Hock Heng You Tiao 福兴油条 is a stall located at Tanglin Halt Food Centre specialising in deep fried dough fritters. This stall is located two units away from No. 1 Western Food 驰名西餐. The Hungry Bunny recommended this stall since I was at Tanglin Halt Food Centre. Hock Heng You Tiao sells a variety of deep fried dough fritters such as You Tiao, Salted Hum Chim Peng (Hum Jin Peng), Butterfly Bun and Lotus Paste Hum Chim Peng. Everything at Hock Heng You Tiao are freshly made! You may have noticed from the photos above, the owner was kneading, rolling and folding the dough preparing the next batch of Hum Chim Peng and You Tiao. After which, his daughter would help to deep fry them. The owner's wife also helps out at the stall. Each item at the stall costs only $0.70. Savory (Salted) Hum Chim Peng $0.70Savory (Salted) Hum Chim Peng $0.70

I bought a Savory (Salted) Hum Chim Peng $0.70 to try out when I was there. I must admit that it sure was good. The Hum Chim Peng was soft, chewy and fluffy. I especially love it when I reach the part which was savoury. Having tried this out, I decided to purchase some home. Butterfly Bun $0.70

The Butterfly Bun $0.70 was fried with sesame seeds which gave it an extra fragrant. It is similar to You Tiao except for the fact that it had a different shape and was sweeter in taste.

Anyway, my advice would be to have these deep fried dough fritters on the spot after buying. It is best eaten when it is freshly fried. Those that I bought home and ate the next morning became a tad too tough on the outside. Nevertheless, Hock Heng You Tiao is worth a try.

Hock Heng You Tiao 福兴油条 (Tanglin Halt Food Centre)

Blk 1A Commonwealth Drive

#01-11 Tanglin Halt Food Centre

Singapore 141001

Opening Hours: Tue to Fri to 4pm to 830pm

Closed Sat to Mon

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Tian Xin Wanton Noodle 天心云吞面 is a stall specialising in noodles located in Sidewalk Eating House which is located at Excelsior Shopping Centre along Coleman Street. In fact, this Eating House is located just next to Funan Digital Mall, facing the Central Fire Station along Hill Street. Sidewalk Eating House was packed with hungry office workers during my visit on a weekday lunch hour. This was probably so due to the many offices located nearby. Frankly, I had no idea what to eat and decided to just go for one with a queue (Singapore mentality tsk tsk). Hence, I settle for Tian Xin Wanton Noodle 天心云吞面 as there was about 10 people in the queue (the longest queue at the Eating House). I ordered the Minced Meat Noodles aka Bak Chor Mee. The Minced Meat Noodle was available at $3.50 or $4.50. As usual being a glutton, I ordered the $4.50 version. I seldom see any stall providing so many different type of condiments. Normally, the stall owners would add it for you themselves to control the quantity. Minced Meat Noodles $4.50

The Minced Meat Noodles $4.50 was served with a bowl of soup, similar to what you can get elsewhere. For my noodles, I ordered Mee Pok; flat yellow noodles. Minced Meat Noodles $4.50Minced Meat Noodles $4.50

I was pleasantly surprised by the big bowl of Minced Meat Noodles which was filled to the brim. They were extremely generous with the ingredients and noodles. I should have ordered the $3.50 version (you have been warned). Despite the generosity, it was an average bowl of Minced Meat Noodles. It was a pity the Mee Pok was overcooked and had lost its springiness, and the sauce (including vinegar) was not flavourful enough.

Undeniably, I must admit that this stall is reasonably price. In addition, the service provided was good. The Auntie was friendly; she would ask if you want certain items and always had a smile. Judging from the long queue, this seems to be one of the more popular stall.

Tian Xin Wanton Noodle 天心云吞面 (Coleman Street)

Coleman Street

Sidewalk Eating House

Excelsior Shopping Centre

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Handmade Noodles has always been my comfort food since my secondary school days when I had to have my lunch outside whenever there was extra lessons (remedial) or ECAs (now called CCAs). I was first introduced to this hot, soupy bowl of noodles aka handmade noodles by Qiu Lian Ban Mee 秋莲板面 which was then a popular stall chain with long queues. I wonder how many experience first started with Qiu Lian Ban Mee too? Kee Chiu (raise your hands)?

Fast forward to today, Qiu Lian Ban Mee 秋莲板面 does not seems to be as popular and there are similar many competitors. If you have noticed, in most hawker centres, major coffeeshop and food court, there would definitely be at least one handmade noodles stall which speaks a lot about the demand. Of course, part of it is attributed to the fact that the owner of the coffeeshop and food court might have specifically stated that they are looking for a handmade noodle operator as they would want a variety of food to be sold. As the Qiu Lian Ban Mee stall at Bishan Blk 504 S11 coffeeshop had closed, I had to get my craving satisfied elsewhere. Hence, I visited the Qiu Lian Ban Mee's 秋莲板面 stall located in Super 28 Coffeeshop at Blk 184 Toa Payoh Central. As it was a weekday lunch, the coffeeshop was filled to the brim. There was a queue of about 7 persons long at Qiu Lian Ban Mee. Normally, the queue at handmade noodles stall gets clear quite fast. However, in this case, I had to wait for slightly over 30 minutes before I could land my hands on my bowl of noodles.

