Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon is one of the Zi Char Stalls in Singapore that my family frequently visits. But it has since relocated to the Jumbo Coffee Shop at Dover Crescent, so we decided to go to Ming Kitchen Seafood Restaurant at Holland Drive instead.

Do you like prawn roll?

It has always been my favorite childhood dish and I can easily eat a dozen of them at one go. The crisp and crunchy Prawn rolls ($8) are good on its own, but I would prefer to dip it into the sweet and tangy sauce.

In my books, the Shrimp Paste chicken or Har Cheong Kai ($8) is definitely one of the must-order Zi Char dishes. I’m not very good at fighting temptations. Especially not when the chicken is marinated with the fragrant shrimp paste and deep fried to a handsome shade of golden brown.

Even though Ming Kitchen Seafood Restaurant’s rendition was fairly competent, I couldn’t put a finger to what’s missing. This is not the best har cheong kai in Singapore.

The Sambal Kangkong ($6) was extremely spicy. I know it seems nothing out of the blue since I don’t take spicy food very well. But trust me on this, the sambal kangkong here was really spicy. Has anyone tried the sambal Kangkong from Ming Kitchen Seafood Restaurant before?

I’m usually not a big fan of Bee Hoon or Hor Fun. So it’s rather surprising that I had a sudden urging for San Lou Hor Fun ($5) that day. It was decent, nothing extraordinary — I just wished that they would put more bean sprouts though.

* * *

Do you know: Ming Kitchen Seafood Restaurant actually has more than 10 Zi Char stalls in Singapore? I was surprised when I saw the number of branches on their menu, and hey, there might just be one in your neighborhood!

Okay I need some help here. Please share with us where’s the best Zi Char in Singapore.

Hawker Food Review
Ming Kitchen Seafood Restaurant
46 Holland Drive #01-359

I am determined to find the best sweet and sour pork in Singapore, and it may seem strange that I’m looking for it at Holland Village Fish Head Bee Hoon – the zi char place famous for their XO Fish Head Bee Hoon and San Lou Hor Fun.

Having grown up in Holland Drive, my family always ate at the coffee shop whenever my mother did not cook. There used to be a Western food stall which had very good chicken chop, but it had since relocated to somewhere else a couple of years ago. Other than that, everyone else came for the famous Holland Village Fish Head Bee Hoon.

I’m not quite sure when, but in my memories, I remember having a very good sweet & sour pork when I was young. But the problem was: I couldn’t recall where. I thought I’d go back to my old fling and perhaps I could find the answer. Once we found a table, I ordered the sweet and sour pork right away.

Please, please let this be good.

I wanted it to be good. My hands trembled as I picked up a piece of the reddish-brown coated pork. The rush of adrenaline saw me putting it into my mouth – crunch.

Oh. I took another bite. Oh.

It was not bad, but not to the extent of being awesome. Definitely not the Sweet and Sour Pork that I’m looking for. And so the search continues.

Besides Fish Head Bee Hoon, they are renowned for the Prawn Paste Chicken. I’d go as far to say that this is the best Har Cheong Kai in Singapore. Amazingly crispy, yet impossibly moist inside – every bite of the succulent chicken was so good! Squeeze a drop of lime onto the chicken, Oh-oh-oh, one plate is never enough.

I repeat: the best Prawn paste chicken in Singapore. Far and away.

Ironically, we did not order the XO fish head bee hoon. According to some, it’s supposed to be really good and you know, there’s like XO inside the fish head bee hoon? Anyway, I tried it on previous occasions, and since I’m neither a fan of XO nor fish head bee hoon, I’d rather order one more plate of the har cheong kai.

Ngo Hiang, or prawn roll is one of my favorite dishes. The one here had a strong peppery taste, but everything was forgiven when I dipped it into the sweet sauce. I know the question on your mind: is this the best Ngo Hiang in Singapore? Maybe not. But then again, I’m biased because of the strong pepper hint, so go try it and let me know.

* * *

When it comes to Fish head bee hoon, I’m probably not the right person to talk to. If you also do not like fish head bee hoon, come here for the best prawn paste chicken, and there’s always Big D Grill in the same coffee shop to keep you occupied.

