Category Indonesian Food

Tampines Mall Kopitiam Food Reviews

liyenz Leave a comment

I have been staying at Tampines for almost my entire life in Singapore. I started working in Tampines and stayed at Ang Mo Kio for half a year before moving to Tampines, staying closer to the office. I feel fortunate that recently Tampines brought in a lot of good food from the city.

The recent Tampines Mall Kopitiam food court renovation closed some old stalls and re-opened many new stalls. I would like to share my reviews about the Kopitiam food at Tampines Mall.

Although I may be active on Instagram and Facebook Page, I try the food myself without getting sponsorship or partnership with anyone. It is purely based on my opinions and preferences. No offences.

Riverside Indonesia BBQ

Ayam panggang (grilled chicken) is one of my favourites at this stall. Another dish that I will order is the ikan panggang (grilled fish) with thick kicap manis (sweet soy sauce). It comes with white rice, a small portion of curry vegetables, and a fried egg. For dine-in, they serve a bowl of vegetable soup which is nice too. The picture above is the takeaway version without the soup. I used to eat at the food court during dinner time.

The grilled chicken is tender, juicy and well-tasted. I have to add on, sometimes the doneness is not really well maintained and over-grilled. I love it is lightly charred. It goes well with their sweet sauce.

The curry vegetable is quite overcooked for my preference. I like it to be more solid, but I think it is still OK to accept it. Do try their sambal at the food counter. I always take plenty of sambal to go with the fried egg and rice. It is wallet-friendly, generous portions, and delicious food that I can find in the Tampines Mall food court.

Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/t1UoLiuWx7K8j18e8
Google rating: 4.2 stars.

Shi Zi Tou (ceased operation)

I ordered the Chinese sauerkraut (traditional pickled Chinese cabbage, in Cantonese it is called shuan choy) fish sliced noodles from this stall for the first time.

I seldom eat sauerkraut. Having this noodle makes me learn a new adjective to describe the taste. Tangy sour is the right way to describe it. The sliced fish was fresh, but four slices only. I wished to have more. It came with plenty of green vegetables and peanuts. I do not know why put peanuts into the soup, since she offered I just said yes. The noodle was slightly soggy. Other than that the whole bowl of soup was delicious.

The server gave a small bowl of mee sua for sampling. It was lack of some taste although there was a presence of black vinegar and white pepper. The taste needs to be improved.

Another similar food stall called Tian Fu Yuan took over this stall.

Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/CGy8FkZ5vMB7TqBw6
Google rating: 3 stars with 1 review.

Halal-certified Li Xin Teochew Fishball Noodles

The stall’s name is Bounce Teochew Fishball Noodles. I ordered a bowl of kway teow soup with fish cake from the Halal-certified Lixin Teochew Fishball Noodles stall which made a comeback after closing its original stall. It looked pretty promising with plenty of dried shallots and spring onions. The clear soup was a bit plain, and the fried shallots did not help to enhance the taste. If you do not mind paying more expensive, Ah Piao kway teow th’ng at Tampines One Malaysia Chiak food court is better, but not the best.

Address: Bounce Teochew Fishball Noodles – Tampines Mall
Google link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/intPosZifojN5TDT9
Google rating: 4 stars with 8 reviews.

Sanook Kitchen Express Stall

I tried once only, I ordered the Thai-style beef fried kway teow. The portion was enough for a small eater, and the taste was normal only. It did not come with white sugar on the side of the plate, unlike, what I tried at Nakhon Kitchen. Personal preference, I will choose Nakhon Kitchen over Sanook Kitchen.

Another similar food stall called Telur Thai took over this stall.

Sliced Fish Soup

Lately, I often get this fish soup as my lunch whenever I visit Tampines Mall Kopitiam. It is the only stall in the food court where I will get my lunch because I am trying not to eat rice in the afternoon. During my recent visit, a male cashier at the counter did not seem to remember my order correctly. End up, I got a bowl of fish soup with milk.

