Mr Chua, 25, runs Ah Luck Beancurd in Tanglin Halt market for more than 2 years. He is renting the stall from the original owner who has based his stall in the same area for more than 40 years. Ah Luck Bean Curd offers drinks and deserts such as soya bean drink, grass jelly and the residents' favorite soya bean curd (60 cents).
A Delicious Bowl of Bean Curd
The top most and bottom most layers of fresh beancurd would be removed to ensure a consistent texture. Only the middle portion of bean curd would eventually be served to the customers. Mr Chua boils the sugar mixture daily and pandan leaves are added during the process to infuse additional flavour. The piping hot bean curd tastes smooth to the tongue and the sweetness of the syrup is extremely well controlled to bring about a pleasant wholesome beany taste.
Mr and Mrs Chua
Snack Attack #13 - Ah Luck Bean Curd
Address: Blk 48A Tanglin Halt Road #01-17
Opening Hours: 7am to 4am daily
Rating: 7.5/10
Ann, 46 runs the family food stall for over 10 years in Tanglin Halt hawker centre. Serving halal food for over a decade in the same place, Ann has integrated her dishes to suit the taste buds of Queenstown residents, especially the Malay community. The simple food stall offers snacks such as satay, otah and seafood dishes. As a family styled business, she gets her supply of fresh satay from her uncle every day. Even the helpers in her stall are her relatives, working together in a closely knitted family unit.
A plate of Satay
There are 3 main types of satays – chicken, mutton and beef. Going at 60 cents per stick, it is slightly pricier than the usual hawker centre satay. The satay is served with chilli peanut sauce, cucumbers, onions and rice cake (50cents per piece). Each satay stick is skewered with sizable pieces of meat and a tiny layer of fat in between. The meat is juicy and succulent with a hint of aromatic Malay spices. Fairly well cooked, the satay goes well with the peanut paste sauce with has just the right level of thickness.
Ann
Next time when you drop by Tanglin Halt hawker centre, feel free to drop by Ann’s Muslim Seafood Satay stall
Tanglin Halt Muslim Seafood Satay
Snacks Attack #12 - Tanglin Halt Muslim Seafood Satay
Address: Tanglin Halt Hawker Centre Commonwealth Drive Block 2A #01-22
Opening Hours: 5pm-12am (Closed on Wednesdays)
DessertStory, located in Anchorpoint basement one, has been serving residents tasty snacks and deserts for the past four years. Wendy, the supervisor of the cafe, introduced the various homemade desserts that they offer.
A bowl of Almond Paste
Hot desserts are mainly the favourite choice among Queenstown residents. Firstly, they have almond paste which is made by grinding two different kinds of whole almonds together and the mixture boiled with other ingredients over several hours by the owner. The resulting product is a delicious thick and creamy paste which taste smooth on the tongue and delightfully flavorful.
They also offer walnut paste which is also a favourite among older residents. The walnut paste has a strong scent and the bitter taste of fresh walnut is delicately removed by the owner. The dessert recipes are purposely made less sweet in order to suit the health conscious Singaporeans of today. The price of hot desserts range from $2.80 to $3.50.
Wendy
While tasting the delicious bowls of desserts, Wendy also explained the health benefits that each brings. Almonds are supposed to cure throat aches and gives one a radiant complexion, while walnuts can boost one's brain functions. Remember to drop by DessertStory for some healthy homemade desserts!
Snacks Attack #11 - Dessert Story's Almond Paste
Address: Anchorpoint B1-58 (Opposite Billabong)
Opening Hours: 10.30am-10pm daily
Mr Wang, 39, runs Rounds & Square which offers mouth watering Indonesian style homemade pancakes. His stall at Commonwealth crescent has been opened for 4 months, after he moved over from the site at 'Lau Pa Sat'.
Tasty and Delightful Indonesian Pancakes
There are 2 main types of pancakes available. Firstly, sweet pancakes come in a variety of flavours such as chocolate, kaya and red bean. Flavours have been modified slightly from the past in order to suit Singaporean tastebuds. New flavours such as peanut and kaya have been added. Next, they have egg pancakes which are meat fillings and vegetables encased in an egg based outer layer. The egg pancakes are pan fried and offers a distinctive alternative salty flavour as compared to its sweet cousin.
