Kheng Hai Hui Boneless Chicken Rice

By Walter Ng

Hi guys! If you remember, exactly a month ago, I wrote a post on Ming Kee Chicken Rice & Porridge at Bishan.

If you are not fond of the long queuing time or the price of the food, here is another alternative which I had come across. This store is based at the Old Airport Road Food Centre and each plate of chicken rice costs only $2.50! (How cheap is that..?) The serving portion is reasonable too!

This hidden gem is located at the back of the food centre. Most people would not walk through the last lane, thinking that it is full of the smaller stalls with hardly anything special about them. However, they are wrong! This stall over here serves such good chicken rice, but not many are aware of it.

While i was eating my chicken rice at the central part of the food centre, a lady approached me and asked, "Excuse me, but where did you get this from?" I told her and found out that, by then, she had been looking for chicken rice around this food centre for quite a while already but couldn't find a decent store that sold good chicken rice. I then took the chance to introduce this stall's chicken rice to her. She left satisfied!

This was my set. It costs about $2.50 and the soup is a must try! It has a very strong chicken flavour and was, somehow, very soothing on the tongue :)

The meat was tender, smooth and very moist as it was soaked in the stock. The skin was also easily detachable (this shows how smooth the meat was).

The rice was fragrant and from afar, I could smell the chicken stock. It was also smooth and the rice kept me going for more, even after I was done with each mouthful of rice.

The chili sauce was good; it was acceptable for me, as a person who doesn't eat chili often. There was a slight spiciness before the true taste kicked in and numbed my tongue for awhile. A must try for all chili-lovers.


Conclusion: This store brings me back to the days when I had chicken rice as a kid. I remember vividly, that as a kid I was always looking forward to my mother getting me a packet of chicken rice after kindergarten class because of its fragrance. After eating that packet of rice, it would make me happy and light up my day after having spent the whole morning in school.

Rating

      

Kheng Hai Hui Boneless Chicken Rice

#01-18, Old Airport Road Food Centre, 51 Old Airport Road

Ji Ji Wanton Noodle Specialist

By Yong Fang

Hi guys! Today I will be introducing to everyone a dish that has a special place in my heart, and that is... WANTON MEE! The store in particular which will be featured is Ji Ji Wanton Noodle. But, what is so special about it, you ask?

Background Information

• Started since 1965 and has been run by three generations
• Currently tended by a lady and her two daughters
• Won the highest number of votes in The Straits Times Reader's Choice Favourite Hawkers poll

Noodles

The type of noodles I chose is known as 'Mee Kia' in local dialect. The Mee Kia which was served here was thicker than what the average wanton noodle stall serves. However, this stall's Mee Kia had a rather strong taste of the flour in it.

The Mee Kia was also cooked just right, with the sufficient softness that I was expecting. When combined with the chili sauce, it became an extremely delicious combination, making the Mee Kia taste even better than it did. However, if you do not like Mee Kia or the flour-y taste, fret not- the stall has other alternatives such as the 'Mee Pok' and 'Kway Teow' noodles to choose from.

Mushrooms

Firstly, I would say that I have never been a great fan of mushrooms. The only one that I like would be the button mushroom. One of the mushrooms which I hate to eat the most is the shiitake mushroom.

However, if you are like me, don't despair! Just as I was surprised, you would be too, to find out how different (in a good way) the shiitake mushrooms tasted. They were chewy and tasted similar to the button mushroom. It had just a slight tinge of sweetness too.

Char Siew, Wantons, Vegetables & Soup

The Char Siew, or roasted pork, was lean, chewy and had a pretty strong taste of just what it is- Char Siew. However, what really appealed to me would be the wantons, or dumplings, as they are called otherwise. The wantons had a nice texture and bite to them, similar to Char Siew. Besides the good seasoning, the fillings were quite chewy and that was a plus.

The soup was flavourful, and together with the wantons (dumplings), it made an incredibly tasty combination. However, one flaw I noticed about this dish would be the vegetables. Similar to most wanton noodles served in Singapore, the vegetables were bland and would not taste well without any sauces e.g. chili. They were somewhat crunchy though.

Price

This dish costs $3++, depending on what add-ons you pick. One bonus I noticed is that the plastic take-away containers do not require any extra charges! I felt that the price range which they had was not bad, for the portion of food served.

Highly recommended stall for all noodle and wanton lovers!

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Ji Ji Wanton Noodle Specialist

531A Upper Cross Street

#02-49 Hong Lim Food Centre

Opening Hours:

7am - 7pm

Woodlands Fried Fish Soup

By Yong Fang

How's everyone doing on this cool Sunday afternoon?

In this post, we will be sharing more about last weekend, when The Five Spoons went to Changi Airport!

Remember the Fried Hokkien Mee which can be found in the staff food court of Changi Airport? Not far away from that stall, there is another stall selling fried fish soup and porridge- 'Woodlands Fried Fish Soup'. Our guess is that the stall owner might have moved from Woodlands to Changi, hence the choice of stall name.

Anyway, it was around 9am and we were hungry. We agreed on a light meal, and after looking around, ended up trying this stall's shredded chicken porridge.

Usually, porridge is served extremely hot and we would have have to wait for a short while for it to cool a little. Surprisingly, this stall's porridge was served neither too hot nor too cold- warm and just right for immediate consumption. The consistency was also not too watery and the shredded chicken tasted rather chewy. This combination left a pleasant aftertaste.