Google rating: 2.5 stars.

Hjh Maimunah Mini

A family-run business restaurant opened its stall at Tampines Mall Kopitiam. It makes my journey to the city if I want to eat good traditional Malay and Indonesian food. The Jalan Pisang branch is listed as Michelin Bib Gourmand. I tried their chicken set with 2 sides. I chose ayam masak merah and 2 types of vegetables. They offer ala carte too. I received a comment saying the beef rendang is the best.

Mee bakso is an Indonesian noodle soup dish consisting of bakso meatballs served with yellow noodles and rice vermicelli. In this bowl of mee bakso, there are plenty of cabbage and green vegetables with four medium-sized meatballs. The clear soup is a bit plain, but thankfully the fried shallots help to bring up some flavour. I wish they could slice the cabbage into smaller chunks.

Mee sup daging (beef noodles) is same as the mee bakso. Instead of the beef meatballs, I got the small beef cubes. It has plenty of vegetables, so it is quite a balanced meal. 👍The soup is still lightly tasted. Two types of noodles I can choose from, either mee or meehoon.

Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/UQKoGHGqKdF1Fu3D6
Google rating: 3 stars.

Koo Kee Yong Tow Foo Mee

I like to eat yong tau foo and I would not hesitate to try out this stall too. It has been here for many years but I did not recall trying it before. The Google review and rating are pretty bad. So, let me check out the reason why. From Google searches, this brand started in 1954. Their flavoured soup is made up of soya beans and ikan bilis (anchovies), and a bowl of speciality egg noodles with fragrant minced chicken meat toppings. If you want to get a set meal, a plate of Kang Kong with fermented bean curd sauce for a balanced meal. 

I ordered the normal set that comes with fishball, bean curd, bean curd skin and bean curd puff, all stuffed with fish paste.

The noodle is a little plain to my liking although I saw they added not only oils but other sauce to mix with the egg noodles. Maybe, I need to go with the chilli or sweet sauces to make it tasty.

Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/TxCXSsYHWYcWMxUE6
Google rating: 3.3 stars.

Stalls That Have Been Closed

Some good stalls have been closed and I hope that they will return one day or I can find them somewhere else.

Black Pot Ramen with Fried Fish

The soup was prepared in a black pot that consisted of noodles, vegetables and half of the hard-boiled egg. There was some minced meat inside the soup too. All the meats were deep-fried and sometimes it could be quite dry because they re-heated it by re-frying them.

Besides, I can choose meat, fish, chicken and pork, I can choose the type of noodles or go with rice. There were a few noodle selections you could choose from. The level of spiciness of the soup can be adjustable, I just need to inform the cashier when placing the order. you can tell how spicy you want for your soup.

I pretty much liked their ramen, it was a chewy type, and that was why they called it QQ noodles. The glass noodles were a good choice too.

Stalls that have been closed, and I think it is fine to keep them in this post as a reference. It may have other branches (I think it is in Pasir Ris) in Singapore that one may go there to try their food.

Lixin Teochew Fishball Noodle

This fishball noodle stall has a few branches in Singapore. Based on a Google search, the stall has operated since the 1970s using a pushcart and their first stall at Bendemeer Road Hawker Centre. After going for months of renovation, I tried their fishball noodle at the Tampines Mall food court for the first time. Tampines Mall food court brings in a few new brands into Tampines. I hope I can cover a review for each of them one day.

They offer set meals for two people. It comes with two bowls of noodles of your choice, a fish cake, 6 fish balls, 6 fish dumplings and a plate of fish sticks.

They have dark sauce dry noodles on their website, but Tampines’ branch did not offer a similar option. Their chilli paste is said to be homemade. I find it has a bit light taste, and it is sweet. The noodles were cooked al-dente and added pork lard. Next visit, I would like to try the dark sauce.