Sweet pancakes are done in a round tray, slowly baking over a light flame. On the other hand, egg pancakes are pan fried and shaped into a squarish form. Hence the unique Round & Square title given to the shop.
The Effervescent Mr Wang
As the dough mixture is prepared daily in the morning, the sweet pancakes has a fresh springy texture when you first bite into it. Depending on the flavour you choose, the toppings are always generous and ensured fresh by Mr Wang. As for the egg pancakes, they are filled to the brim on the inside with generous amounts of diced meat and vegetables. One can taste the strong flavour of fresh spring onions , eggs and regular onions.
Mr Wang also offers delivery services for his pancakes. They have about 20 different flavours for both sweet and egg pancakes available. Orders have to be made 2 days in advance and they deliver whole island wide. Tired of ordering pizza? Try some Indonesian pancakes as an alternative for once!
Snacks Attack #10 - Round & Square Indonesian Pancakes
Address: Commonwealth crescent market #02-67 opp Blk 102 Commonwealth Crescent
Opening Hours: 8am-2pm everyday
Ratings: 7.5/10
Mr Lin, 50, has been selling traditional Chinese snacks like Chee Cheong Fun, Chwee Kway and dumplings for over 2 decades. Mr Lin took over 漢林點心 (the store) from his father and their family business has been serving delicious snacks to Tanglin Halt residents for over 40 years.
A plate of Chee Cheong Fun
Mr Lin commented that the snacks he sold were used to be homemade, however it is not feasible nowadays due to the limited space in his stall. Nevertheless, his Chee Cheong Fun and other snacks are always served deliciously piping hot.
Friendly store owner Mr Lin
Mr Lin prepares his mixture of the sauce daily. Ingredients include sweet sauce, light soya sauce and sesame oil. Chilli paste would only be added on demand. After adding the sauce, the Chee Cheong Fun tastes light on the tongue and goes well with the sauce mixture. The strong scent of sesame oil perpetuates one's sense of smell, making the overall taste experience delightable.
Snacks Attack #9 - 漢林點心
Address: Blk 48A Tanglin Halt Road #01-12
Opening Hours: 6.45am - 1.30pm daily
Ratings: 5.5/10
Mdm Lee, 53 and her daughter, Grace, 29, are the owners of the popiah and rojak stall. They have been open for business for more than 1 year in this coffeeshop. They sell rojak ($2.50/$3.00) which is a favourite amongst the residents in Holland. They also have popiah ($1.20). Ingredients are taupok, youtiao, cucumber, pineapple, cuttlefish, apple and even century egg when requested.
A generous plate of Rojak
The rojak sauce is prepared daily in the morning by them before opening for business. They use top grade shrimp paste (1 bottle $90) as described by Mdm Lee. One secret they disclosed about the rojak sauce is that they use orange concentrate ( fruit punch kind) and dissolve it together with sugar and shrimp paste to make their sauce base. It is different from other rojak stalls as it is developed through 10+year of making rojak by Mdm Lee. The method is supposed to make the sauce thicker and less watery.
Mdm Lee and Grace
The rojak is tasty with fresh vegetables and fruits. The cuttlefish, taupok and youtiao are crisply done after they toast them. The sauce has the right amount of sweetness and flavour. However, personally the sauce lacks the strong scent of the shrimp paste.
It's at Blk 43 Holland Drive!
Snack Attack - 翠莲春卷
Address: Block 43 Holland Drive
#01-75
Opening Hours: 10am-10pm daily
Ratings: 6.5/10
Mr Gao (Malaysian), 28, is the owner of Baker's bread situated in Holland Drive. He has been doing business for 2 years. His shop sells a wide variety of bread and pastry snacks. He has years of experience in the pastry business and learnt his skills of trade in Singapore. He explained that being in the F&B industry in Singapore is different than that in Malaysia. 'More Singaporeans eat out as compared to Malaysians who usually eat home cooked meals. Shops can also be critically located such as in a central market area which increases our business.'
