881 XO Fish Head Beehoon

Service is absolutely terrible. Waiting staff super rude and she even pushed me when I was waiting for my take-​out at the counter. Like WTF?! Don’t you know how to ask politely? Super rude! And it takes super long to get orders ready, the taste was ok only. I don’t know what’s all the fuzz about.

It is ok. Not sure why the hype or the crowd but I definitely have had better versions elsewhere.
Tried their signature XO beehoon. For a healthier version, we changed the meat to fish meat instead of fried fish head. The XO flavor is strong and the fish meat fresh, but the soup is just not flavorful enough to hit the spot.
San Lou hor fun is a classic (it basically has 3 ingredients only: fish, bean sprouts and hor fun). The version here is decent but it lacks the wok hei.
The smallest Prawn paste chicken comes with 8 pieces of the mid section of chicken wings. I didn’t like it, the prawn paste is not strong enough and it is too heavily floured to my liking.
Maybe the chef at night is better, I was there at lunch this time and pretty sure I won’t be back soon.

I eat here pretty often and these guys generally dish out great tze char food all round. But if there’s one thing I’d single out here apart from the speciality dish of fish beehoon soup, it’s got to be their Har Jiong Kai. The flaky deep fried batter is insane!
Think they also quite recently did some minor renovations to their otherwise pretty shabby coffeeshop interior. With this they seem to have taken the liberty to raise their prices upwards somewhat resulting in a drop in value.
Service here is real hit and miss so be prepared to be ignored when the going gets tough during peak periods. Oh yah, do watch out for the super shrill and high pitched voice of the lady taking your orders.

Crab bee hooooooooon!
Hubby had a craving for seafood on a Saturday night, but didn’t feel like venturing too far. So to Balastier we went, where we noticed this place was pretty hoppin’.
We were seated immediately, and although our server only knew basic English she was able to tell us that what we were ordering would be too much and to just stick with the crab bee hoon. A much appreciated gesture!
We patiently waited and it was well worth it. A huge chunk of crab sat in the middle of our clay pot, most of it already broken up for us. Awesome, less work I have to do! I found the milky broth simple, but flavorful.
Good portions worth the price, and accommodating service even though we didn’t know Chinese. Great location on Balastier, and I love how it’s in a conserved shophouse! Soaking in history + crab bee hoon broth = WIN. We’d come back again!

Awesome food. «San lao» hor fun is a must try here.

Housed in an old shophouse next to Balestier Plaza, this is definitely one of the best cze char restaurants in the neighbourhood.
Their fish head bee hoon really is good enough to be the namesake of this eatery. The portions of fish are generous, and the soup is absolutely delicious with subtle XO flavours.
A typical Singaporean dining experience, 881 is noisy and abuzz with activity. Most of the service staff don’t speak English, so if you can’t converse in basic Mandarin be prepared to face some grunts of disdain.
Drivers, beware: while it may be tempting to park along the small road besides the eatery, residents of Jalan Kemaman often complain and LTA Enforcement Officers are regularly sighted. Best to pay heed to the signs that say «Kindly park in Balestier Plaza carpark».