Seng Kee 119 成记 119 - Steamed Fish head enough for 2 pax @ $13!

• Operating Days: Closed on Tuesdays
• Operating Time: 11.30 AM to 10.30 PM
• Address: Chinatown Complex, 335, Smith Street, #02-190, S 050335

Chinatown Complex is one of the places in Singapore that provides cheap and authentic local food. The one Michelin star hawker, Hawker Chan Soy sauce chicken is also here at Chinatown Complex.
Famous for Steam Fish Head, there are at least 5 other steam fish head stalls in this hawker centre. The price of the Steam Fish Head is therefore very competitive. Almost all the steam fish head stalls are selling S$13 for a half fish head, which is more than enough for two people.

Please do be very careful when consuming the fish, they are full of small, hardly visible sharp bones.

Established since 1983, this stall has been serving countless Steamed Fish Head in Hot and Spicy Sauce to their patrons.

Seng Kee occupied two stalls side by side in the market, selling the steam fish head and other zi char dishes.

Seng Kee emphasis a lot on the importance of steaming their fish head instead of boiling them. All the fragrance from the fish head will be retained within, as compared to boiling the fish head, where all the fresh fish taste will be retained in the water instead.

They do not have many Zi Char items on their menu as compared to other Zi Char Stall. 

After waiting for about 10 minutes, the steamed fish head was served. 

The Song Fish Head portion was BIG! The sauce, paired together with the steam fish head is a combination of preserved plum sauce, adding the slight kick of the “salty-sourness” to the fermented soybeans used, which provided the overall savouriness in the sauce. The bits of chilli peppers added gave the sauce an extra spicy note as well. It was then topped up with a generous amount of pork lard before serving. For the price of $13, our stomach and tastebud were truly satisfied.

The white meat of Song fish was fresh and soft with a slight earthy taste but was masked with the taste of the thick, tangy, sweet and spicy sauce. 

We ordered some side dishes to go along with our steam fish head as well. The sambal Kang kong here has nothing to be raved in our opinion,  to be honest.

We decided to order the prawn paste chicken after seeing the others eating them. Mid wing was used here for their prawn paste chicken. It was crispy and piping hot when served. A decent plate of fried mid wings with a mild prawn paste taste in every single one.

All in all, it was an affordable dinner with a plate of fish head drenched in sweet and spicy sauce. The sauce went very well with rice and with just the fish head, it is enough for two and there isn’t a need to order other side dishes. If you are a fan of steamed fish head, Chinatown Complex is definitely the place to visit. Do share with us your experience after you visit them!

Shi Li Fang 食立方 - A steamboat affair with free soft toys after every meal!

• Operating Days: Daily
• Operating Time: 10 AM to 10 PM
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• Address: Multiple Locations
• Orchard central, 181 Orchard Road #07-10/11, S 238896
• Icon village, 12 Gopeng Street #01-41, S 078877
• Thomson plaza, 301 Upper Thomson Road #01-106, S 574408
• Chinatown point,133 New Bridge Road #B1-30, S 059413
• City square, 180 Kitchener Rd #02-53/54, S 208539
• J-cube, 2 Jurong East Central 1,#02- 08A, S 609731
• West Coast Plaza, 154 West Coast Road #02-24, S 127371
• Bedok Point, 799 New Upper Changi Road #03-38/39, S 467351
• Hougang 1, 1 Hougang Street 91 #01-23, S 538692

I’m pretty sure many Singaporeans are fans of steamboat, with many new pop up steamboat theme restaurants growing rapidly almost at every part of Singapore. It was 8:30pm when we visited Shi Li Fang at Chinatown point, and the number of people queuing to go in brought out our curiosity to give this place a try.

When we walked past the restaurant during weekday lunch time, the whole restaurant would be packed with people. We were surprised to see there were still quite a number of people that had just started eating despite we have past the usual timing for dinner.

