Having just had "Satay Beehoon" & "Cuttlefish Kangkong" over the weekend, I decided to return to Ang Mo Kio Central Food Centre & Wet Market to try out the other stall that sells the same food. Walking past "Centre Satay Beehoon", there was a long queue in front of the stall. However, when I reach the other aisle, I was taken aback to see an insignificant twiddling short queue before "Chiok Seng".
Chiok Seng
#01-25
In a less fancy signboard, with a less appealing 'product' photo. It is no wonder easy to count the heads at a glance. As usual, I ordered the full menu, which includes "Satay beehoon" and "Cuttlefish Kangkong".
Satay beehoon
#01-25
In a less fancy signboard, with a less appealing 'product' photo. It is no wonder easy to count the heads at a glance. As usual, I ordered the full menu, which includes "Satay beehoon" and "Cuttlefish Kangkong".
Satay beehoon
S$3
The appearance and portion are similar to that I had at "Centre Satay Beehoon". The satay peanut gravy is good with the right texture and taste. As with most satay beehoon, the rice vermicelli tends to clump together. The cockles are not crunchy and rather mushy.
Cuttlefish Kangkong
S$3
I must beckon you to click here to do a direct comparison! I had forgotten to mention that I do not want rice vermicelli (beehoon) with my cuttlefish kangkong. A miserable serving of curshed peanuts, slightly tough cuttlefish, very oddly salty jellyfish, the usual kangkong and taupok sits on top of the plain beehoon, topped with a dollop of thick sweet sauce with 2 slices of pineapple. The sauce is tasty and sweet, but it just isn't sufficient to blend with the beehoon.
Comparison: The same tasting "chee cheong fun" sauce is definitely different by just looking at the resulting colour of the beehoon, with Chiok Seng's being more pinkish. Chiok Seng's is also less oily as they never use sesame oil. Chiok Seng has chosen pineapple instead of ar-char.
Verdict
The first appearance already gave me a not to fancied impression. I am good with the "satay beehoon", but the not too fresh cockles put me off completely. The "cuttlefish kangkong"definitely sets both "Chiok Seng" and "Centre" apart. "Centre Satay Beehoon" blows the competition away with much more sauce and much more ingredients, drowning your mouth with splendid tastes! Sadly, Chiok Seng's "cuttlefish kangkong" failed to do that. The man tending Chiok Seng isn't the stall owner, but a worker deployed there. He does not seem too motivated because customers were questioning their shorter queue. I am sure my comparison of both "Chiok Seng" and "Centre Satay Beehoon" gave an obvious answer, apart from the beeline. Who knows! I was rather disappointed with the "Cuttlefish kangkong", but I must say the "satay beehoon" is up to the standard. As with what I had did when I was there, I recommended a lady who had asked me about my meal, to visit the competitor.
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