Siang Hee Restaurant: When Hawkers do it, it is not called Fusion

With Wahcow, Cactuskit, WahcowMaiden, Khim, Liverpool

Pumpkin Tempura Prawns (4 prawns $12)

It is funny, but everytime a fancy restaurant incorporates some local flavours to Western Cuisine, we call it "Fusion". However, when a Cze Char incorporates some Western Flavours into their cooking, we don't really think of it as "Fusion", do we?

Take Cereal Prawns for example. I am quite sure Cereal is not used in traditional Chinese cooking. But some very clever chef came up with this dish years ago and now everyone loves it. You hardly hear anyone complain that this dish is "non-traditional" or "Fusion".

This particular Cze Char Stall has been around for 30 years but it is only in the last two years that it has become increasingly popular. The increased in popularity came about when Ah Yoke, the feisty 60 year old Lao Ban Niang cum chef, decided to start experimenting with new flavours drawn from our current culinary climate.



Take the pumpkin tempura prawn for instance which is a cross between Japanese style tempura prawns covered with a gloriously rich Pumpkin Butter Cream which reminded me of a thick and savoury Pumpkin soup. The Pumpkin Butter Cream was quite an eye opener for me especially since I really like a good Pumpkin Soup. The sauce is so addictive that I could simply eat it with my rice and be as satisfied as little Jack Horner (you know the one who pulled out a plum and said "what a good boy am I"). Aside from Pumpkin and Butter, Ah Yoke also added some fresh chilli and curry leaves into the secret sauce. Simple but satisfyingly Shiok! 4.5/5


Crispy Ter Kah (Pork Knuckle) $15

The other dish that got the "Wows" from our kakis was this Crispy Ter Kah which really is Ah Yoke's version of the famous German dish. She manages to get the skin to be as crispy as Keropok with a nice layer of chewy subdermal fat to compliment it. Ah Yoke was explaining that she goes to a lot of trouble trying to extract the "porky" stench and excess fats from the Pork Knuckle. First, the pork knuckle is pressure cooked for 20 minutes to extract the fats, then it is slowly simmered in herbs to remove get rid of the stench.



One of the ingredients that is used in the Pork Knuckle is Red Yeast Rice which Ah Yoke said was added because it negates some of the ill effects of eating Pork fat. Now, you might think that this is another old wife's tale, but she is actually quite right. Red Yeast Rice contains lovastatin which is actually a cholesterol lowering drug. The "Statins" are a major class of drugs that are used to lower cholesterol levels, so our hawker aunty knows what she is doing! However, whether or not the addition of Red Yeast Rice to the Ter Kah is going to help with your cholesterol levels is debatable. So don't be too happy if you have high cholesterol, because this is NOT your license to indulge in Ter Kah!

The chilli sauce is quite unique as one of the key ingredients is apricot jam and it actually goes really well with the Ter Kah. My only grouse is that the meat itself was a little dry, otherwise the crispy skin and the chewy layer just beneath it is really quite a treat. 4.25/5


Marmite Pork $8

If you, (like me) enjoy Jing Dou Pai Gu (Pork Ribs) then you will enjoy the variations of the dish that you can order here. The Pork is nicely seasoned and has just the right amount of tenderness. You know how some Cze Char places go overboard on the use of bicarb in tenderizing the pork so that it has the consistency of fishcake? Here, it is tender but you still get enough bite in the pork. Basically, you can order the same deep fried pork with Pumpkin Butter Cream, Marmite or Mongolian sauce. We tried the Marmite Pork that day. It was good but I felt the Marmite flavour could have a bit more kick. Judging from the quality of the fried pork, I can think it is quite a sure bet that the Jing Dou Pai Gu would be really good. 4/5

Conclusion

If you are looking for your next Cze Char to visit, then Siang Hee is a good bet. Our kakis have either already gone back there or are planning a return visit with the family.

Siang Hee Restaurant
Blk 89 Zion Road
#01-137
S160089
11am to 10.30pm
Closed once every 3 weeks on Tuesdays
97364067 Ah Yoke

What to do next?

Check out the review from the advance party led by PChong
Check out the food across the street at Beo Crescent!
There's several good eats at the Zion Road Food Centre too!

Ah Hor Mee Pok Tah: Chilli and Giao Champion

With my Teochew Ah Di, Wahcow

Mee Pok Tah $3

Here's another one of those stalls that you better be quick to taste because the original hawker is already past 72 and even though he still looks like a "Lao Yankee", and behaves like one, he himself admits that at most he has 10 years of Mee Pok Tak left in him. Actually, he still looks quite good for a 72 year old. When I asked him why he wears a long sleeved shirt while he cooks his Mee Pok, he simply replied, "Cos I want to look good!"

