Big Boys Sizzling - Quality Western Food in Hawker Centre

Big Boys Sizzling caught my attention because someone told me that they are opened by a former chef of Ritz Carlton. They have set up shop at Beauty World Food Centre and is part of the large array of food selection there. So I made this trip to find out more about the food after shedding fats at Bukit Timah Hill.

We asked the chef what were their key highlights and he mentioned to us their best sellers were the steak, cornflake chicken and mentaiko fries. The dish you see here is the Cornflake Chicken with Nacho Cheese Fries ($8.90). The chicken is really fried well. Some people might find the cornflake chicken a little on the dry side but because the exterior is fried till so crispy and the meat fairly juicy I'd say it exceeds expectation for hawker fare. I really like the fries too. I think that the fries batter is similar to what you find at Long John's Silver (my favourite fast food) so if you like Long John's like me, you will enjoy this.

So another friend chose to double his protein and added a dory to go with the cornflake chicken ($11.90). I'll say the fish is pretty normal, in fact I find Dory fish to be not worth the money. Won't recommend ordering it.

Aside from that, there's the Sirloin Steak with Mentaiko fries ($11.40) which according to my friend tastes awesome too. I'll say that the sauces that comes with the fries have successfully made all the fries true to their flavours.

As a whole, it was a pleasurable and indulging meal. For the price, it's definitely value for money. The portions are huge too! Aside from that, I'll say that because the portions are huge, it might be a little 'jelat' for some to finish. I guess the benchmark for good food is really whether I'll be back. Honestly, unless I'm around the area and crave for western, if not I doubt I'll spend there again. While it's definitely competent western fare, I feel it caters to the Beauty World crowd more than anything else. I wish the owner all the best!

Big Boys Sizzling 
144 Upper Bukit Timah Road, #04-25, Beauty World Centre, S588177

Mr Fish - Traditional Cantonese Fish Dishes

Mr Fish is a family business that serves up traditional Cantonese fish soup. They are located at the bustling Chinatown Complex where loads of popular hawker stalls are found. One of the key highlights of this particular fish stall is that they do not use milk. Another trait synonymous with Cantonese businesses is the grumpy unfriendly stall owners whose attitude you suck it up because of their food.

I specially brought my mom down to try out their food because she loves simple hawker fare. The sliced fish beehoon I ordered came with really creamy broth. This is a standout point because they don't use milk. The soup is boiled for hours with fish bones to create this creamy texture that is rich in flavour. In fact, it beats many other fish soups with milk hands down.

Another point given to Mr Fish is their generosity in their fish slices. As I ordered this bowl to share, I'm impressed there was so many fish slices that my mom and I had to coax each other to take more fish.

Another popular dish of theirs is their black bean sliced fish horfun. In fact, it is this particular dish that brought my attention to this stall in the first place. Every single time I read online about 'wok hei' flavour in horfun, I never really understood what it meant because I haven't had the opportunity to taste a really good one before. This horfun has a distinct 'wok hei' taste that my mom described as "very long never eat horfun that got the real horfun taste". It's not salty and the balance of the flavours are executed excellently. I kinda regretted sharing this dish with my mom as it was really good and I really want the entire plate to myself. One plate takes an approximate waiting time of 30 mins so be mentally prepared to wait. 

Our total damage for the 2 dishes is $10. Very cheap and good! I'll certainly recommend Mr Fish to all my hawker food aficionados because this is tops among the fish soups I've tried. There's so much other popular food at this Smith Street Food Centre that it's an awesome place for group gatherings where you can order plenty of dishes to share. In fact, I see myself organising a group eat out with my friends pretty soon!

Mr Fish
335 Smith Street, #02-073, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, S050335

Good Food on Budget

If you were following the previous article, you probably read that I tried living on $400 for the month, but after trying for 2 weeks I've decided to call it quits. Too miserable. It's quite difficult to do when you factor in petrol and cashcard top ups. In any case, this experiment wasn't in vain. I discovered that there's a good number of budget food around Singapore if you want to eat something better but keep the cost low.

Chicken Murtabak ($7.50) - Springleaf Prata Place

One of the perks of my job is running around Singapore which means I get to try food from every part of the country. So I was at the East in Bedok wondering what nice food was nearby which I could keep below $10. Springleaf Prata Place springs to mind and I've written a full article about them previously. Awesome for their prata. Having been wanting to try Murtabak for the longest time, I finally ordered it this visit. The prata skin was great as usual and the minced chicken was generous. I found the chicken to be a little on the dry side but it tasted good when it was still pipping hot.

