海鲜之家 : fresh-tasting Fish Soup

This stall does not have an English name, the direct translation from 海鲜之家 is likely to be Seafood House. It was established in 2010 and is known for serving sliced fish soup. It has recently awarded as one of the winners in SG Food Masters by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) for their Fish Soup. The lady boss originates from China and is running the stall with her Singaporean husband.  

There was no queue when I was there on a Sunday for lunch. I decided to go with the Double Fish Soup ($5) consisting the fried fish and sliced fish with tofu and slices of bitter gourd. The bowl of rice is $0.50. They also serve dishes like Bitter Gourd Fish Head ($15), Sambal Prawn ($8) and Sambal Sotong ($8).

The soup was lightly flavored with pepper and fried garlic. Both fried fish and sliced fish were tasted relatively fresh. 

My dining companion did not exactly like it. He said he has tasted better ones. I did not find it to be particularly memorable as well. 

海鲜之家

4A Eunos Crescent #01-38 Eunos Crescent Food Centre SINGAPORE 402004
Operating Hours: 10.00 am to 10.00 pm

Epok Epok Central : Nasi Lemak is good

This stall is one of the pioneer stalls in this food centre that started as a pushcart about 30 years ago in Geylang selling epok epok, a Malay-style curry puff. Madam Bayah Ahmad, the founder, is already in her late 70s and has handed the stall to her son, Lokman Kassim, 42. This stall also serves Nasi Lemak. 

There was a short queue to order Nasi Lemak when I was there on a Sunday for lunch, some of these customers took away a few packets. The standard order of Fish and Ikan Belis or Egg and Ikan Belis are only $2 each. When it was my turn to order, I ordered it with the fried chicken wing and it is $3.50 if I remember correctly. The coconut milk infused rice was fluffy and the chilli has got a good balance of spiciness and sweetness. The star has to be the well-seasoned fried chicken wing that happened to be freshly fried. 

The epok epok has 3 different types of filling, potato ($0.50), Sardine ($0.50) and Egg ($0.70) using a recipe that passed down from the first generation. The small, old-fashioned, deep-fried pastries were fried well to have a thin and crispy crust, this is what makes it stood out from the others apart from the tasty fillings. It was still crispy even after leaving it for a while. The dough is made fresh and using a manual pasta machine to roll it into the right thickness before frying it in the oil at a certain temperature. 

There was a mixture of sardine and onions in the Sardine Puff which my dining companion did not quite like. He said, "The potato one is nicer. If I have to choose, I still prefer the potato puff at the Sweet Heart Dessert, it is much better." 

EPOK EPOK CENTRAL

Block 4A Eunos Crescent #01-09 Eunos Crescent Food Centre SINGAPORE

Operating Hours: 7.00 am to 7.00 pm (Tues to Fri) / 7.00 am to 4.00 pm (Sat & Sun) 

(Closed on Mondays)

Hock Choon Laksa . Lor Mee at Eunos Crescent Food Centre

There was a short queue when I reached there just before lunch. You do not usually get to see queue at this quiet food centre, there was also a queue at a Yong Tau Foo at another row. There are only 2 items on their menu, Laksa, and Lor Mee respectively at just $3. It seemed Lor Mee is slightly more popular as most of their customers ordered it.

When it was my turn to order, I said, "Can I order it with extra ingredients?" The lady in there nodded. It was served in the oval-shaped bowl rather than the usual round ones, it is priced at $4. When it was ready, the lady handed the bowl to the Uncle, he passed it to me and collected the payment. There were sambal chilli, minced garlic, red-cut chilli and a bottle of vinegar available for self-service. I added everything except the vinegar. 

Tables were slowly taken up when it passed 12 pm but it was still easy to find a table. I mixed it lightly before eating it. I was given more pieces of the nicely fried fish nuggets for that extra $1 together with half a piece of braised egg, handmade meatballs and some pieces of braised pork belly that were drenched in the savory gravy.

HOCK CHOON LAKSA LOR MEE

Block 4A Eunos Crescent #01-25 Eunos Crescent Food Centre SINGAPORE 

Operating Hours: 9.00 am to 3.00 pm (Closed on Mondays & Tuesdays)

福春叻沙卤面

I was there a bit too late so did not manage to try the Laksa. It has already been sold out then. There was just another customer right in front of me. I heard this stall usually attracted quite a long queue during their peak hours. 

