With 150 food stalls, Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar 2024 is once again the place to be for stuffing down gastronomic delights in the lead-up to Hari Raya. That’s a lot of food options, and you might be surprised to learn how varied the offerings are.
There’s more to the bazaar than your usual Biryani or Vadai. From appetising Asian choices to enticing European fare, the Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar has a decent selection of food that you otherwise wouldn’t see in Singapore often. What’s there to experience? Join us in checking out the myriad international offerings!
Buko Baq Ang by @rotigendangsg
Let’s start somewhere close. As we roamed the Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar food area, a particularly sweet treat popular in the Philippines caught our attention — Buko Baq Ang.
If you aren’t familiar with Buko Baq Ang, this dessert is a little like the Thai Red Ruby dessert but on steroids. Instead of just water chestnuts, it’s packed with other ingredients like jelly, sago pearls, and fruits, mixed in a concoction of milk and whipped cream. What you get is this indulgent sweet and creamy dessert that is full of flavour and leaves a smile on your face.
Rotigendangsg offers 16 flavours of Buko Baq Ang (each S$10), with intriguing ones like Dragonfruit and Jackfruit available. We opted for safer options, choosing the ever-popular Pandan (a Filipino favourite) and Mango flavours, getting a generously sized tub full of the sweet goodness to try. The stall even provided straws alongside the spoons as they knew we would be tempted to drink in that creamy combination, so go ahead and drink it all in!
Oppa’s Special by OPPA
Korea’s Samyang Hot Chicken Ramen has taken Singapore by storm, but while you can make a bowl of this yourself, Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar 2024 presents a zhng’d up version for you to enjoy!
The Oppa’s Special (S$10) by OPPA sees the spicy Korean noodles wrapped in the warm embrace of an omelette, and inside, you’ll also get some delicious additions like chicken franks and cheese. Alongside the omelette wrap, the stall also serves a pairing of juicy chicken cutlets before finishing with a sauce of your choosing (we went for some Gochujang mayo in keeping with the Korean theme).
The stall also has other Korean street food that you can add to your order, such as Giant Korean Squid (S$6) and Sotteok (S$3.50 each), a tteokbokki and sausage skewer glazed with Gochujang sauce.
Japanese Taiyaki by Ahae-Taiyaki
Japan has so many great snacks to choose from, and among them is the humble Taiyaki, a cute and unique fish-shaped pastry with a sweet filling hidden inside. And you don’t need to travel to Japan to have it, with the Ahae-Taiyaki stall selling these aesthetic street snacks in abundance.
As you may know, Taiyaki has all sorts of fillings you can eat with, and Ahae-Taiyaki has an assortment of flavours at their stall. Traditionalists can opt for red bean or custard cream, but if you have a daredevil streak, perhaps the durian filling option might interest you.
Each Taiyaki costs just S$3, but it is much better to pick the bundle option! For just S$7, you can grab any three Taiyaki of your choosing; great if you want to try out multiple flavours at once. You can choose to have it for later or be eaten now, and if you choose the latter, the stall heats it for you so that it’s all nice and warm when you bite in!
Chicken Kebab by Al Raya’s
Kebabs are a staple in bazaars and pasar malams — it’s not uncommon to hear shouts of “kebab, kebab, kebab” ringing through the tentage — but such is its prominence that people sometimes forget that it’s a mainly Middle-Eastern dish.
There are tons of kebab offerings at Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar 2024, but we will be locking on to Al Raya’s, who proudly fly the Moroccan flag on their stall banner. They have two kebab options: chicken or beef (both S$7), but you can never go wrong with chicken, can you?
Along with the juicy chicken meat, the kebab comes with a generous serving of cheese and cabbage for a hearty meal. For an extra kick of flavour, Al Raya’s also provides add-on sauces, like hummus and BBQ sauce, to pair with your kebab.
Crispy Kanafa by Mango Bossku
If you’ve roamed Arab Street, this sure dessert might have caught your eye on restaurant menus in the area. Featuring an enticing brown hue, glazed with sweet syrup, and topped with pistachios, Kunafa (or Kunefe) makes for a great end to a satisfying meal. It’s no surprise then to see a few stalls at Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar 2024 serving up the treat!
But there’s one stall that brings something different to the table. Mango Bossku serves up their Crispy Kunafa, a twist on the Egyptian/Palestinian-originated dessert. While traditional kunafa’s interior is gooey and chewy, Mango Bossku’s iteration is crispy all around.
The stall has seven different flavours — Original (S$10), Red Velvet (S$12), Dark Indulgence (S$14), Premium Callebaut Chocolate (S$14), Pistachios (S$14), Biscoff (S$12), and Nutella Hazelnut (S$12). Each comes served with a freshly baked crispy Kunafa with a cheese filling and gets a generous drizzle of sauce from your selected flavour. We got the Biscoff and Premium Callebaut Chocolate options. While the Kunafa had the same enjoyable crunch for both, the Biscoff sauce pairing was sinfully sweet, while the Chocolate sauce was more on the bitter side.
It has the longest queue at the bazaar by far, and we waited 80 minutes before we got to order, even before the peak period. Be sure to come early to keep waiting times low!
Bingtanghulu by BTHL
You might have seen the popular Bingtanghulu candied fruit treats making waves in South Korea, but did you know that they actually started in China? Indeed, they date back to the Song Dynasty and now have found their way everywhere, including here at Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar 2024!
Make your way over to the BTHL stall, easily distinguished by the adorable strawberry mascot on the front of their banner. Here, you’ll find a colourful assortment of Bingtanhulu offerings — from strawberries and grapes to Japanese Fuji Apples. These are coated in hardened sugar syrup, and a bite will provide a sweet tease before you get to the fresh fruits.
The Bingtanghulu price varies depending on the fruit and size. For example, the Fuji Apples cost S$8 each, while a mini fruit variety stick is priced at just S$2! Whichever you pick, this snack will surely provide an excellent accompaniment to the other food items from the bazaar. Just be careful to gobble it since the sugar coating melts fast!
Sultan Baklava from Bosphorus Authentic and Original Fantastic Baklava and Kunefe
One thing that I took away from a recent trip to Turkey was that Baklava ruled the country. You can find a store selling these little rectangular guilty pleasures everywhere you look. They may have yet to take over Singapore (not yet anyway), but they certainly have a presence at Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar 2024.
Bosphorus Authentic and Original Fantastic Baklava and Kunefe is just one of several sellers of this Turkish delicacy. His stall displays trays upon trays of it to lure hungry bazaar roamers. S$10 gets you three big pieces of baklava, which you can enjoy at the bazaar or back home.
While it may be tempting to eat the baklava immediately, we highly recommend warming it up at home to enjoy the buttery, flaky pastry more!
Have you ever seen this many international offerings in one place? Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar 2024 truly brings cultures together, and we visitors reap the benefits!
For more information on what else the bazaar has to offer, head on over to the official Wisma Geylang Serai Facebook page!
Photos by Leo Chia of the DANAMIC Team.
