Where's are the popular food stalls from Commonwealth Ave Food Centre?

Most folks who are regulars of the Commonwealth Avenu Food Centre (the one near Magaret Drive) would know that it's closed as the area was earmarked for redevelopment. Where have the food stalls move to?

Here's a few of them that I patronized and here's their recent address.



Hai Kee Teochew Char Kway Teow
Blk 11 Telok Bangah Crescent #01-102 Singapore 090011

Char Kway Teow with a generous heap of cockles.

Tong Xin Ju Fried Dumpling
Blk 164 Mei Ling Street 
Mei Ling street Food Centre #02-02

Pretty good Guo Tie 锅贴 at Tong Xin Ju

Sin Kee Chicken Rice

Blk 164 Mei Ling Street 

Mei Ling street Food Centre #02-22

Not my favorite chicken rice stall but its the most popular in the area.

Tasty Barbecue 夜来香
They're in the final stages of securing a stall in the city area. So check out the website for updates. Tasty Barbecue Website.

海记Hai Kee teochew Char Kway Teow ....... "Hums" extravaganza

This one evening, a few of my colleagues decided to visit Commonwealth Ave Cooked Food Centre for the popular Char Kway Teow. To visit this stall, prepare to wait in the queue for 30minutes for your food. "Hum" lovers do pay Hai Kee a visit and ask for 50 cents extra "hums". You'll definitely get "hum" high.

"Hums" Extravaganza in the Char Kway Teow

I can count about 20 or so "Hums" (translated as cockles in Hokkien).

This is the highlight of the char kway teow from Hai Kee.

My S$3 plate of Char Kway Teow

Even though there's only "hums", bean sprouts and eggs

as the main ingredients, the char kway teow was superb!

The Long Queue at Hai Kee

The uncle took the pain to cook the char kway teow

one plate at a time. This maintained the char kway

teow's consistency and also the reason for the long queue.

Address : 40A Commonwealth Avenue, #01-550 Commonwealth Ave Cooked Food Centre

Opening Hours : Monday ~ Saturday 5pm ~ 10pm

Hai Kee Website

Country : Singapore

同心居 Tong Xin Ju ........ Good Fried Dumplings 锅贴

Tong Xin Ju's may look a little the desolate when you walk up the stairs of the food centre and look at the stall front (see the photo I've captured below). There's no long queue but wait a minute ...... I hear the phone ring ....... "Huh..... 50 pieces of the Fried Dumplings" comes the voice of the uncle repeating the orders from a patron over the phone.

I came with my friends a bit earlier than 12 noon hust to avoid the crowd and managed to order a set of 10 fried dumplings, 10 steamed dumplings and a large plate of Peking fried noodle. Do call to order before coming to the stall, you may not be as lucky as us you know. After we're almost done with our fod we saw streams of people pouring into the 2nd floor and Tong Xin Ju has their orders all ready.

Most of the people will order the fried dumpling. After eating the few dishes that we ordered, I think their fried dumpling really is several levels ahead of their own other dishes. It's no wonder people can just sit around a table with only one heap of fried dumpling for lunch!

A close up of the fried dumpling. The meat is fresh and tasty .........

Cost : S$4 for 8 pieces of fried dumplings.

Address : 40A Commonwealth Avenue, #02-480 Commonwealth Ave Cooked Food Centre

Telephone : +65 6474 4803 or 9662 3501

Opening hours : 12:30 ~ 8:30pm Tuesday ~ Sunday (Closed on Monday)

Country : Singapore

Two Chefs Eating Place 双厨菜馆 ........... Budget Chi Char

Two Chefs Eating Place 双厨菜馆 is one of the eating place that can be categorized as a typical "Chi Char" 煮 炒 place. This "Chi Char" place that is already popular and it only became even more crowded after being featured as one of the best "Chi Char" place in the Sunday Times. 

"Chi Char" 煮 炒 is a colloqial terminology that literally means "Cook and Fried". It is a term used to describe a budget restaurant, usually of Cantonese origin. A "Chi Char" place is where families will gather for a good dinner and sparing the extra cost for ambience and service. It is also a place for takeaways. Although we're going budget here, some Chi char place can really whip up a storm that will leave you salivating for more. 

Here's what I can recommend from Two chefs.

Salted Fish Fried Rice 咸鱼炒饭 ..........

 

Honey Pork Rib 蜜汁排骨. I like the slices of shallots that makes the pork ribs more fragrant ..........

Butter pork rib. This is if you like buttery stuff. I think it's good but the butter can be overwhelming to some ..........

Cold Cockles with minced garlic and sliced chilli. My mum and dad absolutely love them .........

Some tips about the place:

1) Herbal Chicken Soup is served only on Saturday and Sunday

2) If you visit during the weekends, please look for a table first then proceed to the stall and queue to get your order taken. do not wait at the table and wait for their service personnels to come.

