Hock Kee Fried Kway Teow : the decades-old flavor

Ah Song, 66, the owner, has been frying kway teow for more than 4 decades after taking over the stall from his mother-in-law that started it from a pushcart in the 60s' along Maude Road. This stall used to be in a coffee shop at Maude Road for about 20 years then moved to Syed Alwi Road in November 2015 before moving to Berseh Food Centre in March 2018. 

There are 3 sizes, from the smallest at $3 to medium at $3.50 and the largest at $4.00. There was another customer in front of me. I decided to go with the $4 portion and waited in front of the stall. Uncle asked, "Do you want chilli?" I replied, "Yes." As I will be sharing with my dining companion so I said, "Just a bit of chilli." It was still a little too spicy for him. He said, "I did not taste much of the wok flavor and there did not seem to have any lard. It would definitely be nicer if there are some bits of crispy lard." He added, "It is still a good plate of fried kway teow, much better than some of the mediocre ones." 

Nonetheless, it has an alluring old-school flavor with ingredients like slices of fishcake, cockles, Chinese sausage, and egg. It was fried well to the desired texture, which was drier, more savory and less sweet. 

HOCK KEE FRIED KWAY TEOW

166 Jalan Berseh #01-16 Berseh Food Centre SINGAPORE 208877

Operating Hours: 2.00 pm to 11.00 pm (Daily)

Lim's Fried Oyster : the 4-decades old Fried Oyster

Mr and Mrs Lim, the owners, have been selling Fried Oyster in this food centre since 1977, took over the stall from Mr Lim's father. Mr Lim, the 2nd generation hawker, has been helping his father since the 60s from a pushcart along Sam Leong Road.

There is an old-school feel about this fried oyster, something nostalgic about it that made it stood out amongst the others. Mr Lim has skillfully fried it perfectly to achieve the desired texture of having the slight crisp on the surface but still moist within. I really enjoyed it and this has to be one of the best that I have ever eaten. Another favourite is from Hock Kee Fried Oyster at Serangoon Garden Food Centre.

They also offer a wetter and softer version of fried oyster and is often eaten with a spoon, this is particularly popular amongst the elderly customers as it is so soft and it does not require much chewy. It is a less common version that does not often come across in Singapore. Hock Kee Fried Oyster that I mentioned earlier does it too. They also serve Oyster Omelette that has more eggs added to it. 

Mr Lim is still making the batter with 2 different types of house-made chilli to go with the fried oyster. He added the first type to the fried oyster while cooking it and the other is a dipping sauce. Their oysters came from Korea, it is much bigger in size as compared to those from the other stalls. They garnish with coriander leaves before serving it. 

LIM'S FRIED OYSTER

166 Jalan Besar #01-32 Berseh Food Centre SINGAPORE 208877

Operating Hours: 6.00 pm to 12.00 am (Daily)

Mei Xiang Black & White Fish Soup :fried fish & fresh sliced fish in a bowl

This is another stall that have been in my to-try list for a while. Though there was a short queue when i was there during lunch but it moved pretty quickly. You do not have much choices but to choose between a large portion at $7.50 or a small portion at $5.50 of a mixture of fried fish and fresh sliced fish in soup that are served along with rice. 

The 'white' sliced fish tasted remarkably fresh and the chunky pieces of 'black' fried fish was battered then deep-fried, quite tasty though. The soup was slightly cloudy with a slight hint of sweetness, it tasted a bit oily and it was served with a generous portion of vegetables to make it a healthier choice.

It is definitely different from most of the fish soups that are available out there and this is the likely reason to keep their customers coming back.

MEI XIANG BLACK & WHITE FISH SOUP

166 Jalan Besar Berseh Food Centre #02-44 SINGAPORE 208877

Operating Hours: 11.30 am to 3.00 pm (Monday to Friday)

Braised Delight

This stall is manned by an elderly couple selling traditional teochew delicacies like Pig Trotter's Jelly (猪脚冻) and Shark's Meat (白牙沙鱼肉) as well as Braised Delight (自制卤味).

They are even awarded an impressive 6 chopsticks under the category of 'Die Die Must Try' by Makansutra.  These are the traditional Teochew delicacies that are quickly disappearing these days. Though i am a Hokkien but i do appreciate such traditional delicacies that are not commonly available particularly from a stall at food centre.

The Pig Trotter's Jelly and the Shark's Meat are actually served cold with homemade dipping sauce. As i just had my lunch and i probably could not take away those so i left with their Braised Delight to consider. All the items are in the selection of $5, $8 and $10.

I decided to take away $5 portion of the Braised Delight and would have to come back for the highly recommended Pig Trotter's Jelly and Shark's Meat another day.

The Braised Delight consisting of braised pork belly, braised large intestine, braised tau kwa, braised tau pok and braised egg that commonly available at those Kway Chap stalls.


A rather good quality soya sauce was probably used to prepare the dish. The sauce was robust, fragrant and yet a well-balanced taste of sweetness and saltiness. And, it left a lingering fragrance on the taste buds.

My favourite has to be the braised intestine. It was clean thoroughly to omit the strange taste before braised well to give it the right texture. This is a simple dish that has done well. It actually tasted much better than some of those at most Kway Chap stalls.

The next favourite has to be the braised pork belly. The pork belly has got a good balance of the fat and the lean proportion. It was then braised perfectly to give it the desired texture. I liked how it was sliced in big and chunky pieces to give it a greater satisfaction.

The braised egg, braised tau kwa and braised tau pok are equally addictive. A pretty good alternative to take away and have it just for snack or to go with lunch and dinner at home.

LAO LIANG

166 Jalan Besar #02-37 Berseh Food Centre SINGAPORE 200877.

Roasted Duck Noodle.

I did not quite realise that most of the stalls in the food centre have closed down with no replacement stalls thus i was left with rather limited choices for lunch. I was just happened to be standing in front of this stall and there was a short queue of few people there so i thought to give it a try.

There is the selection of Char Siew & Roasted Pork Rice ($3.00), Char Siew Rice ($2.50), Roasted Duck Rice ($3.50) & Roasted Duck Rice ($3.50) stated on their  signboard. I spotted half of the roasted chicken was amongst the roasted meat and i guess they do serve Chicken Rice as well.

I wanted the Roasted Duck Noodle. It was served soon after. A few chunky pieces of roasted duck meat were served with a substantial portion of mee kia and a few stalks of vegetables.

It was served with some dark sauce and a pile of sambal chilli underneath the mee kia.

The few pieces of roasted duck meat were not as meaty as expected but it was tasty with a slight smoky flavor at the right texture. The skin was slightly greasy and not too crispy but rather flavorful.

The dark sauce tasted like some kind of braised sauce and it added flavor to the noodle when tossed it well. The level of spiciness was quite distinctive so it can be a little overpowering.

The mee kia was nicely cooked to give it the likable chewiness and a noticeable springiness.

A bowl of soup served along with the noodle. Its taste was slightly enhanced by the spring onion added.

A simple but rather tasty lunch that i enjoyed pretty much.

YI YOU

166 Jalan Besar #02-56 Berseh Food Centre SINGAPORE 208877.