The highly anticipated Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar is back! It’s famous for having both delicious pasar malam fare we know and love as well as various creative concoctions, but it’s also infamous for the pricier and sometimes “overly-hipster” food. To save your money and time, we’ve gone down to the bazaar to try some of the most hyped dishes, and discover a few hidden gems you’ll be glad to know about.
Mentaiko Blow-Torch Beef by Beef Bro
Who hasn’t heard of these famous beef cubes? Grilled over an open fire and seared with a blowtorch, then covered in mentaiko sauce… it sounds like the dish of our dreams. While flavour-packed, it would have been better if the meat were a little less done. It could make do with a little sear on the outside for heightened depth of flavour, which would have complemented the sauce. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details.
Chilli Crab Pasta and Swedish Meatballs by Hyde & Co.
Another stall that’s garnered some excitement is Hyde & Co, best known for their signature Chilli Crab Pasta, which has clearly earned its social media fame. Everything about this dish was on point, even down to chilli crab’s unique power to keep us coming back for more despite the punchy heat and spiciness. The pasta was cooked al dente, and the sauce made slightly thicker than the usual chilli crab sauce to stick to the pasta, was fragrant and slightly sweet. However, the star of the show was clearly the generous dose of sweet, fresh crab.
Next up is the meatballs, doled out in bucket-sized servings. Don’t expect a bucket’s worth of meatball though! The dish is about two-thirds mashed potato and one-third meatballs served with gravy and a dollop of strawberry jam. We absolutely loved the meatballs. They were flavourful, tender, and (dare we say it) even better than those at Ikea. However, the jam could be less sweet and the mashed potatoes would fare better with more substance.
Grilled Cheeseburger by WORD
Grilled cheese or burger? Melty cheese or juicy patty? The Grilled Cheeseburger is a godsend for anyone who’s ever faced that impossible choice. Two pieces of bread and butter, nutty and slightly charred, wrap around a thick, generous patty. It was savoury, juicy, and complete with a satisfying patty your teeth just sink into, including a melty slice of cheese. The Angus beef patty was overcooked but somehow wasn’t dry – perhaps because of the good quality beef. Considering the long queue, it best to pop by and grab these babies first!
Swiss Rosti Raclette by The Raclette Factory
We all get excited when we hear the word “Raclette”. There’s something fascinating about cheese melting from the wheel straight onto our plates, and while the raclette ticks all our cheesy boxes, the dish left more to be desired. The rosti lacked crispiness and it was a tad bit over-salted. Pro tip: load up on your H2O!
Poffertjes by Cake Love
If you’re looking for a sweet treat to cut through all that greasy food, then a box of Dutch baby pancakes might just be perfect for you. These adorable little guys come in all sorts of creative flavours from classic icing sugar to ondeh ondeh. We highly recommend the ondeh ondeh option, not just because we’re Singaporean and love our local desserts, but also because it’s one of the really good ondeh ondeh-turned-Western desserts out there, with more than enough gula melaka and desiccated coconut to go around.
Deep-Fried Oreos, Sweet Potato Balls, and Other Pasar Malam Things
Of course, you can’t say you’ve been to a bazaar in Singapore without overdosing on deep-fried goodies. Go ahead and binge on deep-fried Oreos (Mr Q) slathered in condensed milk, syrup, or whatever other toppings you want, addictively chewy sweet potato balls (OMG), and as many flavours of goreng pisang (The Original Pisang Keju) you can imagine. You already know that they taste great, so we’re here to tell you how to make sure you get the greatest of the great.
As a general rule, you want to look for stalls that sell these treats fried on the spot, and stay away from the huge warming displays filled with languishing forgotten soldiers. Deep-fried foods are only worth the cholesterol when they’re just out of the fryer. Those that have been sitting out for a while tend to go soggy or hard. You’ll have to wait at the stalls that prepare their food to order, but trust us when we say that it’s worth the wait.
Watermelon Volcano by Happy Rollies
After a mountain of food, you’re probably craving something to drink. Don’t go running to the nearest Thai milk tea stall yet, though! A watermelon volcano is precisely the refreshing, thirst-quenching drink you’re looking for. Filled to the brim with watermelon milk and bite-sized balls of watermelon, then topped with a mountain of watermelon shaved ice, it’s the best drink we could find in Geylang Serai – even better than the milk tea. It’s got the best price too, with a large watermelon ($10) easily satisfying a party of 6.
Ramadan’s a month for both fasting and feasting! Grab your friends and family to enjoy Halal eats and Ramadan specials at these amazing restaurants.