Talking about the subject of aging, I know for most of our readers, hitting the eighth decade might still be quite a long time away. For us who are hitting middle age, it is like "Oh my, I am more than half way there, and the 2nd half is going to go quicker than the first half". I once heard a preacher (An Anglican Bishop in his 70's) say that every morning when he wakes up he goes, "Ay! I am still around!". It is almost as if after you cross the life expectancy age (78 for men, 82.8 for women), every day is a bonus. Are there anyone here that fall into this category?



Anyway, if you do have the fortune of passing the life expectancy age, then it really does give you the passport to do whatever you want, right? I mean, who cares if your Doctor tells you to stop smoking? "Ay, Doc, been smoking for 50 years and my bus still arrive at the interchange. You asking me to stop now?" Well, if you are in that category, then when it comes to food, I guess you can also just indulge in a bit of Mee Pok Tar which has a chilli made with good old Pork Lard.



Mr Liang proudly tells me that his chilli is made from Pork Lard, Buah Keluak, Hae Bee and Dried Chilli. For a person who always orders Mee Pok Tar mai Hiam (no chilli), I can tell you that this is one stall that I would ask for extra chilli. You see the main problem I have with Chilli is that most stalls just want to make their chilli hot hot. However, the chilli here is not overly spicy but the flavour is oh so addictive that you can just sit there and just pick on it with your chopsticks.

The other "champion" item is the Fish Dumplings (Her Giao) which Mr Liang still proudly makes himself. The slightly gooey texture of the meat filling is very good and it is one of the most memorable Her Giao that I have had.

Too bad the Mee Pok itself was not as QQ as I would like it to be. Otherwise it would have scored a higher rating. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Very good bowl of Mee Pok Tar and you get quite a big bowl for $3! Do yourself a favour and order a bowl of Giao Soup and try the chilli especially if you are the type who don't usually take chilli. It might just make you change your mind.


Mr Liang, 72 and still wants to look good!

Ah Hor Teochew Kway Teow Mee
12 Verdun Road
Bet Sam Leong and Syed Alwi Roads
7am to 4pm
Wed closed
81274249
Mr Liang
Recommended by ice. Read her review here

Killiney Kopitiam: A Tale about an Old Hainanese Gentleman

Kopi $1.10

I was told that if you wanted the best cup of Kopi from Killiney Kopitiam, you still had to go back to the original shop at Killiney Road where the coffee is brewed by an old Hainanese gentleman who has been making the Kopi there for the longest time. Now, I have always enjoyed the Kopi and Teh from Killiney Kopitiam, but never really blogged them because, well, they are everywhere and everyone knows about them already. But when I heard about the old man, I decided that I must pay the original kopitiam a visit.


"Ah Gong"

As it turns out, I was a little late. Four years too late as a matter of fact. The old man in question, affectionately known as "Ah Gong", retired in 2004. (Now who was it in the forum that told me about him?) Anyway, I was unfortunate not to have ever tasted the Kopi from this legendary "Barista" who had spent 54 years of his life brewing Kopi in the very same shop till he retired. Such was his dedication that he never had time to start a family and thus on retirement, he did what a Salmon would do and went back to Hainan island. Unfortunately, "Ah Gong" died last year at the age of 86 after having served close to a million cups of Kopi. (Assuming he makes 500 cups a day for 54 years with 2 weeks break each year)

You don't get people like "Ah Gong" anymore, so here's a little tribute to him for his contribution to our Singapore food Heritage. I am very sure that some of our readers will remember him fondly. Do write in and let us know yeah?


Kaya Toast

According to the Singapore Book of Records, this original shop at 67 Killiney Road is Singapore's oldest existing Hainanese Coffeeshop, having been around since 1919. The shop used to be known as Qiong Xin He and was a typical Hainanese Coffeeshop which served really good Kopi and Kaya Toast. It was only in 1993 that the shop was bought over by Mr Woon who then changed the name to Killiney Kopitiam and started expanding its operations. Fortunately, when Mr Woon took over Killiney Kopitiam, he managed to persuade "Ah Gong" and two other Hainanese men to continue serving the Kopi and Kaya toast.

Now, I used to think that franchising and expansion was a bad thing for our Singapore food heritage. There are some franchises out there which I feel have deviated too far from the original recipe. However, with Killiney, somehow they managed to still preserve a part of our heritage that would have otherwise been lost back in 1993. Now at least, I can still get a good cup of Kopi accompanied by Kaya Toast that is made to a certain standard at several locations around Singapore.

