[Singapore] 7 Best Stalls in Tiong Bahru Market

Hi Everyone! I know it's been too long since my last post. So glad that I finally could write again!

So you might know or might not know, earlier this year, I got an opportunity to work on an interior project in Singapore. It was such an exciting and valueable opportunity for me, to be able to experience living and working in another country. But now my project is done, and I'm back here at Jakarta. I would love to share about the project later here in this blog, but for now, I want to share about Singaporean food I miss the most.

During my 7 months working period, I work in an interior and graphic design company located at the most hipster area in Singapore, Tiong Bahru. I'm so lucky, right? It's one of the food heaven in Singapore. There are famous Cafes, Coffee Shops, and Dessert Places at every corner of the street. You can never get bored!  But nope, it's not the food in the cafe and dessert places that I miss the most now. I'm currently missing the hawker food from Tiong Bahru Market.

Tiong Bahru Market is one of the most famous Hawker Centre in Singapore. It has more than 80 stalls of  local and international food serving you everyday. It's where I went for lunch everyday during my stay in Singapore. And I must say, most of the food there are really good! I didn,t get the chance to try all 83 stalls there, but here are my favourite dishes so far (not in particular order).

TIONG BAHRU BAK CHOR MEE #02-77

Bak Chor Mee (pork noodle) might be a common dish that you can find in Singapore. But what made this one special is the MEATBALLS. Their meatball is not just any ordinary meatballs. Inside that plain-looking meatball are minced pork meat with super delicious pork broth that will burst in your mouth when you take a bite. Total Meatball-gasm! The noodle itself is not bad, but it's the meatballs that make me a regular customer of this stall.

TIONG BAHRU HAINANESE CURRY RICE #02-78

I love any kind of curry, and this one is no exception. The hainanese curry rice is something similar with mixed veg rice, but with curry sauce on top. You can choose your own toppings here. My favourite would be the pork chop, pork belly, and the green beans. The pork chop is very crunchy and tasty, and the fragrant curry sauce just compliments it best. Must try! And do anticipate for the long queue if you come at lunch hour.

YEAP SENG HANDMADE PAU TIM #02-71

I honestly never buy this myself, as the stall only open in the morning, and run out of everything by lunch hour. My colleague had always help me buy their dimsum for breakfast. They might not as famous as other hawker dimsum (like Tiong Bahru Pau or Hoo Kee Pau), but for me their dimsum is amazing! Even better than the dimsum chain you ate in the mall! Their prawn dumpling is definitely the best I've tried in my entire life, and I'm not being hyperbolic. And I love their charsiu pau too.

HONG HENG FRIED SOTONG PRAWN MEE #02-01

This one is my comfort food. It's called hokkien mee, and I think we dont have this kind of noodle in Jakarta. My first time trying this dish is right here at this store, and I fell in love immediately. The noodle is like a combination of fried noodle and soup noodle, topped with fishballs, prawns, and squids. It's soggy, but so fragrant and tasty. I love this noodle so much that the entire office knows that "Nat loves Hokkien Mee". My boss also said that I should learn how to make hokkien mee and open my own hokkien mee stall in Jakarta since  love it so much, lol. Hmm, should I? :p

BLANCO COURT FRIED FISH SOUP #02-61

Singaporeans have things with soup. At first I didn't understand the logic of having soup for lunch in such a hot day, and you are eating at the non-aircon hawker centre. But this fried fish soup got me hooked, and I don't mind eating this dish for my lunch, even thou I might be sweating like pig afterwards. It is basically fried fish fillet, fried eggs, and veggie inside light but rich fish soup. So good, but even better if you eat it in rainy days. Yum!

MIN NAN PORK RIBS PRAWN NOODLE #02-31

One of the most famous stall in the entire market, the line is always long! There's the soup noodle and dry noodle version, and I prefer the dry one. The noodle and the soup are so fragrant because of the combination of pork and prawn broth, and the topping is generous! Expect something like the picture above, two big chunks of pork ribs and two large prawns. Satisfaction guaranteed!

ALI CORNER #02-17

Last but not least, something that always reminded me of home. It's ayam penyet! Even thou the owner of this stall is Malaysian, but I must admit she cooks even better than some of the ayam penyet I tried in Indonesia. I especially love the sambal!

