pianomania: Bukit Batok

Thursday, 23 July 2026

RANDOM HEARTLAND EATS: A RETURN TO BUKIT BARTOK BLOCK 217

Here is a rerun of the food court (Wan Hao Kopitiam) located in Bukit Batok Block 217, simply to try the other stalls. This eating place has a lot going for it. For one, it is always crowded, and the food is very good. On this occasion, we tried the Western food stall and the BBQ seafood stall, the latter mostly because of Janet's hum-ful lifestyle, and her thirst for lightly cooked and almost raw blood cockles. Jamus Lim can definitely identify with this.

Here are more photos of our eventful lunchtime.

Sirloin Steak with herb butter

The bloodier, the better!

BUKIT BARTOK BLOCK 217

Bukit Bartok Street 21

pianomania: RANDOM HEARTLAND EATS: BUKIT BATOK BLOCK 217

(For goodness sake, can't you

just open the Seventh Door?)

Thursday, 2 April 2026

RANDOM HEARTLAND EATS: BUKIT BATOK BLOCK 217

More often than not, one stumbles on a random eating place. It is almost an accident, and completely unscripted that we find somewhere in the heartlands to have a simple meal, and then get to enjoy it. That is simply Singapore. Good food is everywhere. Here is one of them, Wan Hao Kopitiam, located in Bukit Batok (yes, that most "Hungarian" of housing estates) Block 217.

It is early evening, and after a home visit to Ming Yen and Amy's cat Miki, we spy this colourful kopitiam (coffee shop) off Bukit Bartok Steet 21. It's a regular HDB kopitiam / food court. It's crowded with diners, a sure sign that the food is good, and off we go for our comfort foods. We were not disappointed.

Janet got her "humful" laksa, while my usual choice is a Vietnamese beef pho (beef rice noodles in soup). And both were hits. The cockles were not those puny ones that come from a can but actual hum which would even warm up Jamus Lim's heart. And my pho was dac biet, or "special", a word which I learnt in Ho Chi Minh City, which is the same as the Chinese word te bie. It's full of meaty goodness and the broth is just as savoury.