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)

Ah Ho Teochew Kway Teow Mee : a Taste of the Yesteryear

This stall has been around for 4 decades in a small coffee shop at the junction of Verdun Road and Sam Leong Road, serving Teochew style noodles. Mr Liang, the elderly owner in his 70s, is not cooking when I was there, it was cooked by an Auntie while a younger girl was taking the orders. The noodles are priced in between $3 to $5 and the fish dumpling soup is at $4, this is so much cheaper and better tasting than most of the others out there. There was no queue during lunch on a Saturday but with a constant flow of customers while I was there.

It is served with ingredients like slices of lean pork and fish cake, braised mushroom, fishball, minced pork, fish dumpling and dried sole fish, which is also known as tee por.

Their secret ingredient is nonetheless the house-made aromatic chilli, it is made with pork lard and buah keluak, dried chillies and dried shrimp (hak bee), though flavourful but not overly spicy and extremely addictive, it complemented the noodles well. The dried sole fish and crispy pork lards have added crunch as well as the extra flavour.

It was added with well-braised and flavorful sliced mushroom to bring forth the flavours. 

The taste of those fishballs was generic and likely to be factory-made. 

The fish dumplings have a slightly gooey texture and a little slippery with seasoned fish and meat paste wrapped in slightly thick but resilient skin, it is the classic Teochew-style fish dumpling that you do not usually get these days. The pork-based soup was lightly flavoured, without a hint of MSG together with bits of minced pork and fried garlic.

It is a simple pleasure to enjoy such a bowl of noodles but how much longer would such a taste of the yesteryear be around?

AH HO TEOCHEW KWAY TEOW MEE

12 Verdun Road, Kim San Lee Coffee Shop, SINGAPORE 207278

Operating Hours: 7.00 am to 4.00 pm (Closed on Wednesdays)

Swee Choon Tim Sum Restaurant : old-school dim sum fare

This is a well-known dim sum restaurant located at the heart of Jalan Besar, in the district of Little India and it has been around for almost 50 years. They have started to serve late breakfast and lunch only recently as they used to serve just dinner and supper.

There was quite a crowd when we were there at about 8.30 pm. First, is to get a ticket from the machine at their entrance and you will be allocated a number with an estimated waiting time. It reflected on my ticket that it would be about 45 minutes of waiting before we could get a table. The waiting time was much shorter though as we were seated 15 minutes later, there is no specification on whether we want an indoor or outdoor seating and perhaps that was the reason why we got our table sooner than expected. We were allocated a table at the black alley.

While waiting for a table earlier, We have already done filling up the order chit. 

There is an old-fashioned service bell on every table. When we were about to press the bell to submit the order chit, the service staff came quickly and said, "Here I am!". The service was impressively attentive. 

The canned drink is priced at $1.80 each.

Steamed Salted Egg Custard Buns (3 pieces for $2). This was amongst the better ones that I ever had, the skin was fluffy with the salted egg custard oozing out after I took the first bite.

Har Kow (2 pieces for $2.40). The Har Kow which is also known as prawn dumpling did not quite impress, the skin was slightly too thick which I did not like.

Siew Mai (2 pieces for $2.00). I have eaten much better ones than this so this is not my favorite as well. 

Beancurd Prawn Roll (2 pieces for $3.00). This did not taste particularly impressive as well.

Rice Roll with Char Siew ($3.50). It is handmade Chee Cheong Fun topped with dried shallots and served a pool of soy sauce. I did not like it much too as I have eaten much better ones as well.

Carrot Cake (2 pieces for $2.40). This was my most favorite. It was deep-fried well to the desired crispiness but still moist within. 

Swee Choon Mee-suah Kueh (2 pieces for $2.40). This is their signature and it is a must-order. It is made of mee-suah with bits of ingredients, stir-fried then transferred into the baking tin, steamed and leave it to cool before cutting into blocks and deep-fried it. This is a very interesting dish, this was my first time eating this snack and I totally enjoyed it. 

SWEE CHOON TIM SUM RESTAURANT
183 / 191 Jalan Besar SINGAPORE 208882
Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 2.30 pm / 6.00 pm to 6.00 am (Mon to Sat)
10.00 am to 3.00 pm / 6.00 pm to 6.00 am (Sun & PH) (Closed on Wednesdays)

Flee Away Cafe at Dunlop Street

Flee Away Café is started by Fann Hui Leng and Wendy Cheong as a mean of escapade from the buzzing city life. You can find your granny type of sewing machine as well as the seats salvaged from the old cinema in this retro café.

Their specialty is Le Char kuay, it is a little like the dough fritter snack that is better known as You Tiao but their version came with filling of your choice. You can either choose a Char Kuay as sandwich or tortilla wrap ($15.50).

The other must-try item has to be their specially created Beef Hash Pie Tee ($12.50). It is none other than kway Pie Tee shells with corned beef as filling. For dessert, their waffle with Gula Melaka pudding ($$8.50) is a strongly recommended choice. Another interesting choice has to be Ang Gu Kueh with ice-cream ($8.50).

FLEE AWAY CAFE

70 Dunlop Street SINGAPORE 209398