We ordered a set for 2 pax with tomato soup and chicken soup. The portion came was huge! 

We think the set is easily enough for 3 pax. The set came with pork belly, pork collar, marinated pork and chicken slices. The vegetable platter consist with generous amount of china cabbage, xiao bai chye, crabstick, enoki mushroom, tang hoon and egg. Similar to Hai Di Lao, they have handmade ramen here as well, which is a popular choice for many. You might encounter difficulty in getting the waiter’s attention to prepare the noodle on the spot in front of you as they are always very busy running around. 

Prawn glue (which came in a tube) is something that we frequent order whenever we are here. The gluelike texture paste will become springy and delicious after cooked. The prawn they used for their prawn glue is very fresh too.

The best thing about dining at Shi Li Fang is they do not charge extra for their sauce! Though they do not have a huge variety of sauce like Hai Di Lao, the variety of sauce provided here is still acceptable. Most of the common sauce for steamboat can be found here.

Cooked shabu shabu pork belly in tomato soup! The pork was fresh and thin, which is perfect for steamboat. The tomato soup base is similar to Hai Di Lao’s as well, but of course it is not as flavourful, which we didn’t mind as it is still tangy and just right for our liking.

The marinated pork was a little salty to our liking, but the flavour is still on point and it goes well with rice or noodle.

Shi Li Fang may not be unfamiliar with many working adults and is a popular choice for lunch with colleagues as they serve nice and affordable steamboat set. Though you may not get the top service like what you receive at Hai Di Lao, it is still recommended for you to give Shi Li Fang a try. Other than dining, Shi Li Fang is generous in giving out soft toys as well. Every $15 spent will earn you a chop, and with just two chops, (which is easily obtainable after a meal) you can choose to bring home a small soft toy. Fear not if you fancy a particular soft toy without enough stamps. Chances are you will still be able to get it as long as you request from the staffs nicely. There is no reason for you to spend money catching soft toy at the claw machines when you can fill your stomach and get free toys at Shi Li Fang. 

Steamov Shi Shang Lao 食尚撈旋转小火锅 - Conveyor belt concept steamboat restaurant!

• Operating Days: Daily
• Operating Time: 11 AM to 4 AM
• Address: 325 New Bridge Road, S 088760
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A newly opened restaurant in September 2017, Shi Shang Lao 食尚撈 is a conveyer belt concept hotpot restaurant in Singapore.

Located near Outram Park MRT, it is conveniently located at Chinatown area. Shi Shang Lao’s interior looks like a grand room with a long table where diners can sit around, facing the conveyor belt in the middle. You can simply pick up the skewered ingredients you want. On the other side, they have tables catered to bigger groups of four & above. 

On a side note, you can rent a portable power bank to charge your phone at only $1!

We love how the conveyer belt has many fresh steamboat items on it. It is something not commonly found in Singapore and it is one of the main reasons we were there to try. They have also a big chiller where they would usually place the cut fruits in it. Fresh fruits such as dragon fruit, honeydew, rockmelon and watermelon are constantly replaced to ensure its freshness.

In the restaurant, you can choose to sit at the tables or counter seats, which both have their own conveyor belt at the sides.

So once you’ve settled down, a staff will ask for your preferred soup choice. Everyone gets their own individual pot of soup, so you don’t have to share the soup with your friends if you didn’t like their choice.

The 10 types of soup include the Extra Spicy Pot, Fragrance Pot, Herbal Pot, Triple Taste Pot, Spicy Pot, Tomato Pot, Herbal Duck Pot, Mushroom Pot, Sour Vege Fish Pot and Mushroom and Black Chicken Pot. 

All the drinks are displayed on the shelf above the conveyer belt, so grab the drink you want and ask the service staff for a glass of ice. The drinks are priced starting from $1.20. 

So for food, basic ingredients include hotdogs, crabsticks and fishballs on the wooden satay skewer are priced at $1 each, while premium ingredients with a flat wooden skewer are priced at $3 each.

