SweeT.Rex : Souffle pancakes

This stall is not to be missed if you are looking for an affordable option for souffle pancake, a Japanese-style pancake. Cassandra Lim, 43, is running the stall with her husband. It used to be at Mei Ling Food Centre before moving to Alexandra Village Food Centre. The choices include $4 for 2 pieces of the freshly made pancake with topping sauce and $5 for 2 pieces with topping sauce and ice-cream. They adjusted the prices after moved here. There is chocolate, strawberry and caramel sauce to choose. There are also Lemon Chocolate Cheese Cake, Homemade Milk Pudding and Homemade T-Rex Snack Bar on their menu.

I ordered a set of pancakes and was asked to choose the sauce. I was recommended to try the chocolate and caramel sauce. I was asked for the table number as it will be sent over later. The pancakes were served with icing sugar lightly scattered then drizzled with the sauces.

The pancakes are made from butter, eggs, milk, and flour. The egg whites were whipped into a meringue to achieve a lighter and fluffier texture despite the pancakes were of a certain thickness. It tasted quite close to what I had in Japan. 

SWEET.REX

120 Bukit Merah Lane 1 #01-79 Alexandra Village Food Centre SINGAPORE 150120

Operating Hours: 10.30 am to 3.00 pm (Closed on Thursdays & Fridays)

An Dessert : a new dessert stall at Sembawang Hills Food Centre

This is one of the newest stalls in this food centre manned by a mother and daughter team. They have been around for slightly more than a month. I decided to order a Chendol after finished a plate of Beef Horfun from the other new stall in this food centre. While waiting, I chatted with the mother. She saw me taking a picture of their stall and asked, "Do you think you can tell others about our stall?" I replied, "I will tell my friends and ask them to support."

She said, "The business is slow, we are just getting by. The rental itself is already $3,000 and the cleaning fee is $450, there is also the utility bill that we have to pay." She continued to say, "If the business is so good then why would the previous stall decided to quit after been here for more than 20 years?" She was referring to the fish soup stall that has been around for a long while and there was usually a queue during lunch. She also said, "We woke up early and took long hours in doing preparation. Almost everything is handmade at the stall. "

The Chendol is priced at $2 each. It is served in a nice plastic bowl with a metal spoon. The coconut milk is thick and creamy, served with Gula Melaka together with red beans and those droplets of green rice flour jellies. The level of sweetness was well-balanced but I actually prefer to have it slightly sweeter. It would be perfect if the shaved ice is finer and smoother. 

This is not the best Chendol that I have tried so far but it is good enough to taste the amount of effort in making it. 

AN DESSERT

590 Upper Thomson Road #01-36 Sembawang Hills Food Centre SINGAPORE 574419

Operating Hours: 8.00 am to 6.00 pm (Closed on Mondays)

Chendol Melaka : probably the best Chendol in the east

When I posted a picture of the popular Old Amoy Chendol on Facebook, a friend commented that his preferred choice for Chendol is in a popular coffee shop at the junction of Jalan Tua Kong, along East Coast Road. This humble looking stall is serving Nasi Ulam and Chendol only. There are choices of Chendol ($2.30) and XO Durian Chendol ($3.30), Nasi Ulam is priced at $5.30. I decided to go with Chendol and while waiting, I said, "My friend told me about your Chendol and he said, it is the best Chendol in Singapore. The Chinese owner replied, "OK only. There are better ones than mines." He asked, "This is your first time having it?" I nodded. He said, "Welcome to Siglap." 

I shared it with my dining companion. He enjoyed it, he does not usually eat Chendol as he is not a fan of Gula Melaka. He said, "The taste of Gula Melaka is not overwhelming and it also has the right level of sweetness."

This Chendol is probably the best in the east, it is excellent and not too sweet, those chendol stripes are handmade with a distinct pandan taste and those red beans are at just the right softness, the fresh coconut milk has the desired creaminess. 

We decided to order another one to share. My dining companion went to order but he came back telling me that the owner will deliver it as there were 2 other customers waiting for their orders. The friendly owner delivered the Chendol to our table in about 5 minutes. I said, "We liked it so much to order another one." He asked, "Would there be the 3rd bowl?" 

