Welcome to Geylang Ramadan Bazaar 2017. The Theme is Unicorn.

If the last time you went to the Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar was a few years ago, you need to visit it today. It's like a breath of fresh air with instagrammable inventions such as dragon breath (read: $7 Cheezels which has liquid nitrogen added so that you can spew dragon-like breath), galaxy drinks (read: milkshake with artificial coloring), unicorn tears (bubblegum milkshake), vampire blood (no idea about this one). 

Instagram has saved the Geylang Ramadan bazaar. It's actually a hipster thing to visit the Ramadan Bazaar nowadays. 

Just a week ago marked the start of a month of Ramadan fasting. It also marked the start of the annual Geylang Serai Bazaar which will end on 24 June.

The theme for this year is Unicorns!

A union of unicorns

As a non-conformist, I didn't get anything with unicorns. Here's the real (pun intended) food that I got:

1) Chicken scotch eggs with crackers in Peking duck sauce ($5)

Braved the "scotch-ing" hot bazaar for this scotch eggs. Basically it is eggs coated with minced chicken meat and fried cereal. While the eggs were delicious, the minced meat was so-so and quite flat in flavour. The prawn crackers that were drizzled in Peking duck sauce were good comfort food but nothing to shout about. 3/5

Location: Bazaar along Engku Aman Road

2) Raclette set ($12)

When raclette meets pototo. This was the most anticipated event at the Geylang Ramadan Bazaar and we queued 30 minutes for this. Unfortunately, the French-imported cheese is really just normal la. The potatoes are too salty for my liking. The price is too expensive for my liking. The queue is too long for my liking. 3/5

Location: Bazaar along Haig Road food centre side.

3) Big sotong ($7.50)

Because the queue for Raclette was too long, it was more efficient for me to go and scout for other food while my companion was queuing. Pro tip: Bring a group of friends and get them to queue at different stalls, and then meet to eat together. 

This big sotong caught my eye. The hot & spicy flavour is not super spicy. But I love the crispiness and chewy yet not rubbery texture. Satisfying crispy snack. 3.5/5

Location: Bazaar along Haig Road food centre side.

4) Thai fried ice-cream rolls ($4 for 6 rolls)

These ice-cream rolls screamed for my attention. The ice-cream is placed on a flat surface and mixed with fruits/toppings of your choice, and then flattened and rolled. It is gimmicky but there is something therapeutic watching them being rolled. Anyway, they are just like normal ice-cream. 2/5

Location: Bazaar along Haig Road food centre side.

5) Fried Oreos ($3 for 5 pcs)

4.5/5 when piping hot. 3/5 when cold. Deep fried Oreo that's coated with batter and topped with a crust of icing sugar. It's a burst of sweet and savoury in every bite. Who knew Oreos have a different side to them? 

Location: Everywhere

6) Fried milk ($5 for 6 pcs)

While the whole Ramadan Bazaar is trying to copy each other to be the best Unicorn, this stall caught my attention with its fried milk. The one and only stall that sells fried milk. There are 4  flavours available: (1) Original milk with salted caramel, (2) Pandan with gula melaka and shredded coconut (3) Thai milk tea with condensed milk (4) Mixed platter of the above. I don't like salted caramel and milk tea. So only left with option 2 - Pandan with gula melaka and shredded coconut. 

The texture is really interesting with its custard-like milk pudding that's enveloped by a super crispy golden outer layer. So you get a crispy yet soft feeling. I like the pandan flavour which is not overly sweet. 

Verdict: 5/5 for the first piece. 4/5 for second piece.. 3/5 for .. you get the idea. 

Location: Bazaar along Haig Road food centre side.

7) Katoshka double-fried russet fries ($5.90)

Finally something that I will return for. 6/5 this one is.

The russet fries are double-fried, making them crispy and yet moist at the same time. But the star is the special cheese sauce which is infused with herbs, making it rich, intense and addictive. So good..

I should stop writing about food in the middle of the night. 

Location: Bazaar along Haig Road side. Next to fried milk.

The griping thing about the bazaar is that it was super hot and the crowds were insane. I wished I brought a portable fan along. 

I wonder what would be the theme next year. But certainly not unicorns. As someone said, consistency is the playground of dull minds. We shall see..

Old Street Bak Kut Teh

Friends who know me well probably would not expect me to talk about Bak Kut Teh on my blog because I am a super unhealthy eater. Salads and anything soupy are the last things I would recommend. So how did I end up at this Bak Kut Teh place? It was basically the outcome of a decision tree.

We wanted cheap and tasty food --> Hawker food hmm... Laksa!
But we also wanted healthy food --> The first on my list of healthy hawker food that meets my definition of "tasty" was Bak Kut Teh.

My friend, who is a big fan of Bak Kut Teh, has tried most of the Bak Kut Teh in Singapore. The self-acclaimed Bak Kut Teh guru highly recommended Old Street Bak Ku Teh located along Upper Paya Lebar Road.

It occupies one of the shophouse units and is easily visible with its huge signboard. If you know where is the famous Kay Lee char Siew rice, Old Street Bak Ku Teh is actually located just two units away from Kay Lee.

Their specialty is actually the dry version but I was like, "huh ? I thought the main thing about Bak Ku Teh is the soup?". Anyway, my friend tried the dry version during a previous visit and didn't think it was fantastic. Hence, we ordered the normal soup version ($6) and fried You Tiao ($1.50).

The subtly herbal and peppery soup was both flavorful and zesty! As for the pork meat, there was a good amount of both fatty soft meat and lean meat. The pork meat was so tender that it just disintegrated in the mouth. And very tasty as well. The You Tiao, unfortunately, was not crispy enough. I think they have put the You Tiao out in the air for too long and hence it lost its crispness. Ok I am dreaming about the soup already. Overall 4/5. 

Tip: refilling of soup is free of charge.

Service was attentive but I visited them during an off peak hour. The food was served very fast. The environment was spacious, clean and very much a modern coffee shop.

Cheap - checked. Tasty - checked. Healthy - checked.

Address:
129 Upper Paya Lebar Road
Singapore 534840

Tel: 6759 1082