Search the Community

Broadly speaking, Cantonese food isn’t hard to find in Singapore. Dim sum joints are a dim(e) a dozen. And if we’re talking larger names/chains, Swee Choon, Tim Ho Wan, and of course, Canton Paradise, are the first to come to my mind. Even hawker centre/food court staples, such as wanton noodles, or sweet and sour pork at caifan stalls, have their roots in Cantonese cuisine. Traditional Hong Kong-style diners, however? Those require more conscientious hunting. Also known as 茶餐厅 (cha can ting in Mandarin, caa can teng in Cantonese), these feature a distinct, functional style of interior decoration - tiled walls, rounded metal chairs, etc - and importantly, also a wide ranging menu including virtually every diner-favourite you can imagine. Naturally, we're talking milk tea, bo luo bao, egg noodles, cheese baked rice, toast and of course, dim sum. The perceived rarity of these diners in Singapore is perhaps the reason why I routinely return to one specific spot that I feel captures the magic so well: The original HK Legendary Restaurant and Cafe outlet, housed on the third floor of Jurong Point (which - yes - is confoundingly located at Boon Lay MRT station). For context, I live in Punggol. The length of even three entire blog posts would still not do justice to the breadth of delicacies you can eat here. As such, I'll just list some of the dishes my mum and I got to eat during our most recent visit: Starting out with some iced milk tea (the tea leaves are flown in directly from HK!) and garlic kai lan... My mum loves her sliced fish porridge HK style fishball soup! Everything here - the taste of the soup, the consistency of the fishballs, and of course, the inclusion of yet more kai lan - makes this really different from the sort you find at bar chor mee stalls What would an outing at a caa can teeng be without some har gao? And of course - some proper indulgence! The cherry on top of the icing (or the sweet chilli on top of the har gao, if we want to remain on-theme) is that your orders are taken and filled out via coloured A4 sheets - in pink, green and yellow - which list down the entire menu of options available. In all, as charmingly close to the experience I've gotten from my few trips to Hong Kong. Ruminating - again I started reflecting more deeply on my previous food outing about why certain culinary spaces stand out to me, and in this reflexive process of documenting my weekend adventures, it has increasingly become clearer to me that I tend to associate emotions with the act of eating. As with DMQ Ban Mian and its sleepy Ubi environs, Legendary Hong Kong and Jurong Point both also hold a special place in my heart. (Notably, this isn't the only Legendary Hong Kong outlet. The one at Funan - a cart noodles-only joint - feels like a feeble, watered-down version of the original outlet; a distant offshoot un-seasoned by the franchise's stardust. The one at Rochester Park, while pleasantly quaint, feels too polished.) For starters, you feel like you've been transported outside of Singapore even before stepping into the restaurant. The reason? That entire corridor along Level 3 - also known as Mongkok Street - is decked out in glaring neon signs that evoke the bustling lanes of downtown Hong Kong. Then, the very fact that it takes 40 minutes by car to get here (yes, I know how indulgent it is, and how privileged I am, to be able to drive so far just for a special meal) means that any visit here has already been preceded by a mental state of serenity. When I make the cross-island trek, I am often relaxed; restful in the knowledge that my evening is not beholden to any other appointment, piece of work, or activity. Having found it increasingly difficult to consistently carve these spaces of rest out for myself in recent years, the comfort that the restaurant envelops me in is hard to put into words. There are also the memories that the restaurant evokes: Tea break after fetching my sister from NIE; dining with my mum after finishing my last exam of my final year at uni; and even just transporting the entire family over at last, when business resumed for the first time after the pandemic. Once again, I admit that a lot of this has been heavily romanticised by me. Legendary Hong Kong would just be another fancy dining spot if I were a denizen of the West - its food, too overpriced to be enjoyed regularly; Mongkok Street's neon lights, too garish to evoke any un-Singaporean magic. Yet as mentioned previously, it is precisely these reliable - if irregular - spaces of solace that feel so precious given how mundane and trying the weekly hike from Monday to Friday can be. Incidentally, Legendary Hong Kong at Jurong Point underwent a significant refresh sometime within the last two years. I remember lamenting to my parents that the place had lost a bit of its charm when we returned for the first time after; a part of me fearful that the place would soon befall the fate of every other site in Singapore by relinquishing its old-time allure. I hope the once-in-a-decade round of renovation is the only thing that will befall this place. I'd hate to permanently lose this other world, in which - in turn - I feel the weightlessness to lose my worries in. - Matt P.S. If anyone has any HK-diner style places to recommend, please feel free to do so! (Again, Xin Wang does not count...)

Closing the old thread and moving into the the next phase of covid, with the new measures and open to allow 10 people to makan together, we are going see more dishes on the table now

Difficulty hiring even when offer is $18 per hour I wonder how much of that offer goes to the employment agency

Marine Cove reopens end-June: 5 things about the recreational enclave at East Coast Park The McDonald's outlet at Marine Cove features a new look: loft-like space, sleek metallic counter, yellow flooring and gigantic food decals. Photo: The Straits Times SINGAPORE - Marine Cove at East Coast Park reopens from this week, after being in development for two years. The National Parks Board (NParks) promises facilities that are family-friendly, great views of the sea and a 3,500 sqm playground with a marine theme. Here's more about the revamped park recreation area. 1. MEGA PLAY AREA FOR THE KIDS The highlight of the playground is a 8m tower modelled after a lighthouse. It comes with many play elements that include three slides, a rope bridge and climbing net courses. There are also inclusive play equipment to encourage children of different abilities to play together. They are designed to let children spin, rock and swing to improve muscle control. 2. MACS IS BACK Those hankering for the return of a 30-year-old icon can look forward to gourmet food options alongside the usual fast-food fare when McDonald's reopens on July 2. The beach-style 8,439 sq ft outlet will act as a test kitchen to incubate new products, and feature a salad bar, a dessert bar and a trio of premium burgers like the Spicy Chicken with Apple Slaw. 3. MORE DIVERSE FOOD OPTIONS While the children play, parents can chill at the new F&B outlets opening progressively from Tuesday (June 28). Family restaurant Babalicious will serve Peranakan dishes together with Hainanese chicken rice, while visitors can tuck into kopi and steamed kaya butter bread at Hill Street Coffee Shop. There is also halal-certified My Briyani House and a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf outlet. More details on their opening promotions here. 4. NO MORE PARKING WOES? Located at East Coast Park Area C, Marine Cove is accessible via East Coast Park Service Road. Its two carparks have been reconfigured to increase the number of parking lots. Carparks C2 and C3 will have a total of around 430 car parking lots - up from about 300 previously. 5. REMEMBER MARINE COVE'S PREVIOUS INCARNATION? Singaporeans who grew up in the 1980s will remember Marine Cove's former life as the East Coast Recreation Centre. It was developed by Mr George Wuu in 1980 and had replicas of nostalgic landmarks like the old Lido Theatre and Odeon cinemas. Marine Cove was then sold to Rock Productions, the business arm of New Creation Church which also manages The Rock Auditorium and The Star Vista, a shopping mall in Buona Vista. It bought the recreation and restaurant cluster from George Wuu in 2002 for about $10 million and renamed it Marine Cove. The land, managed by the Singapore Land Authority, was handed back to NParks in 2011 and the area closed in 2012 for redevelopment. http://news.asiaone.com/news/lifestyle/marine-cove-reopens-end-june-5-things-about-recreational-enclave-east-coast-park