Whether it is a placebo effect or not, both Amagada and I felt that the Kopi C that day was about the best cup of Hainanese style Kopi compared to the rest of the other Killiney stores that we frequent. It was smooth, aromatic and very fragrant with only a slight tinge of bitterness and acidity. 4.75/5


French Toast

This issue about vanishing Heritage Hawkers is something that we should be concerned about. The good old hawkers of yesteryear who, like "Ah Gong" consider their jobs their life's calling are getting very rare. For many Heritage Hawkers their craft ends the moment they retire because for a lot of them, their kids have been educated and are not willing to carry on the family business. Over the next 10 years, we will be seeing hawkers from the post war "Baby Boomer" generation dissappear from our food scene. I think something has to be done to preserve some of these famous names.

Now, if we can draw upon what we learn from Killiney Kopitiam, it would seem apparent to me that one of the ways to preserve some of these Heritage Hawkers is for their businesses to be acquired with plans for expansion. Purists may baulk at the notion, but it is either we do that or we can just enjoy them in their current state for the next few years before they fade into history. I think for a lot of these hawkers in their 60's who do not have an heir apparent, an attractive retirement plan might be a good way of getting them to part with their skills. I feel that if they have been building up their "Brand" for the last 40 years, that this brand as value and this value can be repackaged into a sort of pension for the hawker so that he can still have some steady income, go into semi retirement and act as consultant to ensure that their recipes and skills are passed onto the next generation. This idea is not new and there are some other people who have already taken on the task of preserving our Heritage Hawker Brands, but this needs to be accelerated over the next 10 years in order to preserve some of these famous stalls. I must admit that not all of them work out well, but for those that do, like in the case of Killiney, it is a piece of tradition that has been preserved for posterity.


Fresh Bread with Butter and Kaya

Here's a little something from the regular customers of the kopitiam which you might want to try. Rather than ordering the usual Kaya Toast, get there first thing in the morning and try their fresh bread with butter and their fragrant Kaya which incidentally is still hand made with freshly squeezed coconut milk. You will have to get there early in the morning because by the afternoon these traditional bread would have already become a little stale. If you think about it, the real reason for us to toast bread or make french toast is because stale bread doesn't taste good. But freshly sliced bread is super soft and you can really savour the taste of the butter and Kaya while you enjoy nibbling on the soft texture of the bread. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Great Kopi and Kaya Toast and a legacy of an old Hainanese man preserved for future generations to enjoy.

67 Killiney Road
Singapore 239525
Tel: 6734 9648 / 6734 3910
Mon, Wed to Sat - 6am to 11pm
Tues, Sun & PH - 6am to 6 pm




What to do next?

Check out the other stalls where you can get a great cup of kopi
See where else you can get traditional Hainanese food
Remember to vote for the dialect group you are in!

Yang Zhou Fried Hokkien Mee: Perfect texture

Fried Hokkien Mee $5 (prices from $3)

Hokkien Fried Prawn Mee has become, in most places, more like a Pasta than a true Fried Noodle. What I mean is that in a lot of places, the noodles aren't really fried but simply cooked in the wok and then the gravy is poured over it and allowed to thicken. That's what you do with a Pasta dish. But when it comes to a truly delicious Fried Hokkien Mee, the noodles themselves need to be fried till it becomes slightly burnt so that it has a wonderful "Mamee" (Instant Noodle) sort of flavour and is ready to absorb all the stock when it is added. So if you want a good Hokkien Mee, you got to observe how long the hawker spends actually frying the noodle before adding the gravy. When they get the timing right, the result is magic.

Well, the uncle at this stall is quite an expert at frying the noodles. A good Hokkien Mee man would swirl the noodles around the wok and avoid cutting the noodles unnecessarily unlike a Mee Goreng man. It makes perfect sense that you want the noodles long since you want to slurp it with a pair of chopsticks rather than spooning it like you would a Mee Goreng. His technique produced a Hokkien Mee with excellent texture and the gooeyness of the gravy covering each strand of noodles was almost perfect. It is just too bad that it was just after the Hari Raya period, so the fishermen haven't been going out to sea to catch wild prawns. Otherwise the man would have used "Sua Lor" instead of farmed prawns which I expect would have made the taste of the Hokkien Mee even better. 4.25/5



Conclusion

Gotta go back and try again when the man gets his usual supply of "Sua Lor". I am sure it would be considered one of the best Hokkien Mees around.

Yang Zhou Fried Hokkien Mee
Blk 40 Lower Delta #01-16
Beo Crescent
62730429 Mr Lim
97400653
10am - 8pm
Friday closed

Yuet Loy: Mom and Pop Cze Char!

With Cactuskit, liverpool, keano, smart, jems and damien

Tofu with Beansprouts

If you are hankering for some really shiok dishes to make you eat more rice, then you can try heading down to the Smith Street Food Centre to check out this little Mom and Pop Cze Char who specializes in Cantonese style cuisine. Actually this stall is quite famous for its Beef Hor Fun and I have been wanting to check them out for the longest time. But when I eventually got there, they ran out of Hor Fun! Sigh! So I had to settle for the Cze Char dishes which turned out to be quite a treat.

