Supper at Simon Road

Just a stone throw’s away from Kovan MRT and nestled between the intersection of Simon Road and Upper Serangoon Road is a nice Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee stall I enjoy going to for my late night supper cravings. This particular Hokkien Mee stall has been dishing out these noodles for many years and if you’re lucky, you might see the old uncle (the original hawker) frying up a piping hot plate of hokkien prawn mee for customers. There’s just something very comforting about eating a mix of beehoon and yellow noodles steeped in rich prawn stock, tossed with their fragrant sambal chili and freshly squeezed lime. I personally like my hokkien mee with more gravy and will always request a “wetter” version of noodles!
 

And of course one plate of hokkien mee is not enough for a late night supper outing! Walk further down along Upper Serangoon Road and you will hit the famed Ponggol Nasi Lemak which perpetually attracts crowds. You could stop over for a plate of nasi lemak, but I will definitely head further down to another old time stall selling fabulous Oyster Omelette or more fondly known to us as “Orh Luak”. This stall was originally located at the coffee shop with the hokkien mee stall but they have moved down the road. You won’t miss the stall; it is just located next to the Ponggol Nasi Lemak stall and there is a huge yellow sign with the chinese characters “后港六条石” above the stall. Seeing the uncle fry each batch of oyster omelette is also a sight to behold as he skillfully swipes his spatula across the frying pan atop a big fire stove. For $5 a plate, you really get a piece of Orh Luak heaven; many huge and fat pieces of juicy oysters adorn each plate of egg omelette fried to crispy perfection mixed with some bits of clumpy chewy potato starch blobs. Chuck your diet aside and just dig in to this oh-so-sinful-cholesterol-laden dishes!!

Simon Road Oyster Omelette
Mee Sek Food Court, 965 Upper Serangoon Road

Carrot Sticks and Coffee, Hougang 105 Hainanese Village Centre

Tucked inside a corner of the Hougang 105 Hainanese Village Centre is Dong Jin Yuan Dian Xin (unit no. #02-04), a stall which specializes in Fried Carrot Sticks. This is probably the Chinese version of french fries. The stall owner cuts up steamed radish into bite size sticks and deep fries them in his traditional wire mesh basket. For just $2, you get get 16 of these wonderfully golden brown deep fried carrot sticks. Really affordable and delicious afternoon snack!

The turnover rate here is quite high, and queues only form when the stall runs out of carrot sticks and the uncle is still in the midst of frying a new batch. When I visited on a Saturday afternoon, there was a small queue in front of me but quickly dissipated once a new batch of freshly fried carrot sticks arrived. It so happened that the uncle was frying his last batch of carrot sticks, so I was fortunate enough to get hold of a bag of 16 sticks before they sold out!

Each fried carrot stick is fried to a nice perfect golden brown.

The texture is amazing. Each stick is coated with a nice crispy deep fried layer, but the insides are still soft and chewy, just like your normal carrot cake. Each stick also has a light fried flavour and you definitely will not stop at one. It's best to eat it on the spot while it's warm- if the carrot sticks are left out for too long, it becomes a little cold and soggy, definitely not as enjoyable.

The carrot sticks go extremely well with coffee, and I recommend getting a nice cup of Kopi from Da Zhong Cafe (#02-20) located just behind the Carrot sticks stall.

For 70 cents, you get a medium cup of coffee that offers Ya kun quality coffee, for almost half the price of a cup at Ya Kun! The coffee here really very similar to that of Ya Kun and it also shares a similar characteristic strong aroma and flavour intensity. Coffee lovers would be happy to know that for just another mere 10 cents, (80 cents) you can get a large cup of coffee (served in a glass cup found at coffee shops). Coffee is really affordable here, even coffee shops outside charge an average of a dollar for coffee. They are also very generous with the amount of sugar and condensed milk poured into each cup, so for people who prefer their coffee to be less sweet, remember to order Kopi siew dai!

Hainanese Village hawker centre is located at Block 105 Hougang Avenue 1.

Dong Jin Yuan Dian Xin opens 7am-11pm (Tue, Thu & Fri), 7am-2pm (Sat, Sun & Public Holidays) or while stocks last. Closed on Mon and Wed.

Nakhon Kitchen (Kovan)

Crowds of people flock to this affordable and tasty Thai food restaurant in Kovan. This outlet just doesn't have many tables, so come dinner time when hoards of people descend to this place, the queue actually spills over to the other shops. We arrived before 6pm and were able to secure a table. But if we were arrived any later, we would probably have to wait. The staff do try to increase the turnover rate by taking your orders while you are in the queue, but you will still have to be prepared to wait if the queue is long.

We had their Fried Kangkong ($6) which was really fresh and tasty! Their Fish Cake ($6) wasn't really worth it though, it tasted like a hybrid between otah and really tough, chewy rubber and I didn't really like it.

The one dish I would always order when I'm here is their Green Chicken Curry ($8). (You can choose between chicken, beef, prawn versions, I had the chicken one). The curry gravy is  thick, fragrant and mildly spicy, which goes very well with your white rice. The dish is also topped with generous portions of vegetables and tender chicken slices. This curry dish is definitely whet-your-appetite good.

The Red Ruby dessert ($3) is really a nice way to cool down after a spicy thai meal. It's a shaved ice dessert served with coconut milk, sago and red rubies. They were really generous with red rubies- it was a delight chewing on the red rubies and shaved ice. You get to taste the crunchy, fresh chestnuts encased in the chewy red translucent flour skin cover over the rubies.

They don't charge GST and service charge here and our very satisfying meal for two just cost $25. No wonder the crowds keep coming in! Be prepared to wait though, especially if there is long queue outside the eatery.

Address: 212 Hougang Street 21, #01-341, Singapore 530212.