Keow Teow Kia - Wine Fragrance Noodle Soup @ Blk 132 Jurong Gateway Road

Foodclique and Happy Hawker are two longtime coffee shops at blk 132 Jurong Gateway Road. Located side by side, both have been there for as long as I can remember.

A week ago, after having my Hakka yong tau foo at Foodclique, I went over next door to check out Happy Hawker which has changed hands earlier this year. It is currently known as 咖啡仔来了.

Other than the popular braised duck stall at the corner, the remaining stalls at this coffee shop are all new.

Among them is this stall named Keow Teow Kia which specializes in Malaysian-style noodles.

Keow teow refers to kway teow but I wonder why is it spelled as such instead of koay teow like they usually do in Malaysia?

Anyway, on the menu are:

• keow teow soup ($4.50),
• dry noodle soup ($4.50),
• wine fragrance noodle soup ($4.80),
• bitter gourd minced meat soup with rice/noodle ($5.50),
• signature soup with rice/noodle ($5.50),
• salted fish mee tai mak soup ($5), and
• fish ball soup ($3.80)

Hakka Yong Tau Foo @ Blk 132 Jurong Gateway Road

Each time I accompany my folks to the nearby bank or CPF Building, we would end up having a meal in this coffee shop at blk 132 Jurong Gateway Road.

Although there are a variety of food options to choose from, they will bypass all the other stalls and head straight for the Hakka yong tau foo stall.

I have been here with them a couple of times but yet to try it. I wonder why they only have eyes for this stall?

I decided to make a lone trip here to try it for myself.

Mahan Food - Mee Soto @ Blk 132 Jurong Gateway Road

Right across the coffee shop from Al Mubarak Restaurant is Mahan Food, a Malay Muslim stall selling nasi padang, lontong, mee siam, mee rebus and mee soto.

Other than the nasi padang, their noodle dishes are all priced affordably at $3. I ordered a bowl of mee soto and I could not resist the temptation of adding a begedil and fried chicken wing to complete my meal.

Don't you think the begedil and fried chicken wing are the best accompaniments to pair with mee soto? The makcik placed the two sides separately in another bowl. She even helped to cut up the chicken wing for easy eating.

The total bill came up to $5.20.

Al Mubarak Restaurant - Chicken Briyani @ Blk 132 Jurong Gateway Road

I was visiting the bank in the area so I thought I would drop by Foodclique at blk 132 Jurong Gateway Road for brunch.

I had spent the entire morning waiting at the bank and I was getting hangry. While pondering over what to have from the coffee shop, I saw this huge pot of briyani beckoning to me from the counter-top of Al Mubarak Restaurant, an Indian Muslim stall.

Resistance is futile, they say and I think there is much truth in that as I succumbed to temptation and ordered myself a chicken briyani ($5.50).

My eyes sparkled when the staff removed the lid that was partially covering the pot, revealing the basmati rice together with mutton and chicken in its grandeur.

As I did not had my camera with me, I returned for a second visit within the same week, this time, armed with my trusty camera for a proper review... only to realize that the memory card is still plugged into the computer at home.

I had to depend on my iPhone camera, albeit unwillingly, for the rescue mission.