Punggol Big Fair Pasar Malam: 32 days of food, fun & Labubu
I haven’t been to a pasar malam in a hot minute, so when the opportunity arose to go to another with company, I figured why not?
We went down to the Punggol Big Fair at 218 Sumang Walk, and it was mercifully early enough that the crowds weren’t quite packing the venue, but also late enough that most of the vendors were already set up.
I have not been to a pasar malam of this scale in a long while, so to figure out our order of attack, we decided to walk down one row of stalls before crossing over to the other side. There are 3 rows of vendors, and the first thing we noticed was how stuffy it was. There were two enormous standing fans at the entrances, but it wasn’t helping much.
The first stall that caught our attention was JWYUMMY, serving up Mac & Cheese Fried Chicken. They offer different varieties of mac & cheese in 2 serving sizes, and the option to make it a combo with the addition of fried chicken. All fine and dandy, then my companions spotted Flamin Hot Mac and Cheese (S$7/S$9). “We have to try that,” they said.
The dish is essentially a serving of mac and cheese piled high with a mountain of crushed Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. While it looked impressive, the taste didn’t match up. The Cheetos weren’t spicy enough, and the cheese sauce was on the watery side, lacking sufficient cheesy punch.
Another food item that looked interesting was the Fried Milk (S$5) from a stall that also had Golden Sweet Potato Balls (S$5) and Taiwan Peanut Ice Cream Popiah (S$4 per roll). The Fried Milk is prepared on the spot and drizzled with condensed milk before serving.
The outer shell is crispy and slightly sticky-sweet from the condensed milk, while the centre is best described as warm milk pudding. A couple of my companions found the texture a little weird to get used to, and I only warmed up to it after a couple of bites myself. Not bad if you like the taste of slightly sweet milk.
The next vendor we stopped by specialised in lots of cheese, it seemed like. Almost everything seemed like a cheese lover’s paradise, from the Jagung Cheese Tarik (S$10) (corn cheese pull), to Super Cheezy Potato (S$10) and the pièce de résistance: Cheezy Mashed Potato SAMYANG Noodles (S$12), which we ended up getting (but not before wincing at the price tag).
The dish consists of the popular Samyang buldak noodles buried under a blanket of cheesy mashed potatoes. It sounded amazing on paper, but when we tried it, the combination of carbs on top of more carbs proved too much for us. Additionally, the mashed potatoes were incredibly salty. For S$12, this is a bit of a hard sell.
When I walked past Satay Kak Pah, my eyes lit up – most of the menu rotated around seafood, and I adore seafood. I eagerly went over to take a look at the offerings.
My attention was fixed on the Giant Octopus Tentacle (S$8/S$10/S$15). They looked extremely succulent in the tray and I decided to go for the S$10 portion. I placed my order and waited for it to be handed to me.
What I received however felt disappointing compared to what I’d seen in the stall display. For the price I paid, the portion felt really underwhelming. The octopus had been cut up and placed on the grill again to heat it up. It was then given a light dressing of some kind of spicy sauce that had a notable taste of coriander. It was tender and cooked well, but it tasted bland without the sauce.
In addition to food, there are claw machines and POP MART lockers set up with Labubu available, where eventgoers can try their hand at winning the viral Labubu dolls. There’s also a lucky draw where you get a chance to win an Angel in Clouds Zimomo Labubu sponsored by Play United.
There’s also activities set up for family fun such as a bouncy castle, miniature race tracks, and live music performances.
The Big Fair opens from 12pm till late and runs from 31 Oct till 1 Dec, so make some time to take a trip down and have a look!
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