Tampines Round Market

Once or if we’re lucky, twice every year we get to fly to the Food Paradise that is Singapore. This is one of our «go to» food centres when we’re in Singapore because of it’s proximity to our lodging with family.
Usually the tell-​tale sign of a good dish or chef is the lines out the front but I think some people just enjoy lining up for food at times in Singapore without their being any substance behind the food for my tastes.
Upon seeing the line of the first place which was 20 people deep, we couldn’t help ourselves either and I got my girlfriend to line up at Yummy Sarawak Kolo Mee, whilst I noticed there was a much smaller line not 30 metres away that was serving a similar version of the same dish.
There is so much choice and variety in Singapore but quite often the case is that you may find two places that serve similar or at times the exact same dish but the shops are situated adjacent to or directly next to each other but I suppose McDonald’s can often be found right next to a Hungry Jack’s aka the Aussie Burger King.
Surprisingly the Char Siu Mee aka Wonton Mee aka Kolo Mee from Xing Ji the stall with the smaller line was the one favoured by everyone and we found the «Signature» one from the Yummy Sarawak Kolo Mee to be a bit over the top with the ribs but noticed that the noodles as well as the sambal were totally different, with the noodles being reminiscent of Maggi 2 Minute packet noodles and the chilli sambal being too acidic, instead of the beautiful, thin, egg noodles and earthy and spicy chilli sambal served with the thinly sliced char siu BBQ pork and wonton soup.
Something seemed wrong and considering I’d never eaten that style of Kolo Mee before, I assumed that it was particular to that region, so we lined up on yet another day (foodie tragic, I knowww!) and got the basic Kolo Mee which was much more to our tasting but still not as good as the one from Xing Ji. What we did like though was the crispy wontons or pork dumplings, that when we visited the next day, took a doggy bag home to share with family at home.
We also had Chee Chong Fun, Char Kway Teow, Carrot Cake, Lor Mee and some assorted fish balls and fish cakes from other stalls and that was nice too, with the Char Kway Teow being the stand out.
Overall I thought that we’d head back to Xing Ji again but would avoid the long line at Yummy Sarawak Kolo Mee but be prepared to line up for things anywhere from good to impressive, wherever you might find yourself in Singapore.

It has a wide varieties of local delicacies such as:
~ Fried Kway Teow
~ Laksa
~ Fried Carrot Cake
~ Pork Porridge
~ Wanton Noodles
~ Prawn Noodles
~ Mee Rebus/​Lontong/​Mee Siam
~ Etc
Usually crowded on weekends so it’s hard to find seats so be prepared to wait for quite a while till someone is done with their meal.