Bedok Blk 85 Hawker Centre

Last visited: 6 December 2006

This entry is gonna be a super long one because I know this place way too well. I may not have frequent this place as much as last time, but one thing for sure, if it has no major change, I still know it as much as the back of my hand. Why so? I practically grew up here the first 10 years while I was in Singapore. Not only my house (Blk 78) is only 5 minutes away, my previous church (All Saints Church at Anglican High School; 2nd photo above) is located right next to it on top of a hill slope. So I almost have my meals here for everyday throughout that 10 years. And seriously, I never knew how blessed I was till I moved out from there. This entry you can certainly trust me with the food and the stall I recommend here. I just miss those days living there and patronizing that market everyday so so much...sigh... :/

[NB: Sorry I forgot most of the names of the stalls, so I can only try to describe you the location of the stall which are famous there. Will try my best to take pictures of the stalls again when I can go and visit it again next time, meaning that it would not be so soon...hahaha...lol]

Comments: For Blk 85, you practically have nice stuffs to eat throughout the whole day. The front part of the hawker operates mainly in the morning, while the back part, which is the main bulk of the whole hawker centre operates from evening till early morning. Hence, this hawker centre is basically 24-hours daily, in which most stalls will take their break only on Monday. So if you intend to go there, Wed or Thu nights will be the most ideal because from Fri-Sun night it will be super crowded. Since most of the tables are placed outside where there is no overhead cover, you can only come on the sunny days. Of course, you can still sit inside with those proper hawker centre tables and stools, but in general most people would rather choose to sit outside near the road, as it is much more cooler and truly the "Blk 85 hawker style". The food that this hawker is famous for: (Morning) Rojak; (Afternoon) Newton Hokkien Prawn Mee; (Night) BBQ Seafood, BBQ Chicken Wings, Porridge, and of course the best Bak Chor Mee in Singapore!!! :D

How To Get There

Block 85 Hawker Centre
Bedok North Road
Singapore 460085

Bus: Take 14 or 222 from Bedok interchange and alight at the bus-stop right after the Bedok Police Station (on the left side). The ride will only take about 10-15mins.

MRT: The nearest MRT is Tanah Merah MRT but it will take about 20-minutes to walk there. You just walk back to the Bedok Stadium direction, and walk straight along the Bedok North Road till you see the hawker centre. This method is more troublesome and hence you may consider the bus as a better choice.

Car: You just need to get to Bedok North Road. However, parking lot is limited especially over the weekends. Hence, you might want to park your car at the back of the hawker center, which is the Blk 90 carpark there.

BBQ Seafood

The BBQ Stingray is usually the most popular dish among the others. The well-known stall there is The Chan's Seafood, located right in the middle of the hawker centre. However, I haven't tried this stall yet as their BBQ Seafood is famous because of its sambal sauce, a super spicy chili sauce that I cannot take. So normally, I would order the BBQ Seafood from the stall at the front (Forgot its name; 2nd row nearest to the bus-stop). To me, this stall is one of the few stalls in Singapore who knows how to cook bbq seafood WITHOUT chilli. The stall owner will use garlic to grill the stingray, which works to take away the stench on most seafood. The stingray meat is soft and the bones can be eaten too. Adding some lime juice will help to enhance the taste much better.

Ratings (Total of 5 points)

Taste: 4.5
Sauce: 4.0
Freshness: 4.0
Price: $$ (approx. S$10 for a normal stingray)

OVERALL: 4.0

Bak Chor Mee

The main reason Blk 85 Hawker Centre is famous for is its unique Bak Chor Mee (minced pork with meatballs soup noodle). The meat is so soft and shredded that you probably "drink" the soup and the meat together down your throat. Unlike most stalls in Singapore, it is absolutely different from those big, chewy minced pork you get. The soup is plain and is enhanced by the crispy onion and the spring onions sprinkled on top.

There are a total of 3 stalls there, with the stall right in the middle (next to the Porridge stall) the newest. The original one which started the fame all over Singapore is the stall right at the back, 2nd from the side. This stall wins for its springy noodles and its soup which is taste slightly stronger but yet not appear to have lots of MSG in it. The stall right next to it (the outermost stall in the last row) is very much the same too. I have make a comparison last time and realise the difference is only the noodle slightly soggy and the soup is milder in taste. But these are almost unnoticeable difference unless you purposely make such a comparison like me. It is faster than the 2nd stall with only 30mins of waiting time on weekend nights. The 2nd stall (the most famous one) will take close to 1 hour and 30mins on weekends and weekdays respectively. As for the newest stall (Ka Po Bak Chor Mee) in the middle, it is the fastest on all days. This DOES NOT mean it tastes the worst ya? In fact, I usually order from the stall just to save time. The Bak Chor Mee tastes about the same to me from all 3 stalls. Except that for those who came all the way from very far ends of Singapore, they still prefer to wait for a long time just for those two stalls that are famous -- for their stall names.

Ratings

Taste: 5.0
Soup: 4.5
Portion: 3.0 (Guys with big appetite can probably eat up 2-3 bowls; hence that's why you can eat many other side orders like chicken wings and stingray with it)
Ingredients: 3.5
Price: $ (Only S$2 per bowl!)
OVERALL: 4.0

BBQ Chicken Wings

It is a habit that Singaporeans like to add one or two pieces of BBQ chicken wings to their meals, especially for dinners when you are eating at the hawker centres. The BBQ Chicken Wings here is very much popular as well. If you are thinking of getting one, try to buy from the stall right behind the Western Food Stall (only have ONE western food there). The chicken wings is just tanned and nicely done. But if you rushing time and you happens to be there on the weekend nights, don't buy from this stall as you can take hours just to wait for it. There is one more stall right at the back of the hawker centre. However, it offers slightly burnt chicken wings. Yet because of its less competitive location compared to the other stall, sometimes it will offer Buy 5 Get 1 Free promotions. So if you come in big groups, maybe you can consider getting from them to save some money.

Ratings

Presentation: 3.5

Cooked: 4.0

Taste: 4.0

Price: $ (S$1 per piece)

OVERALL: 4.0

Porridge

The porridge stall is located right opposite of the Western stall in the middle section of the hawker centre. It sells Cantonese style porridge. The rice is boiled till it is in gravy form and hence it is soft when you eat it. The essence of its ingredients simply mixed with the porridge due to the long cooking time for the porridge. However, you may have to take some patience as it will take about 40 mins to be done after you have placed your order, even on normal weekdays.

Ratings

Taste: 5.0 (Strongly recommended by my uncle when he came here to visit us from Hong Kong)

Variety: 3.5

Freshness: 4.0

Price: $ (S$2.50 per bowl)

OVERALL: 4.0

Other remarks: There are many other food such as Western Food, Ah Boling (Rice dumplings dessert), Wu Xiang, Oyster egg, Char Kway Teow and Otah which are nice and cheap. You will be amazed by the number of awards and certificates awarded by the TV food shows and media you get to see over there. It simply look like EVERY stall has been awarded or recommended. You certainly won't be able to find THAT many of stalls with awards elsewhere in Singapore in a single hawker centre.

And if you are confuse by my verbal instructions of the locations of the stalls, don't worry coz I will try my best to visit it again...and this time taking down photos of the different stalls as I have mentioned. :)