Jin Pai Zi Char

  

Although there are quite a number of stalls selling zi char (Chinese cooked dishes) in Alexandra Village Food Centre, Jin Pai Zi Char appears to be the most popular. With its comprehensive menu printed in large size and pasted in front of the stall, most people will automatically stop to take a look. Having a wide variety of ala carte cooked dishes at very affordable prices, it took me a while to decide what I wanted to have.




I ordered a plate of kai lan beef rice which cost $4. Served with generous servings of tender beef and crispy kai lan fried with oyster sauce, this dish is indeed delicious and value for money. I love the sambal belacan chilli paste which goes very well with the beef and the rice.

Besides kai lan, the tasty rice sets also come in other combinations eg ginger and spring onion, black pepper, dried chilli, bittergourd with black bean sauce, sweet and sour, sambal etc. If you do not like beef, you can choose to have chicken, pork or fish instead. Come down to Jin Pai Zi Char and savour the impressive variety of dishes available. However be prepared to wait as the queue can be quite long during peak hours.

7.5/10

Jin Pai Zi Char
Alexandra Village Food Centre
120 Bukit Merah Lane 1
#01-47 
S150120

Soon Lee Fire-Pot Stew Beef Noodle

There are times when I wished I have taken a better picture of the food I recommend. But I was too hungry to resist the temptation of this fire-pot stew beef noodle, so I just snapped a random shot and started to eat. Believe me, this fire-pot stew beef noodle tastes a thousand times better than it looks in the photo.


Run by two ladies in their sixties, Soon Lee at Alexandra Village Food Centre has a variety of stew beef dishes. I ordered the fire-pot stew beef with a plate of noodles which cost $6. Served piping hot in a fire-pot with carrot and potato, the tender and fleshy chunks of well-marinated stew beef are coated with thick flavorful gravy that is irresistably sweet and savory. The mouthwatering gravy, together with the special chilli paste, complement the thin noodles (mee kia) very well. The delicious noodles also come with a bowl of soup that is concentrated with delightful beef essence.

Soon Lee fire-pot stew beef noodle is certainly the best that I have tasted in Singapore. If you are a beef lover like me, come down to Alexandra Village Food Centre and experience it for yourself.

8/10

Soon Lee Beef Soup
Alexandra Village Food Centre
#01-16

Xin Sheng Huo Seafood Hor Fun

Better known as the hor fun stall in the middle of Alexandra Village Food Centre, I never noticed Xin Sheng Huo until I read about it on the Makansutra forum.


A plate of seafood hor fun which costs only $3 comes with a generous variety of ingredients eg prawns, sotong, fish and mussels. The delicious hor fun is marvellously fried with a distinctive wok hei flavour. The mouthwatering gravy is remarkably savory and complements the tasty hor fun very well. What is most special is its fresh sotong and juicy mussels makes Xin Sheng Huo seafood truly outstanding.

To all hor fun lovers in Singapore, this is certainly one of the best seafood hor fun I have ever tasted. Even the seafood hor fun from famous restaurants and cze char stalls somehow pale in comparison with Xin Sheng Huo. Come down and try it for yourself today.

8/10

Xin Sheng Huo Seafood Hor Fun
Alexandra Village Food Centre
#01-26

Update 19/5/2009 - This stall has closed down.

Leon Kee Claypot Big Prawn Noodles

Located at Alexandra Village Food Centre, Leon Kee is better known for its ba kut teh (herbal pork rib soup). I wouldn't have noticed its claypot big prawn noodles if not for a reader who mentioned that it has one of the best prawn mee in Singapore.


Served piping hot in a claypot, a bowl of Leon Kee prawn noodles costs $5. In case you are wondering if it is worthwhile to pay the price, the delicious prawn mee comes with one and a half gigantic prawns which will probably cost at least $8 for other famous big prawn noodles. Brimming with the concentrated essence of prawns, the mouthwatering soup is the thickest of all the prawn mee soup I have ever tasted. The enormous halved prawns are fresh and sweet and complement the tasty noodles very well.

Yet to try Leon Kee pork rib soup, I was already very impressed with its claypot big prawn noodles. If you too are a prawn mee lover, do make a trip down to Alexandra Village and try it for yourself.

7.5/10

Leon Kee Claypot Big Prawn Noodles
Alexandra Village Food Centre
Blk 120 Bukit Merah Lane 1 #01-18

Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa

There is plenty of controversy surrounding Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa. It started many years ago when a famous stall selling delicious claypot laksa at Depot Road closed down. It subsequently re-opened in Alexandra Village Food Centre but people were skeptical if this was the original stall. After all there were other stalls with similar names, selling claypot laksa at Telok Blangah, Killiney Road and Vivocity.

When I went to Alexandra Village Food Centre for lunch yesterday, there was a long queue in front of this stall. I ordered the $4 claypot laksa which came with a reasonable serving of noodles with prawns, cockles and shredded chicken . The mouthwatering gravy is delightfully sweet and spicy, brimming with the concentrated flavors of coconut and dried shrimps. Every strand of the delicious noodles is thoroughly coated with a thick layer of savory gravy, every mouthful is simply irresistable.


It is indeed a very sumptuous claypot laksa. My only dissatisfaction is that the gravy is slightly too thick. As compared with Katong Laksa which I can finish two bowls at one go, Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa is so filling, I could hardly finish the gravy. Nevertheless it is still the best laksa I have tasted in Singapore and I definitely look forward to having Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa again.

8/10

Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa
Alexandra Village Food Centre
Block 120 Bukit Merah Lane 1 #01-75
8.30am to 3pm
Closed on Mondays