I will come by next time to try the Nasi Ulam together with the Chendol. Nasi Ulam is a traditional dish of steamed rice dish mixed with various herbs that usually serve during the special occasions in most Peranakan households. It is usually sold out quite early.

CHENDOL MELAKA

15 Upper East Coast Road Soy Eu Tua Coffee Shop SINGAPORE 455207

Operating Hours: 10.00 am to 5.00 pm (Tue to Fri) / 9.00 am to 5.00 pm (Sat & Sun)

Old Amoy Chendol : a bowl of simple goodness

It was founded in the 1950s started from a pushcart along Amoy Street but closed in 2004 and recently revived by the owner's grandson, Zhao Youning, 32, the former model and chef Justin Foo of Provisions. It is based on the original recipe from his retired Grandpa. The stall has been around for more than a year, located at the Chinatown Complex Food Centre and it only serves Chendol at $2 per bowl.

They insist in using the fresh cold-pressed coconut milk and not the coconut milk powder like some other stalls, that might compromise the taste. They are using gula melaka that is sourced from an artisanal producer in Sarawak and not brown sugar, which is often a cheaper alternative. 

The pandan jelly worms are made of mung bean flour with juice extracted from the pandan juice, the texture is much softer as compared to those that are factory-made and it has a light pandan flavor. The mashed red bean is soft though not overly mushy at just the right level of sweetness. Everything is made from scratch on a daily basis. Both ingredients are placed on a pile of shaved ice together with coconut milk and the caramelized gula melaka in a porcelain bowl.

It tasted fresh with not a bit of artificial flavoring detected though I prefer the coconut milk to be slightly sweeter and creamier with a stronger gula melaka flavor. It has been a while to come across such a refreshing bowl of chendol. Such simple pleasure of life brings happiness. 

OLD AMOY CHENDOL

Block 335 Smith Street #02-008 Chinatown Complex Food Centre SINGAPORE 050335

Operating Hours: 10.30 am to 8.30 pm (Daily)

Fa Ji Dessert : traditional desserts

This is a popular dessert in Kovan Food Centre, though no queue but there is a constant flow of customers. There is a notice, saying, "Dear customers, please tell us if it is not nice to eat and please tell your friends if it is good. Making a complaint, call 97559813".

There was an elderly Uncle in front of me, the stall lady recognized him and asked, "Tau Suan?" I decided to have Red Bean with Corn ($2.30) and my dining companion went with Soursop Jelly ($2.30).

Red Bean with Corn ($2.30) is made up of a pile of shaved ice topped with sweet corn and red bean with condensed milk. It is such a simple pleasure. 

Soursop Jelly ($2.30) consists of shaved ice, ice jelly, tadpole jell,  and soursop. This is a refreshing choice for thirst quencher on a hot day.

FA JI DESSERT

209 Hougang Street 21 #01-47 Kovan Food Centre SINGAPORE 530209

Operating Hours: 7.00 am to 9.45 pm (Daily)

Genting Desserts & Drinks : Honeydew & Watermelon Sago

This is a popular stall in this food centre serving different types of cold and hot desserts. One of the must-try items has to be their Honeydew & Watermelon Sago for just $1.40. This is also my all time favourite dessert.

It is just a simple dessert that is served with a pile of finely shaved ice with a generous portion of honeydew and watermelon pieces underneath and topped with sweet corns and sago. It is served along with coconut milk that enhanced its flavor and level of sweetness. This is a refreshing choice, particularly on a hot day. 

GENTING DESSERTS & DRINKS

Block 226H Ang Mo Kio Street 22 #01-25 Keban Baru Food Centre SINGAPORE 560226

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 8.30 pm

Ang Mo Kio Cold Hot Drinks : Ice Kacang & Bo Bo Cha Cha

There are a total of 3 dessert stalls in this food centre but this particular stall usually starts after lunch and lasted till after dinner, and closed around 10 pm or earlier. There used to be only an elderly Uncle but joined by a younger man in a recent year, it looks like a father & son team. This is amongst the popular stalls in this food centre that has been around for a long while with many regular customers, though you hardly see a queue but there is always customers there ordering their desserts.

There are at least 48 types of different hot and cold desserts on their menu board, the most popular has to be their Ice Kacang for $1.40 or have it with strawberry, mango or durian puree at $2.00. Other than the usual ingredients like atap seeds, red bean, jelly cubes, there are also pineapple cubes to be found under that pile of coarsely shaved ice. The level of sweetness from the condensed milk and syrup was just right. 

