Leong Wei Roasted Delights - $2 Char Siew Rice @ Holland Drive Market & Food Centre

To be honest, I was drawn to Leong Wei Roasted Delights by its low price. Their char siew rice, roasted pork rice and roasted chicken rice starts from $2. In this economy when everyone is struggling to cope amid rising costs, such affordability is truly a god send.

Kudos to the stall owners for keeping prices affordable to the lower income group.

I guess I am not the only one to feel the crunch; thirty minutes before the stall is due to open at 11.30am, a snaking queue made up mainly of retirees, has already formed.

Da Chang Jin Handmade Chee Cheong Fun @ Holland Drive Market & Food Centre

Update: Da Chang Jin Handmade Chee Cheong Fun has permanently closed.

Da Chang Jin Chee Cheong Fun at Holland Drive Market & Food Centre serves the Hong Kong-styled rice roll. You can pick an assortment of fillings to have inside your rice roll ranging from the usual char siew to the more exotic flying fish roe and salmon.

Since it is my first time at this stall, I decided to go for the original ($2.50) without fillings so I could better appreciate the rice roll in its simplicity.

Unlike the Singapore-styled chee cheong fun which is factory supplied, the Hong Kong version is made from scratch at the stall upon ordering. The rice-flour batter is first poured on a piece of white cloth over a steamer. Once the rice sheet forms, the entire cloth is lifted and transferred to a oiled metal tray by the side where the rice sheet is separated from the cloth. Your desired filling is then added and rolled into shape before a special concoction of soy sauce is ladled on.

Hakka Noodle @ Holland Drive Market & Food Centre

Hakka Noodle is one of the crowd favorite at Holland Drive Market & Food Centre.

Google about them and their specialty, the Hakka noodle, will turn up as one of the top results in the search engine.

If you are scratching your head over what Hakka noodle is, you might be more familiar with its other name - yong tau foo. It come in two sizes ($3/$4) and I ordered the big serving.

The ingredients are fixed so there is no choosing here.

My order come with a plate of noodle and a bowl of soup.

Yap Kee Wanton Noodle @ Holland Drive Market & Food Centre

Yap Kee Wanton Noodle at Holland Drive Market & Food Centre is managed by the Koo family - a husband and wife team hailing from Batu Pahat in Johor, Malaysia.

According to Tony, you might be interested to know that Uncle Koo's brother is the man behind the famous "flying wanton noodle" at Permas Jaya. Unsurprisingly, the brother uses the same noodle supplier and yes, his stall is called "Yap Kee" as well.

I wonder why are they not called Koo Kee since they are, you know, the Koos?

Anyway, Auntie Koo was there alone in the stall on the day of my visit. She was all smiles and I ordered the large serving of the wanton noodle ($3.50/$4.50).

Cheng Heng Kway Chap And Braised Duck Rice @ Holland Drive Market & Food Centre

In my opinion, Cai Shu Kway Chap at my neighborhood serves one of the best braised pig's offal there is and I especially enjoy slurping up their slippery kway in the delicious broth which I could easily have three bowls of.

I have to admit that I have not eaten that many kway chaps to come to a fair conclusion; there are many other kway chap stalls like Lao San and To-Ricos which are all very famous but until I have the chance to give them a try, Cai Shu shall remain crowned at the top of my list.

Kway chap is something that you can customize according to your liking by picking your favorite ingredients or simply have a little of everything. For me, I only like the big intestines, pork belly and pig's skin. As for the braised egg, fish cake, tau kwa and taupok, not so much.

This week, I visited Cheng Heng Kway Chap And Braised Duck Rice at Holland Drive Market & Food Centre for their kway chap which seems to be quite popular.

A one person serving here costs $3.50.

Soh Food - Stewed Duck @ Empress Road Market & Food Centre

Update: Soh Food has permanently closed.

I just realized that the stalls at Empress Road Market & Food Centre which I have featured on this blog are all located along the same row just next to each other.

The third stall that I wanted to introduce at this food centre is called Soh Food. From its name alone, it might be hard to guess what they sell but their specialty is actually stewed duck.

Do not confuse stewed duck with braised duck because they are not the same even though they may look similar. In fact, I have not heard of stewed duck before and this is definitely my first time having it!

I ordered a stewed duck leg which came with a portion of spinach and two pieces of Chinese mushrooms. You can make it into a meal by having it served with either kway teow or rice.

I opted for rice and my set (see photo above) costs $6.

Happy World Roast @ Empress Road Market & Food Centre

Happy World Roast at Empress Road Market & Food Centre specializes in Cantonese roast meats. Other than the usual roasts like char siew (bbq pork), siew yoke (roasted pork) and roasted chicken, they also serve Hainanese chicken.

After studying the menu, I decided to go for their char siew and siew yoke set for one person ($6). The set includes a plate of rice drizzled with dark soy, a single portion of char siew and siew yoke served separately, a bowl of stewed cabbage and a bowl of peanut soup.

The reason I chose to have this is because I like stewed cabbage and it is quite unheard of to have a roast stall offering this. Thus, I wanted to check out how this one person char siew and siew yoke set is like.

Ah Wing Wanton Mee @ Empress Road Market & Food Centre

When I was previously looking up Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre on Google map, I discovered that Empress Road Market & Food Centre (also known as Farrer Road Food Centre) is just a little further up.

I did not realize that Farrer Road is actually so close to the Queenstown and Commonwealth area. I have wanted to check out Empress Road Market & Food Centre since a few years back but shelved the plans as I thought it is rather out of the way.

Now that I know how easy it is to get there from my place, I decided to pay a visit to the food centre even though if it meant I had to take three buses to reach my destination (but it's okay, I love bus rides especially when it's raining and with my ear pods plugged in).

So, what makes me want to come Empress Road Market & Food Centre all these years? It is all because of Ah Wing Wanton Mee!

I once saw a photo of their wanton mee and I was fascinated by their plump wantons and charred char siew that I promised myself I would have a plate of it one of these days. The "one of these days" took a little longer than expected but better late than never, right?

Bee Yee Teochew Famous Fish Ball Kuay Teow Mee @ Blk 117 Commonwealth Drive

I am done with reviewing the food at Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre but I thought I will give Google photos a final browse just in case I missed out on anything.

And I am glad I did because the photo of a beautiful bowl of Teochew mee pok (flat noodle) caught my attention. It did not look like it came from Huang Da Fu or Hao Hao Noodle House.

I clicked on the photo and it brought me to a Straits Times article about this noodle stall called Bee Yee Teochew Famous Fish Ball Kuay Teow Mee at block 117. Then, it dawned upon me that I have seen that article a long time ago.

That bowl of mee pok with prawn, fish cake, bak chor and pork lard seemed alluring enough for me to want to have a bowl but at that point of time, I still have not figured out how to get to the location thus, the matter was soon forgotten.