Ramadan Bazaar in Singapore Geylang Serai

I always look forward to Ramadan bazaars as it is a good opportunity to enjoy all sorts of traditional and modern Halal street food popular in Malaysia and Singapore.

During the Ramadan, I will be blogging about a few Ramadan bazaars in Singapore and Malaysia. 

My first Ramadan bazaar this year is in Singapore located at the Sims Ave and Geylang Road area near Paya Lebar MRT station.

The food stalls were ready and started serving customers from around 5:00pm onwards when people started trickling in to buy their favourite food for breaking fast.

Let's take a walk around the bazaar with me.



Pinkish Ramly burger patties sizzling on the griddle.

As the food stalls are all under large pitched tents, all the cooking at the bazaar here are flameless i.e. there are no gas or charcoal stoves.

All cooking are by electrical cooking equipment from deep fryers, to rossiteres, ovens, griddles, grills, steamers, to toasters.



There were several Japanese takoyaki stalls.

Takoyaki is a popular ball-shaped Japanese snack made with wheat flour ball filled with minced or diced sotong (squid), and cooked in a special takoyaki pan. 

The takoyaki balls can also be filled with prawns, or chicken ham and cheese.



BBQ stalls selling flat squares of freshly grilled minced chicken meat is quite common here. Interestingly, I didn't notice this BBQ food in Johor's Ramadan bazaars.



Turkish kebabs sold in burrito style wraps are very popular.



Nasi Briyani.



I have two photos of nasi briyani here because I am fascinated by fragrant basmati rice and spices cooked in large deep tubs with juicy meat buried inside. 

Yum! yum!



The goreng goreng stalls sell all kinds of fried battered vegetables and fruits.



Grilled and slightly charred fresh corn on a cob.



Freshly grilled otak otak with the spicy fish paste bursting out from the coconut leaf wrappers. One of the stalls at the bazaar makes the otak otak right here at the stall.



Fresh, oven baked pizza with thick brown crust at the Ramadan bazaar.

Did you noticed the green and fiery red chili peppers on this pizza?

Looks delicious!



The ever popular roti John.



Grilled tilapia fish.



Putu piring is a traditional Malay sweet cake made with steamed grated coconut, rice flour and gula Melaka.



Come over and enjoy the food and fun at the Ramadan bazaar.

Singapore Ramadan Bazaar
Address: Sims Ave and Geylang Road area near Paya Lebar MRT station, Singapore 
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/MizRW
GPS: 1.316006,103.896669
Hours: Buka puasa till 8:00pm
Halal  

Date visited: 30 Jun 2014  

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Swee Guan Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee @ Geylang Lor 29 • Most "Expensive" but Best & Worth Every Cent 水源福建面 ☏ 9817 5652

Hokkien mee is one of my favourite uniquely Singapore dishes. Not as ubiquitous in Singapore as chicken rice or char kway teow, and even rarer outside of the sunny island. Hokkien mee is probably one of Singapore's least exported local dishes.

Stall name: Swee Guan Hokkien Mee 水源福建面

Address: 5 Lor 29 Geylang, Singapore 388060

Tel: +65 9817 5652

Hours: 5:00pm - 10:00pm (Weds off)

Johor Seafood at Tian Lai 天来 in Gelang Patah - Third Visit

This was my third visit to Tian Lai 天来 in Gelang Patah. The restaurants at Gelang Patah are just a short drive from LEGOLAND or Puteri Harbour. I picked Tian Lai tonight mainly for the crabs here and it was good the previous two times I was here. 

Seafood in Pontian at Football Field (Zu Qiu Seafood Corner) 足球场海鲜茶餐室

Whenever I asked Pontian folks which is their favourite seafood restaurant at their seaside hometown, the name Zu Qiu Seafood Corner 足球场海鲜茶餐室 always come up. The name 足球场 literally means soccer field.

Buffet at The Grand GEM in Johor Bahru, Grand BlueWave Hotel

Johor Kaki was invited to a preview of The Grand GEM's special buffet in conjunction with Ramadan.

The Grand GEM is located at the ground floor of The Grand BlueWave Hotel. This is my third visit to Grand GEM; read about my first and second visits.

The Grand GEM's special buffet consists of three different menus which will be rotated so that diners can experience different dishes at each visit.

We sampled just a small selection of Grand GEM's classic Indian dishes from the three menus during tasting session. 



Our starter of "chicken vada". Be warned that this vada is "booby trapped" with bits of fiery chili padi that will literally set the mouths of the uninitiated afire. As for me, I like the hot spicy spikes when I bite into a chili padi :D



Popular starter "onion pakoda" or crispy onion fritters are fried in a spiced batter.



The "Mixed Grill Platter" of grilled chicken marinated in yogurt blended with different herbs and spices. 



The tandoori grilled chicken were tender and rich with mild sensuous flavours and aroma.



The fiery looking "Bhuna Gosht" is a classic lamb curry. The pan fried mutton smothered in a thick blend of spices and herbs was tender and loaded with rich flavours and aromas. 



I like this richly flavoured and mildly spicy "mutton dalcha" which went very well with the breads.

This was so good, I was drinking it up on it's own.



Our basket of various types of freshly made roti naan.



Nasi goreng made with basmati rice.



Baryani rice



There was a sampling of vegetarian dishes such as this "broccoli with mushroom" topped with cashew and cheese.



The vegetarian burgers came towards the end of the tasting session and we were already full.

But, this turned out to be the surprise crowd favourite. 

As we were full by now, we all just took a nibble at this ordinary looking burger. Wow, we were impressed by the juicy flavourful, sweet, savoury and slightly tangy salsa spread, and the fluffy and crispy buns.

