Xin Peng La Mian Xiao Long Bao @ Blk 442 Clementi Ave 3

Ask anyone for food suggestions at Clementi and chances are, the majority would direct you towards Clementi 448 Market & Food Centre. 

However, apart from the food centre, there are quite a number of coffee shops in the vicinity which are worthy of a visit too.

Bgain 442 Eating House - the coffee shop within the closest proximity, is located just across the food centre at blk 442. 

Xin Peng La Mian Xiao Long Bao is one of the more notable stall here and as its name imply, offers a variety of la mian and xiao long bao.

For la mian, they have:

• fried bean sauce la mian (aka zha jiang mian)
• dumpling la mian (soup/dry)
• five spices beef la mian soup
• chicken chop/pork chop la mian (soup/dry)
• vegetable meat wanton la mian (soup/dry)
• preserved vegetable shredded meat la mian (soup/dry)
• vegetable meat wanton soup
• spicy shredded chicken la mian soup

As for dumplings, they have:

• Shanghai xiao long bao
• Shandong dumpling
• Shandong fried dumpling
• red oil wanton

Frozen dumplings are also available at $12 for 30 pieces. That is good news for your hotpot party!

After a quick scan of the menu, I was impressed by how affordably priced the food here are.

I got greedy and decided to order the dumpling la mian dry ($4.50) and a steamer of xiao long bao ($4.50 for 6 pieces). 

Tiong Bahru Hainanese Chicken Rice @ Blk 177 Bukit Batok West Ave 8

On my third visit to Get Together Coffee Shop at block 177 Bukit Batok West Ave 8, I headed straight for the chicken rice stall called Tiong Bahru Hainanese Chicken Rice.

I must admit that I have never heard of them before but from what I found out prior to my visit, they have been awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand for six consecutive years and the owner, Mr Cheong Weng Wah, learned the craft from a Mandarin Hotel chef.

While reading up about them, I also found out something very interesting; they have been aggressively opening one new outlet every month since last November.

It first started with Tampines (11/11/21) followed by Marsiling (12/12/21), then Ang Mo Kio (6/1/22), and now, Bukit Batok (10/2/22). By the time you read this review, they would have already opened their fifth outlet at Clementi (9/3/22)!

Jiak Song Mee Hoon Kway @ Blk 177 Bukit Batok West Ave 8

Another stall that I so desperately wanted to patronize from Get Together Coffee Shop at block 177 Bukit Batok West Ave 8 is Jiak Song Mee Hoon Kway.

The person behind the stall needs no further introduction. He is non other than Aaron Wong of MasterChef Singapore fame.

A professional photographer and diver, Aaron decided to venture into the hawker scene by selling his favorite hawker food - mee hoon kway!

Since opening his flagship stall at Telok Blangah two years ago, you can now find more outlets at Bedok, Toa Payoh, Tampines, Queen Street (Bugis), Jurong West, and now, Bukit Batok.

Chef Kin HK Wanton Noodle @ Blk 177 Bukit Batok West Ave 8

From this month (10 February 2022) onwards, residents of Bukit Batok will have more food options to explore following the opening of a new coffee shop at block 177 Bukit Batok West Ave 8.

What makes this coffee shop stand out among the others in the neighborhood is that several 'branded' hawker stalls can all be found under one roof here.

Some of the big names that took up space in this coffee shop named Get Together Coffee Shop included:

• Chef Kin HK Wanton Noodle,
• Chef Wei HK Cheong Fun,
• Jiak Song,
• Rong Cheng Rou Gu Cha,
• Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee, and
• Tiong Bahru Hainanese Chicken Rice

There is also a nasi lemak stall, a western food stall, a vegetarian stall, and the beverage stall.

As I googled for the location, I realized it is the old site of the coffee shop where I used to have vegetarian food with my classmates after school when we need to stay back for ECA. 

Of course, it is not the same dingy coffee shop anymore but one that is newly renovated and probably under new management.

The very first stall that caught my interest is Chef Kin HK Wanton Noodle.

Eng Kee Chicken Wings @ Beauty World Food Centre

Eng Kee Chicken Wings has recently opened their fourth outlet at Beauty World Food Centre. Needless to say, I had to go check it out for I am a fan of their fried chicken wings.

Although their outlets are all located in the West, this stall is by far, the nearest and most convenient for me. 

I have not been to Beauty World Food Centre for a short while and I am taken aback by the sudden influx of new stalls during this visit. I will write about them in my subsequent posts.

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

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.