Ah Tan Wings - Har Cheong Gai Cutlet @ Yishun Park Hawker Centre

After hearing so much raves about Ah Tan Wings, I finally had the chance to give them a try at Yishun Park Hawker Centre.

This stall specializes in one of Singaporean's favorite tze char dish - the prawn paste chicken, or better known as har cheong gai which is essentially deep fried chicken marinated in fermented prawn paste.

The menu here is simple.

You can buy the chicken wings ala carte at $1.80 each (minimum two pieces), or as a meal with either two wings (Set A $5.20) or chicken cutlet (Set B $6.80). Both meals come with rice and a sunny side up with cucumbers and half a wedge of lemon.

There is also the basic meal (Set C $3.50) which is similar to Set A but only come with one wing and no fried egg.

51 Noodle House - Japanese Fusion Bak Chor Mee @ Yishun Park Hawker Centre

During my previous visit to Yishun Park Hawker Centre, I went to the wrong bak chor mee stall therefore, I am back again to look for the correct one called 51 Noodle House.

51 Noodle House is the collaboration between two young hawkers who already have their own respective food stalls at the food centre.

Rather than being business rivals, the two - Henry Yap from Ipoh Curry Noodle (#01-36) and Darren  Teo from Seafood Pirates (#01-35) - teamed up to open another stall offering fusion bak chor mee with a Japanese element to it.

Da San Yuan - Bak Chor Mee @ Yishun Park Hawker Centre

The purpose of this trip to Yishun Park Hawker Centre is to check out the bak chor mee.

Upon my arrival, I realized that I had forgotten the unit number and name of the stall. I began looking around at the signboards, searching for one that offers the dish. It did not take me long to find it and I promptly ordered a bowl.

After taking a few pictures, I began to dig in eagerly. However, a few mouthfuls later, I started questioning myself the reason for including this stall on my list. Do not get me wrong; the taste is decent but the ingredients are hardly rave-worthy for me.

I took out my list to verify only to discover that... I had actually gone to the wrong stall!

I am supposed to go to 51 Minced Meat Noodle but I had mistaken Da San Yuan for it instead. Well, my bad. I had not expected that there would be more than one bak chor mee stall at the food centre.

Apart from bak chor mee, Da San Yuan also sell fish ball noodle, mini pot noodle and laksa.

Seafood Pirates - $3 Oyster Omelette Rice @ Yishun Park Hawker Centre

Seafood Pirates is a seafood soup stall run by Darren Teo and a partner. It is one of the more well-known stalls at Yishun Park Hawker Centre with a celebrity status of sorts, having appeared in various news media as well as covered by major food blogs.

In tune with their stall's pirate themed name, their soups are cleverly named as Pirate's Ultimate, Pirate's Signature, Pirate's Treasure and Pirate's Catch.

Each of these are served with a different combination of seafood such as crayfish, prawns, fish, clams, oysters and fish roe ball in a soup base made with fish bones and chicken bones.

As I am having the Ipoh curry noodle from next door, I decided to leave the soup for another visit. Instead, I will have the oyster omelette rice which I decided to takeaway in case I could not finish it (after having the curry noodle).

Yap's Noodle - Ipoh Curry Seafood & Roasted Pork Noodle @ Yishun Park Hawker Centre

Henry Yap, the owner of Yap's Noodle at Yishun Park Hawker Centre hails from the Malaysian town of Ipoh. His stall specializes in dishes from his hometown, particularly curry noodle.

There is quite a variety of curry noodle available on the menu: curry seafood & roasted pork noodle, curry seafood & abalone noodle, curry shredded chicken & roasted pork noodle, curry chicken noodle, curry fish ball noodle and curry noodle (no meat).

I was actually undecided between the curry shredded chicken noodle and the curry seafood & roasted pork noodle. The former is my personal favorite while the latter, I heard, is limited to only fifty bowls per day.

Furthermore, I supposed the one with seafood would appear better on photos therefore, the choice is made.

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.

Bon Appetit - Ke Kou Mian @ Yishun Park Hawker Centre

Update: Bon Appetit has permanently closed.

What is ke kou mian (可口面)?

I first heard of this dish from a stall named Hai Xian Zhu Zhou (海鲜煮粥) at Blk 163A Gangsa Road (Bukit Panjang) which is pretty close by my place.

Ke kou mian translates to "delicious noodle", or it could simply be referring to the Koka brand of instant noodle that the stall used in the making of this dish. Basically, the stall cook instant noodle with your choice of broth flavor (pork, seafood, spicy, tom yum) and added ingredients like meat and vegetables to it.

I am not too sure if paying a couple of dollars for a bowl of instant noodle which I could easily whip up at home myself is such a good idea therefore, even though this Hai Xian Zhu Zhou is near me, I have not paid them a visit yet.

I think partly, it is also due to their ungodly operating hours from 4am to 2.30pm.

I doubt this ke kou mian stall named Bon Appetit at Yishun Park Hawker Centre is related to Hai Xian Zhu Zhou but since it have a much more normal operating hours, I decided to give them a try.

One Mouth Noodle - Char Siew Wanton Noodle @ Yishun Park Hawker Centre

From far, you would have thought that this stall at Yishun Park Hawker Centre sells ban mian as the words 手工面 (handmade noodle) took centrestage on the signboard in a very large font size.

However, as soon as you come nearer, you will realize that the stall's real name is the one on the left-hand side in a smaller font that reads 一口麵 (One Mouth Noodle).

But, the biggest surprise is, the stall does not sell ban mian at all. Instead, they sell Hong Kong-styled wanton noodle.

And the best part? The stall owner actually makes his own egg noodle, a skill which he picked up from his father and that is what the "手工面" on the signboard refers to.

Qi Le Chicken Rice @ Blk 744 Yishun Street 72

Mention chicken rice in Yishun and 925 Chicken Rice near the old bus interchange would come to mind. I had it before but did not find it inspiring enough to want to write about it.

It has been years since then and now I am back on a food trail around Yishun. I thought of looking for another chicken rice stall to try and my search brought me to this chicken rice stall called Qi Le Chicken Rice located inside the S-11 coffee shop near the MRT station.

It is easy to get here: simply exit the MRT station and follow the footpath to the coffee shop. The stall is right in the middle of the coffee shop, partially hidden behind a pillar.