hock gooi hainanese curry rice, golden shoe food centre.
it was purely by chance that i discovered this stall. needed a quick lunch in the CBD area, so we settled for hawker food. the layout of the hawker itself makes it difficult to discover new places- it has two levels, and each level is segmented in such a way that you'd be disinclined to venture beyond where you're seated to look at other stalls.my friend chose a particular row, because she wanted wanton mee, so i just went with it. didn't have the luxury of time to be picky, anyway. i was first tempted by the dumpling soup at another stall, so i got that, but then the curry rice stall, with its perpetual queue, lured me in. so... i decided to be greedy and got a plate.
it was two-thirty, so they'd run out of their more popular items, including the char siew and the cabbage. i don't usually eat curry rice, so i didn't mind. i got the pork chop, beansprouts, beancurd skin and a generous ladle of curry over rice ($2.80).
it was pretty satisfying, especially considering how cheap it was. the pork chop was still crisp, though it was prepared a while earlier. also liked the curry, especially paired with the beansprouts. i could understand why there was a queue.
came back for a takeaway for my dad the next morning. at nine-thirty in the morning, they had all of their stuff available.
managed to get the char siew this time, along with the braised cabbage. only tried the char siew, but i liked it. i can absolutely understand it'd be sold out. it was lean yet not tough, and well marinated.
nothing fancy. it was simple food done well. i'll be back if i need a quick lunch in the area.
hock gooi curry rice
#02-35 golden shoe food centre
