Blanco Court Fresh Fish Soup @ Beauty World Food Centre

I am not gonna lie but the reason why I went to try out this Blanco Court Fresh Fish Soup is due to its pretty bowls which I see on almost every other table.

It seems like a hot favourite for the hikers who have finished their workout at the nearby Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

This fish soup stall at Beauty World Food Centre serves fried fish head soup, sliced fish soup, fried fish soup, seafood soup and tom yum soup with either rice, thin bee hoon or thick bee hoon. You can request for more rice, bee hoon and evaporated milk at no additional charge.

Guan Yin Vegetarian - Mui Fan @ Beauty World Food Centre

Update: Guan Yin Vegetarian has permanently closed.

I am just a casual vegetarian who goes meatless on the first and fifteenth of every lunar month or when a major Buddhist event come up (e.g who's who birthday/enlightenment day, etc).

Guan Yin Vegetarian at Beauty World Food Centre basically offers two menu - the noodle soup menu (mee hoon kueh soup, dumpling noodle soup) and the rice & noodle aka tze char menu (hor fun, mui fun, ee-mian). All the dishes here are reasonably priced at just $4 and $5.

I was there during lunch time with a sizeable crowd. I initially wanted to try the mee hoon kueh but was told that there is a 30 minutes wait. However, the wait would be shorter if I order from the tze char menu instead.

As there is only one chef working within the confines of that limited stall space, it is understandably more efficient to focus on one menu instead of alternating between the two during peak hours. 

You Peng Noodle Dumpling House - Sour & Spicy Noodle @ Beauty World Food Centre

You Peng Noodle Dumpling House at Beauty World Food Centre is immensely popular for their affordably priced xiao long bao (小笼包) and jiaozi (饺子) that are freshly made at the stall daily.

Despite located at a inconspicuous location of the food centre, the stall continues to attract a healthy queue of followers who are willing to stand in line for their fix of dumplings. It is a norm to see individuals savoring multiple bamboo steamers of xiao long bao at one go.

To be honest, I am not too big a fan of either as I find such pork fillings usually too heavily marinated for my liking. 

That is why I tend to avoid pork items like siew mai, xiao long bao and even big pau as they tastes the same to me after a while which can be a little overwhelming. 

Penang Home Made Beef Balls @ Beauty World Food Centre

Penang Home Made Beef Ball at Beauty World Food Centre offer a few selection of dishes such as beef ball noodle soup, mixed beef noodle soup, braised beef brisket noodle, beef hor fun and beef fried rice. All the dishes here are reasonably priced at a flat rate of $5.

Footfall here pales in comparison to their ever popular neighbor, Top 1 Hand Made Noodle which attracts a constant queue everyday.

I decide to give them a try anyway, and ordered the braised beef brisket noodle. You can opt for yellow noodle, kway teow, mee kia and chor bee hoon.

Noodlefellas - Lor Mee @ Beauty World Food Centre

Update: Kopifellas has shifted right next to Noodlefellas. The address has been updated at the end of this post.

Noodlefellas is yet another relatively new stall at Beauty World Food Centre. 

Set up by the people behind Kopifellas who took up another stall at another row in the food centre, I am excited to see new entrants setting up business here, injecting new life and vibrancy to the 36 years old premise which narrowly escaped from a acquisition fate just a couple of years ago.

I guess it is a no brainer as to what the two stalls had to offer judging by their names? 

Noodlefellas had fish ball noodle, fish ball soup, minced meat noodle, laksa, sliced abalone noodle and my favorite hawker dish, lor mee included on its menu.

Little Red Dot House Of Noodle - Prawn Paste Pork Chop Noodle @ Beauty World Food Centre

Update: Little Red Dot House Of Noodle has relocated. The new address has been updated at the bottom of this post. 

A majority of the stalls were still closed when I reached Beauty World Food Centre at around 9am. Only Top 1 Handmade Noodle and Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Noodle Rice were in service in the early morning but I did not come for those.

There is another stall that opened even earlier than the two stalls. I had come for the prawn paste pork chop noodle from a stall named Little Red Dot House Of Noodle. According to their Facebook, they serve "traditional Hong-Kong style noodles with 古早味".

Other than the usual wanton noodle and dumpling noodle, they also have braised chicken wing noodle, prawn paste chicken wing noodle, braised pork trotter noodle and prawn paste pork chop noodle.

I actually got to know about them through a sponsored post on Facebook that appeared in my feed. I do not recall seeing this stall at the food centre before so I snooped around their Facebook and found out that they are newly opened in August 2020. Before that, they used to operate at 375 Upper Aljunied Road.

While at their previous premise, they serve a different menu of chicken rice and roasts.

Jin Li Satay Bee Hoon @ Beauty World Food Centre

Update: Jin Li Satay Bee Hoon has permanently closed.

I must admit that I am not exactly a satay bee hoon person therefore, you will not find any satay bee hoon reviews here in this blog. I do like satay but I find the pairing of the sauce with bee hoon is kind of weird for me.

However, I am willing to make an exception for Jin Li Satay Bee Hoon at Beauty World Food Centre because something about the stall reminded me so much of how a typical hawker stall in the 1980's looked like.

After all, Beauty World was built nearly forty years ago. I believe most of the older stalls here have not gone through much changes since day one.

As a child of that era, I missed the good old days when life were simpler and I really appreciate the 80s vibes the stall is giving me.

Top 1 Handmade Noodle @ Beauty World Food Centre

Top 1 Handmade Noodle at Beauty World Food Centre is highly raved among ban mian fans. I had wanted to give them a try since a long time ago but have always been turned off by the never-ending queue in front of the stall.

Perhaps due to the pandemic, there were a lot less people than usual when I visited the food centre today. What better time to join the queue than now?

But joining the queue is just the first hurdle. I stood in line for about twenty minutes before I finally get to place my order with the female stall helper. After making payment, I was told to wait at one side.

If you are dining in, you will be given a ticket number. It is then another round of waiting for your number to flash on the screen to collect your order (I waited for about another ten odd minutes). If you are taking away, she will call out to you therefore, wait where she could see you.

While waiting, I noticed her accepting phone orders so there may be invisible orders before yours. Manage your expectations regarding the waiting time. Do not join the queue if you are rushing for time. They do not entertain refunds unless the waiting time exceeds thirty minutes.

Hambaobao Is Back @ Beauty World Food Centre - Till Next Year!

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

Hambaobao (a direct translation of ham burger in Chinese) is the "new kid on the block", having set up stall at the Beauty World Food Centre about two years ago.

When I first got to know about this burger joint serving some Asian-inspired burgers like ayam buah keluak (sandwiched between two buns with chap chye, no less!) and crispy pork belly (aka sio bak burger), I told myself that I have to come try it one of these days.

However, the "one of these days" never did materialize as procrastination got the better of me.

Earlier this year, news about a mystery buyer buying over the food centre with intentions to redevelop it into an air-conditioned food court were rife. Before I knew it, the food centre ceased operations.