Sherman's Food Adventures: Happy Singh Street Eats

Happy Singh Street Eats

There is certainly no shortage of great Indian restaurants near and along Scott Road on the Surrey/North Delta border.  Choices range from higher end such as Tasty Indian Bistro and Yellow Chilli to smaller spots like Mirch Masala and Rama.  Of course, we have the big daddy of them all at the expansive buffet in Tandoori Flame as well.  However, what if one wanted something inexpensive, yet trendy where you can take the family almost any day of the week?  I introduce you to Happy Singh Street Eats with their counter-service setup with different stations offering up a huge variety of food.  There is a little for everyone including the kiddies.


It is always nice to start a meal with some chaat and we did so with the Mixed Punjabi Chaat as well as the Aloo Bhaaji Khasta.  The mixed Punjabi chaat consisted of papdis, bhel mix, chickpeas, tomato, onion, house special chutney, spices and topped with sev.  If you can imagine, this was a bit tangy, a bit crunchy, a bit creamy and of course sweet.  A really appetizing plate.  The aloo bhaaji khasta was trending in the same direction except with the robust texture of potato and lentil puffs.  Of course with the curry, flavours were more rich, yet the chutneys and pomegranate seeds leveled it off with tang and sweetness.


Over to some dumplings we had both the Steamed Momos and the Garlic & Chili Momos.  Featuring medium-thick dumpling skin, the momos featured a light and tender chicken filling.  I found the wrapper to have a decent amount of elasticity, hence there was nice bite to each dumpling.  As for the garlic & chili momos, you can clearly see that there was plenty of sauce.  Therefore, flavours were intense and impactful.  Good mix of sweet, tang, spice and savoury.

Moving onto the some larger items, we tried the Tandoori Chicken Leg with mint & coriander chutney, red onion and lime.  This was well-marinated being flavourful and juicy.  The meat was super moist and unlike many other versions of tandoori chicken, we couldn't find any dried out portions.  However, we would've liked to see a bit more charring on the outside.

From a meat we move to meatless with the Malai Soya Chaap marinated in yogurt and North Indian spices, then cooked in a tandoor.  This was rather creamy with all that yogurt.  It kept things moist and the spices did come through.  Again, I would've liked to have more impact from the tandoor, but then again, the soya chaap would not have been as tender.  In addition to the soft texture, there was also some meaty bite to it even though it was not meat.

For our bread selection, we had the Paneer Paratha.  This was stuffed with marinated paneer and cooked on the grill.  Nice leoparding that resulted in caramelized smokiness.  Texturally, the paratha had a nice chew while still fluffy and soft. I enjoyed dipping the paratha into the creamy (and buttery) dal makhani.  If we actually needed any more, there was some butter (makhan) on the side as well as sweet cane sugar (gur).  Some pickles (aam ka achaar) provided salty tang to break up the heaviness.

So if this next dish looks eerily familiar, let me say this wasn't the momos again.  Rather, this was the Dry Chili Chicken from the Hakka Chinese section of the menu.  This was almost exactly like the momos except it appeared to me that it was a tad spicier?  The chicken itself was in good sized chunks where it was moist while still having a somewhat firm exterior.  The sauce was sweet, spicy and tangy.

Also very similar was the Chicken Lolipops seemingly dressed in the same sauce.  Once again, I'm pretty sure this was different as the spice level was a touch lower while there was definite hits of ginger.  With that being said, this was absolutely similar with tang, spice and sweetness.  As for the chicken drumettes, they featured rendered skin and fairly tender meat.  There was not absence of flavour here.

Staying with chicken but moving away from chili sauces, we had the Chicken 65 Roll.  Now you are wondering what's with the number...  Well, it is deep fried chicken originating from Chennai in 1965.  This particular version was tender with plenty of flavours from the marinade including spice, aromatics and sweetness.  It was a bit crispy and wrapped in paratha along with peppers and onions.  Reminded me of a cheese steak except with crispy marinated chicken.

Now the following dish also reminded me of something else.  If the Keema Pao looks like a sloppy Joe to you, it isn't far off.  Yes, the filling is traditionally made with mutton rather than the beef you'd find in a sloppy Joe, but it ate quite like it.  Being interactive, we spooned the keema into the soft pao (the buns).  Naturally, being a Mumbai specialty, the spices did pop such as cardamom, chilis and cumin.  I'd imagine myself eating this as a snack often if I had more access.

Heading to a classic South Indian item, we tried the Masala Dosa with a side of sambar and coconut chutney.  To fit onto the recyclable plate, they had cut the dosa in half.  So it wasn't as majestic as the whole dosa that we are usually accustomed to.  Nevertheless, the lentil crepe was still crispy and light.  Inside, the potato and onion mixture was tender and flavourful with ginger notes as well as some spice.  Side of sambar was mild with background tomato notes.

One of my favourite items was the Amritsari Fish Pakora with mint/coriander chutney.  I liked how each piece of fish was fairly large, hence, they were moist and flaky.  That also meant the batter was crispy but not too hard.  Therefore, the dish ate light despite being fried.  Flavours were great from the marinade, but even better when dunked into the chutney on the side.  Some brightness was added because of it.

Onto desserts, we tried their Cheesecake on a Stick (Smurfette) that featured a hard sweet coating on the outside.  This one was blue and somehow it ate like it was blue (only way I could describe it).  The cheesecake inside was definitely cheesy and only semi-sweet.  We also got one of their crazy shakes in the Sticky Toffee Bite, with a piece of toffee cake on top.  As for the shake itself, it was creamy and had a rich sweetness that was a bit of smokiness.  Lastly, we had the Jab Mango Met Lychee Shake which was my favourite.  It was creamy and fruity where it was like a mango lassi, except with lychee.  Even though it was rich, I still found it refreshing and just sweet enough.  Oh man, now that was a lot of food...  But generally, it was all pretty good and well-priced.  Definitely accessible for family dinners and take out.  A good variety too so that no one gets left out.

*All food and beverages were complimentary*

The Good:
- Nice variety
- Well-priced
- Overall solid

The Bad:
- Since it is a casual counter-service spot, the plating will be very basic

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