Springleaf Prata Place
57B Jalan Tua Kong, S457253
(there's 2 more outlets at Thomson and Bukit Timah)

Pork Koka Noodles 可口面 ($3.50 w/egg) - Hai Xian Zhu Zhou 

This is honestly my favourite food for the year. I don't care if you are judging me for loving instant noodles so much. I've craved for it for close to a year and finally got to eat it when I discovered they have a branch in Yishun that works at earthly hours. The original outlet in Bukit Panjang opens at 3am and sometimes closes by early morning. (Are you kidding me? Business so good can close by 10am?!) It's basically Koka noodles cooked with pork, vegetables and an egg thrown in with fried onions to top it off. It sounds simple and ordinary but it taste like heaven for instant noodle lovers. The broth is really flavourful, the meat well marinated. The noodles felt a tad too salty but the rest of the dish balances it out.

Hai Xian Zhu Zhou
#01-472 Choh Dee Place, Blk 233 Yishun Street 21, S760233

Bak Kut Teh ($9.30 w/rice) - Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh

I was wandering around Marina Bay Sands after a not very pleasant appointment and wondering what can I eat that is affordable. A quick look at the food court reflects unknown hawker food at cafe prices. So expensive! Then I saw Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh and I actually heard of this stall while researching for nice Bak Kut Teh! The bigger bonus was that it was under $10. I took the middle option which consisted of one sirloin pork rib and two short ribs. I totally enjoyed my meal so much so I want to eat it again! The ribs fell off the bones easily and the fats melts in your mouth. I found the meat of the short ribs more pleasurable to eat that the sirloin pork rib. Perhaps I'll just opt for the $6.60 option next time. Save even more!

Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh
Rasapura Masters, 2 Bayfront Avenue, #B2-50, Stall 11, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, S018972


Claypot Laksa ($5) - Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa

This was awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2016. My hawker food savvy colleague pointed this stall out to me and I ordered the medium size version to try. Apparently, this recipe was bought over from the original owners.. The laksa broth is really thick and very rich in taste. Ingredients were well infused with the tangy gravy making the dish highly addictive. My only gripe was that at $5 and medium size, I felt like the only reasonable size meal to last the day is actually large. Be warned, the gravy splatters easily so do not wear white ordering this. It is otherwise an awesome laksa dish even though I heard the standard has dropped!

Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa
Blk 120 Bukit Merah Lane, #01-75, Alexander Village, S150120


Penang Hokkien Mee ($5) - Traditional Penang Food

I love black hokkien mee although good ones are really hard to find in Singapore. I found the one at Traditional Penang Food to be one of the more well cooked ones with a generous serving to match. The sauce thickness was just right and I enjoyed the ingredients provided which wasn't excessive or too stingy. While I believe this isn't the best Hokkien Mee in Singapore, this is definitely comfort food in a neighbourhood, certainly better than my neighbourhood's hokkien mee!

Traditional Penang Food
Blk 768 Woodlands Avenue 6 #01-12, Woodlands Mart, S730768

This pretty much sums up my budget post. If you wish to keep more in the loop about my day to day food you can follow me on Instagram @bluntandfussyeater

Sumo Big Prawn

This is a throwback post because I've been overwhelmed with commitments this week, never go out and play. If there's any new food I tried, I ate a lot of the less commonly ordered food at Ding Tai Fung and also found delicious Taiwan Railway Bento at Jurong Point.

I went to Sumo Big Prawn sometime in February but never got round to sharing it here. I did share it on my instagram (sobriquet07) though. My brother has been pestering me to try it and deep down I was kinda reluctant because this is probably the most expensive hawker centre prawn noodles I've ever eaten! Anyway, I caved in to his persistent asking so all the way to Ang Mo Kio we went to try it.

When we arrived, it's not hard to locate the place. The queue was the first clue that there are a lot of other Singaporeans who don't mind paying for expensive prawn mee. Lobster prawn noodles there cost $24.80, $24 bucks in a hawker centre (the without air-con kind) for ONE bowl of noodles?! Thankfully, the queue despite the length moves really quickly. Waiting time is about 10-15mins. Not too bad. Whew!

I ordered the Sumo Prawn Noodles ($8) for both of us. In a way, they made it value for money. The ingredients were very generous. I recalled wondering if I'll ever finish eating the clams. One of the standout of this prawn noodles is the broth. It has no external preservatives and the tastiness of the soup is purely brought out by simmering loads of prawn shells in the soup for long hours. Yummy!

I felt very full after the meal. I didn't feel like I wasted 8 bucks. In fact, I'm tempted to eat there again! It's definitely a different way to indulge in good food. Considering the cost I'd shell out when I hang out at cafes, $8-$24 bucks isn't that expensive for really really satisfying hawker food. Try it!

Sumo Big Prawn
Blk 628 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4