Amzar File

[top photo: 126 Eating House serves dim sum 24 hours daily.]

Geylang's 5 hottest food spots


By Hedy Khoo

LORONG 9 BEEF KWAY TEOW
237 Lorong 9
Geylang Road
4pm-3.30am on Mondays,
11am-3.30am from Tuesdays to Sundays

This is perhaps the most famous eatery in Geylang, and its specialty is rice noodles with slices of beef cooked in black bean sauce (starts from $5 a plate).

When we visited the stall last Thursday evening, the owner was too busy to be interviewed - he was frying up plates of beef kway teow for a long queue of hungry diners, some of whom were seated at tables which lined the back alley.

A diner in his 30s, who did not want to be named, said he has been a patronising the restaurant for the last eight years. "It's cheap and delicious. A meal for three, which includes the beef kway teow and other dishes, costs just $20," he said.


126 EATING HOUSE
126 Sims Ave
24 hours daily

This is a must-visit for dim sum lovers. While the menu is purely in Mandarin, it has plenty of pictures for those who can't read.

The popular dishes are the fried beancurd ($5), king prawn dumplings ($4.50), and king siew mai ($4).

Madam Tay Sen Yen, 36, an account manager who was there with five friends, said she found out about the eatery last year from an Internet forum.

"Considering that we are eating by the roadside, the prices are slightly higher than a hawker centre. But the quality of the food is fresh and good."

PEOPLE'S PRAWN NOODLES
252 Lorong 12 Geylang Road
7.30am-5.30am daily, closed on Wednesdays

The stall's signboard displays various rave reviews that the prawn noodle stall, a family business, has garnered over the years.

Before the family set up shop in Geylang nine years ago, they sold live prawns at the Pasir Panjang wholesale market.

Mr Chris Tan, 22, said he personally boils the soup stock every day. He starts preparing the stock at 3am daily, which is then left to simmer for six hours.

Patron Derek Kwok, 48, an IT manager said that while he likes to try prawn noodles all over Singapore, the Geylang stall is his favourite because of its unique taste.
"The prawns are very fresh, and you can taste their full flavour in the soup. It's unlike those from other stalls that contain a lot of sugar or artificial seasoning in the stock."

LAO JIANG SHANXI COLD DISHES
27 Sims Ave, 11am-2am daily

Those looking for authentic Shanxi cuisine can find it here. Most patrons are mainland Chinese who gravitate here for familiar tastes from home.

The simple fare is reasonably priced. One of the most popular dishes, a bowl of cold noodles in chilli oil with cucumber strips, costs $3.

Mechanic Wang De Jun, 23, a Shanzi native who came here last year, said he chanced upon the eatery as he lived in the area. "It's hard to find eateries that sell dishes from my hometown. The cold noodles here are no different from those back home."

SINMA LIVE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

161 & 163, Lorong 3 Geylang Road, 5pm-4am daily

While this is a seafood restaurant, its star dish is really the claypot frog porridge.

Restaurant manager Chai Chin Hai, 41, said they sell up to 2,000 frogs - kept live and freshly slaughtered to keep the meat tender - every day.

There are permanent offers for the dish too: Buy two frogs and get one free, or buy three and get two free. Each frog costs $8.

Such offers draw customers like manager Cynthia Cha, 33, who patronises the restaurant at least once a month.

"The seafood here is not cheap, but the claypot frog porridge is reasonably priced. I like the thick and tasty gravy."

For customers who drive, parking is also less of a hassle than in other parts of Geylang - there is a public multi-storey carpark nearby.

Source: Asiaone
This article was first published in The New Paper.