What's Cendol Got to Do with Mee Tai Mak & Faloodeh

Where did cendol come from?

There are two hypotheses out there.

Some say cendol came from faloodeh, a sweet cold dessert from Persia (today's Iran).

Others theorise that cendol is derived from mee tai mak or rat noodles 🤔

So, who is right?

Review of Prachak Roasted Duck ● Century Old Gem in Bangkok Silom Bang Rak

We went to look for breakfast / brunch along Charoen Krung Road before hopping on the free boat shuttle to Iconsiam from the Saphan Taksin pier.

Restaurant name: Prachak Roasted Duck 新记

Address: 1415 Charoen Krung Road, Silom, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500

Nearest MRT: 5 minutes walk from Saphan Taksin BTS station

Tel: +66 2234 3755

Hours: 8:30am - 8:30pm

Review of Sheng Ji Fish Ball Bak Chor Mee @ 116 Bukit Merah View ● Old School No Gimmicks 1940s Recipe 昇记

Went to Bukit Merah View to look for a simple breakfast after my medical appointment. Browsed the Facebook posts of Tengcc who knows a lot of nice noodle places in Singapore. The noodles at Sheng Ji Fishball looks delicious in Tengcc's post 🙏

Stall name: Sheng Ji Fishball Noodle 昇记

Address: 116 Bukit Merah View, #01-217, Singapore 151116 (inside Kim San Leng coffee shop)

Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Tiong Bahru station

Hours: 6:00am - 4:00pm

Review of Jok Prince Porridge ● Famous Chao Tah "Burnt" Congee of Silom Bangkok 王子戏院猪肉粥

✍ 22 Mar 2023. Our simple plan was to catch some hyperlocal breakfast in Silom before hopping on the free boat shuttle from Saphan Tatsin pier to the iconic Iconsiam shopping mall. 

Restaurant name: Jok Prince

Address: 1391 Charoen Krung Road, Khwaeng Silom, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500

Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Saphan Tatsin station

Tel: +668 1916 4390

Hours: 6:00 am 1:00 pm | 3:00pm - 11:00 pm

Review of Famous Stewed Pork Leg Rice in Bangkok ● Kha Mu Charoensang Silom

Stewed pork leg in Thailand is like chicken rice in Singapore - they are everywhere and I have not yet come across a really bad one since I first tasted fell in love with it in the 1980s. Good stewed pork leg stalls are everywhere in Bangkok and Kha Mu Charoensang Silom is one of the best that I have tasted so far. (My most memorable one was a random one in Hat Yai but I have no idea where that stall was as it was pre-blogging days a long time ago.)

Restaurant name: Kha Mu Charoensang Silom ขาหมูเจริญแสงสีลม

Address: 492/6 ถ.สีลม ติด Soi Charoen Krung 49, Suriya Wong, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500

Nearest MRT: 15 minutes walk from Saphan Tatsin BTS station

Tel: +66 2234 8036

Hours: 7:00am - 1:00pm

Review of T & K Seafood ● Green Shirt Crazy Popular Enigma of Yaowarat Bangkok

The crowd at T & K Seafood in Bangkok's Chinatown scares me - I am not kidding. I've been here at least three, if not four times, and the experience is always the same. The crowd is crazy, the food is not particularly memorable not bad, the price isn't really cheap, staff are friendly (they try their best) but service is hurried because of the crush, yet somehow we kept going back if we are in Yaowarat during dinner time. I don't really get it 🤔 😬

Restaurant name: T & K Seafood

Address: 49, 51 Phadung Dao Road, Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100, Thailand (Yaowarat)

Nearest MRT: 15 minutes walk from Wat Mangkon station

Tel: +6622234519

Hours: 4:00pm - 12:00 midnight

Review of Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim Mee Pok @ 248 Tanjong Katong Road

Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim Mee Pok really needs no introduction. They are the stalwart of Simpang Bedok and just opened a branch at Tanjong Katong Road run by second generation owner Lu Yi.

