Proud of Chong Pang Food Centre

I am a creature of habit. For 5 whole years, I would take lunch daily at the Koufu Food Court near Admiralty MRT station simply because we used to live near there and I enjoyed...

- the vegetarian dishes
- the economy rice dishes
- the roast pork
- the creamy teh si kosong

... and it was a no brainer decision to do that every day. Don't even have to think. Just go there everyday. Then, they changed the economy rice dishes to appeal to PRC taste buds and the roast pork people disappointed me by giving me 200g of roast pork when I paid for 400g. Not cool! There is very little there to like there now.

So, I began exploring Chong Pang Food Centre. Chong Pang is noisy and cluttered. Weird smells hit you in the face when you walk through. For an autistic person, this can be quite overwhelming. So, for 5 years, I avoided it. To me, it was a dirty and smelly place. However, the more I explored it, the more yummy stuff I found, and the prouder I became of this very dirty and very hot food centre. I wish someone would renovate it so that the environment does justice to the yummy food that is there. I do wish I could go there every day now but on some days, the heat and the noise and the smells are just too much to bear.

Also, never go there in heels (even low ones) because the floor is so oily, you might slip. On rainy days, watch every step you take and walk slowly. Same reason: you might slip. Lastly, never wear short shorts no matter how hot the weather. For some reason, there are a lot of 70+ years old elderly folks and they STARE. I suppose, in their generation, people did not wear shorts very much.

Chuan Kee Boneless Braised Duck

I had no idea of Chuan Kee's pedigree when I first started frequenting the stall 2 years ago. I was attracted by the long queue and the beautiful slabs of braised pork. The signage said braised duck but for close to 1 year, I did not even try the duck. I am loyal to their braised pork. It took me another year before I realised that they make the best duck rice EVER!

Then, I discovered that this is a Michelin Bib Gourmand hawker. Waaaaaah! Impressed man! Kowtow and give thanks that there is Michelin Bib Gourmand hawker 5 minutes from my house! I felt so blessed.

My only issue with this stall is that they don't speak English and I speak lousy Chinese. I often have problems understanding what they are telling me so I resort to smiling brightly whenever I feel stupid. When in doubt, just smile widely.

All said, this stall certainly deserves its Michelin Bib Gourmand. Nothing they do is sloppy. This was so obvious when I approached them to tapau food that I could not finish. I presented the Skinny Dark Man with my leftovers and noted with great respect that he took my messy plate, divided up the different ingredients and placed them NEATLY in a circle. He took the trouble to re-plate my food even on a piece of waxed paper. How impressive is that?! Now, either he has culinarily trained under excellent chefs or well... this stall's work processes and staff training is above par.

In any case, such attention to detail and quality appeals to me.

Bai Nian Yong Tau Fu

At the start of this week, I noticed a new stall with a queue as long as the Great Wall of China. I cannot read Chinese so I had to take a picture of the signage and get The Husband to translate. Lo and behold, this is another excellent hawker that does yong tau fu differently from others. Best of all, this place does only beehoon so even their soup is gluten free. I am thrilled to bits. There are so many things that I cannot eat at food courts because of hidden gluten. Till now, I have not found a single beehoon soup stall that I dare to eat from because the same stall would have cooked noodles in the same water as the beehoon. This stall serves nothing but beehoon.

Bedok Chwee Kueh

Bedok Chwee Kueh stands shoulder to shoulder with Tiong Bahru chwee kueh as the best in Singapore. I actually prefer Bedok chwee kueh.

Yishun: Bad Reputation But Good Food

However one looks at it, Petunia has been living in "unsavoury" neighbourhoods for umpteen years. It started with our HDB flat in Marsiling and then now, we are on the outskirts of Yishun. Go on the internet and you will find that a lot of weird people and crimes make the headlines from Yishun.

It definitely is not cool to tell people "I live in Yishun," or "I live in Marsiling." So, I am inordinately proud of my Chong Pang Food Centre with more than its fair share of top hawkers.

Hmmmm... **feeling smug**