Heavens Appam @ Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre

Heavens is the name of an Indian breakfast stall serving a very limited menu of thosai, putu mayam and appam at Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre.

What piqued my interest is their unusual name. Why Heavens? Indian food stalls are normally named after the registered owner's name, the kind of food they sell or based on its location.

Of course, I do not speak collectively for all but just sharing my own personal experience with the ones that I have come across with.

Besides, such establishments are usually dominated by a male working environment hence my surprise to discover this stall managed wholly by two ladies.

Furthermore, if you have not already noticed by now that roti prata - quintessentially the representative Indian breakfast choice for many - is not on the menu.

But, roti prata is not why I am here for. What I am really after is their appam which I have not eaten before.

Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh @ Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre

Mention Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre and Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh is bound to come to mind.

Sixty years into the business, Mr Lee began helping his mother peddle chwee kueh from a push cart outside Alexandra Hospital in 1959.

Now, a permanent fixture at the food centre since its opening in the 1970s, he and his wife has been selling chwee kueh to a faithful following with a sixty year old recipe that was passed down by his mother.

Prawn Village @ Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre

Update: Prawn Village has permanently closed.

I have been meaning to visit Prawn Village when they were at Golden Mile Food Centre but procrastination has gotten the better of me and before I knew it, they had relocated to Ghim Moh Food Centre.

Well, not that it is a bad thing since Ghim Moh is actually much nearer for me. However, they have recently switched their operating hours from 9am - 5pm to 4pm - 9pm instead which makes it harder for me to have a bowl since I usually have dinner at home.

As fate would have it, I had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon and there is a direct bus that goes to Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre. By the time I arrived at the food centre, it was almost opening time. So, it was kind of like the stars aligned for me to finally have a bowl!

The last time I came to Ghim Moh Food Centre must have been at least fifteen years ago. When I reached there, I am surprised to find the food centre deserted and void of people. I asked a passing cleaner why is this so and he explains that the majority of stalls here closes for the day after the office lunch crowd has subside with only a handful remaining opened for dinner service.

Weng Kiang Kee's Triple Egg Porridge @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

Weng Kiang Kee Porridge is just next door to Fatty Ox at Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre. I have been to Fatty Ox a couple of times but I have not noticed Weng Kiang Kee Porridge there before.

There were a couple of customers sitting around in front of the stall, waiting for their orders thus I decided to join them to see what the hype was all about.

The stall adopts an electronic queue system. When an order is placed, you will be given a number tag which you have to wait for the corresponding number to flash on the screen in order to collect your porridge. 

Babas Peranakan - Peranakan Chap Chye Png @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

Update: Babas Peranakan has permanently closed.

Economical rice, or more commonly known as chap chye png (mixed rice) is no stranger to most of us here. But have you heard of one that specializes in Peranakan dishes?

Today, I am going to introduce Babas Peranakan - a Peranakan food stall located in Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre.

Peranakan cuisine are usually found in restaurants but to have one in a food centre is hard to come by.

Some of the dishes I saw on display included vegetable curry, chicken curry, assam fish, fried mackerel steak, otah and fried long beans among others.

The variety of dishes is quite limited compared to a regular chap chye png stall but that is only because one person is cooking in this space constrained kitchen. However, you can be assured of the consistency and quality of the food delivered.

I ordered a plate of rice and picked chicken curry, bitter gourd yong tau fu and chap chye. I also asked for curry sauce to be splashed over the rice. The bill came up to $5.

Happies Bak Kut Teh By DFTBA Kitchen - Hawkepreneur With A Heart @ Chinatown Complex market & Food Centre

Update: Happies Bak Kut Teh has permanently closed.

While waiting in line for my porridge and fried bee hoon from Chang Ji Gourmet, the Doraemon decal on the shutters of Happies Bak Kut Teh caught my eyes.

After some googling, I found out that the stall owner Connie Chan, is a fan of this anime character. If you check out their Instagram account, they occasionally have Doraemon's merchandise available for sale.

I myself is a fan of the robotic cat from the future hence my particular interest in this bak kut teh stall at Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre.

Tian Tian Porridge @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

Update: Tian Tian Porridge has permanently closed.

After having my chee cheong fun at Duo Ji, I walked past Tian Tian Porridge which is managed by a couple of old folks. I find myself unable to walk away without having a bowl because I have the tendency to patronize a stall if the stall owner is an elderly. It does not matter if the food is good or not as my main reason is to support them.

As its name implies, Tian Tian Porridge serves porridge and they only have two options available so you can have either fish or pork.

I ordered a $4 bowl of pork porridge and the auntie told me to take a seat. I sat at the table nearest to the stall so she did not have to walk too far to deliver my order. I collected my bowl and moved to another table out of sight from the stall to take my photos in peace as I feel stressed out with people watching me taking photos of my food.

The perks of visiting the food centre early is that there is virtually no crowd at all.

Duo Ji Famous Chee Cheong Fun @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

This is actually an accidental find.

I was walking through the food centre when I stumble across this particular section where all the stalls have yet to open except this one.

It was quite early then, around 7am. The place was dark and the only lights available came from this stall. There were no customers so I walked up to see what they have to offer. Apparently, they sell chee cheong fun (rice rolls) and yam cake ($1.50/$2/$3).

Perhaps, it is a psychological thing; the morning was chilly and having piping hot chee cheong fun that is freshly out from the steamers seemed like the ideal thing to do. I decided to order a $2 plate to try. 

Fei Ye Ye Food Tradition - Soy Sauce Chicken Noodle @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre have no lack of stalls offering soy sauce chicken. Other than Fatty Ox and Liao Fan (Hawker Chan), Fei Ye Ye Food Tradition is another stall here that specialize in soy sauce chicken ($7.50/half, $14/whole).

Apart from soy sauce chicken noodle, they also serve wanton noodle, wanton soup, sui kow (dumpling) noodle, sui kow soup and chicken feet noodle.

Almost every lunar new year, I would head to Fei Ye Ye for their jellyfish yee sang however, I have yet to give their noodles a try. Well, not even once.

Come to think of it, I wonder why?

Since I am currently on a food trail at this food centre, I thought why not take the opportunity to try all the soy sauce chickens here?