For me, I simply love food more than queuing. Thankfully, there's man! I've always been fortunate to have them queuing for me willingly. :D IL was gentleman enough to offer standing in the line for Ah Lo's yam and carrot cake at Chinatown Market just to satisfy my curiosity.
The stall sells only yam cake, carrot cake and peanut porridge. While queuing, IL learnt from a friendly lady in front of him that the stall owners used to be very arrogant. They would not sell the peanut porridge alone. It was like a side. I think the old couple mellowed down with age over the years.
Twenty minutes of much anticipated wait later, it was finally his turn. IL got us a plate of yam cake and a plate of carrot cake($2.00 per plate) to share. The yam cake was sprinkled with sesame seeds and spring onions on top of the sweet sauce.
I was expecting to bite into bits of mushrooms, yam and shrimps but I could only taste the silky smooth spongy texture of the cakes. No, don't get me wrong. It didn't feel like biting into flour. This was Cantonese-style as I was told. The chilli sauce was very nice and complemented the plain looking cakes. You have to pay an extra $0.20 for more chilli sauce!
I prefer the carrot cake as no one beats the yam cake my sister's MIL made. Hokkien-style.
While we were eating, an uncle asked us if it was worth queuing. Yes, if you have the time.
Since we were already half-filled, we decided to look around the labyrinth of stalls for other good food. We spotted a queue in front of Heng Ji Chicken Rice stall.
The line wasn't as long and we decided to join in the queue. It didn't take too long to get to our turn. Around ten minutes.
The chicken was smooth and very tender.
The thing that was different was the chilli sauce. It wasn't the usual garlic chilli sauce with a hint of lime but something a tad sweet. I love chicken rice chilli and that was a letdown.
The rice was very fragrant but the serving was really small. I think any guy could have easily gobbled down three bowls at a go.
We had this mixed feelings about Heng Ji's chicken rice as we tucked in. It tasted like Yet Con's. After finishing our meal, we decided it wasn't bad. It just wasn't our plate of chicken rice.
In the end, we spent more than an hour queuing and eating which means we could have waited for the famous claypot chicken rice we wanted to have initially. But I'm glad I got to taste other good food I haven't tried before.
And I'm thankful for the great choices of food here that we Singaporeans get to queue for.
@IL: I didn't forget the super bitter chrysanthemum and luo han guo drink! :P
Chinatown Complex Food Centre
Blk 335 Smith Street
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