They also offer seafood including prawns and salmon fillets. All the seafood we tried was fresh without the fishy taste.

We started with the Chicken Rolls which was out of the conveyor belt menu. Priced at $8, we were surprised it came with a big portion, with a total of 18 rolls piled on the plate. The chicken was fresh and lean, giving good texture.

First soup we tried was the Herbal Duck Pot. It has a little herbal duck taste and it was a little too bland for our liking. However, the taste will slowly get intensified in time after cooking with the steamboat ingredients.

We also tried one of the top recommended soups too - Tomato Pot. It is similar in taste to Haidilao's version but they are on a lighter and diluted version, which is also not a bad choice as it makes a better soup base for the steamboat ingredients as the soup will not overpower the original taste of the food.

Similar to most of the hotpot places, they have a self-serve condiment station with a wide range of home-made sauces for you to choose.

There were a lot more ingredients that we were not able to try because of the wide variety of choices here. We spent a total of $50+ for 2 pax, which is pretty much affordable for a good supper meal. And oh did I mention they are open until 4am daily as well?

Steamov is a modern steamboat concept which makes another good supper place if you are around Chinatown area. With so many steamboat places currently, Steamov distinguishes itself from providing a wide range of food, displaying on the conveyor belt. It is a no frill dining concept suitable for anyone who wants to have a cheaper alternative steamboat affairs with your family or friends.

Dessert Hut 甜品小屋 - A Traditional Chinese Dessert Stall with Korean Bingsu inspired desserts?!

• Operating Hours: 10 AM - 8 PM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: People's Park Centre, #02-48/58, 101 Upper Cross Street, S 058357
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The hot weather in Singapore gets even hotter these few weeks! Happened to chance upon Dessert Hut 甜品小屋 while we were running errands at People's Park Centre, so we decided to give this stall a try, as well as to seize the chance to enjoy the aircon in People's Park Centre.

A "mother-daughter" team established Dessert Hut 甜品小屋 in the year 2004 to share their passion in making Chinese traditional desserts with all the like-minded individuals. As time goes by, the owner has introduced new flavours and items to be added to their menu, to improvise their desserts and also to keep up with the market trends. 

There is another dessert stall right beside Dessert Hut 甜品小屋 that sell similar desserts, but you can't miss Dessert Hut 甜品小屋 as they have expanded their business space by buying over the area directly opposite their stall.

These are the hot and cold dessert they have.

We decided to go for their Oreo Kakigori (Shaved ice in Japanese), Milo Kakigori and Tau Suan.

The Oreo Kakigori came first and taking the first look at it, it is 90% similar to a bowl of Korean Oreo Bingsu! A good amount of crushed Oreo used, topping up with condensed milk; the only difference between the Oreo Kakigori and Korean Oreo Bingsu is probably the price. $4.80 for this bowl of goodness, seriously?

The amount of condensed milk used was just right for us. Though we all have sweet tooth, we can't really take desserts that are too sweet/rich, and very often we would stop eating halfway. The Oreo Kakigori here was what we are looking for - generous amount of Oreo powder used, topped up with the right amount of condensed milk on a bowl of snowflake ice that literally melts in your mouth. Perfect!

We were surprised to see a small piece of Oreo Cheesecake hidden in the middle of the bowl. To Oreo fans- this is a bowl of dessert you should go for. Highly recommended!

Next came was the Tau Suan. Priced slightly on a higher side ($2.20), the Tau Suan served here is actually a healthier version (as compared to the regular hawker stall), which is less sweet. 

The last item came was the Milo Kakigori. This was actually the additional order (as we really like the Oreo version) so we were having high expectation on this as well. Similar to Oreo Kakigori, a generous amount of Milo Powder was given, topped up with condensed milk and marshmallow bits. The condensed milk given in the bowl of ice was significantly lesser, not sure if it is due to the marshmallow bits are given - as it will definitely affect the overall sweetness level of this bowl of dessert. 