The fish cake and fish dumplings are great in texture. Do note that not many fishball stalls’ in Singapore offer fish dumplings on their menu. Although it is an average fish dumpling, it wins stalls that do not come with fish dumplings.

However, personally, I dislike the fish sticks because it is not crispy type. I expected it to be a crispy fish stick, giving a different kind of eating experience. Also, it is oily.

The fish cake tastes a little plain, the healthier kind, I guess. I do not know why it needs to put lime juice on it. So, I did not add any to the fish cake. I ate it plain with the mee pok. Meanwhile, the fishballs are bouncy, they look pretty fresh. Fishball is bigger than the usual size. Personally, I think fishballs or fish dumplings can be ordered for more.

I revisited the stall and ordered the fish dumplings with mee kia. The standard of the fish products is maintained. However, the mee kia was soggy. This time the concoction for the sauce had not improved yet and it looked starchy. It made the whole eating experience unappetizing. I am looking forward to seeing their staff’s improvement. The stall has became a Halal-certified stall and rebranded as Bounce Teochew Fishball Noodles.

Google link: http://www.lixinfishball.com/home/

If you like my review, you may click the love button on my IG above, follow me on IG for more updates, and wish to support my food journey, you may do so via the buymeacoffee’s QR code below:

Follow me on IG channel: liyenz (@liyenzwordpress)
Follow me on FB page: Liyenz (facebook.com/liyenzwordpress)
Follow me on TikTok channel: liyenz (@liyenzwordpress)

Singapore Hawker Food – Part 2

liyenz Leave a comment

I have been trying to blog differently recently by having a theme. To support local Singaporean hawker food, I set up a new theme called Singapore Hawker Food, tried out the local food shared by Singaporeans on social media and shared my opinions. I am sure you are the same as me, would like to know the views from a non-food blogger’s or Youtuber’s point of view.

I am glad that one or two people are willing to eat with me so that I can try different foods and give more food reviews. I wish we could continue to try more food together and share our thoughts. Also, I am happy whenever we are together enjoying our food.

I may be active on Instagram and Facebook Page, and I try the food by myself without getting sponsorship or partnership. It is purely based on my opinions and preferences. No offences.

Cuppage Fried Guo Tiao

The fried kway teow is nice, delicious and fulfilling. They asked if I wanted chilli, and yes, it was with some spiciness on it. It gave a good kick. It is my favourite so far. The portion is slightly more than the famous Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee at Hong Lim Food Centre, Chinatown. The amount of cockles is about the same for these two stalls, and here, they gave fishcakes too.

The noodles are slightly wetter than Outram Park CKT, and both are the same wok hei. The queue here is long and the stall assistant will serve the CKT instead of us queuing for the food to get ready. That is one of the personal touches that I liked about this stall. Another good CKT that I tried and I think is worth the price is the famous CKT at Zion Riverside Food Centre. However, it is too far for me to go. Other options in the Chinatown food centre are the Hill Street CKT, and Food Street fried kway teow mee stalls.

Address: 34 Upper Cross St, #01-170, Singapore 050034.
Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/ZkAXVMW3vN67ViEJ9?coh=178572&entry=tt
Google rating: 4.6 stars (I give a solid 5.0 stars for my personal preference).

Jia Le Yong Tau Foo

Huge portion for a bowl of curry yong tau foo with bee hoon. The curry is delicious, tasty, and pretty authentic for a Chinese curry style. The taste is closer to the Malaysian style. If I order the same food again next visit, I will go without the additional noodle and would love to try the other ingredients too.

They offer clear soup yong tau foo as well, and I tried it on one of the Sundays as my lunch. I think clear soup is made of the soup used to cook the ingredients, and the flavour goes into the soup.

So far there are no Google reviews yet for this branch at Our Tampines Hub. IMHO, it is a 4-star food. The only thing about this stall is the waiting time to get the food prepared sometimes can be quite long.