Somehow, we suddenly found space in our stomachs to finish all the vege burgers.

For the special buffet, The Grand GEM set up a "rumali roti" station.



The "rumali roti" action was very exciting to watch!

The flat dough is thrown upwards and forwards and it flies back to the chef like a boomerang!



The thin dough spread open is draped and cooked over a hot sea salt crusted upturned wok. The cooked dough is then folded just like the way one folds a handkerchief.



Made of wheat "rumali roti" is eaten like chapati or roti prata with curries.



For desserts, we had “gulab jamun” which is a very sweet deep fried milk ball served with rose and cardamom scented syrup.



We also had “kesari” which is a sweet semolina pudding flavoured with ghee and cardamom.



I rounded up the session with a nice masala chai.

The Grand GEM has three different menus for the special buffet which will be rotated.

Normal price is RM70 per person. Special rates of RM70 nett for two persons. And, 30% discount off RM70 nett per person for corporate accounts. 

If you are looking for a chance to sample many types of authentic Indian cuisine in a fine dining restaurant at a very reasonable price, this is the best opportunity that I know of.

Restaurant name: The Grand GEM (at Grand BlueWave Hotel)
Address: Jalan Bukit Meldrum, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/oAc8E
GPS: 1.460626,103.768948
Hours: Dinner only (and only during Ramadan).
Telephone: 607-2210-7171
No pork, no lard, no Halal cert

Date visited: 24 Jun 2014

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Singapore Roti Prata @ Rahmath Muslim Food Stall📍Soon Soon Lai Eating House • Moved to 121 Hougang Ave 1 #01-1346 CLOSED

CLOSED Went with makan buddies Miss Tam Chiak and Jimmy to pay Rahmath Muslim Food Stall a visit for their famous roti prata.

When told that Rahmath's roti prata came from the same lineage as Jalan Kayu prata, it was instantly a Must Try for me.

History of Thieves' Market & Sungei Road Laksa Singapore 结霜桥叻沙

Singapore Sungei Road laksa 结霜桥叻沙.

It's a strangers' reunion with my favourite childhood curry laksa stall after 40 years.

When I was a boy in the early 1970s, I often wandered from Toa Payoh where I lived to "window shop" at Sungei Road's Thieves Market.

Singapore Wantan Mee at Eng's Noodles House 榮高叉燒雲吞麵

Eng's Noodles House is one of Singapore's most popular, if not the most famous wantan mee.

Eng's is perhaps the best representative of the Singapore style of wantan mee.



The queue at 1:30pm on a Sunday. We got our seats in about 15 minutes, which I feel is very reasonable for such a popular, iconic shop and brand.

I felt a tinge of regret that I never tried Eng's when I doing my "A" levels at Tanjong Katong Secondary School in the 1970s. My school was just a stone's throw from Eng's (when they were in Dunman Food Centre).

It would be interesting to do a reflection of the evolution of Singapore wantan mee based on first hand experience.

Oh well.....



It's full house inside Eng's. Interestingly, the clientele was a good balance of different age groups.

In Singapore, when the food is good, support will come from all age groups.



Our dry wantan noodle (SGD4.50+) comes plain without with the lard and soy sauce at the bottom of the bowl.



On every table there was a squeeze bottle of Eng's "Super HOT Chilli" taunting customers to test the limits of their chili tolerance :P 



Well, if you want me to do something, just challenge me not to do it :P



Eng's wantan mee, everything in the bowl (chili, noodles, lard crackers, char siew, choy sum greens, and wantans), ready for tossing.



Giving the wantan noodles, chili sauce and everything inside a vigorous toss.



The noodles were quite thick and slightly curly. It had a nice al dente bite, and slightly tender and spongy.

Eng's noodles reminded me more of good Korean made instant noodles than good egg noodles 全蛋面.

Perhaps this was because I couldn't detect eggy flavours from the noodles. The texture was also quite similar to good Korean instant noodles.

As touted, the chili sauce had quite a kick and the zing lingered on well after we left the shop. I like this as I like chili sauce that has fight and tenacity :D

But, the chili sauce was pretty flat.

The chili sauce was single dimension and lacked layers of spiciness, nor was it balanced with savouriness or sweetness.

(Perhaps I added too much chili sauce which overpowered everything :P  Next time I shall try the noodles plain first to suss out the underlying sauce.)



We also tried the soup version (SGD4.50+).



I actually preferred the soup version to the "dry" one.

The soup version allowed me to taste the noodles better (though it was just wheat flavour) and I also liked the sweet and savoury broth.



The thin slice of char siew was sweet and tender. Quite unlike the KL style of chunky char siew caramelized and charred at the edges, but this was still very likable.



The wantans were large and meaty, filled with minced marbled pork marinated with sesame oil.



The mushy minced pork filling seemed to have a high proportion of fat.



Customers can help themselves to as much lard crackers as they like at the self service corner.



The lard crackers had a nice crunchy mouth feel. Though they were more or less tasteless, they added interesting textures and rustic charm to the bowl of wantan noodles.



Singapore's favourite wantan mee shop was still full house when we were leaving after our satisfying meal.

Eng's Noodles House's wantan mee is definitely better than the average in Singapore.

Restaurant name: Eng's Noodles House 榮高叉燒雲吞麵
Address: 287, Tanjong Katong Road, Singapore
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/mzHXt
GPS: 1.306691,103.895730
Hours: 11:00am to 9:00pm
Tel: +65-8688 2727
Non Halal

Date visited: 22 Jun 2014

Return to Johor Kaki homepage.