However, we were quite disappointed by how the fried dough fritters had lost its crisp texture; they were extremely soft and soggy. It would probably have been better if the stall owner served the fried dough fritters separately from the porridge e.g. on a plate or in a paper bag (absorbs excess oil too- killing two birds with one stone!). In addition, the portion of ingredients given were very small too.

Overall, we felt that the stall's shredded chicken porridge would be a fairly good choice if you're simply looking for a light meal that is also cheap- only $2.80.

Rating

Woodlands Fried Fish Soup

Changi Airport T2 Staff Canteen

Stall 6, Staff Canteen Level 3M

Airport Boulevard, Changi Airport Terminal 2 - Public Area

Opening Hours:

Mon to Fri; 8am - 8pm

Sat, Sun & PH; 7am - 9pm

Ngee Kee Fried Hokkien Mee

By Daryl Ang

When you think of the words 'Singapore Airport', what are the first things that come to mind? Probably planes, SIA stewardesses, the airport control tower and etc, yes? Expand 'Singapore Airport' into 'Singapore Airport Food' and you might think of things like 'restaurants, fast-food, overcharging'. The words 'great food' probably won't come to most people's minds.

On a trip to the airport last Saturday, we decided to check out the food there on a whim. It was then that we stumbled upon the Staff Canteen at Terminal 2, a place not noticed by many who visit Changi Airport.

The first thing that stood out to us was the affordability of the food. As this is a staff canteen, it is understandable that the prices are much lower than those of other places selling food in the airport. Many stores here sell a variety of food at reasonable prices, so if you're in the airport and don't want to splurge on food, you know where to go!

Anyway, since we were craving something hot and oily (guilty pleasure, we know), a plate of fried Hokkien prawn mee from Ngee Kee Fried Hokkien Mee store seemed perfect.

There is a free flow of pork lard which you can add, to your liking. The sambal chilli was disappointing- spicy but way too salty. The yellow noodles were also a little dry. Overall, the Hokkien Mee here seemed to be average at most. It was a pity that the pork lard was not fried together with the noodles, or the dish might just have tasted much better than it did.

However, it only costs $3 for a large plate of fried Hokkien mee- good value for money! In addition, this is the first time we've ever seen Hokkien mee with clams added, which is something that's quite uncommon for this dish.

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Ngee Kee Fried Hokkien Mee (Changi Airport T2 Staff Canteen)

Stall 10, Staff Canteen Level 3M

Airport Boulevard, Changi Airport Terminal 2 - Public Area

Opening Hours:

Mon to Fri; 7am - 8pm

Sat, Sun & PH; 7am - 9pm

Ming Kee Chicken Rice

By Walter Ng

Situated right next to the Bishan Mrt/bus interchange is where Kim San Leng is located at. Just a 2 minute walk from either the bus/mrt interchange and you'll reach your destination! 

Kim San Leng is home to the popular Bugis St Ming Kee chicken rice and several popular stalls such as Char Grill bar, Yu Kee duck rice and Koo Kee Yong tau foo. It is very crowded during meal times and opens 24 hours daily.

Ming Kee's trick is to keep the chicken submerged in ice water up till the time they serve the chicken. This is because it gives the meat a more tender texture- so you notice that there aren't any chickens hanging.

I joined the queue at about 6:40pm and i wanna see how long it takes to reach the end of the queue

(since this is my first time timing it)

People are flocking down from all areas of Singapore just to patronize the store.

Every 5 minutes the queue gets longer on a consistent basis.

Ah! I finally reached the end of the queue and it's my turn!

This queue took about 25mins (6:40-7:05pm)

The chicken rice cost about $3.50 but I bought an extra bowl of rice at 50cents to add on to the meal although

they had a generous portion of rice. P.S. I was too hungry after the long wait!

Chilli tasted slightly diluted and felt as if it was prepared heartedly, there is this old saying, "If the chilli is really good, one will finish the entire bowl of rice even without the chicken"

The Hainanese chicken on the other hand, stands out. It is not tough, but chicken was soft, tender, moist and slightly cold.(In a good way) Each piece of chicken was thick and meaty!! (definitely worth the money as compared to the other stores.)

In conclusion, the chicken was excellent with it's own unique taste.

 In my point of view, this stall is definitely well worth trying and is probably one of the best in Singapore.

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Ming Kee Chicken Rice & Porridge (Bugis Street)

明记鸡饭粥 (Bishan)

Blk 511 Bishan Street 13 #01- 522 Kim San Leng Food Centre

Opening Hours: Daily 10am to 930pm Closed on alternate Tuesday

Briyani for your TUMMIES?

By Daryl Ang

Out of places to go? Can’t decide what to eat? Well for our first post, we’re featuring food so good that you won’t expect in a food court, so pay attention to this! This Wednesday we found one hidden gem at the Food Canopy (a.k.a The Lawn) in Republic Polytechnic, feast your eyes on this:

Don’t be turned off by the seemingly long queues, for what awaits you at the end of the line is truly worth the effort. The Lawn’s Nasi Briyani is so good- it’s not surprising that the queues stretch from east to west.

The popular Indian dish served here consists of one tender, golden-fried chicken with aromatic briyani rice that’s been seasoned with cucumbers and red chillies for the extra punch. It is the kind of dish that makes you want to mop the plate clean. Just four dollars for a plate of heavenly goodness.

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Lawn Foodcourt (Indian Food)

W4 / W6 Level 3,Republic Polytechnic (9 Woodlands Ave 9)
Singapore (738964)