Sunday, September 18, 2016

Ma La Xiang Guo @ Bedok Interchange

Tried the Bedok Interchange's Ma La Xiang Guo twice to pen this review.



The concept is similar to the well-known Ri Ri Hong Ma La Xiang Guo in Chinatown. You just need to tell the stall helper what ingredients you would like, the level of spiciness and the staple to go with your xiang guo. The helper will then give you a tag and call out your number when it's ready. They also serve other Sichuan dishes like 'Baked fish (烤鱼)' and 'Water-boiled fish (水煮鱼)' which are all spicy food.

First impression of the stall puts me at ease. It looks cleaner and the ingredients neatly displayed in their fridge. I compared it to Ri Ri Hong which may be a bit unfair given that the Bedok ma la xiang guo stall is relatively new. 

What I like about the Bedok version over Ri Ri Hong is the variety of ingredients. More unique items include beef tripe, cuttlefish, pork innards and a wider variety of vegetables. Besides rice, you can also opt for Mantou which I saw many Chinese nationals ordering. Their pricing is also reasonable, like Ri Ri Hong - $1 vegetables, $2 chicken/pork and $3 seafood/beef/lamb.

My order of cuttlefish, kangkong, pork balls, beef tripe, pork belly, bean curd, enoki mushroom and a bowl of rice costs $13. Bear in mind that the Bedok version is saltier and you will definitely need some staple to go with it. Most of the time when I eat at Ri Ri Hong I don't need any rice to go with my xiang guo. Taste-wise, I think Ri Ri Hong still has that special fragrance coming from the bean paste, nonetheless, Bedok is a good alternative!