Wednesday, July 29, 2009

S$2 meals - RT, WW

S$2 breakfast - toast with pork floss and a cup of milk tea

Many of my foreign friends, and even some Singaporeans, complain that eating out in Singapore is expensive.

A food stall advertising its S$2 rice and noodle dishes

I'm still able to find several food stalls (even in a tourist area like Chinatown) that serve a hearty meal for S$2 (US$1.30 ).

S$2 noodle comes with yummy sliced BBQ pork and dumplings

*burpppp*

Excuse me. :P




First Commenter - Empty Streets

61 comments:

  1. HI ECL,

    Hope your monday started out well and that the rest of the week keeps on getting better :) BTW That last food photo just made my stomach growl huhuhu now am hungry hehehe :)

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  2. Totally agree with you that if one bothers to take a look, she can always find something cheap and good!

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  3. It is kinda expensive to eat out if you do it all the time but there's still relatively cheap places around.. :)

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  4. now i'm really hungry... no thanks to your tasty looking foods there =(

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  5. Wow..still can get food for SGD2.00! I don't think one can get something like this for RM2.00 over here.

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  6. I agree with Mei Teng. We don't get to eat much for RM2 here, except if we buy from the Makcik Nasi Lemak. Even a Nasi Lemak with cockles is RM2.50 - RM3.00.

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  7. Hmmmm that's true, if they just looka round good enough they will find lots of cheap stuff here:)

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  8. oh my, you are making me so hungry for a good breakfast right now. XD i have never tried toast with pork floss before. :)

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  9. Empty Streets,
    It's the beginning of the week again! thanks for stopping by every week. :)

    Hope you have satisfied your craving by now. :D

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  10. SheR,
    A good and cheap meal is getting harder to find these days but there are some compassionate hawkers (God bless them) who are selling S$2 meals to the elderly and less fortunate.

    In Chinatown hawker centre, I find several such hawkers. And I get to eat a cheap and yummy meal too. :)

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  11. Cashmere,
    Eating out is not cheap, plus the quality of the dishes has dropped. Some food sellers are using convenient sauces and soup stock..... cheaper or alternative ingredients.

    I prefer to cook and eat at home. :)

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  12. Mei Teng,
    I hardly find RM2 meal in Johor or KL. Probably have to look harder when I'm there next trip. :)

    Singapore also has lesser food stalls selling S$2 meals. Soon it would be a thing of the past. :(

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  13. Lina,
    We can get a banana leaf wrapped Nasi Lemak (coconut rice) for S$1.50 but it comes with only fried ikan billies (anchovies) and 1/6 of an omelete. :D

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  14. Jade,
    Some of the cheap stuff is bland and tasteless. :P

    One needs to look hard or rely on others' recommendation.

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  15. Monica,
    Yes, the wanton noodle costs S$2 only and the char siew (BBQ pork) is tasty!

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  16. levian,
    You can try making it at home. The toast I had was spread with condensed milk, then pork floss sprinkled on it. yum yum....

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  17. Well, looks like you could start writing a series of post of where to get affordable and good food in Singapore?

    I think most of those stalls which can offer such cheap food are operated by the first-generation-hawkers. Hmmm....I watched a short video somewhere, but I have forgotten the source, that such hawkers have been offered cheaper hawker licence and cheaper rent for lifetime to encourage them to move to hawker centres to operate than to be selling food on the streets. However I can't seem to find the source when I searched for it.....do you happen to know anything about this?

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  18. I was told by my friends that dining out in SG can be pretty expensive unless you know the right place where you can have a hearty meal without being bankrupt ;)

    Happy WW!

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  19. I never complain about the Singapore food while I stay there! I can still get economy rice of SGD2.00! I always say it's nice to stay in SG, and only thing that take up some big amount, is the accommodation! but still, I survived too!

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  20. I will make a note of this in case I visit Singapore. :)

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  21. 2 dollars meal is hard to come by these days but this noodle with wantan and bbq pork is worth every penny...

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  22. why would they keep their prices low when the prevailing market price is higher is beyond me?

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  23. expensive?!?! You should ask them to come to NZ, then they would know what is expensive. I think Singapore is considered very cheap already!

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  24. 1.30 $ for a meal ?? you don't even get a cone with french fries for that price. The cheapest meal you can get in a restaurant (mostly chinese, or vietnamese) is between 6 or 7 € ! A normal restaurant in a shopping mall you have to count around 10 ! and that is called very cheap ! The noodle plate looks delicious !! Please send me one, lol !

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  25. Mmmmm that wanton mee dish looks so yummy.I even like the soup version.I think koh loh mee is the dry chilli version(?).
    Sometimes on weekends we'd go to a roadside hawker center in Dunman Road(don't know if exists anymore... we're talking early 80s here.)for the best prawn mee ever.
    I think prices must have doubled since the 80s.

