This is the most frequented of all our eating places over the past two decades. Commonwealth Crescent Market and Food Centre is as old as the neighbourhood (dating from the 1960s) but the building has been transformed from a single-storey set of huts to a modern two-storey complex with the wet market on the ground floor and food centre above it. It has a great variety of food to be had.
The oldest and long-lived stall has to be Hong Kee Porridge, run by Mr Hui and his family for many years. He arrived from Guangzhou in the 1950s, bringing with him the hallowed tradition of Cantonese-styled rice porridge, which is silky smooth as opposed to the Teochew variety. He and a brother set up shop in Chinatown before moving to Queenstown where he never left. He still lives in an apartment across the street from where he toils and slaves. There is never a day where he is not found at his stall, closing only during the Chinese New Year period.
Our favourite is his century egg and sliced pork porridge (皮蛋瘦肉粥) where his generous portions (a whole egg) and tender and chunky meat slices are a pleasure. He has also kept his prices low, far better value than those well-known dim sum places in town.
There have been rumours of Mr Hui's impending retirement in 2026 (when he turns 80) but thanks to Mr Makansutra K.F.Seetoh's pleading, these plans have been delayed, for now.
New to the food centre is Northern VN Cuisine, which has become one of my new favourites. Run by Hanoi-native Anna Nguyen and her Singaporean husband Christopher Leck, its offerings are both healthy and delicious. They do not serve Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) but has Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup), but my favourite is the dry pork noodle and Bun Cha served with pork belly and minced pork balls. The spring rolls (fresh and fried varieties) with sweet sauce are also excellent.
 |
| Dry pork noodles. |
 |
| Fried spring rolls. Take it with sweet sauce. |
For beef noodles, the Hainanese variety with thick black sauce is available just behind at Ah Kee Beef Noodle. The portions are generous and the soup simply delicious. The standard bowl is $5 but one can supersize it to $8 with added ingredients.
Just a couple of stalls away is the classic Chye Tow Kuay (fried carrot cake) at Liang Liang Fried Carrot Cake, available in both "white" and "black" varieties.
 |
| This is the "black" variety, sweeter and totally sinful! |
No comments:
Post a Comment