85 Xiao Chao

I ate so much food here. I took boneless chicken, carrot cake, laksa, gyoza yeah I ate here.

This is a review of a solo dinner at 85 Xiao Chao at Albert Centre Food Market (Stall #01−85).
The staff was friendly enough. There wasn’t a queue as much as there was just a group of people standing and sitting in a semi-​circle around the stall awaiting their food.
My order was taken pretty quickly. My food did not come out super fast though. It was well over ten minutes. The positive of this was my food was very freshly prepared.
The stall was relatively clean and well maintained.
They have quite a few options on their menu. There are more menu options than most of the other stalls in Albert Centre. These are mostly different types of rice plates.
Ginger & Scallion Chicken Rice — My food was very hot when I picked it up. You get to see it being prepared. The dish was neatly presented on the plate. The chicken was very flavourful. In some ways, the flavour reminded me more of a Thai dish than a Chinese or local dish. The rice was pretty good. There were a couple of clumps but it didn’t really detract from the dish. If there was a negative, the flavour of the dish was a little singular in note. I did like the fact there was quite a bit of sauce that I could spread liberally through the rice.
For my tastes, the egg was overcooked.
The cost: $ 3.50
Overall — This was a decent meal. It is nothing to make a special trip for and it isn’t my favourite choice in Albert Centre. But, it was certainly worth giving a try.
(Albert Centre can be a bit of a gong show. By any standard, this is a large food centre. There are over 100 stalls. It is not particularly well-​known for any of them. There are a lot of very affordable options though. The floors are often wet and slippery. During busy times be ready to wrestle with aunties for tables. Plus, in very busy times, the cleaning crew can’t keep up with things and many tables will be cluttered with trays and left-​overs. In slower times, it can be quite pleasant.)

Having operated this business for 3 years already, this shop often sees regulars who are working in the area. Try their Fried meat rice ($ 4) or their Sweet and sour sliced fish rice ($ 4) among many others. The uncle is friendly, and the food is in general, average-​what you would expect to enjoy for lunch on a normal day, but which will not significantly stay in your memory as there are so many stalls around in Albert Centre Market. Opening hours: 11am-9.30pm.