This heritage district in the east side of Singapore may be (more or less) just a single road on the map, but it is, in fact, a place with three enclaves so distinctive from each other, yet so seamlessly merged that you don't know where one begins and where the other ends.
On one side you have the enclave that heads into Geylang Serai.
This is the side where the halal bakeries and eateries are. If you wanted a halal macaron, a halal cream cake or a halal chocolate tart, this place would be it. IF you wanted a flaky sardine puff pastry in the shape of a triangle, or a jumput jumput in the form of a deep fried banana ball, this place would be it too. This is where you have eateries both traditional and modern offering you everything from nasi padang to spicy noodles to mee rebus and halal zichar.
In the center of Joo Chiat Road is the enclave commonly known as Little Vietnam.
Here are the pubs and entertainment outlets. Here are also the coffee shops and eateries that specialize in the cuisine of Vietnam. Beef pho is the staple, of course, but you get some unusual stuff like BBQ quails, spicy cockles and Vietnamese rice rolls stuffed full with bits of lettuce and carrots and bean sprouts and other veggies. Come to think of it, most of the coffee shops seem to be centered around this particular enclave in which Koon Seng Road and Dunman Road slice directly across. Local food here doesn't lose out in any way as well. One finds claypot porridge, fish head soup and salted egg chicken, then there's crispy prata handmade fresh from the grill, prawn noodle soup, carrot cake and char kuay teow. D'bun has an outlet in this enclave; there's a bit of Thai, a bit of Japanese, a brilliant steak place, and a briyani place too.
The third enclave comes right after.
Somewhere around the Joo Chiat Community Center I think it begins, with Gobi Desserts a couple of steps before, and Picotin taking a major spot after. Picotin's one place to look out for if you like alfresco dining. They've got a balloon castle on weekends so the kids can jump around whilst you have your beers. Ahead are the burger places- I count Fat Papa's amongst the list- then there are the coffee and cake places, and the #supportlocal store with the famous cat who walks on the shelves and whom lets everybody stroke it. There used to be an ice cream parlor here offering scoops in flavors of teh tarik, chendol and Mao Shan Wang. I don't know if it's still there. But there's Awfully Chocolate, there's Sinpopo, and there's that place on the corner which serves up lots of craft beers and amazing local food.
One thing I've come to realize during these interesting times is to appreciate what we have whilst they're still here. You never know when it will be that the landlords decide to rip the entire thing apart and leave you hanging with no more Cold Storage Marketplace to go, no more Tim Ho Wan to eat at, no cinema to watch a movie in, and no more boulangerie to go. #i12