Source: Food Panda
Hey Hive!
We're back with more of our hawker adventures! It's been a while but one of the things we do on dates is trying out different stalls in different hawker centers to find which are our favourites!
Source: zimminaroundtheworld
If you've never patronised a hawker center before, they are typically non-air conditioned buildings that house all kinds of food stalls specialising in one or two signature dishes or a specific cuisine. They're ubiquitous here in Singapore and are known for delicious and affordable food - the perfect combination! They're definitely where you can find the best food in Singapore and is our go-to place for food!
I previously wrote that I started a new job recently and I'm real thankful that it's right near this hawker center called People's Park! This food center has been around for a long time and has quite a few famous stalls too!
Source: Monster Day Tours
Since this is just a short walk away from my workplace, it's now my go-to destination for lunch at least once a week! This hawker center actually underwent a major remodel quite recently so it's a lot bigger and brighter now. It does get quite crowded especially during lunch time and weekends even with the increased capacity and seating though, so I tend to avoid peak lunch hours.
As People's Park is located in Chinatown, I do notice that about a third or maybe half the stalls in People's Park specialise in Chinese cuisine. By Chinese I mean from different parts of China, although there are a few Singaporean Chinese stalls as well.
Source: Gao Ji Food
One such Chinese stall is this place called Steamed Society. After some research I found that this is actually part of a Singaporean Chinese chain called Gao Ji Food that initially started as a pushcart under the tree at Majestic Theatre in Chinatown! It gradually grew and now, Gao Ji Food has earned a strong reputation in Singapore’s Food & Beverage industry with over 50 food stall chains and quick service restaurants islandwide.
Source: Gao Ji Food
They actually own quite a few famous chains in Singapore, spanning different cuisines like Hakka, Hainanese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese! It's actually quite impressive.
Anyway, I didn't really have a big appetite at the time and I wanted something healthy so I decided to try Steamed Society. They specialise in steamed rice bowls and nutritious soups so it looked like a healthy option. Most hawker food tend to be quite oily and salty so this is one of the few healthy ones I guess. I did see quite a few people eating their dishes before though so I figure it must be decent.
Here's their menu which looks pretty good but maybe a little small in portions. I wasn't sure what a pate was but I figure they probably meant patty.
I decided to go with one of the cheaper options, the Mushroom Chicken Pate Rice which was $3.50. I got it to-go since there wasn't much space to sit at the time and we had tables and chairs outside my workplace where we could eat in peace.
It looked really simple, literally a chicken mushroom patty sitting on a bowl of rice with some coriander as garnish on top. It was also quite a small bowl. I could see this being priced at $2.50 maybe a few years ago. They must have jacked up the price due to inflation.
Taste-wise it was pretty alright, the rice had some sweet and salty sauce to accompany it lest it get dry. The patty itself is quite flavourful but it is steamed and I could tell they didn't add much salt to it so it is still healthy but flavourful. To be honest, it tasted like the chicken and mushroom balls I've seen in supermarkets. The mushrooms had a strong aroma but it still tasted okay.
Overall, it was pretty alright, nothing to complain other than maybe the portion being quite small. It definitely wasn't spectacular though so I'm not sure I would eat here again. But I tried it and that's what matters.
I guess if you're looking for a healthy snack in a hawker center I can possibly recommend this. But honestly for the price there are some other yummier snacks you can get so maybe not.
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
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