20 Kensington Park Road
Singapore
The food in Singapore is absolutely fantastic, and none more so than the hawker delights at Chomp Chomp Food Centre. We caught the bus over to Serangoon Garden Estate to catch up with some of Dan’s family. This is one place that is very popular with the locals.
How absolutely awesome do these barbequed chicken wings look? They had been skewered before being cooked, hence the holes in their sides, and to eat…oh…the chicken was so, so tender, the lacquered skin crispy, chewy, salty and sweet.
Then it was the requisite satay, in this instance, skewers of caramalised beef. It came served with slices of cucumber, ketupat (sliced compressed rice cooked in palm leaves), and a peanut/satay dipping sauce. Mouthwatering.
…and the chicken version – equally awesome.
At stall 25 you’ll find the drinks /dessert stall. Fresh lengths of sugar cane were ready for the juicing, which Dan and his family could not resist.
I on the other hand went for the fresh lime juice, sweetened and poured over ice. In this heat, you can’t beat the citrussy freshness.
Bite-sized wedges of deep fried tofu stuffed with fish paste. Perfect beer drinking food.
Oh yes…this mess in a bowl is o-jien, the most kick arse omelette EVER made with small oysters, eggs and potato starch. For it to be rocking, it needs to be cooked in pork lard, which just makes it ever so tasty. A limey chilli sauce helps to break through the oiliness, as does the light sprinkle of coriander.
And this gets my vote for best savoury dish of the night. Sambal baby stingray will forever be etched in my culinary memory as one of the best things I ate in Singapore. Cooked on a banana leaf over coals, it has soft cartiligeous bones that make for a fantastic textural crunch. The sambal consists of a fragrant paste of chilli, tumeric, candlenuts, shrimp paste, ginger and garlic. Topped with sliced shallots and a good squeeze of lime – well….it just fucking rocks.
This was my first experience of ice kacang, and one that will forever be the marker of ice kacang in my life. Shaved ice, grass jelly, attap chee (palm seeds), red beans, agar agar jelly, chestnuts, lychees and caviar-like red jellies. It had been doused not only in coloured cordials, but coconut and evaporated milk. This is definitely a dessert for two.
New blog post: SINGAPORE: Chomp Chomp Food Centre http://tinyurl.com/d2gtop
OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG….. I wanna go to Singapore toooooo!!!!!!!! You can never beat Singapore’s hawker stalls- they are so clean! And it proves that good food doesn’t have to be exxy!
It’s making me wanting to fly back to Singapore immediately!! I misses the food so much!!!
Chomp Chomp is a very good spot for good food but it’s always very hard to get a table. Did you try the Hokkien Fried Prawn Noodle??? It’s really nice too but long waiting time.
I so want to fly back to Singapore to eat and to visit my family. All the local fares… *drool* hvn’t been able to find decent ketupat here in melbourne. Do you know of any?
Hmm…I think I’m invoking many feelings of homesickness!!
Yes, I can’t believe how cheap and bloody fantastic food is over there. Makes me grit my teeth when I pay three times as much for something three times as worse here
Good place but you should also try the chicken rice down the corner from it called Pow Sing Chicken Rice. I reckon best Hainanese Chicken rice in Singapore.Maybe the whole world.
Presently on Hainan Island, don’t even ask for chicken rice. Bit like dont order Peking duck in Beijing.
Be back in Spore in couple days. I think I will pay Chomp Chomp a visit after Pow Sing.
If you wondering, I’m from Perth.
Mellie, makes me grit my teeth too, when I pay three times as much for something that doesn’t even taste right. I never knew singapore noodles existed until I moved to melbourne. Strange, I tell ya.
I think everybody has their fav. chicken rice stall in SG. But none beats my mum’s or grandma’s hainanese chicken rice, except perhaps the stall at bedok reservoir. I don’t know the name, but i frequent this place since young and is still a must go place to have chicken rice when I’m back in town.
I’m so looking forward to June, no, i’m not going back to SG, but my parents are coming, ie. mum will be cooking! wooohoo..
That picture of the ice kacang made me drool. So not cool at work. I might be going to Cumulus Inc. tonight!!
Tsk tsk. It looks like you’ve got all of us Singaporean folk homesick. Can’t wait to stuff my face on the next trip back! Chomp Chomp here I come!!!
OMG , i love O-Jien .. i can’t wait for my trip back to Malaysia !!
Hey Aussie Tourist – thanks for the tip on Pow Sing. I noticed they serve chicken whole…as in with the head! Wow! Anyway, let me know what you think of Chomp Chomp.
Hi phy – so, do I get an invite to try your Mum’s cooking?
Hiya estelle – I luurve a good ice kacang. Can’t seem to get ones as good here though. Well…not as big as I got a Chomp Chomp anyway
Hope you enjoy Cumulus Inc. I must go back for those madelines..
Hey Psuedo Epicurean – so, when’s the next trip back? Not sure when we are going – perhaps next year on our way/to from somewhere else perhaps?
Hi Jin Hooi – oops, I’m really making people crave trips back, huh?
Reading this post brings back countless memories.
It is, without fail, the first destination for supper EACH time we went back. Right after touchdown.
Life can’t get any better than having yummy, greasy food at midnight!
Hey Stella – ahh…I girl after my own heart! I too forever associate a good Singaporean feed with Chomp Chomp.
@stickifingers Don’t forget to eat the sambal stingray in S’pore. Go the Chomp Chomp http://bit.ly/2MQpl
Thanks! RT @tummyrumbles: @stickifingers Don’t forget to eat the sambal stingray in S’pore. Go the Chomp Chomp http://bit.ly/2MQpl
Yes, I totally agree about Pow Sing. They actually have to stores (both in the same row as Macdonalds), with 1 serving hainanese chicken rice and the other serving roast chicken, bbq pork and roast pork. Everything there is good – including the rice! Been going there since I was like 3…it’s still my first stop when I go back to Singapore from Melbourne :p
Right on! We recently visited Singas and the same food market, the atmosphere is too much fun and the lerking and scramble to find an empty table made it even more authentic! We too had the Stingray and rated it the culinary highlight of our trip!
Hey there Kerri – aaah, so glad you enjoyed it. The thought of that stingray just makes me salivate..even now. Ooh, I wish we could find something like that here!
@mr_gadget Be sure not to miss http://bit.ly/ECcvF. Enjoy!
We are going to Singapore soon and i loved reading about Chomp Chomp food market – will definately go. Can you recommend a restaurant there that serves good crab? I will be there for my birthday and would love to go somewhere with great food and atmosphere Freya
Hiya Freya – we had awesome crab at Longbeach (read the review here). They do the awesome black pepper crab, as well as Singapore Chilli Crab. It’s nice to sit outside as well, and watch all the ships line up to come into the harbour. It’s all so pretty once the lights go down.
[...] with diced preserved radish bits & chilli. It is reminiscent of the original iconic “Singapore Chomp Chomp” hawker centre – an al fresco food court offering a smorgasboard of local Singapore [...]