I'll be personally amazed if I ever ventured to the whole of Geylang Bazaar on my own. Even in the search for great food. Because I make it a point to never venture there. Last year, I didn't even bother. The year before, I only walked through the area close to Paya Lebar MRT, in search for male 'Baju Kurung' (traditional Malay garb).
Which is also the reason why I'm doing so this year. Hubby strangely refused to buy a pair of those even when I'm already purchasing one for the kiddo. And he fell sick on his following day off, leaving me to purchase a pair for him after work one day. Pfft.
There was only a handful of people when I reached there before Maghrib (the evening prayer call). I was honestly embarrassed to be walking around there alone, when everyone else came with their partner, friends and even family. Doesn't help that I was wearing a bright red top with matching bright red shoes. Haihh...
By the time the prayer call came on and everyone scrambled for their first bite of food or first sip of drink, I was still walking around, clueless as to what to proceed with next.
Bought myself a bottle of 'Air Katira' (rosewater-scented milky drink with basil seeds & 'pong tai hai' or 'buah semangkuk'). Cold, refreshing drink that immediately alert my senses. I decide to grab a bite and wonder what will be suitable for me to munch on the go.
And I saw my favourite bazaar food item - Takoyaki! Ball-shaped Japanese snack that start off with having only octopus meat as filling (hence the name 'tako' balls) and soon evolved to have other food items inside, i.e shrimp & ham+cheese.
As I ordered my favourite 'tako', I saw that this particular stall also have an additional variety for the filling - Chilli Tuna! My favourite!!! For your info, this flavour is spawned by the 'Ayam' brand of canned tuna where tuna flakes are marinated in chilli oil with WHOLE pieces of fiery red 'chili padi' inside.
Chilli tuna Takoyaki
With 2 boxes of piping hot takoyaki, I then wondered, where can I feast on these? I saw clusters of people gobbling up their food as they squat around outside the tentage. Ermm.. I'm too shy for that. I saw some seating area at the very end but there was NO ONE there.
I decide to just munch as I walk around and I thought that I was being smart when I chose to walk inside where the small stalls selling non-food items were. Besides, most of the stall hands/owners were also busy eating or praying. they won't mind me (I guess).
What I didn't know was that these balls were really, really hot. Almost scalded my tongue, there. And they were big! Bigger the the ones we normally get at those regular 'pasar malam' Takoyaki stalls. Like, if the one we usually get were around 3cm diameter (estimate) this one here was a whole 1cm bigger. I was struggling to take a whole bite on each ball. Eventually settled on 2 bites each and boy, was it a messy affair! Doesn't help that they were generous with the bonito flakes, mayonnaise & sauce (which is a good thing, btw).
And that chilli tuna Takoyaki were da bomb! Spicy tuna flavour bursting with every bite which goes darn well with the mayo-sauce-bonito flakes combo. Om nom nom...
Now, where do they set up stall next?? I really should have taken a good look at the lady who made these!
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Eventually bought my hubby's garb from Joo Chiat complex across the road. I crossed back to Geylang Serai market to take a cab and decide to buy some chips for Raya goodies at my in-law's place. that's when I realise that I should at least make an attempt to check out the burger stalls (another favourite bazaar food item).
Having walked to and fro that 'food lane', I'm aware of the generic burger stalls that offer the same fare. No one seemed interested in burgers that night so no one seem to be patronising these stalls. I also don't feel like being the first one to walk up and order. However, as I crossed the small road from in front of the old Singapura theatre, I noticed the signage for some 'Jumbo Burger' and got curious.
This stall, managed by Charisma Catering (I recognise them to be a bridal services company) sold limited food items, amongst which were the Jumbo burger and 'Ayam percik'. I looked at the burger grill and saw these…
Check that out!
Were those handmade beef burger patties??! Needless to say, I was sold. Immediately asked the guy behind the grill, "Bro, are the Jumbo burgers available?"
Nevermind the fact that I was their only customer at that moment. Need to brush my apprehension aside. I-must-try-that-homemade-burger-patty!
Ordered 2 burgers for hubby and myself. Didn't even bother asking him if he want any. I just told him that I got him a burger. :)))
Jumbo burger
Just look at that! Jumbo enough for you?
Handmade beef patty with lettuce & tomato and sunny side-up egg, melted cheese, mayo, chilli & black pepper sauce. Only for $4.50.
Everybody say, "OH YEAH...!"
Ayam Percik
Saw the 'Ayam Percik' on display (that same stall). It is actually grilled chicken coated with spicy peanut sauce.
Looks authentic enough, with the chicken wing being stretched out and held between 2 sticks and tied with aluminium wire. Very rugged. Looks like effort was being put in to grill the chicken meat well. Besides, the meat looks nicely grilled with char-marks in the right places. And from the colour, I can tell that it was decently marinated.
Upon ordering, they take the chicken wings and dipped them into a pot of the spicy peanut sauce thats bubbling away on a stove.
I'm not sure how they prepared the chicken. There are some who bast the chicken meat with the peanut sauce as they were grilling the meat (preferably over charcoal fire). Then the sauce will caramelise over the heat… Mmmmmph!
And these chicken wings were delish! The marination was already nice. Plus that yummy peanut sauce? It's awesome! Makes waking up for 'sahour' the next morning very worth it!
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Aside from those, I also joined the queue for 'Twist Potato', a franchise of those deep-fried potato swirls on skewers that originate in S.Korea..
You can check out the video here.
I chose the small stick with 'chilli' flavour, where the crispy potato was rolled around in chilli powder, prior to serving. There were also BBQ & cheese flavour.
Also it'll be best if I can simply bite-off from the skewer, I know it won't be a nice sight so I simply pell them off the skewer as I munch along while looking for Hubby's baju kurung. And I made a mental note to NOT TOUCH anything as I peel & munch along. I don't wanna leave chilli powder stain on anything (esp. clothes)!
So there, my pathetic adventure of wandering around a tiny corner of Geylang Ramadhan Bazaar... But I got what I want and most importantly, I love them. However, I do wish I got companions who can join me to try those piping hot Belgian waffles made on the spot, the brownies from Breeks and the handmade chocolate.
Oh well, there's always another time, I guess.
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