Instead of the Oreo cheesecake, a small piece of the brownie was given instead. The brownie was slightly dry but overall it does taste good as well when you pair it with the ice. Personally, we felt that the Milo Kakigori is a fusion dessert (Milo powder - Singapore, Kakigori ice - Japan and Bingsu look alike - Korea) whichyou can try if you are a fan of these three countries like us.

All in all, the dessert served at Dessert Hut 甜品小屋 are generally on a healthier side as it is not as sweet as compared to the desserts served at a regular dessert stall. Though we did not try many of their traditional desserts while we were there, we have seen many patrons ordering their hot desserts despite the hot weather. Being in the market for more than 15 years selling traditional Chinese desserts, we like how the owner improvised their menu to keep up with the current trend, opening up the new market with potential to attract a younger crowd to patronize their stall. Do give it a try and share with us how you feel after visiting!

Ri Ri Hong Mala Xiang Guo 日日紅麻辣香鍋 - Charged by Item, not weight!

• Operating Hours: 11 AM - 9 PM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: People's Park Food Centre, 32 New Market Road, #01-1042, #01-1052, S 050032

The popularity in China selling Mala Xiang Guo has also started its popularity in Singapore as we see many simlar stalls start popping out at the food court and hawker centre almost everywhere! Ri Ri Hong Mala Xiang Guo 日日红麻辣香锅 is one of the first Mala Xiang Guo shops in Singapore and has been booming with business because of their generous portions and low prices. 

As we walked around we can see many customers at the hawker centre sitting down with a big bowl written 日日麻辣香锅 on the table. Joined the long (but quite efficient) fast queue, and within 5 mins, it is my turn to order.

Some of us may have seen food court selling Mala Hot Pot and they are priced according to the weight of the item, and normally, just a few pieces of vegetable can already cost you two to three dollars! Usually, we will get bill shock when we see the prices that other mala shops charge elsewhere.

What sets this stall apart from others is they charge by the types of ingredients you choose instead of weight. A dollar for a portion of a non-meat ingredient, two dollars for meat and three dollars for seafood and so on. This really helped us to better estimate the amount we will be paying.

You can choose from a wide variety of ingredients very much like Yong Tau Fu. 

You start by picking from all of the vegetables first, then move towards the next staff waiting to choose the meats like prawns, squid, pork, and chicken

You will then decide the spiciness level, from not spicy, mild, moderate, spicy to extra spicy. For people who can take spicy stuff, the moderate is bearable. You can choose to have a non-spicy version too if you really not a fan of spicy food.

We were worried that we overspent, but it came up to only $12 for 2 people. Thought it's going to be about $30+. So once you paid, you will be given a tag where you will then proceed to the back of the stall and wait for your orders.

The hot pot is mixed with lots of ingredients, such as garlic, red chilli, dried chilli flakes, sugar, spring onion, pepper, sesame, chilli oil and their secret Mala spicy sauce.

$12 for this huge bowl of items! This bowl can be easily shared by 2 people. The whole dish is a little oily so it’s not really the best dish if you are looking to have a healthy meal. 

The fragrant sauce had a strong taste of garlic, chilli powder, ginger, and their own spices.

The chicken was tender and marinated well but sliced rather thin. Each of the ingredients was fresh! The vegetables were all crunchy and had absorbed the essence of the mala sauce.

One of the most tongue spiking herbs used was Sichuan peppercorns. Normally we can't see them when we are eating, but definitely, we could feel the sensation when taking the first bite! 

Good quality ingredients and pretty affordable for the portion served! The mala hot pot was addictive to me, I kept going back for the kick! Definitely won't be the last time visiting this place!

Duck Master 鸭师傅 - Roasted duck at $15?!

