Ayya Indian Foods - Chicken Masala Rice Set @ Tekka Market & Food Centre

Chicken masala is another item that I have been yearning to try for ages. I was walking around Tekka Market & Food Centre checking out the stalls offering this dish when I came across the queue in front of Ayya Indian Foods. 

The queue actually cleared quite fast and since they offer chicken masala as a set meal, I decided to give them a try.

Other set meal options included crab, prawn, sotong and fish. Chicken and mutton biryanis are available on the menu as well.

My chicken masala meal ($5.50) is served on a large banana leaf atop a tray. The meal included rice, chicken masala and two vegetable dishes.

It was while drafting this post at home that I realized the papadum was missing.

Delhi Lahori - Butter Chicken Naan Set @ Tekka Market & Food Centre

I have mentioned in the previous post that I love Indian cuisine but embarrassingly enough, my Indian culinary journey is only limited to the usual prata, thosai, putu mayam, rojak, and biryanis - dishes that are commonly found at a neighborhood Indian stall. 

I always wanted to try something different that is not in the list above. 

Well, what better chance to do just that since I am at Tekka Market & Food Centre?

After doing some research, I narrowed down my choice to the butter chicken naan set ($6) from Delhi Lahori.

I have not eaten butter chicken nor naan before so that is killing two birds with one stone!

Mahan Food - Mee Soto @ Blk 132 Jurong Gateway Road

Right across the coffee shop from Al Mubarak Restaurant is Mahan Food, a Malay Muslim stall selling nasi padang, lontong, mee siam, mee rebus and mee soto.

Other than the nasi padang, their noodle dishes are all priced affordably at $3. I ordered a bowl of mee soto and I could not resist the temptation of adding a begedil and fried chicken wing to complete my meal.

Don't you think the begedil and fried chicken wing are the best accompaniments to pair with mee soto? The makcik placed the two sides separately in another bowl. She even helped to cut up the chicken wing for easy eating.

The total bill came up to $5.20.

Al Mubarak Restaurant - Chicken Briyani @ Blk 132 Jurong Gateway Road

I was visiting the bank in the area so I thought I would drop by Foodclique at blk 132 Jurong Gateway Road for brunch.

I had spent the entire morning waiting at the bank and I was getting hangry. While pondering over what to have from the coffee shop, I saw this huge pot of briyani beckoning to me from the counter-top of Al Mubarak Restaurant, an Indian Muslim stall.

Resistance is futile, they say and I think there is much truth in that as I succumbed to temptation and ordered myself a chicken briyani ($5.50).

My eyes sparkled when the staff removed the lid that was partially covering the pot, revealing the basmati rice together with mutton and chicken in its grandeur.

As I did not had my camera with me, I returned for a second visit within the same week, this time, armed with my trusty camera for a proper review... only to realize that the memory card is still plugged into the computer at home.

I had to depend on my iPhone camera, albeit unwillingly, for the rescue mission.

Nasi Lemak Cabe Ijo @ Yishun Park Hawker Centre

Singaporean Mohammed Noorman and his Indonesian wife, Puti Andam Dewi Henry are the owners of Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang at Yishun Park Hawker Centre.

Just like the marriage of the stall owners, their signature dish - the nasi lemak ayam taliwang which the stall is named after - is a cross-cultural union between nasi lemak and ayam taliwang, an Indonesian spicy grilled chicken dish.

The couple had tried ayam taliwang while on honeymoon at Puti's hometown and they liked it so much that they decided to introduce it to Singapore and paired it with Noorman's nasi lemak recipe.

Apart from this, the stall also have nasi lemak ayam balado and nasi lemak ayam cabe ijo.

They are basically the same thing - good old nasi lemak served with grilled chicken leg but are smothered in different types of rempah.

I had the nasi lemak ayam cabe ijo, which is served with grilled chicken leg in green chili rempah.

Queenstown Lontong Mee Soto @ Tanglin Halt Food Centre

Update: Queenstown Lontong has relocated. The new address has been updated at the bottom of this post.

After trying the mee rebus from Queenstown Lontong at Tanglin Halt Food Centre, I could not stop thinking about their mee soto. After all, it is my ultimate favorite Malay noodle dish.

