Little India Food Trail

Every time i head to Little India or Farrer Park, i will have a headache thinking about what to eat there. Besides Banana Leaf Apollo which is a luxury, or the Komala Vilas because you see them at every corner? Would you have thought Little India could also have some good Chinese hawker cuisine to offer? 

JOURNEY STARTS HERE!

That day a friend posted on my wall 'South Buona Vista Road Duck Rice Returns' and it just so happens to be located 5 minutes walk from Farrer Park Mrt Station...

Not surprising, i expected to see a flock of old and new customers alike after the newspaper feature. But there was no queue! If you have been to the Hup Seng Duck Rice at Sin Ming Road, you will know what i mean. Nevertheless, i was still eager to try for myself what brings this 'Famous Teochew Duck Rice' back to town. 

The auntie was waiting for me to order ( yes, not the order way round ) and i told her i wanted a set for 1 pax, with the brown rice. She told me it was $5 for a 1 pax set while a normal plate cost $4. Hence, i was happily hoping to see a larger portion of meat, probably with some veggies on the side too. The picture below was what i got, the meat was spread over 4 slices of cucumbers covered with their cold gravy, the soup tasted nothing but a normal vegetable soup, what's worse than a watery and non-spicy chilli to go with your duck rice? And.. seriously??? $5.80 for that miniscule portion of meat and rice? The brown rice was average though a bit tasteless. The $1.80 extra is probably to separate the rice and duck meat. Hence, i really do not recommend the 1 pax set if you are eating alone. 

Rating: 2/5. 

Verdict: I hope they will improve on their serving given the price they charge to live up to their name or else i'm not sure if it is here to stay...

The $5.80 set for 1 pax :(

SECOND STOP

This Middle Road Pork Rib's Prawn Mee is located right beside the duck rice. You can't miss it because they have so many helpers at the stall and their business is flourishing. A cheerful man took my orders as i busily trying to capture a nice photo of their stall name. I had a hard time choosing what i want but if you are like me, just get the Mixed Pork Noodles and you will be able to have a bit of everything. What you get in the soupy bowl of noodles - pork liver, pork lung, pork ribs, pork intestines and prawns. The soup is tasty but not too salty like some other stalls. And you get to take free flow of fresh red cut chilli and fried shallots. Remember to add some pepper which they have kindly placed on some tables around their stall to add taste to the soup. 

Rating: 4/5 

Verdict: Prawns are a little small, could do better with slightly larger prawns :)

Everything you want in your prawn noodles

NEXT STOP!

Just across the Kim San Leng Eating House is this humble stall selling fishball noodles. Despite being the only stall that is opened in this coffeeshop, orders never stop because customers keep arriving. The pictures on the stall did not look appealing but my father insisted that i definitely have to try this stall. Our food arrived after about 10 minutes and they did look delicious. We sprinkled the fried pork lard which my dad requested and did our usual mixing of the noodles before tucking in. It was a wow moment, the fragrance of the handmade chilli mixed with vinegar as i stirred them through the noodles was so powerful. It got me really excited. Indeed, the noodles were QQ and the ingredients were fresh. I like the fish dumpling which was unusual because its slightly transparent so i knew at one sight that it was handmade too. The fried sole fish could have been more crispy. 

Rating: 4.5/5

Verdict: One of those hidden gems not many people know about. Must try!

CHEAP AND GOOD FISHBALL NOODLES

LAST STOP!

How can a trip to Little India be complete without some proper indian food? After a long walk from Sam Leong Road, we finally arrived at TamilNadu Kudai Canteen. My father found this place recently and it is known for their chief cook's Stir Fried Roti Prata but i was not fortunate enough to try his specialty today as he was not around. I will definitely have to return for that. Not a single non-Indian souls you see here unlike the restaurants along Little India. This stall is hidden and i doubt any foodies have tried it yet as i could not find any address on Google. TamilNadu is actually a state in India.

So what is so good about this Indian haunt? Their briyani is unlike the usual reddish coloured ones you eat in the indian stalls everywhere else in Singapore. Theirs is beige-coloured long grain rice cooked with chicken and many other herbs. You get to choose between masala fishballs, masala mutton, curry chicken, curry goat liver. The rice is first scooped into a metal tin, followed by the main ingredient you want to go with the rice, a hard boiled egg is then placed into the tin before covering with the rice again. Sounds a bit like how Bak Chang is made right? I was fascinated while standing there watching the whole process of them preparing the sets. Each plate cost between $6-7 depending on the type of meat you choose. You also get sides like a cup of curry, some red onion coleslaw and a banana. As you can tell from my photo, we asked for more curry drizzled over the rice which 'destroyed the rice castle'. I liked the briyani a lot even though i was 99% full from all the previous food i had. We had the chicken curry. The chicken was tender and only drums were used.

Rating: 4/5
Verdict: There is more to try here at TamilNadu Kudai Canteen so i have to go back for more soon!

TamilNadu Special - Kudai Canteen