Now this couple are pretty old school, so they don't believe in a "low salt" diet so the dishes all come out pretty tasty (salty). The homemade tofu with beansprouts is a simple dish but there is something about the texture and taste of the tofu that made it go very well with rice. 4.5/5


Stir Fry Kai Lan with Sliced Beef

Since I couldn't order the Beef Hor Fun, I settled for the Beef Kai Lan. The beef was tender and the dish was good. But lacking the Hor Fun with Wok Hei, it just didn't have that ooomph I was expecting. Still, it was a commendable dish. 4/5


Salted Fish Chicken

I don't take much salted fish nowadays but by golly, when you actually get to eat it, it is quite shiok. Again this Salted Fish Chicken dish is a great dish to down that extra plate of rice with. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Humble little stall that is churning out really great Cantonese homecooked food! Well worth a visit.

Yuet Loy
Smith Street Food Centre
#02-151
Open for lunch and dinner

Carrot Cake: Lots of Stalls at Chomp Chomp with no name

With sumosumo, jems, carnineviand, ping, pong, champagne, Mr YaKwang, Holybro, Holydrummer


You would think that any stall that can do a white carrot cake will be able to do a black one as well right? Afterall, it is a matter of adding black sauce and how hard can that be? But the fact is that most Carrot Cake stalls I know of are either good for the white or the black but not both. Will that be your observation as well?



For this particular stall, it is the white version that is the best version. The carrot cake fried till it is nice and crispy and the nice savoury flavour comes from the secret recipe fish sauce which has gone through some tweaking, plus the addition of prawns when they fry the carrot cake. The outsourced carrot cake is not bad, quite soft, according to Jems who likes it this way. Sumosumo also gave his approval for the white without chilli. 4.25/5

This particular stall has been around for quite a while. It is one of these Heritage Hawker stalls where the business has been passed down from father to son. The old man used to peddle his carrot cake around the Philip St area in Serangoon and settled at Chomp Chomp since 1976. The old man is still around, but his son has well and truly taken over and Dad refused to have his picture taken and insist that the limelight be shone upon his son instead. But after much coaxing he finally relented. I just wanted to post his picture so that those of you who have been eating at this stall for eons will perk up and say, "Hey, I have been buying from this man since his son was still waist high!" Hands up anyone?

Conclusion

Very good white Carrot Cake and worth having a plate on your table as part of your hawker feast.

Carrot Cake
Stall 36 Chomp Chomp Food Centre
(Front of the food centre on the right)
Opened 5.30pm to 12 midnight
Closed on alternate Tuesdays



What to do next?

Check out other famous Carrot Cake places.
Try the two famous Hokkien Mee there Che Jian and Ah Hock!
Make sure you also get a plate of BBQ Stingray from Boon Tat Street BBQ.
RK House Prata from a across the road is also quite good.

Big D's Grill: Coffeeshop Kurobuta, Wagyu and Kobe

With Food Guru

Kurobuta Pork Chops $36

Oh yes, we are seeing more of the good stuff hitting the coffeeshops!

My latest find is this coffeeshop stall which has started selling US Kobe Beef Ribs, US Kurobuta Pork Chops and Wagyu beef done mediterranean style. Now, there are many Western food stalls which are opening up in coffeeshops so I usually have to look out for signs that a particular stall is offering more than just your run-of-the-mill Dory fish and chips, NZ steaks, chicken chops etc.


Preparing the grill with beef fat

You know how a lot of times you just get a gut feel about things? In fact, a lot of decisions in life are made based on gut feel. When it comes to people, women tend to have that special ability to size a person up in just a blink of a second. It's the same thing when men look at a BMW and know that they are looking at quality. In fact, it only takes one glance to see quality but it takes time to try to describe what actually makes a BMW look more "solid" than a Geely. (Yeah the Geely has taken over from Hyundai as the budget car)

So it is with Big D's Grill. I had a good gut feel about the stall just within the first few seconds of looking at the place. Then I started listing out the visual cues. Big Eurasian Man wearing a biker T and jeans behind the grill - TICK. Array of different restaurant style pans hanging above the stove - TICK. Big sticker declaring "Angus Beef" - TICK. The words Kobe, Wagyu and Kurobuta, TICK, TICK and TICK. Big D (Damien) oiling the grill by rubbing a piece of beef fat on it, TICK times ten plus an A*! It is quite obvious that Big D is really serious about providing good food!

