Thursday, November 23, 2006

Alexandra Village



With all the revamping of food centres going on, most of them despite looking new and spanking clean, has lost much of the old atmosphere which had once made them special. Not to mention that most of them had also lost their much treasured stalls, making the new "kopitiams" just a skeleton of it's old self retaining their names.

Thankfully, there are still gems to be found on this little island. One of which is Alexadra Village Food Centre which is still a good ol' food centre with loads of old stalls still around, most of them selling deliciously good food.



One stall I vividly remember my parents frequenting when I was still a kid was Soon Lee Beef Soup. This stall which is tended by two ladies serve a lip smackingly good beef stew. The kind which is still served in a claypot and heated over a flame, definately hard to find these days.

Well of course they also do sell other items but what I usually go for is the beef stew which contains soft, well stewed beef, tendons, carrots and potatoes in tasty, rich gravy.



The beef is really soft and very well marinated holding a strong flavour in without sacrificing it's beefy taste. The gravy, however, is what draws me back time and again. Eating here, you will not feel cheated by gravy which look thick and dark but taste bland and starchy. The gravy is rich with beef flavour and spices with just the right amount of saltiness and sweetness.



Splash it on some rice and you're good to go!

Just a few stalls away is also an awesome stall which sells avocado milkshake. Yeap, you heard that right. It's AVOCADO milkshake.



Decorated with various foodie recommendations and well arranged fruits, this stall is the first stall to come up with this fantastic concoction. The avocado milk is a thick, light green milk and taste really good. I don't really know how to describe it but I think it's a touch of pandan juice, evaporated milk and avocado blended together to make a drink that is rich and sweet yet not too much to turn you of after a few sips. Instead, I find it suprisingly addictive and I usually order two at a go!



Well, invention will definately lead to copycats and a few other stalls in the food centre has "copied" them by selling the same drink, no doubt noticably lacking in flavour. This original stall is the colourfully decoratoed one beside the duck rice stall at the corner. If I'm not wrong, they also have durian milk which I'm definately gonna try the next time round. It may be a little bit pricey at $2 a cup, but please go for the original stall because the other stalls just don't make it (trust me I've been there).

In the same row, there's also a famous duck rice stall and shui jing pau stall which I'm going to cover in my next post. Not to mention that there's also the famous clapot laksa, tze char, carrot cake, mutton soup, chicken rice, bak kut teh with Da Zhong Guo (which sells good chinese pastries), Lina's confectionary (which sells darn good curry puff and lapis kueh) and a famous Ang ku kueh stall in the vacinity.

Wow, now that's quite a mouthful isn't it?

13 comments:

D said...

Who got beef? Man.. that hotpot looks awesome! I've seen them before but never got round to trying. You have to try the Old Ponggol Satay behind as well and the claypot laksa is quite decent too.

Joe said...

I love avocados and enjoy just scooping them out of their shell/skin with a spoon whenever I get the chance. I like making fresh juice and trying different kinds of smoothies... maybe I might like this avocado shake. No idea if it would be possible to get such a thing in Chicago, though.

Joe said...

Looking at pictures of these different stalls is pretty interesting. I bet that most people who pass them on the street probably take them for granted, but they look really intersting. With all the pictures you include, your blog has a cool & unique sense of place to it and it makes me want to explore more.

Sammy said...

Heyo D! Yeap it's damn good u gotta try it man. I'll surely try the claypot laksa one day and the tau sa piah from Da Zhong Guo just opposite. ;p

Hi Joe! Thanks for the compliment and of course for dropping by! You have a fantastic site too. It's great to find someone else who like fruits. In fact, I went on a fruit diet for 2 yrs and I'm still eating/juicing alot of fresh fruits daily :)

bossacafez said...

gosh, that looks absolutely fantastic!!!! i love beef, i adore beef, and i cant live without beef! yes, that will be my next "to try" list but when? lol

thx for the recommendation bro!

Unknown said...

Wow, am anticipating your next posts, so much good food in A.village.

D said...

Beef hotpot would be even more awesome if we had cold and snowy weather though :(

Sammy said...

evan sis: Yeah I know! I GREW UP on beef man! but last week I went to a chinese doctor n he told me not to take beef! but... but...

Heyo Angie! haha yup, loads of goodies. must go check it out!

Hey D I got this darn good suggestion. haha, go on a rainy day!

Anonymous said...

OMG! Another dish to add to my to-eat list! I tried the beef stew before. It was very delicious!!

Anonymous said...

Hi, how do I get there using MRT? is that a long walk from the nearest mrt stop?

Anonymous said...

The nearest MRT is queenstown, then take 195 and stop after you see IKEA..The beef stew, avocado are the best more, the chicken rice next to the Beef Soup also one of the best...

Anonymous said...

A� The rectangular shape and the bolted studs, which accent the tank watches, came from the styling of the Army tanks, of
that time. They choose brand name designer
watches that double as status symbols. Another watch tipped by some
fashionista's is the MK8160.

Also visit my web page :: www.redtube.org.uk

mctunea said...

have a peek at these guysmore info here click to read moreclick here to investigate have a peek at this web-siteclick site