So yeah, that's the list of my favourite dishes in Tiong Bahru Market, Singapore. If you plan to come to Tiong Bahru Market, maybe you can try visiting this link http://tiongbahru.market/ beforehand. I find it very useful! Let me know what you think, and have a pleasant meal! 

TIONG BAHRU MARKET
30 Seng Poh Road
Singapore 168898

Koffie Warung Tinggi d/h Tek Soen Hoo

The fifth floor of Grand Indonesia West Mall is occupied by a lot of new restaurants lately. One of them is Koffie Warung Tinggi, the old coffee shop which has been established since 1878, and now opening it's second outlet with a brand new concept.

Last week when me and my besties wandered around the fifth floor, we were attracted by this coffee shop because of two things: the comfy sofas and the martabak bar. Well it's pretty hard to find martabak inside malls, isn't it? And also the interior looks really nice, it is old and modern at the same time. By the way I didn't bring my camera that day, so please bear with the phone-quality photos.

Not only serving coffee and martabak, Koffie Warung Tinggi also serves selection of  Indonesian main courses like nasi goreng, nasi uduk, and bubur ayam. To place your order here, you have to queue at the cashier and pay it first, and then the waiter will serve the meal to your table when it's ready.

Koffie Peranakan (IDR 30.000)

A friend of mine was asking for their specialty coffee, and the barista recommended Koffie Peranakan, a glass of coffee made of a mixture of arabica and robusta coffee. To be honest I'm not a coffee person, all coffee tasted quite the same for me, only some is more fragrant than the others, and this coffee is certainly the fragrant one, I love love love the smell. You can also ask the barista to serve the condensed milk separately, so you can adjust the sweetness as you like it.

Green Tea Latte (IDR 34.000)

That day I wasn't in the mood for coffee, but I would love to see latte art on my cup, so I ordered the green tea latte. It came in the beautiful green latte art, of course. The taste of green tea was strong and sweet, a little bit too sweet for me, but still enjoyable.

Martabak Ovomaltine Keju (IDR 135.000, Large Size)

We were sold at the first time we saw the ovomaltine word on the menu. Even though it was quite pricey topping, (the price of the plain martabak is IDR 50.000, the ovomaltine topping is IDR 62.500, and the cheese topping is IDR 17.500) we're still excited to try it and put high hopes on it. Maybe too high, because in the end, we were disappointed. Yes, the martabak comes in large size, but the amount topping was stingy. Even though it looks like the ovomaltine was bursting out from the inside on the picture, but in the other part we could barely taste it. And also when it was served, all the ovomaltine has melted, so we couldn't taste the crunchy powdery chocolate milk texture that we expected before. The same happened with the cheese. The martabak itself was actually okay, but for me not as good as the martabak you buy on the street. Maybe we should've ordered the small size, because I'm hearing good reviews on the mini ovomaltine martabak. I presume, because the surface is smaller, the ovomaltine would pile up and not all melted like this, so it would definitely be better than this.

For me I have a quite pleasant time here with my friends, and the service was also great. At first we got seated on the dining table because the sofas were full, but a couple minutes later the waiter came back to us and asked if we wanted to move to the the sofa area, for they already have one vacant sofa. Beverages were also good, but they still should make improvements on the food section.

Koffie Warung Tinggi d/h Tek Soen Hoo

Grand Indonesia West Mall 5th floor

Jl. MH Thamrin no.1

Jakarta Pusat

ph. (021) 235 80312

Laughing Stock Steak & Seafood Grill

Last week, I got an opportunity to taste the food of Laughing Stock Steak and Seafood Grill, a new restaurant in Cipete area. Before you start reading, I have to warn you that this post will be a long post containing lots of foodporn, and I will not take any responsibility for the drooling consequences, so read at your own risk :p Oh but I hope if you decided to read, please read it till the end, because I'm saving the best part for the last.

Located at the foodie street Jl. Cipete Raya, Laughing Stock looks pretty humble from the outside but it is warm and comfortable at the inside. The two-storeyed shophouses is designed with lots of bricks and concrete element to create the industrial look, yet provided warm sofas and bright sun light to make you comfortable. My favourite spot is the colorful Scandinavian sofas by the window at the second floor, you should aim for it right away!

Sharing a little background of the restaurant, Laughing Stock is a family business started by Mrs Febri, for her love of food. She loves cooking since she was young, and she and her family love having people eating her food. Having her own restaurant has been her dream since a long time. At first they tried franchising a quite famous restaurant, Seruput, and now that they've already got the experience and knowledge about restaurant business, they finally opened Laughing Stock for public this late January 2014. 

The food they served here is mainly grilled seafood and steak, as the name said, but they also provide all-day breakfast and Indonesian food. They also served limited choices of milkshakes and desserts, well for me I think milkshakes are too heavy to accompany a heavy meal such as steak, but their desserts are definitely must-try.

Chicken Mayo Bruschetta 

Chicken Mayo Bruschetta is one of their new appetizer menu, basically there are four slices of crunchy French breads topped with fresh shredded lettuce and chicken and corn mayo. A fresh and light dish to start our lunch.

Oxtail Balado (IDR 110.000)

Fried AUS Oxtail in Balado style, served with steamed white rice, pickled vegetables, soup, and crackers. To be honest I wasn't a big fan of oxtail and spicy food at the beginning, so I doubted this dish would be suitable for my liking. But it is! The oxtail was perfectly tender and the balado chilli was hot, but deliciously hot that I fell in love with it instantly. The soup was also light and savory. Dip your crackers in the soup, and eat it together with the rice and balado oxtail, yummm! 

(Psst, people said that the Oxtail Balado here are even better than Hotel Borobudur's! Curious?)

Pan Fried Salmon (IDR 120.000)

Pan Fried Norwegian Trout in miso broth served with baby tomatoes, baby potatoes, spinach, enoki mushrooms, and ginger flakes. It is another dish that has hooked me at the first bite. The combination of the perfectly crisped skin salmon fried together with spinach, enoki mushrooms, and miso broth are amazingly well balanced and delicious. Very light and healthy, yet addictive and contagious.

US Hanger Steak (IDR 110.000)

Seared 200 gr US Hanger Steak served with caramelized onions, mashed potatoes, sauteed vegetables, and Beef Jus Sauce. Hanger is a part of the plate section of the cow, which is also known at butcher's steak. There is only 400-650 grams of hanger meat in a cow, and the meat is very tender, that the butchers usually keep it for themselves instead of selling it. But here in Laughing Stock you can try the Hanger Steak, even better, it is served with Laughing Stock's special sauce, the Beef Jus. Beef Jus (or Au Jus) sauce is made of beef broth and wine reduction. The texture is kinda watery, it tasted light yet rich and a little sweet. I really love the outcome when you eat the steak with the sauce, caramelized onion, and mashed potatoes together. Totally the best main course of the day!

Surf and Turf (IDR 175.000)

Grilled Rib Eye Steak topped with fresh seafood in garlic and herbs butter served with mashed potatoes or French fries and asparagus. It is the dish for people who doesn't like monotonous food. By ordering this, you could have a huge steak together with fresh grilled prawns, sauteed squids, and battered-fried dory fish. Overall it is a nice dish, liked the salty and garlicky sauce, but for me the amount is too little for a steak that big, since I love to have my steak eaten with sauces. Oh and I have to give credit to the presentation! It's really artsy, beautiful, and unique, isn't it? The most photogenic food of the day, haha.

Grilled Maine Whole Lobster (IDR 250.000)

This was supposed to be the highlight of the day. Grilled Maine Whole Loster in garlic butter seasoning, served with sauteed vegetables and choice of shoestring french fries, mashed potatoes, or rice pilaf. Unfortunately, this lobster was not as fresh as I expected. It's not fishy, but the texture is kinda soft, it didn't have the seafood-ly crunchy texture, if you know what I mean. It would be much more delicious if the lobster was just a little bit fresher, since the seasoning was great and having pilaf rice as the side dish is a perfect choice.

Uncle Romy's Hotplate Chocolate Brownies (IDR 55.000)

Homemade dark chocolate brownies served with vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate sauce. This restaurant's favorite dessert was named after Mrs. Febri's husband, Mr. Romy. He loves chocolate so much that he ask Mrs. Febri to create a chocolate dessert dish at Laughing Stock, so it is named after him. This dish looks like no other, at first it is a simple chocolate brownies topped with vanilla ice cream, once you start pouring the chocolate sauce, it will start boiling and create the hot-and-cold sensation to the dish. Such a creative and unique dessert, this might be the next IT dessert on instagram. lol.

Apple Crumble (IDR 55.000)

This is the reason why I told you earlier to read till the end. The new creation of Laughing Stock, warm caramelized apple served with cookie crumble, vanilla ice cream, and white sauce. After I took a bite of this, I literally raised my eyeballs and told the others that this is really good! Apple is cinnamonly sweet and has the perfect texture, and the crumble is not just like any other cookie crumble. It's really crunchy like it's covered with sugar, but it is not sweet, so I don't know what they did to the crumble to make it that good. Take a bite of it with the vanilla ice cream and the rum-scented white sauce, and that's heaven in your mouth. Like, seriously.

(FYI, this apple crumble is Mrs. Febri's new creation that will be launched with some other new dishes on April, so you wouldn't find it on the menu, but you can ask the waiter directly if you want to order this)

At the end of the post I know I seems like praising this place so much, so I'm going to tell you that this is NOT an advertorial post, and I didn't receive any payment for posting this. This was just like another food tasting, but I really love the restaurant, they've got amazing food with beautiful presentation and lovely taste, comfortable seatings, and natural daylight to help me capturing the food better. The only thing I regret is the fact that Cipete is far from my house, and the traffic is mad.

Lastly, thank you Mrs. Febri, Norwin, and family for hosting such a nice food tasting session. Please do wait for my next visit :D :D

Laughing Steak Steak and Seafood Grill 

Jl. Cipete Raya no. 7BC

Jakarta Selatan

Ph. (021) 7591 3285/86

t. @LaughingStockID

Bacchus Bar at InterContinental MidPlaza Hotel

Bacchus Bar is one of the restaurant at InterContinental MidPlaza Hotel that specializes at Asian Food. Last Thursday, I was honoured to get the opportunity to enjoy Lunch at Bacchus Bar.

Located at the Lower Ground Floor of the building, the venue itself wasn't too spacious yet it gave you the warm and private ambiance. Most of the seats are bar stools, but they also have nice comfortable sofas at the back. And they got their own wine storage room with lots and lots of wine selection. 

For the appetizer that day, we tasted two favourite menus from their Pan Flair Asian selections, Thai Beef Salad with Mango and Chilli Vinaigrette (IDR 98.000) and BBQ Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce (IDR 98.000). Their Beef Salad's presentation was such a feast for the eye, isn't it? Really love the bright colors. Taste wise, it was tangy and fresh, it also got a nice dressing, but for me the aroma of Basil was too strong. In the other hand, the BBQ Chicken Wings came in a generous portion, thickly marinated in a nice sweet BBQ Sauce. 

For the main course, Bacchus Bar have two options, you can either order the main course from the Pan Flair Asian selections, or order it from the live cooking stands. The live cooking stands is a collaboration between Bacchus Bar and Deli Restaurants, every weekdays during lunchtime, they served Pasta and Nasi Bakar (Indonesian style grilled rice wrapped in banana leafs). We ended up trying both of them, for they were both really tempting, especially when you see them cooked right before your eyes and you can smell the aroma.

Pasta Set (IDR 90.000 including bread and choice of Iced Tea or Iced Lemon Tea)

Here at the pasta stand, you can build your own pasta! Here's what you need to do:

1. Pick your pasta. The pasta selections varies everyday, that day they got penne and green linguine

2. Pick the sauce. There are tomato based sauce, carbonara sauce, pesto sauce, or simply aglio olio

3. Pick the meat, veggies, and cheese. You can choose up to three meat and veggies available. For the meat they have chicken, prawns, squid, beef bacon, pork bacon, sausages, etc. And for the veggie selections they have broccoli, tomatoes, onions, asparagus, mushrooms, etc. 

Easy right? And only for IDR 90.000 nett, you get your pasta served with bread and butter and also a glass of drink, which is a very nice deal, for having lunch in Sudirman area. That day I decided to have Penne Carbonara, but I was confused on which meat and veggies to choose, so I'll let the chef decide it, and it came with Prawns, Beef Bacon, Sausage, broccoli, mushrooms, and tomatoes! Phew that was a lot of toppings. But the taste was really great. The penne was al dente, the carbonara sauce was amazingly balanced between the creamy and savory taste, and for the toppings, I especially love the generous amount of fresh prawns. Oh I'll deal with you later, cholestrol, for now please just let me enjoy the fresh and crunchy prawns.

Nasi Bakar Set (IDR 82.000 + including a choice of Iced Tea or Iced Lemon Tea)

For the Nasi Bakar, you only have to pick your rice flavor (it also varies everyday), and it will be served with Balado Eggs, Sauteed String Beans, Shredded Chicken and Duck Meat, and Fried Tempe. That day they only have two flavor of rice, Oncom (fermented products of soy beans) and Ikan Peda (Indonesian salty fish). I'm not familiar with oncom, so I play safe and choose the Ikan Peda flavor. And that was a decision I wouldn't regret. The rice was very very fragrant and tasty, and all the side dishes were great and compliment it well. It was spicy but still tolerable for me. Well I'm not a big fan of Nasi Bakar before, but I am now. This dish was really satisfying for me, even better than the pasta! The best Nasi Bakar I've tasted so far!

I'm really impressed that their simple yet humble live cooking stands could create such an awesome food. Thank you InterContinental and  Catrina (Social Media Officer of InterContinental MidPlaza) for inviting me and being a really nice lunch companion! I definitely will come back to this place :D

Bacchus Bar

InterContinental at Jakarta MidPlaza Hotel

Lower Ground Floor

Jl. Sudirman Kav 10-11

Jakarta - 10220

ph. (021) 2510888 (front desk)

Sarang Oci

Hello, it's been more than a week without blogging. Actually I am currently quite busy with work and stuffs that I haven't got much time to try new restaurants and edit the photos. That's why I decided to find something in my drafts, and I found this, my favourite Manadonese Restaurant in Jakarta! It's been in my draft for quite some time (just look at the old watermark), but it doesn't mean that I'm not eager to write about it. Sometimes I just feel kinda lazy to write about Indonesian Restaurant because the menu is written in Indonesian and I have to translate it into English.

Anyway, Sarang Oci is located in Jalan Panjang in Kebon Jeruk area. Finding the place is easy because it has huge red "SARANG OCI" signboard at the front facade. Especially on weekend, it's even easier to notice the place because there's so many cars parking in front of the place that most of the time the parking lot is full and they park the car on the road area and cause traffic jam.

Entering the place, it looks like a two storeyed house decorated in colorful ambiance. At my first visit here years ago, I actually think that the interior kinda more suited for Morrocan restaurant than Manadonese, because of the colorful mozaics and lamps. The dining area itself is separated into several rooms in the first and second floor.

The food they served here is of course Manadonese, mostly cooked in the famous "Rica" and "Woku" style. Rica (literally translated as chilli) is Manadonese style of cooking chilli, while Woku is another tradional dish usually cooked with some spicy herbs and coconut milk. Both could be served with some choices of protein like chicken, fish, or prawns.

Ekor Tenggiri Bakar Rica (IDR 73.000)

Grilled Mackerel Fish with Rica Seasoning

It is one of customer's favourite in Sarang Oci. Despite the not-so-photogenic look, expect a fresh mackerel with thick meat and spicy yet flavorful rica seasoning when you take a bite of this. It comes in two levels of spiciness, Medium and Hot. For me, Medium is just right. But feel free to challenge yourself ;)

Perkedel Jagung (IDR 25.000 for 5 pcs)

Crispy Corn Fritters

Even though I said before that rica and woku is Sarang Oci's specialty, these crispy corn fritters is the true champion amongst all. This is the one thing that keeps the customers craving for more and more. Being a fan of Manadonese (and also all kinds of) corn fritters, I must say that I haven't found any other place that serve corn fritters as crispy, as flavorful, and as good as Sarang Oci's. It taste so d*mn good, you could find the taste of shallots and chives somewhere between the crispiness. See for yourself, not a single table could dine in Sarang Oci without ordering this dish. 

