Behind the Eats

Since September 2011,  The New Paper on Sunday has run it's highly popular feature "Who Cooks It Best".

Each week a particular dish was featured with reviews from our intrepid reporters. From Char Siew Rice to Oyster omelette. From Chicken Wings to Red Bean Soup, 41 dishes have been featured so far.

Well, as the feature is taking a break for a while, we decided to quiz just a few of the young reporters on their experience scouring the island to bring you the best Singapore has to offer.

David Sun, aka JiakPahBoEng, 19

Food likes: Rice. Must be good rice, not your anyhow steam one.

Experience: Running around the island to find good food is quite tough. I've gotten stares from people after I 'cut-queue' because I get the food first after telling the stall owner I want to do a food review. I have no idea why the good foods are always in obscure places, and at times I got lost amongst the blocks looking for that one good hokkien mee. My friends always tell me I have an awesome job, as I get to go round eating. I like to tell them that it's not as easy as it looks, and then I immediately get cut-off with a 'shaddup la, eat good food also complain'. But really, it's not that easy to find really good food.

Who: Valerie Koh, aka VAAAAAL AH, 22

Food likes: Anything fried and sinful is always delicious

Experience: All the weight that I lose from being stressed at work gets piled back on whenever I've to do food reviews. I'll never forget my first ever EATS experience. It was the Chinese New Year period. My fellow intern and I had to try pineapple tarts from 8 different bakeries. We travelled the island looking for the best homemade tarts and ate one too many tarts in the process. I'm officially swearing off pineapple tarts next Chinese New Year! Okay fine, I might just try one...

Lim Yufan, aka Fats, 24

Likes: Anything unhealthy

Experience: Fortunately for me, I have quite a vast experience of eating good food all around Singapore. But items like Mee Soto and Mee Rebus still got me stumped, as I have hardly eaten them before. But a Mee Soto stall I visited at the Bedok Interchange Food Centre managed to convert me into a fan of it. Trying out new food stalls around Singapore is a fun job too. And I've used it as an excuse to get my lazier friends to join me for meals.

Ng Ee Ching aka Roly Poly, 19

Food likes: French pastries and hawker food, polar opposites, I know.

Experience: Personally am obsessed with food and would pick food over ANYTHING in the whole wide world. I honestly wish my job was to go around Singapore everyday just to do EATS. Favourite one so far has to be the Sambal BBQ Stingray. Do not really like sharing my favourite food haunts but if I have to exchange that in order to get to do EATS everyday, trust me, I will do it.

Fabian Koh aka Fabian Koh, 21

Food likes: Ice cream and prata

Experience: The best part of doing EATS is the sense of fulfilment I get when I see the article appearing on The New Paper on Sundays. I feel like I'm doing a great service to our readers. I'm also heartened to see stalls putting up EATS articles on their store front. I've personally witnessed the customers increase a thousand-fold after the article is up. You can only imagine what the stall owners can do with the extra cash they make. Oh how their children, and grandchildren, and many generations after, will benefit. Such a thought truly brings a tear to my eye. I would like to thank my editor for giving me such an opportunity to make a difference in the life of others. This is even better than a Nobel Prize.

Eunice Toh, aka Samseng, 19

Food likes: The chicken rice balls at Toa Payoh. And it's served with a bowl of soup and nuts

Experience: Will always kena the West side of Singapore as everyone else kopes the East/North sides. Pros and cons, as I live in Choa Chu Kang, but it's hard to find good food on this side of the island. It was also challenging taking food pictures as my photography skills suck. Once, I had to go back and buy more egg tarts just to get a good picture of it. But I think with each assignment, my skills improved, so that's good. And EATS really challenged my writing skills, in a good way of course. There's only so many ways to describe the taste and texture of the chicken porridge, and chances are, someone's already used the adjective you had in mind. And as a selective (picky) eater, I got to try some new stuff like cheng tng. Overall, I had a great time and I'll miss this thing.