Restaurant name: Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim Mee Pok (The Art of Mee Pok)

Address: 248 Tanjong Katong Road, Singapore 437036

Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Paya Lebar station

Tel: 89403068

Hours: 8:00am - 8:00pm

Nepalese Food in Johor Bahru ● Review of Restoran Sunset Meadow

Looking for new options for lunch in downtown JB, I noticed Restoran Sunset Meadow just across Jalan Wong Ah Fook from JBCC Johor Bahru City Centre.

Restaurant name: Restoran Sunset Meadow

Address:  Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000

Tel: +607 222 3176

Hours: 11:00am - 8:00pm

1000 Year Old Herbal Medicine Inspiration For Original Bak Kut Teh 太平惠民和剂局方

Bak kut teh was first concocted as a tonic to help Singapore River coolies who often suffer pains, injuries, and lack of energy from overwork and effects of opium addiction.

Things get hazy here as there is no record of who or when the first bak kut teh was concocted, nor what was the first bak kut teh like.

Review of Guang Fa Laksa @ Havelock Food Centre Stall #01-08

Early for breakfast at Havelock Food Centre. It's a small food centre at the city fringe but well in the foodie radar because it has a few popular stalls like the popular kway chap, fried kway teow, handmade fishball noodles, etc. 

Stall name: Guang Fa Laksa 廣發叻沙

Address: 22A Havelock Road, stall #01-08, Singapore 161022 (inside Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre)

Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Havelock station or Tiong Bahru station

Hours: 8:00am - 1:00pm (Sun & Weds off)

Bebek Betutu Iconic Bali Smoked Duck • Four Famous Restaurants • Which was our Favourite?

Bebek betutu is a unique, iconic duck dish you must try when you are in Bali (another is babi guling, a non halal dish).

Review of Hock Lai Seng Bak Chor Mee by Grandson of Ah Ter @ Maxwell Food Centre ● Apple Didn't Fall Far From Tree 福来成

Social media is recently abuzz with a new bak chor mee stall at Maxwell Food Centre. The 22 year old culinary school trained grandson of famous Ah Ter bak chor mee of Amoy Street Food Centre has just set up his own outpost at nearby Maxwell Food Centre.

(Maxwell Food Centre, ground zero of the Singapore chicken rice war zone is slowly emerging as a bak chor mee battleground as well but that's a story for another post 😬 )

Stall name: Hock Lai Seng Teochew Fishball Bak Chor Mee 福来成

Address: 1 Kadayanallur Street, stall #01 26, Singapore 069184 (Maxwell Food Centre)

Nearest MRT: Doorstep of Maxwell station

Hours: 7:00am - 5:00pm (Thurs off)

Bak Kut Teh was Created for Singapore River Chinese Coolies

When Stamford Raffles opened the British East India Company trading post in 1819 at Singapore River, he needed a lot of labourers.

Review of Yummy Palace Hougang Singapore 品珍宫

Justin rounded us up for makan (eating) fest at Yummy Palace @ Defu Lane 10 to celebrate his weekly day off (just any excuse for a feast 🤭😬🤷 ). First time here at Yummy Palace, I enjoyed most of the dishes today and added it to my list of nice restaurants for group makan outings.

Stall name: Yummy Palace

Address: 87 Defu Lane 10, #02-01, Singapore 539219

Nearest MRT: 20 minutes walk from Kovan station - too far to walk for most people 😄

Tel: 6343 1818

Hours: 11:00 am - 3:00 pm | 6:00pm - 10:00 pm

Origin of Herbal Bak Kut Teh in Singapore & Thousand Year Old Chinese Tonic Soup

Hokkien style bak kut teh which has not changed much from the time it was created for coolies in Singapore looks dark and tastes herbal.

Review of Kacang Pool Special @ Eunos Crescent Food Centre ● Egyptian National Dish in Singapore Hawker Centre

Looking for something light and relatively healthful in a Singapore hawker centre? If you are near Eunos Crescent Food Centre, you can try out Kacang Pool Special.