Another obvious cue is the standard of the side dishes. Coleslaw and French Fries are dead giveaways for the run-of-the-mill "Hawker" western food. Thankfully, Big D's provides a wonderful selection of sides with a heavy Mediterranean influence. The Pinto beans and Spiced Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Mash were excellent and really got my tastebuds tingling. And the Kurobuta Pork Chops did not dissappoint either. They were wonderfully tender and had that charred mediterranean spice taste. The pork was flavoursome without that "porky" smell that pork can sometimes have. Now, $36 might be a little pricey for a Pork Chop but it is cheap for "Kurobuta" which are usually more than $40 in restaurants. 4.5/5


Pasta with Anchovies $17

Big D's pastas are also well worth a try. His Pasta with Anchovies is a relatively simple dish but very well executed. The pasta was perfectly Al Dente and the freshly chopped herbs are again a pleasant departure from the usual "McCormick" dried italian herb mixes that most Western Food Stalls (and even some restaurants) would use. I am not a big fan of Anchovies, so I did not appreciate this dish as much as someone who is. But judging from the way it was presented, I would be coming back to try the other pastas that they are offering. 4/5

There is a good reason why Big D's is called Big D's. That's because owner and chef, Damian D'Silva looks like the kind of Cowboy you wouldn't want to mess around with. An Ex-Aeronautical Engineer, he flew off on a whim (at age 42) to spend 2 years working in kitchens around Southern Europe in order to pursue his interest in cooking before coming back to Singapore to work at several European restaurants before he opened the now defunct Soul Kitchen at Purvis St.

I am telling you all this because it is not easy to find a chef-owner who is passionate about food that is willing to open a stall in a coffeeshop. And the best thing is that since he is in a coffeeshop, he can keep rental cost down and serve quality food at great prices. He is quite fussy about using only chilled meats and freshly chopped herbs and doing stuff from scratch, such as his steak fries which double fries himself. This is a man who really cooks rather than just another person hired to grill a piece of meat and serve it with re-heated veggies.

The only thing I am concerned about is whether he is able to churn out the food quick enough for a crowd and controlling escalating food costs since he is insistent of only using imported stuff like Spanish Anchovies. Apart from that, I think you can be assured of getting something quite special out of his kitchen.


Bonet $4

Don't miss out on Big D's homemade desserts. Bonet may be a simple homestyle Italian Chocolate Pudding with Caramel Sauce poured over it, but simple things executed well can be marvellous, just like a perfectly cooked omelette. For someone who isn't really that big on desserts, I actually enjoyed this very much. It's almost like a Chocolate version of Creme Caramel and is so smooth that it slides easily down the throat leaving a wonderful chocolate aftertaste at the back of the palate. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Big D's has that maverick Roadhouse Pub kinda of character and my first impression is that it could easily have been set up in an old shophouse somewhere in Siglap. We did not managed to try a lot of their other stuff like the Beer Battered Fish and Chips made from Snapper fillets ($8.90) or the US Kobe Cross Rib ($40 for 200gm) but judging from what I had, I'd say that Big D's Grill is well worth checking out if you are hungry for some excellent European Food cooked with character and passion without the +++.

Special Promo for ieatishootipost readers:

Mention ieatishootipost and get a free dessert (Bonet) for every $30 spent!

Big D's Grill
Blk 18 Bedok South Road
#01-87
11.30am to 9.30pm daily
Thurs 5.30pm to 9.30pm
Damian 96627040

Boon Tat Street BBQ Seafood: BBQ Stingray

My first introduction to the BBQ Stingray was during my dating days in RJC. I never used to like seafood until I met Amagada. What to do? You want to impress your potential in-laws you need to put in the effort which includes enjoying what the girlfriend's family likes as well as washing the windows before Chinese New Year. Yeah, PM Lee might be Singapore's love guru, but I also have a few tips up my sleeves (besides buying $228 mooncakes) and have two kids to prove it that it works.

Anyway the first, and for me, still the best Stingray, used to be the one at the coffeeshop just below her block of flats at Teban Gardens. For a guy who didn't like to eat fish, the Stingray was quite a revelation. It's too bad that the stall has since moved to who knows where.

The thing about BBQ Stingray is that this seems to be one of the very few ways people actually eat the fish. Stingray is a very cheap fish if you were to buy it in the markets, but somehow when it gets displayed on the bed of ice at the BBQ seafood place, the value suddenly increases exponentially. Afterall, no one really buys stingray except for the BBQ Seafood places right? Do let us know if your family buys Stingray to cook at home.

Amagada really likes the sambal chilli here and says that it deserves a 4.5/5. Yes, it is one of the better stingrays that I have eaten of late, the chilli is full of Hae Bee and is very fragrant. However, it somehow still doesn't measure up to what I had over twenty years ago.

Conclusion

Very good stingray here but I can't say that it was as good as what I had twenty years ago. I am sure you all can recommend Singapore's no. 1 BBQ Stingray right? And with around 3 BBQ seafood places at Chomp Chomp, which one is your favourite?

