Regular readers of my website will know that I often whinge about the lack of vegetarian options at NEX shopping centre (Serangoon). Recently, one of my readers educated me on some of the vegetarian options available close to NEX. Miao Shan is geographically the closest to NEX (just a 5 minute walk), so it can really be a valuable option for hungry vegetarians at NEX. Not only is it close by, but the food pricing is wonderfully cheap. The only negative is that the stall closes at 1.30pm. So if you're in the Serangoon area in the evening, this stall will be closed. The other vegetarian stall (called Su Shi Piao Xiang, which is open morning, noon and night) in close proximity to NEX is at block 2 Lor Liew Lian, that will take you 10 minutes to walk to, though.
Miao Shan Vegetarian
Location: Blk 262 Serangoon Central Drive, #01-89 (L.A KOPI coffee shop) Contact: NoneOpening Hours: Daily 6.00am-1.30pmHonestly, I wasn't expecting much from this stall, but after chatting with the friendly husband and wife duo who run this shop, I left with a totally different opinion. Customers who are visiting Miao Shan should immediately focus their attention on the 'Today Special' signboard on the left hand side. This stall has daily specials, which change every day. This stall has been running at block 262 for almost four years now. On the 1st and 15th of the month (Chinese calendar) the stall owner has many more special dishes for customers to try.
I decided to select the
Char Siew Rice to try first. This dish comes with plain rice, cabbage mixed vegetable, char siew and orange chilli. The mock char siew is thinly sliced and deliciously sweet and smokey in flavour. The texture of the rice was perfectly done, especially as I am someone who prefers harder rice. A really delicious dish overall, especially after smearing the orange chilli sauce all over the ingredients.
Price: $3.00. 8/10On my second visit they had
Lor Mee as one of their daily specials
. What I love about this stall is the owner asks questions to determine the customers preference. Restaurant/stall owners pay attention to this - For this dish, the stall owner asked me - Would you like chilli? How much? Would you like vinegar? Do you want it more/less salty? Which type of noodle would you like? This allows the customer to get the dish
they personally prefer. Instead of some eateries who ignorantly serve egg/onion/garlic/spicy/milk dishes to customers without bothering to ask questions
. This lor mee is exceptional, I asked for extra vinegar, which really took this dish to another level. The gravy is thick and starchy, and the amount of ingredients are diverse and delicious. For $2.50, what is there left to do but stand up and applaud.
Price: $2.50. 9/10The next time I visited Miao Shan was on a Tuesday, and their daily specials were fried rice and
Mee Siam. Again, this was another good quality dish. I can honestly say all of the dishes from Miao Shan are great. Some of the ingredients in this dish are similar to the lor mee. The mee rebus gravy is thick and moreish. Pieces of cubed fried tofu act as a good replacement to the more traditional boiled egg.
Price: $2.50. 7/10Another day, another daily special. This time it was the
Chicken Rice. Once again, this dish had perfectly cooked rice, which is both flavourful and firm in texture. The mock chicken is derived from beancurd sheets. This dish bears a lot of similarities to the char siew rice, as many of the components are the same.
Price: $3.00. 7/10Conclusion - For my food reviews, I almost always visit the stall/restaurant just once, write my review and then that is that. For Miao Shan, I visited this stall on four occasions - I hope that can emphasise how highly I rate this stall. This stall has two important qualities which make it so exceptional - Fantastic quality food and stall owners who genuinely care about their customers and the food they serve. Overall RatingFood - 8/10Ambiance- 7/10 Service - 9/10 Value - 9/10
