‘Funny-looking noodles’: British tourists try local dishes at Serangoon hawker centre & give their take

British tourists visit Serangoon hawker centre to try out local delicacies with noodles

While local dishes such as Hokkien mee may seem rather run-of-the-mill for residents in Singapore, they are something of a novel delicacy for tourists visiting the country.

This was certainly true in a recent video posted by content creator Sydney Graves aka @ukmidwifedownunder on TikTok.

Visiting Chomp Chomp Food Centre in Serangoon Gardens with her friend Eloise, the duo tried out local delicacies and documented their reactions.

British tourists visit Serangoon hawker centre to try out local noodles

The video starts with Ms Graves explaining that she was in the mood to try out noodles, with a flight to catch the day after.

Sitting down at the hawker centre, the pair ordered their dishes, the first of which was Hokkien mee.

Describing it as “funny looking noodles,” Ms Graves asked Eloise what its name was, to which she said “Hockey and me” — at least, according to the subtitles on the video.

In a follow-up video, Ms Graves explained that the clip had been reposted as a reel from Instagram.

Eloise had, in fact, pronounced it correctly as Hokkien mee — only for the captions on the social media platform to pick up incorrectly on her accent.

Struggling a little with her chopsticks, Ms Graves proceeded to have her first bite before adding chilli to it.

“Nice,” she said, before coughing as the chilli seemed to hit her tastebuds. “That chilli, wow.”

Tourists praise stingray and vegetable dishes

The next dish on the menu was stingray with sambal as well as two vegetable dishes.

Sydney’s verdict on the vegetables was that they were “great”, before she tried a spoonful of the stingray, which was to her liking.

Complimenting the taste, Sydney noted that the meat had a soft texture and almost seemed to melt in her mouth — pretty high praise.

“The spices they put on the top are absolutely beautiful,” she added.

The duo also got a sugarcane juice to try out alongside their meal.

“Just going to have a little bit because I want to be like a local,” Ms Graves joked, before taking the sip of the beverage.

Instantly looking awed, she exclaimed: “It’s so refreshing.”

She also helpfully pointed out which stall she got the beverage from, explaining: “It’s not really sweet… you think it’s going to be really sweet, but actually it’s been made fresh behind me.”

Evidently impressed with the stall’s expertise when it came to making sugarcane juice, she showed a clip whereby an employee at the eatery used a machine to churn out the drink.

City’s scenery was to her liking

This isn’t Ms Grave’s first rodeo with hawker centres in Singapore either, revealing in a comment that she visited Newton Food Centre as well.

In a follow-up video on her trip to Singapore after returning home, she elaborated on the top three things she loved — and didn’t — about the Lion City.

She praised the city’s scenery, especially the greenery it contained, as well as the warm weather and the cuisine, describing the latter as “unbelievable”.

However, Ms Graves also noted that she would not want to move to Singapore due to its high prices, especially for rent.

She also shared that while she didn’t mind the warm weather, its humidity was not something she particularly preferred.

“I all around loved it,” she concluded in the end.

Also read: Tourists Explore S’pore On S$50 Budget, Enjoy Hawker Food & Sightseeing At HDB Estate

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Featured image adapted from @ukmidwifedownunder on TikTok.