Address: #01-32 Hawker Centre @ Our Tampines Hub, Singapore 529649.
Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/i6hgdP79yqjcgwDB8
Google rating: 3.3 stars (I give 4 stars for my personal preference)

L32 Handmade Noodle

Their signature ban mian cooks in the thick, savoury soup. Usually, I will go for mee hoon kway. You can choose to go with pork, chicken or seafood. I prefer their dry version that comes with a small bowl of soup and an egg inside. If you want the egg to be well-cooked, just let them know. The dark sauce dry noodle is not oily, it goes well with their chilli paste, fried anchovies and fried spring onions. The queue for this noodle stall during lunch or dinner time can be quite long.

For takeaway, I opted soup version because the handmade noodles would stick together. The only thing I do not like about the soup version is the fried anchovies turn soggy in the soup. This is one of my favourite ban mian stalls in Singapore.

Sometimes, their quality consistency can be different because it is cooked by different staff. Due to the long queue, I seldom visit the stall and search for other better ban mian in Tampines or on the east side.

Address: Food Tempo, 10 Tampines Central 1, #01-60, Singapore 529536.
Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/AUkrTXeLdP6abVqaA
Google rating: 3.5 stars (I give 4.5 stars for my personal preference).

Economic Beehoon Mee

Whether it is a beehoon only or beehoon mee, it is one of my favourites and the most common breakfast options for me every morning. It is conveniently available at any hawker stall or food court in Singapore. Usually, the stalls sell other types of fried noodles too, and it served with other dishes such as fried eggs, sausages, luncheon meats, fried chicken wings, fish cakes or fish fillets, vegetables and many more.

Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to types of noodles and their ingredients. I had my usual fried egg as the default ingredient along with vegetables or a meat selection. This stall where I usually get my economic fried noodles sells vegetarian goose, one of my favourites. Personally, I think the chilli paste is a sweet-spicy type.

It does not have a Google rating found. I give 5.0 stars for my personal preference.

Address: 477 Tampines Street 43, Singapore 520477.

Fish Soup At Hong Kong Street Jia Kee Coffeehouse

It is the best fish soup so far in Tampines, and it is worth the money. The meat is deep-fried fish, thick, and the portion is generous. The meat is not marinated so I liked to dip into their chilli sauce or light soy sauce. I seldom visit this place unless I do not have much work to rush in the afternoon, then I can go for a longer lunch. I went to this coffee shop in the evening a few times.

Address: 144 Tampines Street 12, Singapore 521144.
Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/dbnGapP4rC9pmL5y5
Google rating: 3.9 stars. (I give a solid 5.0 stars for my personal preference).

Dunman Road Char Siew Wan Ton Mee

I visited the Dunman Food Court twice but did not order any food. I walked around and found a few stalls open, while the rest were closed during the weekend. Hence, I decided to try some food here with my friend. The queue at the wanton mee stall was quite long but moving fast.

The chilli paste is quite spicy according to the lady who took our order. So, we told her to put the chilli on the side of the plate. When I mixed the noodles together with the chilli paste, the whole plate of noodles was spicy and slightly flavourful. I am unsure whether chilli overpowered the sauce. I loved the egg noodles texture; I believed it was handmade because of the size of the noodles. Lastly, I loved the soup too.

If I am hereby Joo Chiat, I will drop by for a plate of dry wanton noodles.

I saw the news about the relocation of the stall from Tanjong Katong to Geylang Bahru. I am not sure how true it is because the address on Google Maps remains unchanged so far.

Address: Dunman Food Centre, 271 Onan Rd, #02-19, Singapore 424768.
Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/ftNqmJWBV2vMBLHL7?coh=178572&entry=tt
Google rating: 4.2 stars (I give 4.5 stars for my personal preference).

Cheng Mun Chee Kee

It is located on Foch Road; it is not the same stall as another shop with a similar name at Jalan Besar called Authentic Mun Chee Kee King Of Pig’s Organ Soup. There is a history between these two shops. They originated from the same family but subsequently went their own ways. Both shops serve a similar kind of food.

