A simple lunch at Maxwell Food Centre

... that old fogeys like us would appreciate. 

The standard set-up consisting of ngoh hiang, liver roll, egg slice, tau kwa, fish ball and century egg, as well as fried bee hoon from Hup Kee Wu Xiang Guan Chang 合记五香灌肠.

To be honest, I don't eat wu xiang often to break it down piece by piece for you but I finally realised the thing I have always loved is called an egg slice. Ha! Too bad it was a tad over-fried that day. 

The popiah from Chinatown Popiah had a pallid appearance that didn't inspire much confidence and at $1.20 a roll, I really shouldn't be expecting much. Thankfully, it was pretty tasty and provided a clean breather from the greasy landmine above.

Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice

How is your week coming along? Smooth sailing, not much happening? Or has it been hectic, more of a battlefield for you?

Whatever the case, can I make a teensy suggestion? Head down to Maxwell Food Centre and partake in a different kind of war over our national dish - the chicken rice.

I know the question some of you might ask next is, "Is it better than Tian Tian?". Erm sorry, I don't have the answer as it has been a while since I last had Tian Tian. However, what I can tell you is that you won't regret trying Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice (01-07, Maxwell Food Centre).

Unabashedly supple and meaty, the chicken was pretty darn excellent and especially glorious when dunked into the tongue-tingly chili and sweetish thick dark soya sauce.

And the best thing about this Chicken Rice War? Everyone is a winner.

Chicken and pancake from Maxwell

(In case, this post sounds confusing, I had this meal just before Chinese New Year)

Thanks to the disturbingly warm weather over the past couple of weeks, I wasn’t in the mood for anything hot and soupy at a hawker centre. As more than half the stores at Maxwell Food Centre were closed for Chinese New Year, I suddenly felt inspired to eat something non-Chinese.

Taking full advantage of my adventurous mood, I had a Malay fried chicken from Aspirasi (#01-63 Maxwell Food Centre). This is one of the rare moments when risk-taking served me well.

The chicken was incredibly juicy, especially for something that had been out on display. The crispy chicken skin yields easily in your mouth and doesn't scratch the roof of your mouth. The folks at Aspirasi even upped the crunch (aka yum) factor with a sprinkle of brittle batter.

The chicken was let down by a watery sweet chili sauce but it was good enough on its own. I've got to say it was quite bony but this was one helluva grease bomb (albeit a very satisfying grease bomb) and I was happy with what I had to deal with.

I didn't get any rice as I wanted to save my carbs for something esle.

Ta-dah! A soft but chewy peanut pancake fresh out of the pan and warm. This is of course from the very creatively named store - Pancake (26 Maxwell Food Centre).

These days, most of the peanut pancakes out there are sold lukewarm so having a warm baby is quite something to be very happy about.

There was a mild but pleasant pandan aroma of the pancake filled with sweetened crushed peanuts that makes lapping up the fallen bits so very unglamourous. So good! I just had to get another (warm) slab as soon as I was done with my first.

Come to think of it, my meal sort of resembles a Southeast Asian chicken and waffles, no?

Jing Hua, Maxwell Food Centre

It had been ridiculously warm these days (though very characteristic of the Chinese New Year season) but I was longing for some fish soup. My current favourite, Han Kee, was closed (they are taking a break from 13-29 January) so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try out the top rated fish soup store on iEat app - Jing Hua (77 Maxwell Road Food Centre).

Just a 5-minutes walk away, Maxwell Food Centre bore a different vibe from Amoy Street Food Centre, thanks to Anthony Bourdain and Singapore Tourism Board. I hope these tourists don't get caught in the lunch hour throng as things could get ugg-ly.

As I was there a good 20 minutes before the store opened, I circled the food centre, checking out other food stores and did my best to resist temptations from the other stores. I always thought tourists would go for the more well-known local favourites such as Tian Tian chicken rice or Zhen Zhen porridge so imagine my surprise when a couple of Taiwanese girls feverishly waited for Jing Hua to open for business. Being second in line, I wait for about another 5 minutes before receving this piping hot bowl of cloudy comfort.

Was it worth the 20-plus-5-minutes wait? Kind of - let's just say I could do without that first 20 minutes of sheer agony wait. The broth was darn tasty; sweeter and oomphier than Han Kee's (I tasted anchovies?).

Between Han Kee and Jing Hua, I do prefer the former just a little more as it is more clean-tasting. Then again, after all that Chinese New Year feasting, I am pretty sure I will need both for a cleansing session.