The main reason was because there was only 1 person operating this stall. She was took the orders, prepare the ingredients, cook and collect the cash from customers. The Qiu Lian Ban Mee's menu which is the nearly the same at all other coffeeshops.You Mian $3.50

As per SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), I ordered a bowl of Yu (You) Mian $3.50. You Mian $3.50

It was quite a decent bowl of handmade noodles. The broth was tasty and flavourful. Another positive aspect was that it was not salty. The you mian were well cooked, soft and fragrant. The other ingredients (egg, vegetable, pork) in it were pretty standard for a bowl of handmade noodles.

Handmade noodles is my type of comfort food. I can eat it everyday and this is normally the food I would go for when I am at a new coffeeshop or food court. Somehow, it seems to be a safe choice for me. Nevertheless, I have encountered my fair share of stalls which sells horrible handmade noodles.

ps: AMK Curry Puff is located just next to this Qiu Lian Ban Mee stall! In case, you have not heard of this yet, AMK Curry Puff is operated by the ex-owner of Tip Top Curry Puff (Ang Mo Kio). The owners of Tip Top Curry Puff sold off their business 2 years back. The minority shareholder owner started AMK Curry Puff as being the minority shareholder, they had little influence in the sales of Tip Top Curry Puff. Hence, after Tip Top Curry Puff was sold off, they started AMK Curry Puff and continued in what they were passionate about - selling and making delicious curry puffs!

I made yet another trip down to Pek Kio Food Centre just to try the prawn noodle from Wah Kee Big Prawn Noodle 華記大蝦麵 (managed to visit on Dec 2013!). However, stall was closed. (It seems that the owner is not feeling well and has been advised by the doctor to rest indefinitely.)As such, I decided to try Lai Hiang Pork Rib Prawn Mee 来香肉骨虾面, the other prawn mee stall in Pek Kio Food Centre.There was a long queue at the shop, around 8 people long. I waited slightly more than 15 minutes before I was able to order and collect my order (self-service). Prawn Noodle (Soup) $2.50

I ordered a bowl of Prawn Noodle (Soup) $4. Prawn Noodle ($2.50)

The Prawn Noodle was quite decent. I thought that the soup was excellent. It was light brown in colour, clear, sweet and rich in flavour. The plus points was that it was not salty. The ingredients were pretty average and the prawns a tad too small. At $2.50, I can't complain too much about the ingredients, but it was really a great bowl of prawn soup if you are someone who prefers your soup to be light and easy on the throat.

Overall, the prawn noodle was not bad. However, I will not make a special trip down just for this.

ps: if you are here, do try freshly made Chee Cheong Fun. Its cheap and good!

China Whampoa Homemade Noodles located at Blk 91 Whampoa Drive Market & Food Centre specialises in homemade (handmade) noodles. This stall is well known as it has been featured on several TV programmes related to food. I visited China Whampoa Homemade Noodles on a Saturday morning. I was surprised that there was no queue at this stall. The reason was because they customers were told to find a table nearby and come back at a certain time (e.g. half an hour later) to collect their bowl of noodles. They serve a variety of noodles such as Ban Mee and You Mian. In addition, these were available with prawns, abalone clams, sliced fish, pig's kidney or even with abalone! Abalone Clams Hand Made You Mian $4

I ordered a bowl of Abalone Clams Hand Made You Mian $4 and had to wait for slightly less than half an hour before I could collect my order. Abalone Clams Hand Made You Mian $4

The Abalone Clams Hand Made You Mian was delicious! It consisted of abalone clams, vegetable, minced meat and ikan bilis. The homemade noodles (you mian) was springy, soft and flavourful! It tasted slightly different from the other homemade noodles stall and seems to be accompanied by a hint of sweetness.

The soup was refreshing. It was robust, sweet and not salty. One unique ingredient which was used was the mani cai 马尼菜(aka sweet leaf). This was an essential ingredient as it provides a natural sweetness to the soup. Chilli Paste

The homemade chilli paste was slightly sweet with a extremely spicy after taste. Despite the spiciness, it was just so shiok (addictive) that I continually dipped the minced meat into it or just add some to each spoonful of noodles. By the end of this meal, I nearly finished all the chilli paste and found myself with swollen lips (just like Angelina Jolie's bee stung lips - sexy) haha.. You have been warned! Notice the containers of chilli paste? They started selling the chilli paste to customers after receiving feedback.

Service wise, it was impressive as the owner was attentive and polite. He never once snap at customers when some kept asking if their food was ready. In addition, when I wanted to pack some back home, he voluntarily offered to put the soup in another separate takeaway bag. Not all hawkers does this! Kudos to him.

Overall, China Whampoa Homemade Noodles serves one of the best bowl of homemade noodles in Singapore. Both China Whampoa Homemade Noodles and Poon Nah City Home Made Noodle 文尼城市面粉粿 are uncanny similar to each other. And maybe that is why I also rated Poon Nah City Home Made Noodle as one of the best!