I decided not to have anymore naggy feelings about it so I returned to the food centre and ordered myself a bowl of mee soto ($3) with the same nice kakak inside the stall. A cheerful stall owner versus a grumpy one really makes a difference to my mood.

As the kakak busied herself with my order, I saw a fresh batch of chicken wings frying in the wok and was so tempted to get one but I opt for the begedil ($1) instead.

Queenstown Lontong Mee Rebus @ Tanglin Halt Food Centre

Update: Queenstown Lontong has relocated. The new address has been updated at the bottom of this post.

While doing my research about Tanglin Halt Food Centre, I learned about the wonderful mee rebus from Queenstown Lontong. To be honest, it was a photo of the noodle dish that caught my attention.

To verify if the mee rebus was really as good as what the reviews claimed to be, I decided that a visit to the stall is in order!

On the day of my visit, the two ladies from the stall were amiable and full of smiles. It made my trip  a welcoming one.

Just like any Malay stalls, they serve typical breakfast such as nasi lemak, lontong, mee rebus, mee siam, mee soto and soto ayam. Every dish costs a standard $3.

I was initially undecided between having mee rebus or mee soto but I eventually caved in to the former.

Ibrahim Mee Stall - Maggi Goreng Special @ Adam Road Food Centre

I can't fathom why people would willingly pay a few dollars for maggi goreng at the mamak stall but when I saw this upgraded version that comes with cheese fries and mutton steak, I decided it is time for me to find out why.

This maggi goreng special ($7) from Ibrahim Mee Stall is a real head-turner. From the moment I collected my order to putting it on the table, people passing by would turn their gaze and stare right at it. 

Well, who wouldn't? I have not seen anything quite like it myself. There is so much 'drama' on my styrofoam plate screaming for attention!

Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak @ Adam Road Food Centre

Over at Adam Road Food Centre, there are a number of stalls selling nasi lemak however, only two neighboring stalls stood out among the rest.

Since it is my first time there, I do not know which is the better one but I decided to go for Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak simply for the fact that they do not serve fried peanuts which I am not very fond of.

The seven options on their menu have interesting names, ranging from "Flash Meal" that consists the very basics like ikan bilis and egg with coconut rice, cucumber slices and sambal chili ($2.90) to the "Royal Rumble" ($5.90) which contained everything they have like fried chicken wing and ikan kuning.

Traditional Haig Road Putu Piring @ Haig Road Food Centre

Mention Haig Road Food Centre and the famous putu piring comes to mind.

To be honest, I have long heard about it but never tasted one before.

I always wonder what is the difference between the putu piring and the tutu kueh since they look so similar in appearance?

After trying Traditional Haig Road Putu Piring for the first time, I finally know that the Malay putu piring is filled with gula melaka instead of coconut and peanut like its Chinese cousin.

Rosy & Nora - Ball Kentang And Roti John @ Haig Road Market & Food Centre

I normally will not visit a food centre at 2pm but since Rosy & Nora opens only at that hour, I had to accommodate to their timing.

I am there to try something new called the "ball kentang" ($3.50).

When I arrived at the stall, there were two ladies - presumably Rosy and Nora themselves - inside busy churning out roti john and deep frying popiah to cater to the demands of the afternoon crowd.

HJ Waliti HJ Mazuki Mee Soto @ Haig Road Market & Food Centre

Mee Soto has got to be one of my most favorite Malay food. I will always order it as my first choice without hesitation whenever I come to a Malay stall.

When I decided to check out Haig Road Market & Food Centre, I knew there is a good chance of having my favorite Malay noodle soup since there are plenty of Malay stalls in the food centre. 

The question is which stall?

After some googling, I found out that HJ Waliti HJ Mazuki is the one to go to.

Adimann - Chicken Rice Flintstone @ Golden Mile Food Centre

I am pretty excited to try out this stall which sells a selection of seafood items and stir-frys like hor fun, fried rice, mee goreng, etc.

However, I am there mainly for their nasi lemak (fatty rice) and nasi ayam (chicken rice). You may be spoilt for choice here as this two dishes came in many variations!

From the normal chicken drumstick and chicken cutlet to the increasingly popular lobster with salted egg sauce, Adimann is set all out to please their customers.