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  26. oceanskies,
    I'm not a good food reviewer. I eat to live. I'm just thankful I can have my 3 meals each day. :P

    Yes, I heard that the first generation hawkers pay cheaper rents than the newer hawkers. I need to verify with them or NEA.

    There are many senior citizens in Chinatown and some are living on their miserly welfare allowance, so some of the hawkers there sell to these old folks cheaply.

    Maybe you want to help me cover this stories? :P

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  27. Joanne MV,
    There are some pretty decent food in our hawker centres where there's no air-con and the food is cheaper.

    The restaurants or hotel coffee houses would be more costly with the addition of service charges and GST.

    You could get cheap and good meals in Singapore, ask the locals. :)

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  28. Cynthia,
    There is a wide variety of food to choose from in Singapore. A SGD2-meal is not that commonly found these days but with a bit of luck, you could find one. :)

    I myself am frightened by the high room rates quoted by our hotels. I used to spend a few weekends yearly in a local hotel but haven't been doing that for years.

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  29. Indrani,
    Welcome!
    You could email me for details if you're coming to Singapore.

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  30. sweet jasmine,
    Initially I thought the BBQ pork would be bland and tough. Surprisingly, it was tasty.

    The plate of noodle was sufficient for me but for my teenaged son, he needed two plates. :D

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  31. Bengbeng,
    The stall is having a SGD2-meal promotion in appreciation of the support it receives from its customers.

    This hawker centre is in Chinatown where there are many senior citizens who frequent the food stalls, so the stall-owners charge the old folks cheaper.

    A couple of stall-owners who are elderly themselves, have been keeping their prices stable for decades. They don't reduce the ingredients of their SGD2-meal despite soaring prices of food over the years. They feel for their regular customers. As long as they can pay their rent and get by, they are ok with low profit.

    Such people are rare gems!

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  32. Doreen,
    I agree with you. When I was in Australia, I was shocked at the price of a plate of unplatable fried rice and more shocked when I was charged for a cup of milk tea. :P

    I'm glad I still can afford to eat out frequently in Singapore.

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  33. Gattina,
    Come visit me in Singapore! I'll bring you to try our delicious local dishes.

    You can have 5 meals a day during a 2-week stay and not repeat the same dish. :D

    SGD2 cannot get me French Fries in McDonald's though. :P

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  34. jean,
    The dry or soup version of wanton noodles cost the same price for this stall. I don't like my BBQ pork soaked in the soup. :)

    There is a Dunman Hawker Centre which I frequent. I love the prawn noodle there. As a regular, the friendly stall-owner always prepares a special bowl of prawn noodle for me.

    Until last year, he was selling his bowl of prawn noodles for SGD2, now he has increased it by 50 cents. Standard no drop. :D

    I wonder if he's the one you are referring to?

    Come back to Singapore, look me up and we can go cari makan!

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  35. I noticed the price of bottled water is SGD1.63 and finding a hearty meal for SGD 2 is really a goldmine hehehe.

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  36. fatherlyyours,
    You probably bought the bottle of water in a tourist area or attraction. :P

    Comparing the SGD2 meal to the bottled water, it seems so cheap! lol

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  37. the wantan mee looks so tasty and with each serving priced at S$2, it's definitely worth every cent.

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  38. prices of almost everything are going up in Penang. i could hardly find something like this for S$2 these days.

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  39. It looks yummy ECL! I wish i had a plate right now!!

    As for the cost I can guarantee you would be hard pressed to find that for $1.30 over here.

    Happy WW:-)

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  40. ECL okay about the makan! I'll belanjar you for sure if ever I get back one day.My first stop will be for nonya cakes and a killer heavyweight Bakchang!LOL!:D

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  41. Those look good and only for S$2? I love pork floss, sometimes I eat it with rice. :p

    My entries:
    Moms... Check Nyo
    Yummy-as-can-be

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  42. Looks like good eaten for $2!!! I just love wontons!!

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  43. That's great for a $2 meal. Looks yummy! I'm fine with that.

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  44. The serving size for the $2 noodles looks quite big. Worth it!

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  45. That is super cheap and a lot of portions too. Just like the fast food burgers here, sometimes they are on sale for US 0.99. In Chinatown (LA) combo meals (rice and/or noodles + one dish) is US $1.99.

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  46. I dont know about toast with pork floss but I'll take a toast and coffee:) Dinner looks good too. Happy WW and thanks for stopping by.

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  47. that's a cool price for a good meal! maybe you're a great finder for best deals :-)

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  48. Great pics totally making me hungry (waiting for husband to get home so we can have dinner)Have a happy WW!
    http://www.moorebloglife.com/2009/07/29/not-so-wordless-a-little-bit-watery-wednesday/

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  49. That really is a good deal! Actually you can still find good price like this around, just look around the neighbourhood food court/ coffee shops.

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  50. Tell your friends they should try eating out in London or Barcelona...they would soon realize how cheap Singaporian eating is!

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