Both the Laksa and Lor Mee are reasonably priced at $3 with quite a big portion given with ingredients like fried meatballs and fried fish nuggets. 

The minced garlic and sambal chilli enhanced its flavor further. I'd think this is an above average Lor Mee but i have heard that the standard can be quite inconsistent. 

福春叻沙卤面

Block 4A Eunos Crescent

Eunos Crescent Food Centre #01-25

SINGAPORE 402004.

Mami Midah Briyani

MAMI MIDAH BRIYANI

Block 4A Eunos Crescent

Eunos Crescent Food Centre #01-14

SINGAPORE 402004.

Epok Epok Central

I was there to check out this food centre when came across this particular stall that seems to be specialised in the curry and sardine Epok Epok. I have always been a huge fan of this local snack. And, what exactly is Epok Epok? It is more commonly known as Curry Puff or Sardine Puff.   

I was excited but a little too full so i ended up getting just a sardine and a curry Epok Epok for 0.40 cents each. 

The size of both types of Epok Epok was really small. You might be wondering how small it is. Well, it is so small that it only took me 2 mouthfuls to finish one of it. I went for the Curry Epok Epok first. I was slightly disappointed after the first mouthful as it was rather hollow in it with very little curry potato filling. 

The potato has got a nicely mushy texture with a light curry taste though. The pastry tasted rather light, thin and not too greasy.  

The Sardine Epok Epok did not fare any better. It was equally hollow in it with very little sardine filling but the sardine filling tasted well.

I would think 0.40 cents for such a small piece of Epok Epok is considerably expensive.  I was told by a someone on a particular forum that it is possible to get a better tasting and bigger Epok Epok in the same area. Though it tasted nice but the size did not quite justified the price charged for each so i doubt i am likely to go back.

On the side note, their traditional type of Nasi Lemak is strongly recommended on the same forum. I guess i might just try it if i happen to be there again.

EPOK EPOK CENTRAL

Block 4A Eunos Crescent

Enuos Crescent Food Centre #01-09

SINGAPORE 402004

Eng Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice

I happened to walk past this coffee shop after lunch at the food centre. This chicken rice stall is prominently located in there. I remember came across this particular chicken rice stall in the Makansutra guide book for a while. They must be really good to be awarded an impressive 5 chopsticks consecutively for a few years. I guess i must be lucky to chance upon them in this instance.

There was 2 other customers waiting for their order when i was there. I ordered half a roasted chicken with 3 packets of rice to take away for a reasonable price of $12.50. I was asked whether i want it to be deboned by the friendly assistant. I said yes and waited for about 5 minutes for it to be ready. I was asked again whether i want an extra packet of chilli sauce. 

The special soya sauce for the roasted chicken was packed separately. This is good effort as this would prevent the chicken to soak in the sauce and to get an overpowering salty taste. 

The special soya sauce was to poured in with the chicken just before eating. Few slices of cucumber were placed undernealth the plastic sheet with the roasted chicken in the box. The roasted chicken was nicely deep fried to give the skin its beautiful color and flavor. The roasted chicken has done well to retain its tenderness and juiciness within and still tasted flavorsome. Apparently, the chilli tasted just average. Its level of spiciness was rather minimum with a pretty slight ginger taste. 

The rice was rather grainy and not overly greasy with a slight flavour of chicken stock used in cooking it. It tasted almost as good as the one from my favourite chicken rice stall at Waterloo Street. 

After tasted it, i could not help but wonder what has kept this particular chicken rice listed in the Makansutra guide book for 5 chopsticks all these years? It tasted good but not quite outstanding. I am rather sure i would not bother to make the effort to travel to the east just to eat it. 

If you are a fan of Chicken Rice then maybe you should try it too. I wonder perhaps there is something about this particular chicken rice that i have yet to discover to ascertain its worthiness. I was told by an acquaintance that it tasted must better when eating there and the portion given is much more too. I understand there is likely to taste different when eaten fresh then had it a few hours after and that might be the reason why this chicken rice did not fare too impressively. 

I am willing to give it another chance if i happen to be there again. This time i will have it right there. 

ENG KEE HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE . PORRIDGE

Block 7 Eunos Crescent #01-2651 SINGAPORE 400007.