Baker's Bread Bakery in Holland Drive
Baker's bread offers handmade pastries such as 'lotus paste biscuit' ($0.80), 'yam paste biscuit' ($0.80) and 'Japanese biscuit' ($1). Yam paste biscuit/Lotus paste biscuit is a fist sized biscuit with a flour and butter based crust, filled with crushed yam/lotus paste mixed with flour as its filling. When you first bite down, it is a little hard on the crust but the aroma of the lotus/yam filling fills your nose like a fresh scented perfume. The buttery freshly baked crust heightens your sensory taste buds once you have started to chew on it.
Mr Gao- owner of Baker's Bread
Japanese biscuit is a longish A4 paper length sized sweet flour pastry. The dough is made by mixing flour, pastry margarine, egg and sugar. Next, it is kneaded into its longish form and baked. Lastly, sugar is tossed on top of it. It is extremely crispy even after a few hours. One can taste the many layers of the crust and the delicious sugar melted on top of it. It has a tinge of prata dough perfectly baked.
Snacks Attack - Baker's Bread Bakery
Address: Block 43 Holland Drive #01-47
Opening Hours: Open from 7am-10pm No Off Days
There are a few hawker stalls in Queenstown which sell traditional curry puffs. But none of them can be compared with the "nameless" Malay food stall located next to the famous Double Chef Zi Char Stall and Swee Hin Restaurant. It's big and the filling is generous. It's not surprising this stall can sell numerous puffs a day.
The ultra large sized Curry Puffs
These "power" puffs come in three flavours, curry chicken puffs, curry potato puffs and sardine puffs. Every bite on the puffs produces the "cccrraack" sound and it remains crispy for a few hours after you bought from the stall. The hot and savoury curry gravy would then ooze from the puffs, making every bite memorable.
Mdm Sarinah
Mdm Sarinah, 57, has been selling delicious curry puffs at Commonwealth Crescent for the past 2 years. When asked about the reasons for her success in making these puffs, she explained that ingredients used for making the handmade puffs are prepared daily. So, don't miss out on the curry puffs!
Snack Attack - Swee Hin Restaurant (Curry Puffs)
Address: Block 116 Commonwealth Crescent #01-129
Opening Hours: 6.30am-6pm (Curry Puffs will be sold from 12.30pm onwards)
There are many residents in Queenstown who turned vegetarian because of religious beliefs or simply voluntary abstinence. Being a vegetarian, in the eyes of some individuals, is a healthier choice. However, it can be difficult for these vegetarians in finding stalls within hawker centres. Nevertheless, MyQueenstown Team chanced upon a vegetarian food stall in Commonwealth Crescent which offers a wide variety of vegetarian snacks. Today, we pick one of their more popular snacks - Soon Kueh!
The delicious looking Soon Kuehs
Soon Kuehs are a kind of steamed Chinese dumpling made of rice flour skin with chopped turnips strips and mushrooms as filling. Well, the 'soon' actually refers to bamboo shoots. But nowadays, the rarity of bamboo shoots makes it cost-ineffective so most of the modern versions of soon kuehs contain turnip strips instead. It is often accompanied with sweet dark soya sauce and chilli sauce.
Mdm Lim and her sister
Png Kueh is another type of steamed Chinese dumpling which originates from the Teochew migrants who came to Singapore. The main difference between Png Kueh and Soon Kueh lies in their "skin." Png Kueh has a much tougher and more chewy skin. This is because a longer period of time is used to cook Soon Kueh.
Mdm Lim and her sister have been in business selling vegetarian food for 6 years. When asked about their venture into business, they explain that vegetarian food are generally healthier especially Singaporeans are getting more health conscious these days.