Amongst their most popular items, there is also Bo Bo Cha Cha at $2.50, which they only served in the cold version. Their Bo Bo Cha Cha is only consists of sweet potato, yam and tapioca but without those colorful tapioca jellies, it is served with shaved ice in coconut milk at just the right level of sweetness. 

ANG MO KIO COLD HOT DRINKS

Block 628 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 #01-54 AMK 628 Food Centre SINGAPORE 560628

Operating Hours: 1.30 pm to 10.00 pm (Daily)

Xi Le Ting 喜乐亭 : Old School Desserts

My first visit was decade ago when they were still at the old food centre in Commonwealth Crescent. I was just staying in the vicinity then so i usually walked there after dinner to have desserts. It was only 0.50 cents per bowl at that time for old school desserts like red bean soup, green bean soup, cheng teng and white oats. I stopped coming here for quite a long while after i moved away. I am so glad that this stall is still around after all these years.

The elderly auntie has been cooking all these desserts for more than 40 years. She has somewhat reminded me of my late Grandma as this auntie is always in her old-fashioned sleeveless top and pants that you do not often see elderly ladies wear these days.

I was there after a late lunch and i wanted to order a bowl of green bean soup and a bowl of white oats. I was told that green bean soup has already sold out so i asked her, 'What do you still have left?' She just said, 'White oats la'. And, i asked her, 'Do you also have cheng teng?' She nodded her head. The prices have increased to 0.90 cents per bowl and it is still served in those traditional porcelain bowls. It is self-service and you could place your bowls on those old-school plastic red round trays for easy carrying.

The bowls are actually quite small for just a right portion and it is good, this means i could have 2 to 3 bowls of different desserts each time.

The cheng teng is amongst the popular choices and it is only served hot, it consists of white fungus, big sago, dried longan, barley and dried persimmon. The soup has just the right level of sweetness with a nice taste of longan. 

The white oats is also popular amongst the regular customers. The oats were nicely cooked to have it broken down into fine pieces and its has a smooth texture with a well-balanced sweetness. My late Grandpa would have enjoy this if he is still around.

I do hope to see this stall to be around for another couple of years as such comfort taste is getting difficult to find these days.

Xi Le Ting 喜乐亭

118 Commonwealth Crescent #02-70 Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre SINGAPORE

Operating Hours: 12.00 pm to 10.00 pm (Closed on alternate Mon & Tues)

Patissez Singapore : the Creator of FreakShakes

Patissez, the creator of the original Over The Top Milkshake or better known as Freakshake from Australia is in Singapore now. Prior to their opening here, they are already others like Cake Spade and Benjamin Browns that have been serving such milkshake for a while. Singapore is the second outlet outside Australia as the first outlet has opened in Kuala Lumper, Malaysia.

You might be wondering what exactly is a freakshake? it is none other than piling the overflowing milkshake with their house-made ingredients like the whipped cream, peanut caramel semifreddo pop and torched marshmallow together with cakes, cookies and Nutella. 

The freakshakes are created using less ice-cream as well as replaced the regular milk by using frozen milk for a smoother and creamier consistency and to reduce its level of sweetness. There are currently have only 4 freakshakes on their menu, namely Pretzella, Mint Condition, Muddy Pat and Sneaky Freak at $16 each.  

It seems to be a must-try for a milkshake lover like myself. I decided to go with Pretzella and Sneaky Freak together with Tropical Hot Cakes.

Sneaky Freak is Snickers inspired shake with gooey salted peanut caramel, chocolate mousse, sneaky pop-slide (peanut caramel semifredo pop dipped in chocolate rolled in liquid marshmallow and torched for service). I did not like it as much, it was a bit too sweet and no distinct flavor.

Pretzella is a nutellary nutella shake that is made of lashings of Nutella, salty pretzels, vanilla mousse, Nutella dunked salty pretzels and pretzel dust. It is my preference choice amongst the 2 freakshakes that i ordered, it has a distinct hazelnut flavor along with the mild saltiness of those crunchy pretzels that balanced the level of sweetness. 