There are very few kacang pool stalls in Singapore and not many more in Johor Bahru. There's another one known as Kacang Pool Mustafa at Geylang Serai Food Centre.

Stall name: Kacang Pool Special

Address: 4A Eunos Crescent, stall #01-03, Singapore 402004 (Eunos Market & Food Centre)

Nearest MRT: 3 minutes walk from Eunos station

Hours: 8:00am - 7:00pm (Weds off)

Review of Ah Hua Fishball Noodle @ Pandan Gardens With Unique Must Try Prawn Roll

Supposed to join buddies at Ah Hua Fishball Noodle in Pandan Gardens a few times before but timing always buay gam (not suitable) for me 😢 Today, I finally managed to swing by for lunch 😬 It's a good Teochew fishball noodle and there's a surprise dish too! (which you must not miss).

Stall name: Ah Hua Teochew Fishball Noodles

Address: 415 Pandan Gardens, #01-117, Singapore 600415

Tel: 8815 0716

Hours: 8:00am - 3:00pm (Sun off)

Review of Pang's Satay @ Chinatown Complex Food Centre ● Hainanese Satay in Singapore

I am always on the lookout for places that make their own satay as most stalls now use factory made satay that taste uniformly flat 🤷‍♂️ So, I am grateful to buddy Ben who alerted me to Pang's Satay in Chinatown Complex Food Centre. Ben even ordered some for his parties and I liked them. I finally made a trip to Chinatown last evening to taste Pang's satay, smoking hot off the charcoal grill at the stall.

Stall name: Pang's Satay

Address: 335 Smith Street, stall #02-213 (Blue Zone) Chinatown Complex Food Centre, Singapore 050335

Nearest MRT: 5 minutes walk from Maxwell station and Chinatown station

Tel: 9663 8015

Hours: 5:00pm - 9:00pm (Thurs off)

Review of Sharon Auntie Foochow Maternity Dishes @ Six Star Food Court in Mount Austin 雪人阿姨 星美食中心

Bumped into Sharon who runs a little stall in Six Star Food Court in Mount Austin. I was having beef noodles at the Tangkak beef noodle stall and so had to come back another day to try her Foochow style maternity dishes.

Stall name: 雪人阿姨

Address: 69, Jalan Mutiara Emas 5/1, Taman Mount Austin, 81100 Johor Bahru 六星美食中心

Tel: +6011 1148 8641

 

Hours: 9:00am - 4:00pm (no fixed off day. Call to confirm.)

Review of Restoran Bariani Desa in Kluang Johor

I love this nasi byriani place even though it may not be for everyone 😬

Restaurant name: Restoran Bariani Desa

Address: 11, Jalan Desa 1, Taman Desa, 86000 Kluang, Johor

Tel: +6012 758 2946

Hours: 11:00am - 4:00pm (Sat off)

History of Ng Ah Sio who Put Singapore Teochew Bak Kut Teh on the World Map

Bak kut teh 肉骨茶 (literally pork bone tea in Hokkien & Teochew) started as a cheap herbal tonic for overworked coolies in Singapore and Klang which were major ports of British Malaya. The original concoction was dark from dark soy sauce, spices and Chinese medicinal herbs.

Review of Ah Liang Ipoh Hor Fun @ CapitaSpring Market Street Food Centre 亚良怡保沙河粉

Ah Liang Ipoh hor fun stall is without doubt the most popular stall at Market Street Food Centre at CapitaSpring. It always sports the longest queue in the two-level hawker centre right at the heart of the Central Business District. I was here at least two, if not three times but failed to try it because the lunch time queue was just too long 😬

Stall name: Ah Liang Ipoh Hor Fun 亚良怡保沙河粉

Address: Market Street Hawker Centre, 86 Market Street, stall #02-04, Singapore 048947

Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Raffles station (Exit B)

Hours: 10:00am - 7:00pm

History of Bak Cheng ● King of Malaysia Bak Kut Teh ● Legend of Johor Bahru 木清肉骨茶歷史

In 2006, Bak Cheng Bak Kut Teh 木清肉骨茶 was awarded the title of King of Bak Kut Teh in Malaysia.

