Shi Hui Yuan Hor Fun Specialty : not worthy of Bib Gourmand rating

This stall was listed in the Bib Gourmand in 2016, 2017 and 2018. I was surprised to see that there were just another 3 customers when I was there for lunch on a weekday. The customer in front of me took away a portion of their Beef Hor Fun ($5.50) and I decided to try it. Coincidentally, the customer right behind ordered the same dish, it is their special recommendation. They only serve Ipoh-style hor fun and there are a total of 9 choices, served with toppings like chicken, chicken feet, duck and spare ribs. It used to be run by an elderly couple, the daughter took over when the elderly auntie suffered from a stroke but it was manned by 2 middle-aged men when I was there.

I waited for just a while before receiving it. The presentation did not look as appealing as their picture, it consists of a piece of beef nicely chopped into pieces served on top of thin rice noodles accompanied by 2 pieces of mushroom with fatt choy in a pool of sauce. The texture of hor fun was quite smooth and slippery. The beef tasted just normal but the texture was right though.

Apparently, I am not quite convinced that they should be listed in the Bib Gourmand. I was talking to one of their regular customers when ordering Fried Hokkien Mee much later. I was telling her that I was not too impressed with their Beef Hor Fun and she said, "You should just go with the Chicken Hor Fun."  My dining companion said, "I think it is the sauce that made it different, it has a rather mild herbal-ish taste and quite flavorful." The main sauce is from the chicken feet and nicely blended with the sauce from pork rib and mushroom. 

SHI HUI YUAN HOR FUN

159 Mei Chin Road #02-33 Mei Ling Food Centre SINGAPORE 140159

Operating Hours: 8.00 am to 2.00 pm (Thursday to Sunday)

Kok Sen Restaurant : awarded Bib Gourmand by Michelin for 2016 & 2017

Kok Sen Restaurant has been awarded the Bib Gourmand by Michelin for 2016 and 2017. It is an old-school Cantonese-style Cze Char that has been around for more than 37 years and is popular amongst the local, passing down from Kau Kee, the founder to Kok Sen, his son and now to the third generation. 

We were there on a Thursday for dinner and it was still early, there was no queue yet. We decided to go with their signature dishes like Big Prawn Horfun, Claypot Yong Tau Fu and Prawn Paste Chicken. 

Their most popular dish has to be their Big Prawn Horfun, starting from $16 for the smallest portion to $32 for a medium portion and $48 for the largest portion.  You could taste the distinctive wok flavor amidst those nicely charred rice noodles. The gravy was a bit too spicy for my dining companion as he has little tolerance towards spicy food. Those big prawns tasted relatively fresh and we liked it. The portion is good enough to be shared amongst 2 people. 

Though their Prawn Paste Chicken ($12 / $18 / $24) might not be as popular as the other dishes that we ordered, it was quite good though and easily one of the better Prawn Paste Chicken that We have tasted. I liked it enough to want to go back for it. They do not use chicken wings but different parts of the chicken for this dish. It was perfectly fried to crispiness with an intense prawn paste flavor. 

The Claypot Yong Tau Fu ($14 / $21 / $28) is also a recommended dish to order. It consists of assorted pieces of Yong Tau Fu like the beancurd skin, brinjal, chilli and all these came stuffed with fish and prawn paste. I enjoyed the homely taste but my dining companion did not like it as much.

The queue is usually quite long if you come during lunch or dinner and to avoid such a long waiting time, you might consider making a reservation. 

KOK SEN RESTAURANT
30 Keong Saik Road SINGAPORE 089137
Operating Hours: 12.00 to 2.00 pm / 5.00 pm to 11.00 pm (Closed on Alternate Mondays)

Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice : Bib Gourmand Award

There are many Chicken Rice stalls in Singapore but this particular one at Tiong Bahru Food Centre is awarded Bib Gourmand by Michelin for 2016 and 2017. Cheong Weng Wah, 48, the owner, grew up in Tiong Bahru prior to starting his stall in 1988. He was only 20 years old then and just completed his National Service and he happened to know a friend that used to work as a cook at Chatterbox in Mandarin Hotel, cooking the legendary Hainanese Chicken Rice. This particular friend imparted the skills and given the recipe to him. He further improvised by experimenting and improved on the recipe. 

Other than the Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice ($3), there is also Roasted Chicken Rice ($3), Lemon Chicken Rice ($3) and side dishes like the Soya Sauce Vegetables ($3) and Bean Sprouts ($3) on their menu. I was there for a late lunch but there was just another customer right in front of me. I wanted the combination of blanched chicken and roasted chicken with a plate of rice for $5.00. 

The blanched chicken was smoother and juicier but the roasted chicken was more flavorful, both were equally good though I would prefer the roasted chicken a little more. It was served with a portion of salted vegetable, which is not quite common. Onion is added as the special ingredient to the rice apart of the usual garlic, ginger and spring onion, that making it different from the others. The texture of the rice was fluffy and not greasy. This might not be the best Chicken Rice that I have tasted but this is definitely above average.  Though, there were some negative reviews about this stall but I was honestly impressed with what I had eaten. 

There is also another outlet by the same name in Chinatown that is run by his elder brother and his other brother has another outlet at Changi Village. 

TIONG BAHRU HAINANESE BONELESS CHICKEN RICE

30 Seng Poh Road #02-82 Tiong Bahru Food Centre SINGAPORE 168898

Operating Hours: 10.00 am to 8.00 pm (Closed on Mondays)