Chinatown Eats

Intrigued by the Japanese Singapore guidebook/magazine's recommendation for some stores on Chinatown's food street, I went for a Sunday night food adventure. 

First stop, Lanzhou Lamian for some Dha Zhang Mien...

I'm not sure if that's how it is actually spelled...  At first I was a bit disappointed because it came out really quick, they didn't hand make my noodles at the point of order like I had read would happen.  It meant it wasn't as fresh, but let's not get hung up on it and go on to taste.  It's a simple dish with noodles, cucumbers, black bean sauce with minced meat, and some chili sauce on the side.  The noodles were not too soft and had a good chewy-ness to them, so the noodles were to my liking.  The sauce was quite nice as well with a hint of sweetness to the saltiness.  It tasted even better with a bit of the slightly spicy side sauce, which wasn't as spicy as I was expecting, mixed in. Overall, quite tasty, but the dish was a bit on the small side, so if you're expecting a very filling dinner, get a few of the side items as well.  I guess it worked out perfectly for me, since I was going for dessert somewhere else anyway!

Second stop, Ah Balling Peanut Soup stall on Smith St aka Chinatown Food Street. I got the peanut soup (figured I'd go with the classic soup and shop name) and sampled 3 different kinds of the glutinous rice balls.  Out of the black sesame, yam, and green tea paste filled rice balls that I tried, the black sesame was my favorite (green tea pictured above). Maybe it is the Japanese in me liking that black sesame paste!  The soup was good because it was not too sweet and the soft peanuts are a great touch to accompany the paste oozing out of the perfectly soft balls.  Be warned though, that the dessert is quite filling if you eat all of it by yourself, so make sure to leave room after dinner!