HWA Seafood Zhi Char • Tagore Lane off Upper Thomson Road • Long Term Review ☎ 6452 0918

✍ 28 Feb 2026. Returned to HWA Seafood after nearly 3 years. This time, we tried more dishes, including live seafood.

History of Teochew Porridge 潮州糜 Chaoshan Singapore Malaysia Thailand

Teochew style porridge with side dishes is popular in Singapore and found in hawker centres, coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and for a while, even served on SIA (Singapore Airlines) flights.

Singapore Bak Kut Teh Culture ● Yip Yew Chong Mural

Bak kut teh or literally pork bone tea is a soup dish common in Singapore and the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia, but can also be found in Batam and Bintan in the Riaus of Indonesia.

Review TGK Fatty Cow @ Six Star Food Court in Mount Austin Johor Bahru 東甲小肥牛 @ 六星美食中心

Came to Six Star Food Court in Mount Austin to check out a newly opened beef noodle stall in Johor Bahru.

Stall name: TGK Fatty Cow 東甲小肥牛

Address: Six Star Food Court 六星美食中心 69, Jalan Mutiara Emas 5/1, Taman Mount Austin, 81100 Johor Bahru (Ample street side parking)

Hours: 9:00am - 2:00pm (Friday off)

Review Wok Hei Fried Kway Teow @ Liang's Hokkien Prawn Noodle ● 260 Kim Keat Avenue

Facebook buddy Robin had been telling me about Liang's fried kway teow in Toa Payoh since last year. But I forgot 🫢

Then, I bumped into him in JB and he reminded me about it 😬

Stall name: Liang's Fried Hokkien Noodles

Address: 260 Kim Keat Avenue, Singapore 310260 (stall inside Kim Keat Food & Drinks Centre)

Nearest MRT: 15 minutes walk from Toa Payoh station

Hours: 10:00am - 7:00pm (Weds off, Mon & Fri close at 2pm) 

Peppery Teochew Soups That Inspired Singapore Teochew Bak Kut Teh

Singapore bak kut teh was originally herbal as it was concocted as a tonic for coolies. Around the 1950s, the peppery type of bak kut teh synonymous with Singapore bak kut teh emerged.

Geylang Serai Cendol Since 1910 ● Oldest Cendol in Singapore

Geylang Serai Cendol is the oldest operating cendol stall in Singapore. It is run by the third generation now and hasn't changed much since the 1910s.

Stall name: Geylang Serai Cendol

Address: 1 Geylang Serai, stall #02-107, Singapore 402001 (stall inside Geylang Serai Market & Food Centre)

Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Paya Lebar station

Tel: 9090 605

Hours: 9:00am - 6:00pm

Zhong Xing Foochow Fishball Noodle & Lor Mee @ Silat Ave Nan Heong Ho Kee Coffeeshop • Closed Since Aug 2024

✍ 28 Aug 2024. Sadly, this heritage fishball noodle stall founded in 1942 has just shut down due to monthly rental doubling to more to $6000.

✍ 19 Feb 2023. Was feeling a little famished after a three hour guided history tour of Telok Blangah (more about that in a future post). So, I went to look for lunch at the Silat Ave area. Stumbled upon the quiet Nan Heong Ho Kee kopitiam and Zhong Xing Foochow Fishball & Lor Mee stall.

A quick peek at the stall and it ticked all the boxes for me - handmade fishball, sambal, and pork lard (furthermore it was Foochow style fishball, which is not so common in Singapore).

Stall name: Zhong Xing Foochow Fish Balls & Lor Mee

Address: 148 Silat Ave, Singapore 160148 (stall inside Nan Heong Ho Kee Coffeeshop)

Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Outram Park station

Hours: 9:00am - 3:00pm (Tues off)