Sometimes I don't know whether I should blog bad food or not. Do people want to know or perhaps be prewarned about places which serve food that isn't great? Or do you just want to "see only the good stuff"? Maybe I should start a poll and see what you all prefer.
OK, this oyster omelette (S$3) is from Soon Lee at Haig Road. It's recommended in the Makansutra guide as one of the better ones. Unfortunately, what I had was far from satisfying. The omelette was not crispy and the flour bits not gooey (in fact, they were cooked through solid). It had a mix of large and small oysters but these were also overcooked.
I regretted coming out to try this dish but I was rewarded by this peculiar sight. A woman was seated at the next table, steadfastly feeding her pet parakeet some porridge - hmm, wonder if it was CHICKEN porridge! The bird was untethered and extremely tame. I couldn't help staring, and I couldn't help taking a shot too.
Hubby thinks ALL street food in Singapore is unequivocably bad. He does not deem it worthwhile traipsing all over to uncover hidden gems. Hawkers are squeezed on all sides by rising rentals, labour and food costs, so it is tough to come up with decent food consistently at competitive prices. I still harbour hopes of good hawker discoveries but I, too, am beginning to agree, these will be harder and harder to find.SOON LEE FRIED OYSTER
#01-57 Haig Road Food Centre
14 Haig Road
i feel that there are hawkers who maintain consistency in their food, for example, i rate "Han Kee" in Amoy Street hawker as the best i had in Singapore, and everything i eat from their stall, i get the same standard all the time, be it quality or quantity :)
ReplyDeleteso i guess, its possible to maintain standard and consistency.. :)
hmmm...it doesnt look tasty from ur photos too. and i agree with min, it is important for them to manin consistency. but the lady feeding the bird was really a rare sight! haha
ReplyDeleteLove that shot of that lady feeding her parakeet! So cute... Hmm, one can write a whole story just from that one picture... Very cool. :)
ReplyDeletemin: thanks! Han Kee, here I come!
ReplyDeleteJaime: yeah, I'm glad I brazenly took a shot of the lady.
Kenny: ah you, born writer! :) Can tease out whole stories out of anything!
oh by the way, Han Kee serves Fish soup, not fried oyster :) forgot to mention that in my post above.
ReplyDeleteSound so depressing...ALL street food is bad?! :( ...
ReplyDeleteBut I agree in times of survival, it will be harder to find one hawker who can whip up delicious food yet maintaining the price. Times are hard...
You see, the bird is lucky. It gets to eat "rice" :D
I know what you mean. At times I come across food so bad, I just don't know where to start...but i usually rather not blog about it. Feel a bit guilty as there was once i blog about a bad place, 2 weeks later i discovered it was closed down. Of course not my fault as am not that influential, but still feel bad.
ReplyDeleteAmoy Street does rank pretty high because they serve so many office workers everyday and they can't afford to screw up as they have plenty of competitors.
ReplyDeleteDo you like Thai style oyster egg on a hot plate with bean sprouts? The food court at Le Meridien used to serve a very good one, not sure if they are still around.
Have you tried the one at Toa Payoh?
Finding good orh-lua seems like a daunting task recently.
ReplyDeleteKathy: I tried the one in Le Meridien, not bad =), a bit sweet though. Not too sure if it is there still too.
I use to go to the hawker center at commonwealth market to get orh-lua. Their orh-lua uses such big and fresh oysters that it really left a deep impression on me. However, I stop visiting that place after I moved somewhere else. Does anyone know where I am talking about? Is it still open?
not all are bad lah. you should bring him more around. :-)
ReplyDeletehow cute, feeding the bird from a spoon.
I'm getting pretty jaded with hawker food as well, if its not over rated, its over the top over rated! hahaha.... not really lah...
ReplyDeleteThats why now I prefer to cook.
Precious Pea: I have the same doggie combo! Shih Tzu and Maltese!
min: yes, I know. Han Kee is on the other end of the health spectrum! lol fish soup vs orh luak!
ReplyDeletetigerfish: yeah, well, I guess it doesn't help that my hubby dislikes many street food dishes to begin with.
Precious Pea: Haaa, don't underestimate the power of your blog! Yeah, tell me about it, I have SO MANY unblogged posts of bad food. Like so wasted.
Kathy: wow Thai style oyster egg? Have not tried that. Actually I like the gooey floury part for oyster omelette. Sigh, the Toa Payoh one, twice I hauled myself there, both times it was not open. Maybe third time's the charm. I also want to try the Whampoa one.
Celeste: yeah it is a daunting task. Finding a bad one sucks cos it's such a high-calorie dish. Hmm, commonwealth market you say?
K-man: sadly, hubby reached his verdict AFTER I brought him around. He now refuses to go - cos these places are too "hot, humid, smelly and crowded"! kua kua
Southernoise: yeah, sian. you tend to end up with unsatisfying food from hawkers, whether random or recommended.
hot - yes!
ReplyDeletehumid - yes!
smelly - depends..
crowded - usually.
Some food centres, you clothes stink after you leave the place.
Think should always visit expecting things to be not so good liao. Then when it still maintain standards, ah.. you feel comforted. If not, lagi disappointed. Sis always say, nowadays everything must lower expectation liao..
that isnt a parakeet! it's an african grey parrot! (:
ReplyDeleteit's got the intelligence of a 5 year old child. amazing little bird that one.
Ah thanks for identifying the bird. =) All I know about birds is their classification - edible or inedible.
ReplyDeleteHi Camemberu,
ReplyDeleteWow, have to salute you for all these food reviews! They are so well written, and informative!
I would definitely like to see the good, and bad reviews from you! The bad reviews of places acts as a pre-warning and if I ever chances upon them, I can steer far away from them and not "throwing my money down the drain". Keke!
Cheerios,
Carrie