Boon Tat Street BBQ Seafood
Chomp Chomp Food Centre
Open 5.30pm till late

Cafe Oliv Revisited: An ieat Team Review

Reviewed by Holydrummer with Pics from Cactuskit and Wahcow

With the additional mouths of smart, liverpool, champagne, taukwa,wahcow maiden, mr. & mrs sumosumo, jems & jemster, cactusprincess, holybro & holybunny

Have you ever fancied feasting on French escargots, Chinese 'guo-tie' and Italian pasta - all at the same time? Weird cravings, I hear you say. Or if you are tired of the run-of-the-mill chicken chop from the hawker centre stall, join the club. Question is, where can you go for exquisite western cuisine that is a cut above the rest, yet decently-priced? Look no further - At Cafe Oliv, you can have your cake and eat it too.

Executive Chef-Owner Kevin Heng presents a range of unique offerings from his rejuvenated menu that allows him to better express his culinary flair. With hints of 'Eastern' influences in his new dishes, one would ask what on earth is he really cooking - Western? East-Meets-West? Fusion?

In what was arguably the heaviest weekend degustation - a whopping 20-course - we guinea pigs gathered for a nice Saturday brunch to explore Cafe Oliv's new food experiments and to find out the answer.

First up, Salads and Appetisers:


Oliv Avocado Quail Eggs Mesclun Frisee French Dressing $10.90
Photo by Cactuskit

Presentation wise, this is a colourful beauty. Avocado by nature has a creamy & buttery texture; Combining thick slices of these together with the quail eggs, they lend weight to alternating textures between the crunchy mesclun greens and the juicy cherry tomatoes & olives, making this a full-bodied salad. 4/5

Gratin Oliv Herb Butter Yolk Cheese Monray Escargot $9.90 (half a dozen)
Photo by Cactuskit

Fans of escargot can also rejoice. The snails come conveniently de-shelled and are surprisingly quite plump and tender, packing in a bit of crunch. Served on a bed of blanched Chinese spinach, some of us found the choice of greens rather amusing initially. Mismatch? Perhaps. But I thought it provided a good contrast by cushioning the saltiness of the accompanying sauce around the escargots and added a somewhat fusion-istic presentation. Bound to be a crowd favourite, you can't go wrong with this oven-baked dish with bechemel sauce & melted cheese oozing all over. 4/5


Oliv Fusion Stuffing "Guo Tie" Streaky Pork Dumpling $7.90 (8 pieces)

Photo by Cactuskit

Drawing inspiration from his Chinese kitchen staff, this Northern Chinese staple was re-invented with an additional twist in cooking technique. Instead of just the usual pan-frying, the "Guo Tie" were then braised with stock and the pan jus was left to reduce until it was totally absorbed into the dumplings, sealing in all the flavours. The intended effect was to create a "Guo Tie" in the style of a "tang bao", a la "xiao long bao" - where there is soup within waiting to burst out. It was indeed juicy enough at first bite, though the base could be seared longer & finished with a crispier skin. 4.25/5

P.S: Before we move on, don't forget to ask for Oliv's two homemade sauces - Honey Mustard & Thai Mayonnaise to accompany your meal. They go well with anything at all, and our moderator 'sumosumo' dabbed the dumpling with the honey mustard - "Fantastic!"


Oliv Quesadilla with Seafood $11.90

Photo by Wahcow

The Quesadilla stood out with its paper-thin tortilla skin - it is like an ultra crispy thin-crust pizza packed with chokefuls of filling bursting at the seams. You can select from a choice of 5 types of ingredients. Uncle Smart especially enjoyed this dish! 4.25/5

Photo by Cactuskit

Look at that! Can't resist sinking your teeth & experiencing that 'first crunch' yeah? You'd be glad to know that Cafe Oliv also serves a variety of thin-crust pizzas including the new Wild Mushroom Anchovies Margarita Pizza @ $12.90 - good for two to three.


Chargrilled Bratwurst Snail & Spicy Italian Sausages with Rosti Potato $14.90
Photo by Wahcow

Rosti is considered the national dish of Switzerland and pairing the German Bratwurst & Italian Sausage with Swiss Rosti reflects a delightful culinary mishmash akin to the neighbouring cultures prevalent in Switzerland. In Singapore, I shall christen this "Rosti Prata".

