Jackie Beer Garden

Changi Village always reminds me of a laid back village in some ulu region of Malaysia. Quiet, peaceful and unassuming, it’s a refuge from the noise and crowd of modern Singapore. What could be more relaxing than taking a leisurely stroll along the boardwalk in the cool, breezy evening?

Now, located at one end of the hawker centre (near the famous nasi lemak stall) is a highly popular seafood stall called Jackie Beer Garden. The place is packed by 6.00pm so either be there early or make a reservation. Prices are not really cheap, considering that it’s just a zi char stall, but the food is good. Wash it down with a jug a Tiger and you’ll have a really tasty meal.

This is one of my favourite vegetables dishes – Sweet Potato Leaves Fried with Hae Bi and Belacan. This is a light and sweet-tasting veggy that softens up easily when cooked and goes very well with spicy sprinkles of Hae Bi.

The Sweet and Sour Pork, coated with a subtle tangy sauce, was so tender. It literally melted in your mouth. I could see FT chomping away at the other corner of the table.

Mmmmm…BBQ Stingray with Sambal. This can give the one in Chomp Chomp a good run for its money.

Another one of my favourite dishes – Crispy Calamari with Curry Leaves. I love the exotic and fragrant infusion of the curry leaves in the light crispy batter.

The Creamy Salted Egg Crab was the stall’s speciality and the highlight of the meal. The flesh was sweet and meaty and the creamy gravy was thick and rich. Some salted egg crab recipes come with chunks of salted egg coated over crab, which I like very much. This one was a smoother, more blended version and the richness of the gravy more than made up for the absence of the egg bits.

Though the food was tasty, it was a bit on the salty side and I was extremely thirsty after dinner. The cook was probably too liberal with the MSG, which was quite a waste as the food was good enough without the added salt.