Eng Kee Fried Bee Hoon And Chicken Wings @ Blk 117 Commonwealth Crescent

Eng Kee is a typical economical breakfast stall serving the usual staples like fried bee hoon, fried noodle and fried kway teow with an assortment of sides like fried chicken wings, otah, luncheon meat, ngor hiang, fish cake, fried long beans and stewed cabbages among other things.

Unlike other such economical stalls which closes by noon, Eng Kee starts business from noon onwards till late at night.

I have tried Eng Kee at their Redhill market outlet before and I am now at their main outlet - the birthplace of the fried chicken wings which they are famous for.

I arrived at around 11.30am so I ordered a drink, intending to wait for the stall to open for business at noon. However, I noticed that by 11.40am, they have already started operations.

By then, a short queue have formed but I did not join in until the queue starts moving.

Henry's Chicken Rice @ Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre

I have read numerous reviews about Henry's Chicken Rice at Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre just across from Hao Hao Noodle House and I decided to check them out.

I am particularly intrigued by two of the reviews which mentioned about a certain black-faced auntie. Why is she black-faced? I reminded myself not to blindly believe everything that was posted online. Who knows, it might have been a disgruntled customer bad mouthing her?

On the day of my visit, I approached the stall with an open mind. Surely, the auntie will not be black-faced for no rhyme or reason? Her back was facing me when I stood in front of the stall. It was still early so a queue have not build up yet. When she turned around, I have to say, I was taken aback by her expression. Her face was, like they said - black.

Auntie:  要什么？(what you want? what is your order?) 
Me: 烧鸡腿饭，这里吃。(roasted chicken drumstick rice, having here)

She proceeded to prepare my order, placed them on the tray and collected payment without another word, a smile or thank you.

But I did not do anything to make her angry what. Why is she mad at me? I eventually came to this conclusion: perhaps auntie is naturally poker face lah. Not that she is angry or anything.

Cannot expect people to keep smiling right? Siao meh?

Hao Hao Noodle House Wanton Noodle @ Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre

Hao Hao Noodle House is another popular noodle stall at Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre.

The stall sells a variety of noodles like wanton noodle, sui kow noodle, Ipoh hor fun, mushroom & chicken feet noodle, and laksa.

Being a fan of wanton noodle ($3), I have to order a plate of my favorite noodle. It is self-service here so you order, make your payment and wait to collect your food.

I was watching the chef blanch my noodles when he suddenly toss them high into the air and catching it deftly in his ladle with precision. That was totally unanticipated! I thought such flying acts could only be found in Malaysia.

Huang Da Fu Minced Meat Noodle @ Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre

Huang Da Fu is one of the more popular noodle stall at Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre. 

Run by a young couple, the stall serves minced meat noodle (bak chor mee) that come in three sizes ($2.70/$3.50/$4.50).

Their cheapest bowl, at $2.70, is the most affordable I have ever seen. I think bak chor mee at most places starts from $3. I decided to go for the medium bowl and the lady who took my order suggests adding on their delicious fish dumplings (4 pieces for $1).

After collecting payment, the guy immediately gets to work; blanching the noodles and putting the bowl together.

牛車水阿婆鹵鴨 @ Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre

I am not a duck person but I am a convert after discovering Cai Ji's braised duck from Seah Im Food Centre a couple of years ago. Now, whenever I come across a braised duck stall at any food centre, I would be most willing to give it a try.

During my first visit to Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre, I noticed there is a braised duck stall called 牛車水阿婆鹵鴨 located near the escalator. Although there is a perpetual queue in front of the stall, it gets cleared pretty fast. I made a mental note to give it a try during my next visit.

On my second visit, I came up from the escalator and was elated to see no one in the queue. The stall owner was sitting outside the stall, taking a break.

I immediately walk up to her and ordered a plate of braised duck rice ($3).

Hong Kee Porridge @ Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre

In my previous post, I was at Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre for the fried chicken burger from Hammee's. Because there are other orders before mine, I was told to pick up my burger in ten minutes time.

Instead of whiling away that ten minutes, I decided to order a bowl of pork porridge from Hong Kee Porridge as there is no queue.

The plan was to leisurely sip on, and savor my porridge while waiting for my burger. However, plans often do not work out the way you intended. The lack of a physical queue does not mean there is no queue at all. You place your order, let the uncle know where you are sitting and the auntie will bring the porridge to your table.

So now you know, the queue here is actually invisible. It took quite a while but when my pork porridge finally reached me, there is just mere minutes left to collect my burger. I gulped through my bowl of hot porridge with no leisure to speak of and needless to say, I did not get to enjoy or savor its flavor.

By the time I am done with the porridge, I am still late for my burger by five minutes. As such, I decided to make a return trip for the pork porridge again, to give it a fair review.

Hammee's Fried Chicken Burger @ Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre

This week, I decided to check out Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre because there is a new hipster burger joint that I wanted to try. I like hipster joints like this because they offer artisanal burgers at food centre prices. What's not to like?

I believe you should have seen them on social media by now. Yes, I am talking about Hammee's who opened their stall at the food centre above the market six months ago.

Previously selling seafood white bee hoon, the young couple made a complete switch-over to selling handcrafted burgers. There are currently three offerings on their menu: Premium Beef Cheeseburger ($8), Classic Beef Cheeseburger ($6) and Fried Chicken Burger ($5.50).

All the burgers come included with shoestring fries. I decided to go for the fried chicken burger which is available in either original or spicy. As the burgers are only made upon order, I was told to pick mine up in ten minutes.

Guan Kee Wanton Noodle @ Geylang East Market & Food Centre

By the time I am done with my fried Hokkien mee at Geylang East Market & Food Centre, the rain has eased a little but still showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. Now, what do you do when you are stuck at the food centre? Well, you eat some more!

According to my compiled list of the must-eats here, the wanton noodle from Guan Kee Wanton Noodle is another popular choice with the foodies. Being an ardent fan of wanton noodle, I had to order a plate ($3) to try.

Ming Yun Famous Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle @ Geylang East Market & Food Centre

After a visit to Certis Cisco Centre at Paya Lebar, I decided to check out the nearby Geylang East Market & Food Centre for my late breakfast.

Due to it being my first time in this area, I had a bit of trouble locating it.

It doesn't help that I was caught in a heavy downpour that morning. Even though I had with me an umbrella, I was completely drenched.

With the wind threatening to wrench the umbrella out of my hands, I tightened my grip on it with one hand while the other held on to my phone for directions from google map.

I eventually found the food centre behind some shop houses which is almost impossible to spot from the main road. Feeling cold and uncomfortable with wet clothes sticking to my skin, I make a beeline for the shelter, grateful for the respite from the rain.

I have done my due diligence the night before and had a rough idea of what the food centre has to offer. I have my eyes set on the hokkien mee ($4/$5/$6) from Ming Yun Famous Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle.