[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

Canton Paradise

Jakarta is never short of new restaurants. This time, Boga Group has brought us another Chinese restaurant from Paradise Group, Canton Paradise. Their first outlet is located at Mall Kelapa Gading 3, and it's quite tricky to find the place since we have to reach it from outside the Main Entrance of MKG 3.

The interior is mostly decorated with monochrome colors from the floor, wall, ceiling, and furnitures, so the purple lighting, which is their signature color, could stands out. They have quite variable menu, from dim sum to the main courses, that we had a hard time picking up what we wanted. But our decision went to these delicate dim sums. 

Crispy BBQ Honey Pork Bun (IDR 28.800)

You might noticed that this is my first review in Kelapa Gading area. I usually avoid Kelapa Gading area, since it's far from where I live, and the traffic is just too much too handle. But this pork bun has changed my mind and made me and David drove here to give it a try. We've fell in love with this kind of pork bun since we tried Tim Ho Wan in Singapore, and as far as I knew, Canton Paradise is the first restaurant in Jakarta which serve this. But sadly I have to say that this pork bun didn't meet our expectation. It was actually quite decent, it has generous fillings and the bun was soft and slightly crispy at the outside, but I should've known, it just can't compete with the 1 Michelin Pork Bun.

Crispy Bacon Roll with Cheese (IDR 28.800)

In the other hand, this Crispy Bacon Roll was outstanding. Well, who could resist fried bacon roll filled with cheese, seafood, and mixed veggie, and topped with mayonnaise? I definitely can't. Heaven in your mouth, I assure you, this is worth a try.

Prawn in Beancurd Skin Fritters (IDR 21.800)

Another favorite dish of the night! Prawn in Beancurd Skin Fritters is a must-have dish whenever me and David having dim sum, and by not being hyperbolic, I have to say that this is the best Prawn in Beancurd Skin Fritters I've had. The fillings was actually pretty much the same in every other places, but I looooove that very very crispy beancurd skin. 

Steamed Custard Bun (IDR 23.800)

Custard bun is another must-have dim sum dish for me, and Canton Paradise's custard bun has everything it needs to be a perfect one. Soft and warm bun, runny custard filling, and excellent taste. Have I told you that I ate all three of these with no regret because David doesn't like Custard Bun? *Ops*

Steamed Pork Dumpling "Siew Mai" (IDR 21.800)

The Siew Mai is another decent dish. It was cooked perfectly, all the ingredients were fresh and tasted good.

Crispy Roast Duck Noodle (IDR 58.800)

We wasn't meant to order any main course that day, but they were actually having a promotion and we could have this noodle for only IDR 9.999 if we spend IDR 150.000. So there it is. The noodle has made it to David's favorite for it's thin and chewy noodle but I didn't quite like it because there's something too smelly for me in the sauce or in the duck. I don't know what it is.

Overall I was satisfied with their dim sum selections, in fact I'm thinking to bring my family there this weekend. Even though it was far from my house, but it's worth it.

Canton Paradise

Mall Kelapa Gading 3

GF no 15 B-C

(next to Dante Coffee)

Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta
ph. (021) 4585 3918/9
fb. Canton Paradise Jakarta

[Singapore] Tim Ho Wan

Meet Tim Ho Wan's pork bun, currently the best pork bun I've ever tasted. I've been eyeing this pork bun for months since it's Singapore branch opening, and so there's no way I'm not paying it a visit on my Singapore trip last month.

As expected of a 1 Michelin Star Restaurant, the bun is to die for! For the price of S$ 4.50, expect three beautiful buns with sweet and crispy outer layer, fluffy bread, filled with tender and fragrant char siew pork with BBQ sauce. It is definitely a must-order dish when you're here, and let me tell you, they're best eaten while hot and fresh.

Also people said that your visit at Tim Ho Wan wouldn't be complete if you haven't tried their Big Four Heavenly Kings: Baked Bun with BBQ pork (S$ 4.50), Vermicelli Roll with Pig’s Liver (S$ 5.50), Pan Fried Carrot Cake (S$ 4.50), and Steamed Egg Cake (S$ 3.80). So we did order them all (I didn't take picture of the vermicelli and carrot cake), and also added Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce (S$ 4), Prawn Dumpling / Har Gow (S$ 5.50), Pork Dumpling with Shrimp / Siew Mai (S$ 5.00), Glutinous Rice Dumpling / Lo Mai Gai (S$ 5.00), and Beancurd Skin Roll with Shrimp (S$ 5.50).

Other than the buns, the other items that I recommend are their Glutinous Rice Dumpling and the Carrot Cake. But all the dishes were decent though, all ingredients were fresh and taste good.

Unfortunately, to get this scrumptious Dim Sum, you have to wait in the line alongside with the other hungry Singaporeans, because Tim Ho Wan has no reservations policy. I waited for two almost two hours to get seated, but there was not even a slight regret. So hereby I'm leaving you with this picture of people lining to get their favourite buns. And trust me, this is not even the end of the line. Get yourself prepared!

Tim Ho Wan Singapore
68 Orchard Road #01-29A 

Plaza Singapura Singapore 238839 

(Dhoby Gaut MRT) 

Tel:+65 6251 2000
Opening Hours: 10.00am – 10.00pm 

(First-come-first-serve basis; no reservations)

also available at:

ERA Centre, 450 Lorong 6 

Toa Payoh, #02-02

Telephone: 6483 2000Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Daily)

Cooking Class at Paradise Dynasty

Last Saturday, I got invited to a cooking class held by Groupon Disdus, in collaboration with Paradise Dynasty. This was my first cooking class, and I was so excited! The event was held in Paradise Dynasty Plaza Senayan early in the morning. There were two dishes for us to cook that day, the famous 8 Flavored Signature Xiao Long Bao and Vegetable Bun.

Before heading to our station, we got the chance to see Chef Atin doing the demonstration of how to make the xiao long bao and vegetable bun. The dough and filling has been prepared before, so all we have to do is inserting the filling into the skin, and cover it with folds at the top. Seems pretty simple right?

The picture above is the chef's Xiao Long Bao, and the picture below belongs to my team. Well for me, making the folds were actually pretty hard. My folds often got too thick and it can't patched well. But in the end, I quite satisfied with my Xiao Long Bao. The ones I made were the orange, pink, and green. For the taste, you can check my earlier post.

Same problem happened to the vegetable bun, so as you can see, our folds were a little bit too thick. But in the end the most important thing is the taste right? ;p Oh the green thing on the top of our bun is a part of the filling. We put it on the top as it was meant to be garnish, but Chef Atin said it should be done after steaming so the garnish didn't get watery, so we removed it.

Of course there has to be a narcissistic photo session of these young but talented amateur chefs (read: my team ;p) with Chef Atin and our dish (sorry it's over exposure). From left to right it's Yulie, Dini, Novie, Chef Atin, and me!

After the fun cooking session, we waited for our dish to be steamed, and we also got lunch served by Paradise Dynasty. What we got for our lunch is La Mian with Dan Dan Sauce, Paradise Dynasty's signature hand-pulled noodles, topped with spicy minced chicken and cucumber. And for dessert, we got Kue Kapas, a very soft textured cake with two flavors, the yellow part is Mango, and the white part is Coconut flavor. 

Bottom line, I would like to say thank you to Groupon and Paradise Dynasty team for having me in this event. I learned something new, tasted something new, and made new friends! See you again in the next event :)

Paradise Dynasty
Plaza Senayan 5th flr (across XXI)
Jl. Asia Afrika
South Jakarta
Ph. +6221 579000146

Paradise Dynasty is another chinese restaurant under the management of Boga Group (alongside with Paradise Inn, Ten Ten Tempura, Pepper Lunch, etc), specializing at La Mian and Xiao Long Bao. Their newest branch has opened at Central Park Mall recently, but I haven't got time to try it even though it's just a few steps away from my office. Until I saw their vouchers at Disdus. 

There are two kinds of menus sold at Disdus, the halal package and the non-halal package. I bought them both. And also ordered some more dish to accompany the dinner. So this post is a compilation of what we had during our two times dining at Paradise Dynasty.

Steamed Shanghai Chicken Dumpling (IDR 45.000) & 8 Flavored Signature Xiao Long Bao (IDR 88.000)

The 8 Flavored Xiao Long Bao is the signature dish of the restaurant. At the center is the original flavor, and going clockwise from the green one are Ginseng, Crab Roe, Garlic, Cheesy, Szechuan, Black Truffle, and Foie Gras flavor. I like the Original the most, and my second favourite is the Szechuan. Eating this dish for me is a unique experience, since at first we doubted some flavors. But overall it turned out great. Their Shanghai Chicken Dumpling is also a good option for the non pork eater.

La Mian with Sliced Pork in Signature Pork Bone Soup (IDR 55.000) & La Mian with Dried Shrimps and Scallion (IDR 48.000)

La Mian is their other specialty. The noodle is very thin but tasted really good. For me the La Mian with Dried Shrimps and Scallion looks unappetizing, because it's accompanied with no meat (as you probably have known, I'm a devoted meat lovers. And dried shrimps, in my dictionary, doesn't count as meat.). But the seasoning and the soup was unexpectedly great.  

Pork Dumpling with Hot Chilli Sauce (IDR 40.000)

It's very oily and hard to pick with my chopsticks, but once you get it, it's worth the effort. Savory and tasty pork filling, wrapped with soft dumpling skin and dipped into spicy sauce. Love it.

Sweet Sour Chicken (IDR 58.000)

Chicken meatballs and that gorgeous sweet sour sauce, I personally really like it. The sauce is tangy and glazy and got a hint of paprika taste, combined with the finely seasoned chicken meatballs.

Sauteed Shrimps Garden Green (IDR 88.000)

Fresh shrimps, but a little lack of seasoning.

Sauteed Spinach (IDR 55.000)

In my opinion, it tasted similar in every chinese restaurant. 

Vegetable Spring Rolls (IDR 25.000)

Paradise Dynasty is also offering limited dim sum selection, but this one tasted pretty ordinary.

Red Bean Pancake (IDR 35.000)

Perfect sweetness to neutralize all the savory dishes we've eaten before.

Paradise Dynasty

Central Park, LG Unit 139 - 140
Jl. Let. Jend. S. Parman Kav. 28
Jakarta

ph. (021) 2920 - 0318

Fook Yew

Seeing the Fook Yew stand at JCF weeks ago got me really curious to try it at the place, so last week I asked David (read: I force him) to go to Gandaria City to try the food. Fook Yew is the newest restaurant from Ismaya Group, and I always love to try their restaurants. 

The place was not hard to find. Located in the ground floor near the entrance, the place was really catchy with a huge waving fortune cat at the front, very shanghai-looking colorful interior, and the Fook Yew wallpaper to convince you. It was crowded that night but luckily they still got one table for two, so we got seated immediately. 

Fook Yew was turned out to be a Chicken Siew Mai (IDR. 19.000) in the menu, so we ordered it. It comes in a cute rectangle bamboo plate, but it tasted just ordinary.

For the main course, David ordered a Macau Fried Seafood Noodle with Egg Sauce (IDR. 49.000). For me the egg sauce was kinda tasteless, and the portion of the noodle was too small for David.

This was my main course, Beef Hor Fun with XO Sauce (IDR 49.000). This one was not a disappointment, I really like it. Perfect chewiness and seasoning. The bottom part was a little bit too oily, but still, love the XO sauce seasoning so much! :)

By the way, Fook Yew was having a twitter promo. If you follow and mention them, you'll get a free item! That night we got an Avocado Pudding with Chocolate Ice Cream. I usually don't like avocado, but I love this one. The pudding texture was soft, and it melts perfectly with the chocolate ice cream. Satisfying dessert for the night :)

By the way, the also sell bubble tea, but I didn't try them last week, so I'm looking forward for my next visit to try their bubble tea!

Fook Yew
Gandaria City, Main street Ground Flr
Jl. KH. M. Syafii Hadzami No.8
Kebayoran Lama
Jakarta
Ph. +6221 29007897