Perkedel Nike (IDR 30.000 for 4 pcs)
Manadonese Anchovy Fritters
Another Manadonese fritters! To be honest it's not as good as the corn fritters. Not that this dish is not delicious. It is delicious, but for me the corn fritters is just too hard to beat. It's not as crispy but also tasted good. Worth trying if you're up to something new.

Kuah Asam Fillet Goropa (IDR 38.000 for Small Size)

Grouper Fillet cooked in Manadonese style Sour Soup

This is my daddy's favourite, but I kinda like it too. It's Manadonese traditional soup, basically it tasted sour but you can also taste a hint of spiciness and other seasonings. It is nice and warm and healthy, because the ingredients are fish and vegetables like tomato and spinach.

Kangkung Tumis Jagung (IDR 23.000)

Sauteed Water Spinach, Corn, and Shallots
Water Spinach is a very common vegetable for Indonesians. But to make it more authentic, Manadonese usually cook their water spinach with corn, or papaya flowers. I like it more with corn, because the papaya flowers tasted a little bitter, but some people like the papaya flowers too.


That's what we had in our visit some times ago, but not only that, Sarang Oci also have great woku and lots of Manadonese traditional snacks and desserts that are worth trying.

And as I said above, Sarang Oci is currently my most favorite Manadonese Restaurant in Jakarta. I actually have two favorites, Sarang Oci and Beautika Restaurant, but Sarang Oci is much more affordable in price and easier to reach from my house. It could even do delivery to Kebon Jeruk area! I don't know if it's because my half Manadonese blood from my mother that I love Manadonese food so much, but a lot of my friends also love this place and the place couldn't be always packed for nothing. So give it a try and I'll be glad to hear your opinion :D

Sarang Oci

Jl. Panjang no.99

Arteri Kelapa Dua

Kebon Jeruk 

Jakarta Barat

ph. (021) 532 9791

fb. Sarang Oci

web. Sarang Oci 

other branches:

Jl. Tebet Raya no.78A

Tebet - Jakarta Selatan

ph. (021) 829 5237

Jl. Bulungan no. 24

Kebayoran Baru - Jakarta Selatan

ph. (021) 722 2403 

(opening February 2014)

[Puncak] Nicole's Kitchen and Lounge

It's been a long time since my last visit to Puncak. In my childhood I used to go to Puncak almost every weekend, meet my big family at my grandma's villa, and play with my two favourite cousins there. At that time Puncak was always very crowded in weekend, but I think it's popularity  began to fade when the Cipularang highway built. People would prefer to go to Bandung for there is more choices of food and leisure there, so like every other family, we began to abandon our Puncak weekend routine.

But then lately the name of Puncak often be heard again thanks to Nicole's Kitchen and Lounge. Located at the same area with Brasco Factory Outlet, Nicole's has brought a new concept for people to enjoy the beauty of Puncak. The rooftop lounge is a real beauty, for sure. It's designed all white, and it has glass roof and sliding windows all over the place, allowing the bright sunshine and breezy wind to enter the room. The outside area has a lot of rattan sofas and gazebos, a really nice and cozy place to spend a quiet holiday.

The food they serve was quite various, they have Western, Asian, and Indonesian food selection. The pictures below are what we had that day,

Sate Kambing (IDR 48.000)

Fish and Chips (IDR 42.000)

Beef Black Pepper with Rice (IDR 48.000)

Chicken Cordon Bleu (IDR 55.000)

My dish that day is the Fish and Chips, and I didn't try the other dish other than mine. The Fish and Chips came in generous portion, the fish fillet was thick while the batter was thin and crispy. Too bad the tar tar sauce didn't compliment it well, it tasted just like plain mayo. In the other hand, we were really impressed by the presentation of the Sate Kambing. It's beautiful, and according to my friend, it tasted good too! The Chicken Cordon Bleu was another decent dish, while the Black Pepper Beef with rice was too watery for my friend.

In conclusion, the food were all pretty standard, they're quite good but not the one that leaves you craving for more. But the place itself was more enjoyable than the food. Would love to come again to spent a nice afternoon outside with a cup of tea and snacks, maybe?

Nicole's Kitchen and Lounge
Kampung Brasco Factory Outlet
Jl. Raya Hanjawar no.1
Cimacan, Jawa Barat