The other 2 choices that i did not order are Mint Condition and Muddy Pat. Mint Condition is a mint & chunky chocolate shake that is made of gooey chocolate sauce, mint milk crumb, mint chocolate semifredo and chocolate cookie sandwich and more chocolate fudge sauce. This would be a refreshing choice. Muddy Pat is made of gooey chocolate fudge sauce with chocolate ganache, vanilla mousse, chocolate brownie and torched house made marshmallow. This is recommended for chocolate lovers.

After tasted Sneaky Freak and Pretzella freakshakes, I did not like it as much as i thought i would and i actually would be happier with just a simple Strawberry milkshake. 

Tropical Hot Cake is a light and fluffy buttermilk hot cakes served with house made honeycomb, caramelised mango, orange segments, saffron mango reduction, vanilla ice-cream and fresh mint. The fluffy hot cakes still tasted warm even after i done with photo taking. 

On their menu, there are selection for all-day brunch and mains for alternative choices. Bacon Jam Toasty ($13) is amongst the recommended items, it consists of a piece of sourdough toast served with bacon jam and topped with eggs, smashed avocado and cherry tomatoes. Another interesting item that might worth a try is their Freak Burger ($25) which serves with 2 pieces of beef patties, bacon slices, bacon jam, American cheese and house-made BBQ sauce. It is served along with a portion of fries with their special sauce. 

I do not foresee myself coming back here too soon, and definitely not paying another $16.00 for one of their freakshakes but i might be back for their Tropical Hot Cakes though or try their Freak Burger. 

PATISSEZ

118 Holland Avenue #01-06 SINGAPORE 278997

Operating Hours: 10.00 am to 10.00 pm (Mon to Fri) / 9.00 am to 10.00 pm (Sat & Sun)

Smoothie House Singapore : Desserts from Taiwan

This is a popular dessert place from Yong Kang Street in Taipei, they opened their first outlet at One Raffles Place and followed by the other one at Paya Lebar Square then this one at Westgate. They are famous for their fruit smoothies and snowflake ice desserts. There are a total of 3 sizes to choose from: Healthy ($7.90), Sharing ($9.90 to $12.90) and Family ($15.90). 

Mango Snowflake Ice with Panna Cotta ($9.90) is one of their signature items. The texture of shaved ice was rather fine, smooth and rather creamy with an intense mango flavor and a milky taste at just the right level of sweetness. It was served with a generous amount of chunky mango cubes and topped with a Panna Cotta then drizzled with mango syrup. I enjoyed it. 

Yogurt-Berry Snowflake Ice ($12.90). It was not as sweet as the Mango Snowflake Ice but with a slightly sourish taste and is served with slices of banana, strawberries and blueberries. It was a refreshing choice and equally enjoyable. 

SMOOTHIE HOUSE
3 Gateway Drive #01-08 Westgate Mall SINGAPORE 608532
Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 10.00 pm (Daily)

Other branches:
. 60 Paya Lebar Road #02-15/16/17 Paya Lebar Square SINGAPORE 509051
. 1 Raffles Place #03-25 One Raffles Place SINGAPORE 048616

115 Tang Sui : Traditional Desserts

It is getting difficult to find such a traditional dessert even in a food centre and this is one of those remaining stalls that was founded on 1 June 1966. They are serving mainly traditional Cantonese style desserts and the flavors have left unchanged for the past 46 years. They are using their recipes that have been handed down from the past generation and is still preparing them the traditional way even using a 42 years old stone grinder. 

I went for the Black Glutinous Rice for $1.50. The friendly lady at the stall asked me whether i want it with coconut milk. I nodded my head. She then said, "We are very generous when giving it the coconut milk. And, i will keep pouring it until you say stop." And, she really meant it. She went ahead to pour it and even almost caused it to overflow but i managed to stop just before that happened. She said, "We know that it tastes better with more coconut milk and we do not want to deprive our customers from having it."

Some of the desserts that they serve are Sesame Paste, Peanut Paste, Almond Paste and Walnut Paste. Other than those pastes, there are also Green Bean with Herbal Grass, Red Bean with Peanut and Gingko Barley. They also serve Sweet Potato with Ginger on Thursdays & Sundays, Six Flavors Chng Tng on Mondays & Wednesdays, Pumpkin Corn on Wednesdays and Sundays, Bobo Chacha on Fridays and also White Sesame or Roasted Peanut Tang Yuen on everyday except Fridays & Saturdays. 