For Oliv's "Rosti Prata" - Russet Burbank potatoes were grated & pan-fried, with bacon left to saute first then tossed in to infuse flavour into the potato prata. Succulent sausages on top of Rosti - an impeccable match and a hit with the kakis! 4.5/5

Oliv Traditional Beef Stew with Fennel, Potato & Pilaf Rice $11.90

Photo by Cactuskit

This is as good'ol hearty as beef stew can get. Chunks of tender beef shin and root vegetables are stewed for a good few hours and served with steaming hot pilaf rice. The shin contains more tendons and less fat which is ideal for stewing. This dish is my personal favourite here and I love to have this stew especially on a chilly cold rainy day. It never fails to warm not only my stomach, but my heart too. 4.5/5

If you are not a fan of beef, try Oliv's Black Pepper Pesto Chicken with Rosemary Sauce ($11.90) One whole boneless chicken thigh is marinated overnight with paprika, rosemary and french mustard - Kevin adds in a good measure of ground black pepper to spice things up. I could appreciate the crisp & charred bits outside, while leaving the meat inside still moist and tender. 4/5. If you're looking for a meaner and crunchier alternative, also excellent is the Parmesan Cheese Chicken Cutlet Coriander Dill Cream @ $11.90. 4.25/5 They may seem like simple culifare (pardon the pun), but they can satisfy the simplest of coq cravings.


Char-Grilled Honey Glazed Pork Belly Ribs with Barbeque Sauce ($16.90 for half slab, $26.90 for full slab)

Photo by Cactuskit

Saving the best for the last, this star dish here is so good, it is worth raving about one more time, even if it has been featured before here. This unique recipe combines a special technique with a secret homemade BBQ marinade to provide that melt-in-the-mouth texture:

Instead of basting, the soft-bone ribs are first steamed for 3 hours with the BBQ sauce & left to rest, absorbing & trapping all the moisture in the meat - most of the fat is also removed in the process. Then, more of that special concoction is coated onto the meat just before chargrilling it, to give it added oomph and flavour. The result? A perfectly lean and tender slab. I especially loved the charred and slightly crispy crust and don't miss out on the sides where you can really suck the flavour out of the soft bones. Heaven! All of the kakis gave their stamp of approval. 4.5/5

Conclusion

Western? East-Meets-West? Fusion? Ultimately, you define it & decide for yourself. Whatever it is, Cafe Oliv's revamped menu is bound to please any palate with its brand-new offerings while retaining the old favourites.

Besides the huge variety of starters and entrees, it even contains a 3-step DIY Pasta section where you can select from 3 types of pasta, 7 types of sauces & 11 types of ingredients.

What do all these mean? It means you will definitely be spoilt for choice!

National Day Special Promotion for ieatishootipost.sg readers only!

Good news for you all! Up till the end of August only, Cafe Oliv is pleased to offer its guests 10% discount off the total bill when you quote 'ieatishootipost.sg'. It's that simple - Just mention the blog and you will be entitled to the exclusive discount. That means NO GST and NO Service Charge!

Visit www.cafeoliv.com for more info.

Cafe Oliv
220, East Coast Road
(Near Church of the Holy Family, Katong)
6-344-3114
Open daily from 11:30am - 11pm

What to do next?

Read the previous Cafe Oliv review here

Go down the road and have a nice cup of kopi with nostalgia at Chin Mee Chin

Cross the road to satisfy your Durian craving at Ah Loon's

Katong Laksa: Will the Original Katong Laksa please stand up?

There is Laksa and then there is "Katong" Laksa.

I think most Singaporeans will immediately understand that "Katong" Laksa, refers to the style of Nonya Laksa that is eaten with just the spoon, and the most well known place to eat this is at the stalls around the junction of Ceylon and East Coast Road. Nowadays there are so many stalls calling themselves "Katong" laksa that you don't really know who is the original. But later in the post I will show you conclusive proof that I have found the one and only stall that has the right to call itself "Katong" laksa.

I remember the very first time I ate "Katong" Laksa. I was still in JC and dating my ex-girlfriend, Amagada then. It was one of those extreme epicurean epiphanic experiences (E4). It is so vivid that I can still almost taste the hae bee (dried shrimps) sediments on the tip of my tongue until today. Or maybe it was the combination of the wonderful laksa and the extra delectable company that made for the unforgettable experience?

Anyway, at that time, there weren't as many stalls as there are today. If I am not wrong, there was only the one stall and it was at No. 49 East Coast Road, (The one before Ceylon road) called Marine Parade Laksa. But Marine Parade Laksa wasn't the originator of the "Katong" laksa. The real granddaddy of this style of laksa was a legend of extraordinary propositions (in laksa lore anyway) by the name of Janggut, who used to peddle his Laksa at Marine Parade Jetty in the 50's. By the time he was nearing retirement, his son opened the stall at 49 East Coast Road and called it Marine Parade Laksa. Janggut himself sold his laksa there on weekends only.



It was around this time that George's (That's the man in the picture) father learnt the recipe from Janggut and started peddling his Laksa along the streets. Eventually he settled in Chai Chee and registered his stall as "Katong" Laksa in 1982. I guess at around that time, the name "Katong" Laksa wasn't as popular then. So strictly speaking, the only stall that can truly call itself "Katong" Laksa is this unassuming little stall sharing space with the Carrot Cake Aunty in a dilapidated old coffeeshop in Siglap. So now you know.