Jia Yuan Vegetarian Food 佳圆素食
Address: #02-88 Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre
Opening Hours: 7am-2pm daily
Snack Attack Ratings: 5/10
It is not easy to scout for traditional, handmade Malay Kuehs in Queenstown because the lengthy and tedious process in making these kuehs are deterring food vendors from making their own kuehs. Fret Not! Right at the corner of Tanglin Halt Market is a Muslim food stall which sells authentic handmade kuehs and the hawker assistants appear to be experienced and professional while making these kuehs.
Goreng Pisang, Kueh Keria and Kueh Apam
For starters or non-Muslim residents, Kueh Apam is a steamed rice cake made from flour and sugar. It is steamed and cut into fanciful shapes. Sometimes, coconut shreds are added to the rice cake to enhance its texture and flavour.
Kueh Keria is a "donut-looking" snack which is made from sweet potato. Sweet potatoes and boiled and mashed before mixing with baking flour and water to form a dough. A donut cutter is used then used to make the donut shape before frying these cute sweet potato rings into a fryer. These fried sweet potato rings are then added into a sugar syrup and stirred until the sugar crystalised onto the surface of the kueh.
Goreng pisang is simply fried bananas with flour.
Anna and Kamalia (right and centre)
Anna and Kamalia are sisters and they have been running the stall together for more than 2 years.
The corner stall at Tanglin Halt Market
Majeed Muslim Food
Address: Block 48 Tanglin Halt Road Tanglin Halt Market Stall 28
Snack Attack Rating: 6.5/10
For residents who have sipped a mug of Avocado drink from this colorful and brightly decorated stall, hands up if you feel guilty but you think you have tasted one of the nicest fruit juices around! A gulp from the "enlarged" straw makes you "high" as the thick and savoury milky mixture arouses your taste buds and invites you to take another sip of the drink. Yeah, Mr. Avocado has come to Commonwealth Avenue Cooked Food Centre for a short tour!
Thick and creamy Avocado drink
Eating a slice of the avocado fruit can be bothersome to weight conscious residents. Besides having a foul, rotten egg flavour, a look at the nutritional value chart of the fruit can be depressing, particularly when the fat content is relatively higher than other fruits. What makes drinking the avocado juice a complete "sin" is probably the addition of both carnation and fresh milk. But who cares? There are some food and drink that an individual cannot miss and must try once in their lifetime! And this creamy fruit juice will delight everyone, particularly those with a sweet tooth.
The Bright and Colourful Stall
Imitation is the best for of compliment. The success of the 20-year old Mr. Avocado has led a large number of fruit juice stalls attempting to replicate their formula but it is pretty easy to discover which stall is the original one! Avocado juice from these "fake" stalls is milder, less fresh and tastes completely different from the original stall.
Xiao Ping, a stall assistant at the popular drink stall
When asked about the "formula" of the successful drink, Xiao Ping, the hawker assistant at Mr. Avocado, mentioned that fresh fruits are used for the drinks at the stall. The avocado is imported from Australia through a supplier. Other popular drinks in the stall are strawberry soursop and durian milkshares. (P.S. The durian milkshake tastes as nice as the avocado drink!)
Mr Avocado Exotic Juice
Address: Blk 40A Commonwealth Avenue #01-510 Commonwealth Avenue Cooked Food Centre (Until December 2010)
Opening Hours: 10am-7.30pm
Snacks Attack Ratings: 8.5/10
For residents who have sipped a mug of Avocado drink from this colorful and brightly decorated stall, hands up if you feel guilty but you think you have tasted one of the nicest fruit juices around! A gulp from the "enlarged" straw makes you "high" as the thick and savoury milky mixture arouses your taste buds and invites you to take another sip of the drink. Yeah, Mr. Avocado has come to Commonwealth Avenue Cooked Food Centre for a short tour!
Thick and creamy Avocado drink
Eating a slice of the avocado fruit can be bothersome to weight conscious residents. Besides having a foul, rotten egg flavour, a look at the nutritional value chart of the fruit can be depressing, particularly when the fat content is relatively higher than other fruits. What makes drinking the avocado juice a complete "sin" is probably the addition of both carnation and fresh milk. But who cares? There are some food and drink that an individual cannot miss and must try once in their lifetime! And this creamy fruit juice will delight everyone, particularly those with a sweet tooth.
