Exploring Singapore Noodle Options 1 (Feb 25)

So I started my more formal assessment of my favourite oriental dish whilst in Gosford last week to do some more gaming. Wednesday night is games night at the Central Coast Leagues Club and I had plenty of time to kill before going there. So I ventured to the food court in the Imperial Shopping Centre to the one place on the Central Coast where I have been eating (regularly) longer than anywhere else.

Yi Yi Asian Cuisine pretty much looks like many other food court outlets. On 28 October 1999 I was wandering through the shopping centre on my way through to the train station, roughly a month after having moved to the Woy Woy peninsula, fully intending to go straight home after attending an appointment in town. As I headed for the Mann Street entrance/exit I passed a group of people in front of a games store with some very familiar gaming boards set up. A quick enquiry revealed that there was a Blood Bowl league playing there every Thursday night. So I made a quick trip back to my home in Umina Beach to fetch my miniatures, with enough money left for the return trip and something to eat. The rest is history.
The menu for the takeaway has improved in quality over the years, with set menu options added to what was available on display in the bain-marie. I can still recall derogatory remarks about what was on on offer by my new gaming companions when I first bought food from there. There was one thing though that I had found quite different from other places I dined at – the fried rice, the current manager once assured me, was steamed rather than fried. In recent years I was appreciating that more and more and had ordered it so often that when she sees me coming she only has to point and I only have to nod. It's generally white and fluffy, with little chunks of ham, peas and scrambled egg.
However, last Wednesday, I decided to do something different, keeping her on her toes as it were, ordering the Singapore Fried Noodle from the set menu and choosing to dine in for a change. If you add a drink to the cost it's little more than $20. I had enough time to go get one from the nearby Reject Shop, returning in time to see them bring the meal to the counter.

One of the things I appreciate in this noodle dish is the colour. There is a lot of it and the added ingredients are rather appreciative bite-sized pieces. It's a mild dish, hardly any curry powder in this offering and I took my time in devouring it, leaving nothing but some grease on the plate and a used wooden fork. For a proper meal, one can combine this with either the cheaper rice option or splurge and get the special fried rice. Either will set you back around $30 but it's two good meals there. I should also add, they have moved with the times after Covid and you'll find that they have food delivery options through the popular purveyors.
It's still pretty good after all these years which is one thing I really appreciate about the place – it is consistently good. Well worth paying a few dollars more. Like my preference for a good chicken schnitty, this is the place that I'll compare all Singapore noodle dishes to. It is the benchmark for my examination of other takeaways.
I practically lived in Gosford from the 20th to the 28th. Feb 20 to 22 I went to four football matches at the stadium, with two NRL trial games on the 21st and a Mariners matches either side of it. On the 24th was our pub trivia night at Hotel Gosford, which we didn't do so well at but had a good time anyway, then there was the games night at the club and finally one more Mariners' match on the 28th. It was yet another instalment of the F3 Derby and a rather tense and hard fought fixture. To come over the next two weeks, Asian Women's AFC Cup matches in Sydney.

P.S: Due to my particular eating disorder I actually find this meal quite palatable, using a little psychology on myself to get some vegetables and other meat into the system. I surprised my father once when we were dining out in Bathurst, before he passed away in 2004. The waitress asked for our order and I quite happily responded 'Singapore Noodle please!' The look on his face was priceless.  

Pictures taken by Geoff G Turner (c) 2026.

Links correct at time of posting.

A drive to St Albans (Jan 31)

So I get a text last Thursday (Jan 29) from a gaming buddy to let me know that he would be picking me up on Saturday around 11am. Hmm, I'm surprised. He hasn't picked me up since I was in living in East Gosford 3-4 years ago. I usually make my own way to gaming sessions at his place in Narara. He advises me to bring my camera.
Saturday morning arrives and off we go. It's a warm day and the trip, my mate informs me, was to pick up some gaming gear that he found for sale on eBay. To save a few dollars, he offered to drive down to meet the seller at St Albans, named for the city of the same name in Hertfordshire, England in 1841. Our drive would see us pass through the south west corner of the Central Coast at Spencer, where Mangrove Creek merges with the Hawkesbury River, then follow that winding riverway to Wisemans Ferry and continue along a narrow road, with a considerable part of it unsealed, through farmlands and forests, until we eventually reached an overgrown cattle grid that guarded one access point to the village. From my place in Woy Woy, it took us nearly two hours to get there.

The actual meeting point would be the historic Settlers Arms Inn, formerly known as the Travellers Rest. The original license was issued in 1836 but by March 1848 the inn apparently was still yet to be built, although a landowner had already constructed a stone house two stories high. The inn was constructed facing the Macdonald River, at a point 15 kms from the Hawkesbury. St Albans being the upper navigational point of the tributary. From there goods could be shipped to Sydney.

The hotel is well-preserved and there were campers by the river, a lunchtime crowd enjoying a meal, a few drinks and some musical entertainment, kids playing in the nearby park and a trio of peacocks strutting about, including a considerably rare white male (leucistic rather than albino) a photo of which I'll post on my life blog when I get the chance.

When the deal was done, we had a chance to eat. It was a simple choice to make from the menu – chicken schnitzel burgers served in a shallow basket with a decent serve of chips for $20. I couldn't refuse having an alcoholic beverage and grabbed a bottle of cider as well. A good sized tasty schnitty with lettuce, beetroot and tomato, which kept me filled until around 9pm when we drove off for a late dinner after our gaming session.
Must say, it was a good day out. I haven't been for a drive like that for, well, years. The camera hasn't had that much of a workout since the 20th anniversary of Eucalyptus Bowl Blood Bowl tournament in Burwood last year.

Pictures taken by Geoff G Turner (c) 2026.

Links correct at the time of posting.