The laksa here is very popular with the locals though not as well known as the stalls at Ceylon road. The gravy is nice and savoury and as good (or some say better) as the other more famous stalls. Sure to satisfy your laksa craving. Best thing is that there is a Hainanaese Chicken Rice stall next to it, so you can order a plate of white chicken to dip in the gravy for extra Power! I met an old couple who had been eating at the stall since George's father's time and they swear it is the best laksa in Singapore. I thought it could do with a little more hae bee in the gravy, but then again, I don't think that there can be any laksa that can beat the one I ate over twenty years ago. Somehow nothing can ever replace nostalgia with a good sprinkling of puppy love. 4.25/5

Conclusion

If you haven't eaten here, you can't really say that you have officially eaten "Katong" Laksa before! And while you are there remember to order a plate of White Chicken from the stall on the right and a plate of carrot cake from the stall on the left. Happiness is assured.

Katong Laksa
1 Telok Kurau Road
(Opp. SPC Petrol Station)
Open 8am to 3.30pm
Open Daily
64404585
98559401




PostScript



They are a real happy bunch of hawkers here! And the good news is that there will be a 3rd Generation of Katong Laksa as Gerald will be taking over his father's business. Too bad the carrot cake will not have a successor, so shiokness ends when the old aunty retires.

What to do next:

Check out the Fang Choy next door
Go down the road for Seng Kee Bak Chor Mee
Cross the road to find Charcoal Fried Hokkien Mee
Check out the other laksa stalls
Listen to "Ode to Laksa" performed by Amagada: Here
Read about the Carrot Cake with Ikan Bilis next door

Yong Li: Treat your hawker nice Day!

With Cactuskit, Wahcow and smart


Well, we Singaporeans are an honest bunch. We know our faults and we openly admit them. Impatient, rude, unforgiving and downright Kiasu. We sigh in frustration when we experience graciousness in other societies and lament that we can't be the same. Hey, all is not lost. Deep inside each and everyone of us, there is that spark that just needs to be ignited. We all have it in us and it is just a matter of expressing it so that we can make a difference.

Why do I say that? Because there is still a lot of niceness and goodness out there! And it is as close as the hawker that you buy your food from everyday.

Take this little old lady selling kway chap for instance. You could go up to her, order your $3 kway chap, pay your money and sit down and eat. Or, you could do what our friend Cactuskit did and start showing real interest in the lady, chatting with her frequently and even going to the extent of inviting her to one of his church functions. It's no wonder she treats him like a son and cooks a special chilli stingray dish for him when she found out we were coming for breakfast on a particular day!

That is why I feel that if you want to see more graciousness in our society, it starts right where you are. And one of the first people you can start with is our humble hawkers who work so hard everyday to feed us but often don't get any credit and very little thanks for what they do. A big smile and a simple word of praise for their food usually gets things going and I assure you that you will go away feeling much better about life too! In fact, if I were a Director in the Ministry of Community Development, I would even declare an official "Hawkers Appreciation" Day to try to spread some goodwill around. Happy hawkers make yummier food and yummier food make us all happier.



This little stall in Haig Road Food Centre does not have any newspaper clipping or awards of any sort, but they have been cleaning out pig innards for more than 30 years. Ever since Cactuskit mentioned them in the forum, it has been winning approval from our forummers including our venerable uncle Smart who declared that the lady makes the best "Da Chang" (Large Intestines) and pig skin in Singapore.

I think the thing about their "Da Chang" is the fact that they managed to get it so clean that you don't have any "smelly" taste in it. Now, here is the secret which I immediately spotted, thanks to my years of studying histology and anatomy in Med School. (Yeah right). Notice from the picture that they stripped off the layer of mucosa (innermost layer which is in contact with the fecal matter), thus exposing the inner layer of circular muscle? That is the secret. The old lady laboriously turns the large intestine inside out and painstakingly strips off the mucosal layer. This extra step results in a clean tasting "Da Chang" which even someone (like me) who doesn't usually eat "Da Chang" can appreciate. Smart gives it a 4.75/5 and says that the texture and taste is almost perfect.



So here's the nice little old hawker Aunty who has been stripping off pig innards for 30 years. Be nice to her and to your favourite hawker Aunty and Uncle today!

Conclusion

If you like "Da Chang" and pig skin then according to our kway chap experts, you should give this stall a try real soon!

Yong Li Cooked Food
Haig Road Food Centre
Open 7am to 2pm daily
Closed on Monday




What to do next?

Read about other Kway Chap stalls by clicking here
Like to find more Mom and Pop stalls? Click here
Find out what else is there to eat at Haig Road FC. Click here
Don't miss the Putu Piring that is just round the corner! Click here


Remember to vote today! Click here