I grew up in the Eunos Crescent neighbourhood.
Back then, the Eunos Crescent Market was in full swing and the adjoining food centre was just as popular.
From early morning breakfast til evening dinner. Everyone cam to get something.
And there was something for everyone too.
There were two whole sections of Chinese (Non-Halal) hawkers and only one section of Malay/Indian (Halal) hawkers. But that one section alone has so many treasures. And there was something for everyone.
Abu Bakar stall was famous for its Nasi Jenganan and Nasi Rawan.
Ali Baba stall famous for Roti Prata. Arifin stall for its Chicken Rice. Then there was the ‘no sign’ Kacang Pool’ stall which also sold a pretty mean Rojak Buah. Then there was ‘Mee Kak Tik’.
And so many more I can hardly remember.
The old market burned down some years ago and it took awhile for the new one to be built.
In that time, some of the hawkers probably moved on and decided not to wait for the new market to be built. But some of them returned to the old neighbourhood with a brand new market place.
One of those that was a staple back in the day and still stayed on – Epok Epok Central.
People would queue up for the fresh and hot epok-epok which seemed to come out in endless batches.
If there was one place for epok-epok then Epok Epok Central was it.
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| Potato, Sardine & Egg Epok-Epok |
Just like before, you can get 3 types of epok-epok.
There’s the default Potato & Sardine epok-epok ($0.40 each) and there’s the Egg epok-epok ($0.60).
The Egg epok-epok has some potato filling in it as well.
The first thing I have to pint out is that I don’t remember the epok-epok being so expensive in the past.
Of course, we are talking about the 90s when I was a kid so definitely the prices were lower back then.
But even in today’s modern times, I’m guessing a few people would raise an eyebrow or two when the hear the price of $0.40 or $0.60 for an epok-epok.
What’s that you say? The price seems reasonable?
Well, that depends on how you relate the price to the size of the product.
Yes that is my hand. And yes that is the epok-epok.
Now do you see what I was talking about when I mentioned the size?
The epok-epok is definitely bite-sized which I’m guessing some people (like my Mum) will appreciate.
Because this means that the pastry will be nice a crispy. Which it definitely is. Love that crisp!
The pastry has a nice bite to it and is not oily at all. They have definitely mastered the art of frying the epok-epok to ensure that it’s a nice crispy golden brown.
The filling itself is also quite tasty. But….
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| (From left to right) Potato, Sardine, Egg |
For those of you whole love your filling, then there might be some issue.
The filling itself is very tasty. The taste of the potato filling is especially tasty to me.
However, the sardine epok-epok seemed to have more onions than anything else. And that is simply something that I despise in my Sardine epok-epok.
Why call it Sardine if you’re just going to pack it with onions? If you’re worried about your sardine mixture being fishy then work on your mixture instead of taking the short-cut of piling on the onions I say.
To be honest the potato mixture also had its fair share of onions but at least I could get some potato chunks.
For the Egg version, you get about 1/5 of an egg stuffed in with the potato mixture.
Adam’s Verdict:
Potato 3/5 — Sardine 2/5 — Egg 3.5/5
Epok Epok Central remains a familiar name when it comes to the tasty snack we all love.
Nowadays with places like Old Chang Kee offering fat oily currypuffs at a bargain price of $1.20, I guess it’s easy to see how old-school places like this are on the losing end.
In fact, the long queue at the stall when I went was actually for the Nasi Lemak which they also seem to sell.
The old stall used to sell just epok-epok. Nothing else.
Maybe the Nasi Lemak is damn nice? I might check it out next time.
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe Epok Epok Central’s standards have really dropped.
But I’ll never forget the excitement as a kid when Mum & Dad brought home some epok-epok.
Epok Epok Central
Eunos Crescent Food Market & Food Centre
Blk 4A Eunos Crescent #01-09
Operating Hours:
9am -10pm Tuesday til Sunday
Closed on Monday
i wouldn’t bet on the opening and closing hours though…. i have boycotted epok epok central because they are full of shit, fucking arrogant and don’t treasure their customers…
and just look at the size… value for money is obviously something they have never heard of… and they open and close whenever the hell they feel like it and so rude to people ordering…
and i HAVE to say that the photograph you took actually did them a favour because in actual fact, it is really very VERY bloody small… it doesn’t look too bad in the photo but when you actually see it, it’s not worth a photograph even in my honest 100% genuine opinion. Sorry to hijack your comments page bro… but epok epok central is shit… not cause of their food, cause it is tasty… but everything else about them…
Okay so I agree that the epok-epok is definitely small compared to what we can get elsewhere and that the price doesn’t seem to be fitting.
I’m not too sure about the opening/closing issue though.
I remember seeing it closed a few times but that was quite awhile ago. Now that I have the official opening hours, I’ll be able to know if they stick to their schedules.
Were they really rude?
Hmmmm… I’m not sure how I can test the theory…. but I can say that when I went they were not really overboard friendly nor were they rude. Maybe it’s because I’m such a nice guy hehehehe
But one thing we agree on – it’s a damn tasty epok-epok.