Hill Street Char Kway Teow

Gordon Ramsay was in town on Sunday after accepting a challenge from local hawkers. I have always thought that our local hawker tastes as good as, if not better, than those in restaurants. Char kway Teow or steak? Give me my Char Kway anytime! I also love to dine at hawker centres because that's the place that I can find familiar Singaporean accents and behavior. And one of these behaviors is queuing. Some people just join in the queue when they see one, (that's guilty me ^^) assuming the food must be good since there is a queue. Most of the time, it is a safe assumption.

I had a craving for Char Kway Teow.. And the more famous Char Kway Teow that is nearer to my house is Hill Street Char Kway Teow at Bedok South. There was a long queue of about 20 people when I went there on Sunday at 1pm. Bad timing. Nevertheless, this somehow made me even more determined to queue and I waited for about 30 min before it was my turn. The chef of the day was not the old uncle but his son. The Char Kway Teow costs $3 a plate.

A final look before this mixture of Kway teow, egg, pork lards, cockles, Chinese chives and black soya sauce before it goes into my tummy. 

Not sure if it's due to the preset high expectations, but I felt the Char Kway Teow was a little overrated. It's still very nice.. The croutons of pork lards were crispy and the cockles were fresh. The egg was fragrant.  But I thought the sauce can be more intense. Nevertheless, it's worth the calories and artery choking.. 

The hawker centre is just opposite my old school. Below is the road that I crossed every day for 2 years in the past.. Flooding of past memories..

Interesting fact: In the old days, Char Kway Teow was served to laborers as it was a cheap source of energy given its high saturated fat content and calories.

Being a hawker is a very tough job as there is no air con and it's a sweaty task. Kudos to all the hawker heroes and hopefully this Singapore culture continues to be kept intact for generations to come.