The Bright and Colourful Stall
Imitation is the best for of compliment. The success of the 20-year old Mr. Avocado has led a large number of fruit juice stalls attempting to replicate their formula but it is pretty easy to discover which stall is the original one! Avocado juice from these "fake" stalls is milder, less fresh and tastes completely different from the original stall.
Xiao Ping, a stall assistant at the popular drink stall
When asked about the "formula" of the successful drink, Xiao Ping, the hawker assistant at Mr. Avocado, mentioned that fresh fruits are used for the drinks at the stall. The avocado is imported from Australia through a supplier. Other popular drinks in the stall are strawberry soursop and durian milkshares. (P.S. The durian milkshake tastes as nice as the avocado drink!)
Mr Avocado Exotic Juice
Address: Blk 40A Commonwealth Avenue #01-510 Commonwealth Avenue Cooked Food Centre (Until December 2010)
Opening Hours: 10am-7.30pm
Snacks Attack Ratings: 8.5/10
Traditional peanut pancake, also known as min jian kueh, is crispy on the outside and awesomely chewy inside. Doused with roasted, finely ground peanuts, sugar is added to give the pancake a perfect mixture of sweet and savoury.
A piece of Peanut Pancake
Mr and Mrs Teng prepared the batter at every morning at 4.30am. Mr Teng who is in his 60s has been serving Tanglin Halt residents with tasty pancakes, fresh from the oven, for the past 40 years. A former itinerant hawker, Mrs Teng's father taught them the traditional methods of making these pancakes when Mrs Teng married her partner many years ago. A keen perfectionist, Mr Teng will source out for fresh ingredients and prepare them himself on his "off" days on Mondays and Fridays.
Mr and Mrs Teng-the loving couple
Endless queues were forming when MyQueenstown Team visited this popular stall on a weekend. Priced at 60 cents for a peanut pancake and 90 cents for a yam pancake, Mr Teng has been trying out new flavours to attract the younger crowd.
Tanglin Halt Original Peanut Pancake
Address: Block 48 Tanglin Halt Road Tanglin Halt Market Stall 16
Opening Hours: 4.30am-11am (Tuesday-Thursday) 4.30am-1pm (Weekends) Close on Mondays and Fridays
Snack Attack Ratings: 7.5/10
Chwee Kueh, a type of steamed rice cake, are made from a mixture of rice and water, placed in small cup-shaped containers that looked like saucers. Served with preserved raddish and chilli sauce, it is a popular dish for breakfast and snacks.
The Handmade Chwee Kueh is Popular among residents
Mr and Mrs Lee Sah Bah wake up at 5am every morning at their Chwee Kueh stall at Ghim Moh Market. Mr Lee, 60 and Mrs Lee, 51 have been making chwee kueh for many years. Mr Lee is a former itinerant hawker and started selling the yummy rice cake from a pushcart in Strathmore Avenue 51 years ago with his mother. They shifted to Ghim Moh in 1976 and became a household name!
Mrs Lee and her daughter, Jeanette
They make about 1,500 to 2,000 chwee kuehs every day. They used rice flour, salt, water and a "secret ingredient" for the mixture. It was then stirred in a large drum and poured into a saucer shaped container to be steamed for 25 minutes. On the other hand, the preserved radish is cooked with onion, garlice and lard in a traditional way. It is simmered and stirred intermittently for 2 hours. When we asked Mrs Lee why they insist on making the chwee kueh by hand, they answered, "Chwee Kuehs made from machine lacked sincerity and it just does not taste the same!"
Queues at the Chwee Kueh Stall
Price chart for the Cheww Kueh
Patrons can expect queues during the morning hours and lunchtime at the market. However, waiting for such a delicious serving of yummy snack is certainly worth it!
Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh
Address: Block 20 Ghim Moh Road #01-31
Opening Hours: 6am-7pm daily (Rest days are not fixed)
Snacks Attack Rating: 7/10
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