I enjoyed what i had tasted and definitely will go back for more.

115 TANG SHUI

Block 335 Smith Street #02-206 Chinatown Complex Food Centre SINGAPORE 050336

Operating Hours: 7.30 am to 5.00 pm (Closed on Tuesdays)

Waan Waan Authentic Thai Coconut Ice Cream in Hawker Centre

This is another stall serving Thai coconut ice cream in a hawker centre and they have been there for about 6 months. The other stall is in Amoy Street Food Centre by 3 passionate young men. 

Right at this stall, you could choose between the Jumbo size ($5.50) which consists of 3 scoops of ice cream and the Classic size ($4.90) consists of just 2 scoops of ice cream. Both sizes come with 5 toppings which include red ruby, sweet corn, chendol, atap seeds and grounded peanuts. There are only 2 ice cream flavors for selection, there are the coconut and mango. I opted for coconut for both scoops, the taste was quite creamy, smooth and not too sweet with a rather slight coconut flavor. It actually tasted not bad but it would be nicer if the coconut taste is slightly more intense. 

Their other popular item is Mango Sticky Rice which consists of a single scoop of ice-cream with sticky rice and fresh mango cubes.

It is quite a refreshing find amongst the usual hawker fare but their prices are slightly steep and they may not have enough younger customers to sustain their business as the older customers might find it to be too pricey.

WAAN WAAN AUTHENTIC THAI COCONUT ICE CREAM

Block 51 Old Airport Road #01-51 Old Airport Road Food Centre SINGAPORE 390051

Operating Hours: 11.30 am to 9.30 pm

芋仙园 : Taiwanese Dessert, Better than Blackball

This Taiwanese shop has been around for more than 2 years but its existence usually go unnoticed as most passersby will just walk past without casting a second look and i happened to be one of them. It was about 6 months ago when i stepped in for the first time. The shop is manned by a friendly Auntie all by herself, she has a distinct Taiwanese accent which i initially thought she is originated from there or at least have been there for a while to acquire such an accent. When we chatted, she told me that she is a local but she gotta learn how to make the dessert from a Taiwanese if i remember correctly. She said, 'Everything is handmade and we made them right here'. 

I came back another few times after that first visit. During my most recent visit, i told her that their taro balls have a better texture and much softer than that of the Blackball. She chuckled before she said, "How to compare? We handmade our taro balls from scratch unlike theirs, those are all machine made." She then continued, 'It is not possible for them to make all of their taro balls as they have too many outlets and no way to cope with that kind of volume.' She said, 'We have customers wanted to buy the taro balls from us but we just made enough to go with our desserts. Making those balls are quite laborious, we cannot afford to make more.'

There are a few signature items to choose from and my favourite has to be the one with grass jelly (仙草 )for just $4.30, prices are definitely much lower than that of the Blackbell. If you do not want grass jelly, you could also choose between ice jelly (爱玉) and soya beancurd (豆花). 

Other than grass jelly, there are taro balls of 5 different flavors, a handful of red beans and osmanthus flower jelly cubes in it, and when you are about to eat then pour in the small container of milk. The level of sweetness is just right. The taro balls have a desired chewiness with an amazing softness, it really tasted much better as compared to the taro balls of their competitors. The osmanthus flower jelly is making their signature desserts to be rather refreshing and quite special. I enjoyed it so much.

Auntie was also telling me that they might be forced to close down if the rental is increase again. For such a small shop space, her monthly rental is more than $3,000. She said, she is already making very little profits and it just make no sense to pay a much higher rentals. As i was telling her to consider increase her prices to cope with a higher rental, i said, "Even if i have to pay $5.00 for such a bowl, i will be more than willing. As a consumer, i know what is value worthy.' 

If you happen to be in Ang Mo Kio central, you should visit them. They are near the Macdonald's at Big Mac Centre and just a couple of shops away from the S11 coffee shop, directly facing the main road of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3. There are also shaved ice desserts and ice blended drinks on their menu. 

芋仙园

51 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 Big Mac Centre SINGAPORE 569922

Operating Hours: 12.00 pm to 9.00 pm

UPDATE: The shop has already closed for good. - 26 December 2015