Berseh Food Centre is a two-storey Hawker Centre located in Jalan Besar. I was there one morning for breakfast and was scouring through the Hawker Centre and found a stall named “Special Chilli Yong Tau Foo” (集兴酿豆腐). Almost everyone near the stall was eating the Yong Tau Foo even though other food stalls were opened for business. So I decided to try and see how “special” is the Special Chilli Yong Tau Foo.
An assortment of fresh looking Yong Tau Foo pieces greeted me as I started to pick green chilli, bitter gourd, “tau pok” (fried beancurd), “ngoh hiah” (meat roll) and my favourite pig skin.
After passing the bowl to the uncle, I was standing there sheepishly thinking that it is a self-serviced stall before seeing other customers sitting down after ordering. It is a rare sight to get served in a hawker centre unless you order from a Tze Char Stall (Food Stall with ala-carte menu).
The stall was operated by three men, one cooks, one takes order and remember your face and the young lad serves.
While waiting for my bowl of Yong Tau Foo, I started people watching. Everyone in my line of sight had a bowl of Yong Tau Foo. The guy on the extreme left wolfing down the noodles, the uncle in red who had already finished but still looking for more. The gentleman in front of me with a look of satisfaction slurping the bowl of soup. More and more customers came as I waited for my Yong Tau Foo.
I was popping my head up so that the uncle with the facial recognition ability could locate me…he saw me and instructed the ah boy (in red) to serve me my bowl of Yong Tau Foo.
This bowl cost less than $4 and servings were generous. I started with the soup and it tasted just like any other Yong Tau Foo stall but is definitely less salty.
I started to mix the chilli and sweet sauces with the pieces of Yong Tau Foo and yellow noodle. After gobbling down a few bites, I started to sweat abit. The chilli sauce tasted hot and good unlike the usual chilli sauce at other Yong Tau Foo stalls that is commercially made. The blend of special chilli and sweet sauce combined very well and made the bowl of Yong Tau Foo taste very nice; in particular the pieces of Yong Tau Foo tasted fresh.
Lao Beng’s Verdict
The Special Chilli Yong Tau Foo stall is definitely worth a visit if you are around the vicinity of Jalan Besar. With fresh Yong Tau Foo and specially made chilli sauce make this stall stand out from other normal stalls serving soulless Yong Tau Foo.
Another plus point is, I GOT SERVED! Kudos to the three men who still believe in serving their customers.
Point to note, even when I left more customers came even though lunch time was another hour away. Thus it is better to go early to avoid any disappointment.
Address
Special Chilli Yong Tau Foo (集兴酿豆腐)
Berseh Food Centre
166 Jalan Besar
#01-17
Singapore 208877