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I’ll be honest and start by saying that the only reason I travelled down to Tanglin Halt Food Centre was to have a taste at the raved-about lontong from Queenstown Lontong. Was I disheartened to find out it was closed when I arrived there in the morning? Yes. Did I want to go home with an empty stomach? No.
It was 11am, I was miffed, I was hungry so I decided to throw caution to the wind and take a quick walk around to see what they had to offer.
That’s when its bright yellow light called out to me; Dong Ling Fu Tanglin Halt Traditional Snacks—quite a mouthful, I know. There was only one guy in line and I decided to give them a shot because all I was smelling was the wonderful aroma of wok-fried dishes.
The first thing I saw as I approached the stall was a middle-aged duo on both woks; firing up White Fried Carrot Cake (S$3/S$4) on one side and black fried carrot cake on the other. “They look like they know what’s up,” I thought to myself. Alright, cool. I saw that they also had Fried Kway Teow (S$3/S$4/S$5) on the menu but I had to wait a while for that to be ready so I proceeded to order two plates of Fried Carrot Cake instead—both white and black. After what seemed like a good 10-minute wait, my buzzer started, well, buzzing and I went over to collect my late breakfast.
What I tried
First things first, people rarely seem to nail the black version of the fried carrot cake. There’s always either too much or too little oil and sweet soy sauce—which is annoying because all you want is a perfect plate to get on your day and when the first meal of the day is ruined, so is your mood. Right?
In any case, this plate was acceptable. They used soft radish cake sized into small cubes, had just the right amount of sweet soy sauce and it wasn’t too oily. I could also taste the chilli. It also had small pockets of light char but could’ve done with a longer time in the wok to give it added crispiness. Overall, it was a decent plate.
I love my white carrot cake crispy with tons of chilli. So upon first glance, the plate didn’t look like it was going to reach my expectations. However, after my first bite, I changed my mind. While I still hope that it could’ve been crispier, the chilli used was pretty alright. Even though I had to add more chilli on the side (bad habit, I know), I pretty much enjoyed my late breakfast.
Final thoughts
Soon after finishing both plates of carrot cake, I realised I could’ve done with ordering one plate of half-and-half—silly me. The meal did get my mind off not being able to have a taste of Queenstown Lontong, so in my books, it did pretty well. I just wouldn’t travel all the way to Tanglin Halt Food Centre again as I’m a true, blue, Eastie.
But, if you do have the time, they’re still worth a visit. A queue started to form as I was about to wrap up my meal so, like me, folks around the area pretty much agree that they serve a decent spread. If you’re not a fan of fried carrot cake and fried kway teow, they also sell Fried Oyster (S$4/S$5/S$8)—which I believe is their best-seller as I noticed many ordering it.
I was a tad bit disappointed for not having the opportunity to speak to the owners and find out more about them; however, a queue = good business = no time to speak to kaypoh food writer.
Expected damage: S$3 – S$5 per pax
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