My search for the best Sweet & Sour pork continues – tell me where and I will be there.

Hawker Food Review
Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon
Jumbo Coffee Hub at Blk 19A, Dover Crescent
Blk 46 Holland Drive
#01-359 Holland Village
Tel: +65 6778 3691

There used to be a lord, who claimed his territory at the corner of one-one-seven; the people flocked to him, they worshipped and love all the food that were served, the place was basically packed with crowds every weekends. And as fate has it, the arrival of another overlord meant the decline of the former; the dethrone of the king at Commonwealth drive.

I, see it upon my sworn duties, that I’ll try out all the sweet & sour pork from all the places. And this often leads to disappointment when I couldn’t find one that’s equal to the best which I’ve before, in a deep corner of my memories.

The sambal kangkong was surely one of the weapons that the lord would have, to defend himself; red fiery hot and sizzling sambal were commonly associated with a plate of good sambal kangkong, but, I did not called for the fire brigade after having this: it wasn’t shiok enough.

The prawn roll, ngo hiang, or heh zhor; regardless of which name you called it by, was good. Fried till crispy golden brown, dipped into the sweet sauce, the first bite of it was so reminiscent of my childhood.

The butter pork was definitely one of the best, it was slightly sweet, coated with butter powder which had a uncanny resemblance to cheese; taking a bite of the boneless pork meat was a joy.

I love golden mushrooms, there wasn’t much inherited taste on its own; but I couldn’t stop myself from eating more of it. And similarly, there wasn’t anything fanciful about the golden mushrooms beancurd which came strongly recommended by their staff; it was plain tofu, with golden mushrooms in gravy, yet the result of something so simple was so good!

If sambal kangkong was the armour of the lord, then the prawn paste chicken, or Har Cheong Kai, would surely be his sword. But, it seems like a blunt one, the fried chicken lacked the oomph factor.

Note:

(1) The old overlord which I mentioned, was refering to the Hongkong Street zichar stall just at the other corner of block 117; in its heydays, they were full every night, but when I went that time, it was barely half filled. Talk about a reverse of fortune.

(2) If you want to eat at Two Chefs without waiting, you need to get there early, before six thirty. It’s crazy to see people actually queue up for zi-char when there’s other two zi-char stalls around the same area. The burst in popularity could be attributed to the article on the Sunday times which proclaimed Two Chefs as one of the best zi-char stall.

(3) Which brings me to the third point, I think that Two Chefs, is overhyped. The butter pork ribs were excellent, but the other dishes which I’ve tried, they wasn’t really worth the fifteen-minutes walk from Commonwealth mrt. And if you are thinking that’s because I did not order their other signatures, maybe, but they couldn’t give me a plate of good sambal kangkong, or sweet & sour pork.

(4) I do eat zichar and hawker food a lot, the lack of them at my blog was due to the simple reason that I couldn’t even finish blogging on the other posts, so how am i suppose to blog about the numerous hawker food that I tried. I grow up on hawker food too you know.

Two Chefs
Blk 116 Commonwealth Drive
#01-129
Tel: 6472 5361

Across the big colourful bridge, it is a path to company, fun, and good food on a Saturday afternoon. Thirty-eight of us, chat, laugh, and eat.There was a lucky draw, giving out some free desserts, tapas, pasta & burgers to the lucky few. And for the rest of you all, I’m glad you will not leave the place empty-hand, with the 1-for-1 vouchers.

The menu which I discussed with Helena, was to showcase the specialities of Epicurious. Simple, comfort food that you and I can do it at home if not for the fact that half of us are lazy creatures who preferred to eat than cook. Mushroom soup paired with croque Monsieur toast.

A lightly dressed Asian salad, paired with bacon-wrapped chicken. The latter was a brilliant creation. Taking one bite, I proclaimed it as the bacon Ngo hiang (prawn roll), just that instead of the beancurd skin that we are familiar with, they replaced it with the bacon, and the chicken in place of the prawn.

