Ah, the convenience of a car. What better way to abuse it than to go off in search of good food in far flung places around the island. Like Changi Village, for example. This is the place where time stood still. When one enters the realm of the Village one is suddenly transported back to the 70s.
The tiny estate reminds me of my old estate in Jurong where I grew up in - old housing, electric buggy cars for the kids, retro music. Changi Village just exudes that old world charm. Well maybe not old world, but it does have that 70s kind of feel to it. Compared to my current estate which is so quiet, this place is so lively with Air Supply blaring from a boom box operated by a guy manning a CD stall - the kind where the CDs are on display on a folding table out in the open instead of on racks like in a regular music store.
Night Scene At Changi Village from moby74 on Vimeo.
There are many cheap eateries in the midst of a few more upmarket ones like Subway added with a dash of a couple of sleazy-looking karaoke joints complete with the all-important ‘guest relations officers’ in skimpy clothing. We avoided all that and headed for the hawker centre in search of something good and cheap to eat. The missus spotted the famous Sri Bistari Nasi Ayam Penyet stall (branch no.6, mind you!) and wanted to find out what was so special about their signature dish of ayam penyet that everyone’s been raving about.
The conclusion? It was ok, nothing spectacular and nothing really to fall madly in culinary love with. It was just rice with a piece of flattened chicken with some hot and spicy sauce. Knowing better than to go with the flow and ordering something everyone else wants when they head to Changi Village, I decided to order the other thing that everyone wants in Changi Village - nasi lemak!
Instead of joining the long queue for the nasi lemak at the famous International something-something stall (I didn’t bother noting down the name) that so many people say is the best nasi lemak in the whole universe (*rolls eyes*), I got mine from the Sri Sujana stall next to Sri Bistari (I wonder if they’re subsidiaries?). No queue! Not a bad dish, but not the best I’ve ever tasted. The sambal was too hot for me, though. The chicken wing was actually better tasting than the ayam penyet I think.
And nothing beats washing down all that spicy stuff with a nice, hot, bubbly and frothy glass of teh tarik, probably the highlight of our dinner. It was good!
We also had a very disappointing plate of satay from Hajjah Sapiah’s Muslim stall. The portion of cucumber slices that came with our 10 sticks of chicken and beef satay was horrendously small! I can’t believe I paid five freakin’ dollars for this! The meat was bland, the sauce was tasteless and the presentation was totally non-existent. No doubt it’s just hawker fare, but still, presentation is very important, which the stall owners failed to realize.
On the whole our experience dinning at Changi Village was good but the food wasn’t anything to crow about. Parking at the open-air car park was a nightmare with cars going in multiple directions and everyone fighting for the few lots available. After dinner, we came to the conclusion that Changi Village, even with its rustic charm, isn’t a place we’d frequent. The food wasn’t all that good, including the otah that we brought home. I really don’t see why so many people are big fans of this place.
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the satay looks miserably pathetic!
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