The Kids are fine. And so are we!: Dining in the City

The Kids are fine. And so are we!

"The trouble with being a parent is that by the time you are experienced, you are unemployed." ~ Anonymous

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Dining in the City

The Singapore Food Festival has started. The entire month of July is devoted to culinary extravaganzas in all sorts of places. Shopping malls, link-ways under the MRT tracks, the Expo, convention centres… Chances are you will be able settle your lunch by sampling different food. This, “another Uniquely Singapore event” organised by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), tells one and all where to find food. You would think without this event Singaporeans would not know where to find good food fares. Hello? The population is well-known to order “cheng teng” to sweeten (no pun intended) the hour-long wait for a bowl of fish-ball noodles along Siglap Road. A cheesy (again, no pun intended) tribute to the on-going World Cup, there is even a Singapore FOOD BALL Festival for soccer fans. Foods that are normally set onto plates have been shaped into bite-sized spheres for easy consumption while soccer fanatics cheer for their teams.

In page 26 of their Singapore Food Festival Official Guide 1-31 July 2006, STB lists the Top 10 Must Try Dishes. They are:
Ø Chilli Crab & Black Pepper Crab
Ø Hainanese Chicken Rice
Ø Satay
Ø Bak Kut Teh
Ø Roti Prata
Ø Rojak
Ø Fish Head Curry
Ø Char Kway Teow
Ø Fried Carrot Cake
Ø Laksa

I would like to ask STB if it polled for the people’s opinions. Some of the dishes are can-eat-can-skip-it, over-rated types. The average tourist spends about 3-4 days in Singapore and if this tourist “must try” all the dishes, he can expect to pile on some kilos/pounds. Nothing to raise your brows over, for many of the dishes topped the high-cholesterol charts. On the other hand, what good food is sans lard? Since STB did not indicate if they surveyed the people, Wil and I came up with own Top 10 list. They are mainly from makan places in the East:
Ø Chilli Crab & Black Pepper Crab (Eng Seng along Joo Chiat Road)
Ø Ice Kachang (Hollywood in Bedok Interchange)
Ø Yu Tiao and Tao Huay Zhui (Geylang)
Ø Bak Chor Mee (Simpang Bedok)
Ø Roti Prata (Casuarina Road or Jalan Kayu)
Ø Rojak (anywhere is usually good. The ones in East Coast Food Centre usually serve with dried cuttle fish that are nice and crispy)
Ø Fish Head Curry (Banana Leaf along Race Course Road)
Ø Char Kway Teow (Old Hougang Market)
Ø Or Lua (Old Hougang Market)
Ø Mee Rebus (Inspirasi in Bedok Interchange)

What would you recommend for the Top 10 Must Try Dishes? Maybe STB can show the ratings in next year’s official guide.

Labels: feeding, list

posted by Chris @ 9:56 am

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