3) While waiting, try the mutton soup (Soup Kambing) from the Kambing Soup stall. Its quite good!

Mutton soup stall in the same coffee shop ..........

Cost : abt S$12 per person for a decent 5 course dinner

Address : Commonwealth Crescent, Blk 116, Swee Hin Restaurant.

Country : Singapore

Eng Kee 容记 .......... Fried Chicken Wings Expert

About 3.5 hours after my afternoon buffet with my munching mates, we are here in Commonwealth Crescent to satisfy my curiousity. I was puzzled the last time I was here and saw the line of people queuing for fried bee hoon with chicken wings and other processed food (Taiwanese sausage, luncheon meat, fish cake etc.) What's the draw! 

The line of people at Eng Kee 容记 .........

Here's what we had. Fried Bee Hoon, chicken wings, cabbage. I purposely left out the luncheon meat and wu xiang out of the picture. Nothing special ..........

So the highlight here is the FRIED CHICKEN WINGS! Looks ordinary, but it's good stuff. The kitchen just churn out the fried chicken non-stop. It’s common for every order to be 10 or more chicken wings. We had an order of 10 chicken wings too. Although we weren't too hungry after our afternoon tea buffet, we still managed to whack all 10 of the chicken wings .........

Cost : about S$5 per person.

Address : Blk 117, Commonwealth Crescent

Country : Singapore

Good Food Secrets in Commonwealth Crescent 十六楼

Commonwealth Crescent is a little secluded area of older HDB flats. To some of the older generation Singaporeans, this place is known as "16 storeys", 十六楼, as it is populated with blocks of 16 storey HDB flats which marks an era of HDB public housing about 40 years ago. (for the nonSingaporeans, HDB is Housing Development Board). Although secluded, this little place has some good food "secrets". 

1) Two Chefs Eating Place 双厨菜馆 (Commonwealth Crescent, Blk 116)

"Chi Char" 煮 炒 is a colloqial terminology that literally means "Cook and Fried". It is a term used to describe a budget restaurant, usually of Cantonese origin. A "Chi Char" place is where families will gather for a good dinner and sparing the extra cost for ambience and service. It is also a place for takeaways. Although we're ging budget here, some Chi char place can really whip up a storm that will leave you salivating for more. 

Two Chefs Eating Place 双厨菜馆 is one of the eating place that can be categorized as a typical "Chi Char" 煮 炒 place. This "Chi Char" place that is already popular and it only became even more crowded after being featured as one of the best "Chi Char" place in the Sunday Times. 

Here's what I had for my weekday dinner with my wife.  The hor fun is quite normal but both my wife and I liked the salted fish fried rice 咸鱼炒饭 and the Honey Pork Rib 蜜汁排骨.

This is only a reconnaissance trip so we only ordered simple fare to fill the stomach. I'll reveal some of their more popular dishes after I'm going dinner this coming Sunday.

The salted fish fried rice 咸鱼炒饭 (S$3.50) with the thicker slices of salted fish strips ..........

Honey Pork Rib 蜜汁排骨 (S$8) with the big slices of fried shalots. The meat is tender and glazed with honey. The shalots makes this dish very tasty. This is not their popular dish and it is already so satisfying. I can't wait till this Sunday evening ........

2) Eng Kee 容记 (Commonwealth Crescent, Blk 117)

I'm wondering about the reason behind the long queue that the stall attracts. I took a closer look and found that they are actually selling fried bee hoon and normal fare (at least it looks normal to me) that compliments the bee hoon. There's fried chicken wings, Taiwanese sausages and so on. The stall has a Makansutra symbol that they print on their signboard. I'm really curious that the normal fare that they sell is able to attract such a line of people. I will find time to eat at this place some time in the near future.

Country : Singapore

夜来香 Ye Lai Xiang Tasty Barbeque Charcoal Grill .......... Grill in Big Portions

One of my ex colleague had introduced me to this Western Grill place about 6~7 years ago. Ever since Ye Lai Xiang is one of my choiced place for budget Western Food. The boss wears a big spectacles and always seems to wear a white T-shirt while preparing the food. He's not very friendly to customers an even rejects orders of only french fries. However, his food is good. Many people will go for the $12 Sirloin steak. When preparing the thick sirloin steak, he'll first place the steak vertical, leaning the steak at the side of the metal support at the edge of the hot plate or wok cover for support. The lard will melt some and then he'll place the steak at its sides to cook to near his standard of perfection. The chicken chops that he prepare is equally good.

The queue at Ye Lai Xiang 夜来香 ..............



I'm not a beef eater so I ordered my delicious chicken chop (S$6). The photo shows 2 big pieces of chicken thigh meat.............



A close up of the chicken chop cooked to a nice golden brown colour. It's still tender inside .........



Address : 40A Commonwealth Avenue, #01-560 Commonwealth Ave Cooked Food Centre

Country : Singapore