Makan Place – Karu’s Indian Banana Leaf Restaurant

Fish head curry is a must try when you are in Singapore and Malaysia. The head of a Red Snapper Fish (usually) is served with curry. Fish Head Curry was first created in Singapore and sold from a small shop at Mount Sophia in the city. The ethnic Indian store owner, J. M. Gomez wanted…

Makan Place – Al Azhar

Al-Azhar is the quintessential Singapore style eating house. An Indian Muslim establishment, selling everything from pratas, naans and mutarbaks to nasi goreng, kuay teow goreng and ayam goreng. But that’s not all, this place deals sometimes in the Singaporean conception of “Western food” and Thai-Chinese food too. And, its open 24/7. This, sir, is Singapore…

Beauty World Food Centre, the Future of Singapore Food

Sure, Singapore’s a small country, but without the ease that transport brings, there really is very little incentive to get to some out of the way places. Beauty World in Bukit Timah used to count as one of those far-out places. Then the Downtown Line opened, and what was once an hour long journey shortened…

Makan Place – Tenderfresh Classic

Tenderfresh or 可爱鸡 (which is actually cute chicken in Mandarin) has over 150 brand stores and subsidiaries islandwide selling chicken. The brand can mostly be found in the hawker centres and food courts. It began in the 1980s in the former Whitley Road Food Centre, by Jimmy Soh who retailed locally sourced chickens. He grew…

Ng Kim Lee Confectionary

One of the few remaining old school bakeries in Singapore is Ng Kim Lee Confectionary at 4 Chun Tin Road. It specialises in selling traditional Teochew, Hainanese and Western (we could get into a whole discussion on what this term actually is) style cakes and pastries. Like most traditional stores, the owners mantain a professional…

Beauty World, still shopping in the 80s

It started during the Japanese Occupation, as the Da Dong Ya, or the Greater East Asia Amusement Park.  The site chosen was between Upper Bukit Timah Road and Jalan Jurong Kechil. The site was originally a rural farm but was badly destroyed by bombs during the Battle of Singapore. According to infopedia, In the early…

The Rail Mall

Along Upper Bukit Timah Road is a quaint little district called The Rail Mall. It is a less popular cousin of Holland Village. A bohemian enclave facing what used to be the rail lines of Bukit Timah Train station, this place is one of the hidden gems in Singapore. It houses some good dining outlets…