Review: Chicken Hotpot 鸡公煲

Today is my fourth time at Chicken Hotpot, so you know it's good! If you like steamboat and ma la xiang guo, this is the dish for you. They have a simple menu with 4 types of pot: chicken (their signature), beef, prawn and fish. I have tried both the chicken and prawn pots before, generally preferring the chicken, although the prawns they provided are easy to eat (partly de-shelled) and quite big.

Their signature chicken pot is heavy on the spices and you get to choose your level of spiciness. Bear in mind it can get quite spicy so if you are not good at spicy food, just go for mild. The chicken (bone-in) are chopped into chunky pieces and simmered in the thick spiced gravy. If your gravy runs low, the staff will pour in some chicken stock for you, which is more suitable to be drank rather than the thick gravy.

Recently they also have a promotion item which is my all-time favourite, the chicken and pork tripe pot. This is strongly recommended by me and I feel is more to Singaporeans palate. In fact, when I first tried Chicken Pot, I had their significant chicken version and prawn version and wasn't that impressed. This chicken and pork tripe version made me came back 2 more times!

If you like peppery bak kut teh, please choose this version and you won't regret. It can be a bit too peppery at first taste, but as you add in more ingredients, it gives the soup base more flavour and take away some of the peppery taste. Similar to the other version, you can get a refill when the stock runs low. The soup is really tasty and comforting especially on a rainy day. A chicken and pork tripe pot comes with chicken pieces and chunky pork tripe pieces.

The best way to enjoy Chicken Pot is not to over order the main pot, but select the additional ingredients. For 2 pax, I would just order a small pot then choose some of the ingredients from their fridge (self service). Their steamboat ingredients are all nicely displayed and wrapped up in the fridge and the pricing is differentiated by the colour of the plates.

I recommend ordering the prawn/cuttlefish paste which comes in an 'icing bag'. You will have to ask the staff to cut a hole at the tip when you are ready to it. Their cuttlefish balls also go well with the chicken and pork trip pot. Other ingredients available include vegetables, fish paste, pork belly with enoki, mushrooms, noodles, sliced fish, sliced meat etc.

Lastly, a shout out to the manager (short-haired lady) at the Bedok Point branch who always has a smile on her face and provided very attentive service. There was once we ordered a plate of enoki mushrooms and had already eaten more than half of it. The manager suddenly came over with another plate of enoki mushrooms and said she realised the staff had under-weighed the entire batch, so she gave us another plate. Honest shops like this are really hard to come by nowadays so it was a pleasant feeling even though she could have ignored it as we couldn't tell we were shortchanged. 

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!

Review: Yong He Bak Chor Seafood Noodles

Tucked away in one corner of the coffeeshop, one might just missed it despite its bright and attractively taken display photos. Yong He bak chor seafood noodles is a relatively new stall in this old neighbourhood, but the description of their menu excites me.

I love my bak chor mee and I love seafood so this definitely attracts me. Their menu is simple with only 4 main course options. I always order their signature seafood bak chor mee ($5) while my mum likes to upgrade to the large prawn bak chor mee ($12).

This is what you get for their basic $5.50 seafood bak chor mee. A sweet prawn, some clams (they called it lala), braised mushrooms, braised pork, minced pork, sliced abalone, a scallop and lettuce.

While it has the usual bak chor mee ingredients, the slightly pricier price point can be justified by the seafood items. The prawn was sweet and fresh enough to suck the umami goodness from its head. Beware of the excessive pork lard if you are health conscious or not a fan of that. The only downside to this rendition of bak chor mee is the strip of braised pork which has been braised till black and dry. It is like eating a piece of bakkwa. They could have just used the normal poached sliced pork.

My mum's large prawn version. She claimed they were sea prawns and very good.

The shop is located at the coffeeshop just opposite Temasek Junior College. The coffeeshop also has a very interesting stall selling sandwiches and salad. Shall give it a try next time!

Address

Blk 18 Bedok South Road, 

Singapore 460018

Review: The Burning Oak

I've been wanting to write a review on The Burning Oak for a long time but has been procrastinating. Now that I have decided to write it, I had since tried them twice during lunch time, once to takeaway and once dine-in.

I want to put it up front that I absolutely love their food. It is definitely value-for-money. It's a pity that I haven't gotten down to try their dinner menu, but the set lunch menu was all satisfying. My favourite was the pork cheek bento set which came with a generous amount of meat, pickles, fried shredded ginger, rice and a bowl of miso soup.

You can really feel the amount of effort and patience that goes into each of the item. The pork cheeks were nicely grilled with a smoky charred taste while the pickles seek to tone down the oiliness from the pork. The miso soup was worth mentioning, having a high concentration of bonito flakes resulting in a rich earthy taste.

Although the stall is in a hawker setting, the waiting time is about 15min since they make-to-order. I will be back again to try their dinner menu next.

Review: No Name Cheng Tng

cheng tng is one of my favorite dessert, and i'm lucky to be living near two of the most famous cheng tngs stalls in singapore. i had the one at bedok food corner (ye lai xiang) a few times already, but this is my first time trying 'no name cheng tng' which is actually within walking distance from my house.

for me, i like my cheng tng to be full of ingredients and not too sweet. no name got it right. at only $1.60 (they increased by 10 cents due to rising food costs) for eat-in and $1.70 for takeaway, they are surely one of the most affordable cheng tngs in singapore. you can see my bowl of cheng tng below, it's filled to the brim. all the ingredients were good, my only small complain is that the white fungus (my least favourite ingredient in a cheng tng) is 'dry' and there's too much of it. taste of the longan soup is similar to ye lai xiang.

although ye lai xiang is widely known to be the best, but 'no name' is a close second, if not on par... not to mention it comes at half the price of ye lai xiang!

Address
No Name Cheng Tng
Block 69, Bedok South Avenue 3