My preference is Cheng Mun Chee Kee because the soup matches my taste bud. I can go with and without rice for a bowl of soup. My usual ingredients include lean meat, meatballs, beancurd and a generous amount of salted vegetables. The amount is always generous, and the price is reasonable. The soup serves with some Chinese parsley too.

I tried their other dishes, such as the steamed minced meat. It has salted fish added to the minced meat making it more flavourful. Another dish that my friend always eats (because she does not eat pork) is sesame oil chicken. The aroma from the sesame oil is pretty strong, and the chicken is well-marinated and tastes delicious. It is suitable to eat with white rice.

Address: 24 Foch Road, Singapore 209263.
Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/usWNffom3MmDgZTN8?coh=178572&entry=tt
Google rating: 4.2 stars (I give 5.0 stars for my personal preference).

Mui Siong Minced Meat Noodle

Jin Xi Lai (Mui Siong) Minced Meat Noodle (Tampines) at Koufu Tampines St 44. I saw it in Instagram posts. Today, I dropped by to give it a try. I liked the noodle texture and gave generous portions too. I ordered the special meatball noodles with slightly sweet yet peppery pork soup for the dry version. So far, it is my next best BCM noodle after the Dalian Minced Meat Noodle. I wish to get more ingredients and drier noodles.

The second time I tried the noodles, the noodle texture was well-maintained but I still prefer my noodles to be drier. I tried the normal fishballs and fishcake noodles. They tasted normal. I wish to know if they have a soup version. If you know about it, please let me know in the comment box below.

Address: Koufu, 478 Tampines St 44, 01-221, Singapore 520478.
Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/AeoPEBJXK3mLXFFH9?coh=178572&entry=tt
Google rating: 3.7 stars (I give 4.0 stars for my personal preference).

The Noodle Memories

The stall is run by two youngsters and serves a pretty delicious ban mian in Chinatown. The dry version looks pretty similar to KL-style ban mian because they added shredded wood ears. The missing ingredients are probably shredded mushrooms or the mani cai. The rest of the ingredients are generous and well-tasted including the fried beancurd sheet.

They did not use chilli paste in the black sauce unless I ordered the spicy version. For those who wanted to eat the original taste, skip the spicy version, and take their normal chilli paste. Although it did not look similar to KL ban mian’s chilli paste, it was still well-tasted. I think it would be great if they had it.

Address: Hong Lim Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross St, Singapore 051531.
Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/DojtnVS8RSitpkEA8
Google rating: 4.6 stars (IMHO, it is closer to what I liked to eat in KL, just missing the 2 other ingredients. I will give a solid 5 stars)

Prawnaholic 虾的传人

With a Google rating of 4.1 stars, this prawn noodle stall is one of the prawn noodles stalls that I would visit again because of its prawn soup. I am not fancy about the large noodle portion. I liked their effort to make this bowl of prawn noodles different from the traditional prawn noodles in Singapore. IMHO, it is as good as 4.5 stars.

Overall, it is an excellent bowl of prawn noodles. What I liked the most was the prawn soup. It is thick, not too strong tasting. It is something that I do not feel jialat after having the whole bowl of noodles. Also, I liked the torched pork belly. Other ingredients include 2 medium-big prawns and a meatball. For vegetables, they gave beansprouts and kangkung. If I were to visit it again, I would ask for fewer noodles.

Address: 110 Pasir Ris Central, #02-12, Singapore 519614.
Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/xUipDEHgvWGo1CraA?coh=178572&entry=tt
Google rating: 4.1 stars (I give a solid 5.0 stars for my personal preference).

Please leave your recommendations in the comment box below. I will go try them and give my feedback. If you like my review, you may follow me on IG, and wish to donate, you may do so via the buymeacoffee’s QR code below. Thank you.