Burgs By Project Warung @ Golden Mile Food Centre

 

Update: Burgs By Project Warung has relocated. The new address has been updated at the bottom of this post.

The hawker stalls at Golden Mile Food Centre took up the two lower levels of the building. So far, I have covered most of the must-try stalls on the upper floor.

This week, I ventured downstairs to the lower floor where the majority of the Muslim stalls are. 

Contender number one on my must-try list here is Burgs, a Muslim-owned burger joint run by three friends with culinary background.

Offering gourmet burgers at pocket friendly prices, I ordered "The Classics" - a cheeseburger at $4.90 which includes a serving of thick-cut fries (top up $1 for onion rings).

Mohammed Raffi Muslim Food Stall (Koothurar Nasi Briyani) @ Blk 17 Beach Road

This is actually an accidental find during one of my many trips to Golden Mile Food Centre. I was walking past the coffee shop at Blk 17 when my nose caught a whiff of curry in the air.

Once, I got home, I began googling for "blk 17 beach road curry" and the term "koothurar" turned up. A further search revealed that Johor Kaki, Seth Lui and Dr Leslie Tay have all blogged about this stall before.

Well, this can only mean that a visit to Koothurar is imminent!

Nadim's Delights Burger Banjir @ Blk 508 Jurong West St 52

Update: Nadim's Delights has permanently closed.

Nadim's Delights is a western food stall located inside a coffeeshop at Blk 508 Jurong West Street 52, not far from Blk 505 Market & Food Centre.

Apart from the usual black pepper steak, fish & chips, chicken chop, chicken cutlet and spring chicken, the stall is getting popular for their burger banjir which is going viral on social media lately.

So what exactly is a burger banjir?

Banjir actually means "flood" therefore, burger banjir means "flooded burger". 

Flooded by what? If you cannot tell from the photo above, it's cheese of course!

Singapore Zam Zam - Mutton Briyani @ 697 North Bridge Road

My visit to Zam Zam was entirely accidental and unplanned. No prior homework was done for my visit to this century-old business specializing in briyani and murtabaks.

I actually ended up here after I took a wrong turn while on my way to Blanco Court Prawn Noodle. I did not even know that Zam Zam was located in this area!

Nevertheless, I carried on my way to have my prawn noodle as that was the main purpose of my trip. After having my noodles, I figured there is still room for a murtabak so I made my way back to Zam Zam which is a two-storey shop house. 

The upper floor is air-conditioned with long tables while the lower floor is the kitchen where all the action took place and with a relatively smaller seating capacity.

Aspirasi - Ayam Penyet @ Seah Im Food Centre

After Dad's appointment at NUH, he requested to have the ayam penyet at Seah Im Food Centre which we had previously. The ayam penyet that we had then was from Farisha Muslim Food (#01-31).

This time, I suggested that we try the one from Aspirasi instead as it is the famous one at Seah Im Food Centre. I mean, if you google for ayam penyet at this food centre, Aspirasi is the only name that turn up in the search results although there are more than one ayam penyet stalls here.

Aspirasi specializes in fried chicken rice served with your choice of sauces: sambal ($4); sweet & sour ($4); lemon ($4) and black pepper ($4). Other than these sauces, you can also opt for the normal chicken rice ($3.50) or penyet ($5) that comes with a whole chicken leg.

Alternatively, they have fried rice with chicken ($5) and fried rice tomato with sambal chicken ($5.50) which is quite popular as well.

Farasha Muslim Food - Ayam Penyet @ Seah Im Food Centre

A while back, I brought the folks to Seah Im Food Centre to try out the lor mee from Shi Ji Noodle Stall.

After our meal, Mum spotted the next table having the ayam penyet from Farasha Muslim Stall. Tempted by what we saw, we ordered one set to share among the three of us.

The name ayam penyet translates as "smashed chicken" which means the chicken is flattened by smashing after being fried to a crisp. I have actually seen the stall at NUH's food court using a mallet.

A dish of Indonesia origins, I have eaten ayam penyet quite a number of times, but it is the first for them. 

The ayam penyet ($5) here comes with a chicken leg, cucumber, raw cabbage, a cube of tau kwa, a piece of thumb-length tempeh and sambal. The rice and soup are served separately on another plate.