Operating Hours: 10.30 AM - 9 PM

Operating Days: Daily

Address: 

Chinatown - 1 Park Road, People's Park Complex, #01-K99, S 059108

Textile Centre - 200 Jalan Sultan, #01-05, S 199081

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At last, we are able to get our hands dirty on 鸭师傅 Duck Master's roasted duck for just $15! Located at the ground floor of People’s Park Complex, the shop can be easily seen as it is fronted by rows of ducks spinning in an electric oven as they roast. Since its operation, orders have been stacking up, with waiting time as long as three hours. Customers have to place their orders and return at a later time to collect their ducks.

Other roast ducks available anywhere else are usually roasted in the morning and sold throughout the day. This results in a duck that is relatively dry and cold. Even if it's roasted to order, the price can get quite high.

This attractive price also means that you have to be prepared to wait in line. It can take up to three hours during peak hours. Look at the number of ducks preparing to be roasted in the oven.

So if you decided to wait, you make payment, get a queue number and collect the duck at a specific time slot given. If you do not want to go over and wait for hours, they do offer online ordering as well, just choose the time slot you would like to collect and go over to the stall. Just take note ordering online will need to pay an additional processing fee of 45 cents. 

When you are at Duck Master, you have to take a look at the three transparent glass oven that shows rows of ducks spinning slowly inside. Roasted right in front of you to witness the whole carousel roasting process.

They do not chop the duck for you, it was whole, on its own, head and all attached (Duck feet or duck wings not included). 

Why they do not offer to chop the duck? All their ducks are roasted on the spot for takeaway. They believe that it would be optimal to rest the duck and keep the juicy goodness within the duck until it is ready to be consumed. Chopping it immediately after roasting will result in the juices escaping from the meat. Another reason is to save the manpower, so you could get them at such a low price. But you able to get it chopped up at $3 just beside their shop. No cutlery is provided to us too. They only provided one small cup of chilli, do ask for extra if you need it. 

The herbal smell of the freshly roasted duck can be smelled through the bag as we were bringing it home. It came hot and roasted, it's not totally roasted till the skin is very crispy, but it is still better than most. You will also find chestnuts, garlic and other spices stuffed in the duck. The skin is slightly crisp and with a light layer of fat underneath.

The meat is tender, flavored and moist that even the breast meat is an enjoyment as they were easy to tear off. They've opened another branch at Textile Centre, so if you're looking to get your hands on their ducks, do visit this new shop so as to lessen the waiting time. Size is good to share with family. I'm so addicted to it and will order it again even if I have to queue for it, because it's really worth it for the price!

Mount Faber Nasi Lemak - Supper to have in Chinatown

• Operating Hours: 5 PM - 4 AM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: 47 Kreta Ayer Road S 089006

Founder moved from little kampong to big city and made a name out of her little Nasi Lemak business. 

Previously selling at the foot of Mount Faber in Telok Blangah, the stall now resides under shophouses in Chinatown.

They have a large variety of dishes to choose from to go with the rice, such as fried drumstick, fish cake, curry vegetables, fried eggs, sausages, otak and so on.

I went for their set meal, which consists of Egg, Otah, fried chicken wing and peanuts with fried anchovies. The rice itself is filled with an aroma of pandan leaves. It was fluffy, plump and yet not oily. Similar to those wrap in banana leaves which is normally sold anywhere. The chili tasted slightly hot and with a nice sweet.

Their homemade fish otah was soft and bits of the fish meat which is not as spicy as the chili, is a good dish to mix with the coconut rice.

The taste of the chicken wing was quite similar to any of the chicken wing anywhere. It was crispy, however we can still tell it was fried using frozen chicken wings.

Overall it was a pretty decent Nasi Lemak and they are open daily until 4 AM, which makes this a great supper destination.

This whole family of three sisters is selling Nasi Lemak. Her eldest sister is the owner of the Punggol Nasi Lemak while her youngest sister is the owner of Bali Nasi Lemak. Each of them has their own specialty, so I recommend to visit all of them!