracy introduced us to the world of pork trotter jelly. The one with shark meat was not available hence, we had the normal one. Interesting and the accompanying dips were mild as well.

Tracy's pick - Hwee Kee's Pork Trotter Jelly 

Then, Ivan came back with fishball noodles.

Hong Xing Handmade Fishball / Meatball Noodles

mixed fishballs and meatballs

Oooh, I do like the fishballs and meatballs. It was nice and comforting on rainy days. And for finale, we had the Tuck Kee Ipoh Sar Hor Fun.

Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sah Hor Fun

crayfish prawns hor fun @$10

Pacific clam prawns hor fun @$6

Wow, the hor fun are still as good. Smooth, slippery tasty goodness. The prawns, crayfish everything was cooked perfectly. Thank you to all the uncles and aunties at the hawker centre who are still making these good food for us!

coffee break

kopi

The coffee from Coffee Break was nice. Old school in a new school packaging.

Thank you Tracy, Hence and Ivan for all the queuings and spending!

Hong Xing Handmade Fishballs/Meatball Noddles 鸿兴

Address: 531A Upper Cross Street, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, #02-30, Singapore 051531

Hwee Kee 辉记

Address: 531A Upper Cross Street, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, #02-33, Singapore 051531

Coffee Break

Address: 531A Upper Cross St, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, #02-41, Singapore 051531

Tuck Kee Ipoh Sah Ho Fun 德记怡保沙河粉

Address: 531A Upper Cross Street, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, #02-40, Singapore 051531

The Old Stall Hokkien Street Famous Hokkien Prawn Mee (老檔著名福建街虾面) 

Address: 531A Upper Cross Street, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, #02-67, Singapore 051531

Hanashizuku Japanese Cuisine 花しずく @ Cuppage Plaza

Wanted to try at least once a Japanese restaurant located at Cuppage Plaza and Google search led to Hanashizuku. Menu seemed alright with izakaya food like hot/cold appetisers, fried food, sashimi, grilled food and carbs. 

A quick check with a friend and she's available for the date and hence, reservation was secured a week ahead. Booking was relatively easy via Chope. But note that there are two seatings for the dinner with the earlier one at 530pm and the next one is 8pm. Decided to have early dinner and to complete the reservation, will need to input the credit card details with $50 deducted to secure the reservation. This 'deposit' is refundable a few days after you have completed the reservation. 

There will be a confirmation SMS once they have received it and once again a reminder on the day of the reservation itself (about 2 hours before). 

We were there at 530pm but the signage was not turned on yet. There was a group of Japanese guests waiting outside as well.

shopfront

After checking our reservation, the staff ushered us in and brought us to the counter seats.

counter seat view

ready to eat

menu

For drinks, she's having green tea while I started with calpis sour.

hot green tea @$4++

Calpis Sour @$8++

Yes, we were served the mandatory otoshi. At least it was tasty.

otoshi @$4++ per pax

My friend loves oyster, so we ordered from the Today's Special menu, The Fresh Oysters with Ikura.

Fresh Oysters with Ikura  @$20++

spicy but nice

closer view

The oysters were plump and firm. A dash of spicy yuzu sauce gave the oysters a bit of a kick.

I thought that we ought to have some vegetables in our meal, hence ordered the kaisen sarada or otherwise known as seafood salad. We were both happy with this as there were adequate pieces of sashimi on it and the dressing was lovely too. There were maguro, sake and hamachi slices on the plate. Yums!

Kaisen Sarada @$18++

yakitori of momo (@$3.50++) and liver + hatsu @$3++ per skewer

The yakitori while I liked them, its price was rather steep so we stopped at 2. Hahaa! What's dining at an izakaya without fried food? Guess what I ordered?

Tori Karaage @$12++

My next drink was the Peach Sparkling Sake which came right out of the can. Hmm, that's the downside when seated at the counter. I can see how the drinks are prepared.

Peach Sparkling Sake @$12++

For the finale, we had Mentaiko Pasta to seal the deal (or in other words, to make sure we leave the restaurant feeling full!).

Mentaiko Pasta @$19++

To our surprise, it was a rather creamy (creamiest, even!) version of mentaiko pasta. As we ate, it tasted more and more like carbonara (Japanese version, of course) and thus, it remained a mystery as the mentaiko pasta that I've had at other places doesn't look nor taste like this. But the bill stated that it was mentaiko pasta.

Overall, it was a nice experience at Hanashizuku right from reservation to the actual dinner. Although we were seated at the counter, Chef didn't interact with us. However, he smiled when we told him that the seafood salad was nice. 

Hanashizuku Japanese Cuisine 花しずく

Address: 5 Koek Road #02-01 Cuppage Plaza Singapore 228796

Website: http://www.hanashizukurestaurant.com/

Contact: +65 6733 7498

Business Hours:

Mon-Fri: 11:45am–2:30pm, 5:30–10:30pm

Sat - Sun: 5:30–10:30pm