We ordered a big bowl of beehoon crab (2 crabs) @ $81, lala clams @ $16, prawns with crispy oats @ $25, deep fried beancurd skin with ginko nuts @ $12 , cabbage chicken @ $14, stir fried kailan @ $8. Before the dishes arrived, we were served with the usual small plate of peanuts and an usual plate of thinly sliced bitter gourd. Joan said there was some honey on the gourd but we didn't taste any sweetness. It was refreshing though and I can see Fion enjoying every bite of it.
Everyone enjoyed the food. The beehoon crab soup was rich and buttery. The lala was nice and a bit spicy due to some chilli padi garnishes. The prawns went well with the sweet taste of oats. All of us like the deep fried beancurd skin which tasted a little like the mock duck in the vegetarian bee hoon but yet different. Kailan was not bad but the cabbage chicken didn't suit the palate of many of us. I find it alright. The chicken meat was on the dry side and tasted like stew pork being cooked for a long time with chestnuts. The chicken tasted better when eaten together with the cabbage which had absorbed the flavour of the dish. However, I will give this dish a miss the next time.
Finally, you can feast on the 2 photos after my rabbling :>
This place is someway along the stretch of shophouse before the Tiong Bahru Pau and before the Outram Road exit to the road leading to SGH. If you want to eat there, do make a reservation as it's normally full house in the evenings. I will bring my family for a feast there one day.
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Whoo hoo! Did we have a yummy feast or what! Good friends chomping down with gusto and only a brief thought for niceties like etiquette. At least on my part. :o)
I MUST gush to all who may be reading this very nice blog (by a very nice person)… especially about the three headliners of the evening!
1) The crab beehoon was soooo gooood: silky plump crab meat and lush buttery soup. Recommend that you request the staff to serve the beehoon separately from the soup as it soaks up the liquid pretty quick, especially since it would take a while to crack through the thick crab shells and dig out every tiny morsel of sweet meat. (As COYPB will attest. Dang, she was soooo slow in digging out crab meat that I felt compelled to cheer/coax her on). Best way to makan the dish, in my opinion, is to quickly dig out loose chunks of crab meat, mix it into the soup with the beehoon and slurp it down while its steamy hot. Nibble and tongue out (gross but really better than that poker thingy they provide) the leftover scraps of crab at your own leisure later.
2) The second seafood superstar is the lala clam dish. Although the gravy was tad salty (That’s right COYPB, I too sometimes find things salty. :o) ) because we order a larger portion and I think they did not wash the shells well enough, the gravy/sauce is this light and flavorful amalgamation of ginger, garlic and heat from the chili padi. Not the usually spice thick chili sauce deal. If you add pasta to the dish it could well be served as a vongole type dish in your fave Italian eatery.
3) And last but not even a tiny bit, the least, the cereal prawn. Ok on the surface seems like a typical UDMC seafood centre deal. But these prawns were quite large, very fresh, and fried just right so that the shells are crispy enough to chew up but the flesh was still plump and juicy. I find this a veritable art as these prawns are butterflied (ergo the flesh is exposed to the searing heat of the oil). On top of this, the cereal actually has flavor and not just the vague baby formula taste, but sweet, creamy, with the mingling of crispy curry leaves and bits of chilli. So you get a hint of spice and a hint of heat in the sweet crunchiness of the cereal. Excellent-tay!
The service at the place is also very good. Quick clearance and change of plates and active polite solicitude. I embarrassed myself a few times slurping up the gravy and scraps from the big 3 mentioned above, when the wait staff politely asked if they could clear the dishes I panick-ly declared that we were not done yet. :o) As the place was filling up in waves, though, we got the sense that the staff was raring for us to leave, esp since we did not order dessert and sat to chat at the (finally) empty table.
Don’t expect a quiet ambience at this place, esp if you are not thick skinned like us. Hee!
I personally love the ambience at this place, crowded yes, noisy yes, but there seems to be a nice mix of working-class and well-to-dos all united in the pleasure of good food in good quantities. That nite we were celebrating two of our gal pals birthdays. At the same time, there was a big happy bunch of aunties and uncles celebrating a shy gentlemen’s 70th birthday. Some of the aunties were quite jazzily dressed (ala Hong Kong) and striking poses for photos. There was also a table of happy rowdy Ah Peks (bachelors and/or hubbies let loose for the evening) having plastic bibs draped around them and joking about needing to protect their hair (what’s left of it) from the crab crumbs and passing around bottles of XO hooch. Laughter and jokes were free and uninhibited. Well worth the money for the experience I’d say. Take care! :o)
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