I heard of this 50 cents fest last year but didn't have the chance to go. This year, I chanced upon it again, and I finally went!!
It was held on the 29th and 30th July, Sat and Sun.
Rewind time: Representing the retrospective element of this year’s Singapore Food Festival, Chinatown Food Street brings back the award-winning ‘The 50 Cents Fest’ event for the second consecutive year running.
"It will ignite visitors’ happiest childhood moments and younger years through heritage recipes prepared by local hawkers, realistic 80s ambience, interactive 80s games, as well as memory jogging sights and sounds."
Visitiors will be able to taste over 40 dishes priced from 50 cents to $2. Some menu items include: Hokkien Rickshaw Noodle, UFO (Fried Oyster Cake), Hakka Abacus Seed, Red Glutinous Wine Chicken, Teochew Ah Balling, Ice Ball and more!
50 cents. Sounds very cheap huh. It only happens once a year. Not sure the about previous year but this year, they held it at the Chinatown Food Street!
I went there with a ready stomach and expectations. I had to maneuver my way through crowds of people while figuring out which queue was for which stall. It was a little confusing at first, but once I got used to the crowd, the queues started to make sense. If it's still too confusing, just join any queue you see and keep the same person in front of you. You'll eventually get your 1st serving of food like how I did for my oyster omelette. Also known as "Orh Luak". The thought of taking a photo didn't occur to me and it just went into my stomach. Oops.
The 2nd dish I tried was the Char Siew Rice. For foreigners, it's basically pork with rice drizzled in sweet gravy. It looked plain but it was surprisingly tasty. Or was it because I was too hungry? Subsequently, I went on to try the Mee Goreng and Sambal Lala. Also no pics because it was too crowded and I couldn't find a proper place to settle down.
Fret not though, for those who really want seats, Chope was there providing reserved seats for people who actually reserved online! So I guess that's something to look out for next year. Unfortunately, I didn't know about it beforehand so no seats for me hahah. A lesson learned anyway.
Next I tried one of my childhood favourite kueh. I'm not sure what to call it in chinese but watch the clip to see it! It's somewhat like a spongy type of cake eaten with brown sugar?? Yum, reliving childhood.
As you can see, that was a gauge of how crowded it was. I started sweating within 30 mins of being inside. It's no joke, I could feel my sweat running down my back. The heat didn't come from the weather but the people. Thank god there wasn't any sun and the place was somewhat sheltered.
Looking for a food option to cool myself down, I took one look at the Ice Ball queue and decided against it LOL. The Ice Ball is an old representation of Ice Kachang similarly covered in bright syrup colours. Definitely worth an instagram shot but ugh, the queue. Instead, I opted for another options. Rainbow Bread Ice Cream!! Hehe.
So happy I got this I had to snap some photos. Nostalgia... I really forgot how ice cream carts used to sell them in rainbow bread but this brings back the fond memories. Surprisingly, my stomach felt kind of filled and I went for one last dish, Nasi Briyani as shown below.
The whole time there, I wasn't just hearing people talking, but also singing. You can see it from the video below! They really put in effort to recreate the 1980s atmosphere with old songs. It felt heartwarming when I could actually recognize some of the songs they sang.
Here's a price list of all the items I tried there:
- Oyster Omelette 50 cents
- Char Siew Rice 50 cents
- Mee goreng $1
- Sambal Lala (small clams) $1
- Rainbow Bread Ice Cream 50 cents
- Kueh 50 cents
- Nasi Briyani $1
Time spent: About 2 hours
The crowd wasn't as packed as I envisioned. Each queue took about 15-20 mins on average. I would advise to go down earlier (after 7 would be good too as there seemed to be lesser people at that time) or set aside a good 2 hours at least to try enough food. If you're alone, then definitely be picky with your choices and only go for those that you really want. With company, you can taste more varieties within a shorter amount of time. I was a little disappointed not being able to try their pork bee hoon. Partially because it was situated at a corner that I only discovered while leaving.
Don't worry even if you have no cash. There was a booth for DBS/POSB cardholders to purchase $12 worth of 50 cent coupons by spending only $10! Another thing to look out for if there's a next year! Beware though, it's a long queue for it too. I used what limited cash I had in my wallet to avoid extra time queuing.
Over all, it wasn't so much about the food but the nostalgia I experienced there that didn't give me regrets.Would gladly revisit again next year but with friends. This kind of festival is always better with company, no doubt. I'm sure parents and grandparents would enjoy the atmosphere too. I would also need to bring some sort of fan there next time. Haha!
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