Mini burger paired with spaghetti Vietnamese bolognaise. Instead of the full size Epicurious burger, we did a half-patty-bun so that it will not be too overwhelming given we are having a four course.

And for the non-beef eaters, we specially did this pork patty for them. Oh-oh-oh-oh! The famous Epicurious burger! I’m trying to persuade Helena to have this pork burger on their menu as well! All right, the next time I go back, I’m gonna have my special order for this.

Hello everybody! Can you see the sparking vanilla bean that shines from the surface of the cold, creamy white? Vanilla-bean ice cream! Oh my, the sight of it never failed to excite me! The apple crumble at Epicurious was done on-the-spot, and the combination of chill ice-cream and warm crumble is surely a hit! My dear friend commented it’ll be better if there’s cinnamon added as well.

And the pairing of the apple crumble was the simple french toast, given a make-over by the folks at Epicurious.

* * *

I’m glad all of you came for my food outing, and I do hope it was an enjoyable one! This was my first time having a lucky draw for some fun, with Helena sportingly giving out several free vouchers for the lucky few, and everyone-else getting a 1-for-1 vouchers. Burgers, pastas, tapas and desserts. Whee!

I’ll like to thank Helena and her crew for hosting us at Epicurious, and see you all next time! I reckon there will be more impromptu small group food outing soon, but I probably just announced it through my Facebook page for those smaller outings, so do check it out!

Read about my previous visits to Epicurious here, and here.

Epicurious
60 Robertson Quay
#01-02 The Quayside
Tel: 6734 7720

But having mutiple locations doesn’t necessary mean that it’ll be good for the business, even thought you have more accessible points, but the higher costs which comes along with it will poses a difficulty to the operators. However, the issue we are more concern with, will be the drop in quality of the food.

It is a common scene in the F&B industry with the increase in branches, the quality of the food will somehow be affected, and not on par with their original outlet. That’s why i don’t trust franchising, or the commercial restaurants. It can be a dilemma, and expanding should always be taken into consideration seriously.

Having went to Rong Guang @ Alexander Village, I was expecting the same standards at their other branch located at Ulu Pandan, near Sunset way. However, the same experience was not replicated this time round.

Rong Guang @ Ulu Pandan was much bigger than the one at Alexander Village (AV), they had their own area, which was spacious and could seat many. Ventilation was definitely much better than the stuffy hawker centre at AV. But the business there wasn’t as good, which only made us wonder why.

BBQ Sambal sting ray ($14)

The notable difference with the one at AV was the pricing. The small, medium and large portions were $10, 12, and 14 respectively, was more expensive than the pricing at AV, at $8, 10, 13. The sting ray here was not bigger than the one at AV, thus i concluded the higher price was because of their higher rental fee.

Sambal Kang Kong ($8)

One of the most popular dish in Zi-char stores, the sambal kang kong that we had was fierce and fiery with the sambal belachan. But the vegetables were too “old” and lacked the crunch, which rendered fail for this one.

Sweet & sour pork ($8)

I think i never mentioned before that i absolutely love sweet & sour pork, since my recent posts didn’t featured any at all. I’ve been looking around for good sweet & sour pork, but sadly to say, i couldn’t find any.

Good sweet and sour pork, must have the right amount of bite in the pork and the not-so-sweet nor the not-so-sour taste in the sauce. Needless to say, the one here wasn’t up to my expectations.

Prawn paste chicken ($8)

The prawn paste chicken, or Har Cheong Kai, was another dish that we always ordered at zi-char store. Its always freshly fried, not too oily, crispy on the skin, and juicy in the meat. With a twist of lemon on it, no wonder Har Cheong Kai is always a crowd favourite.

But the description that i had just mentioned was not about Rong Guang’s version. The prawn paste flavour was quite tame, and not strong enough. For a fried chicken its still all right, but it didn’t make the cut for a prawn paste chicken.

Prawn roll ($8)

As a kid, i always look forward to Chinese new year since my grandmother will always prepared lots of prawn roll, or heh zhor. The waterchestnuts and minced prawn and pork wrapped within the crispy skin, dipped in the sweet sauce, was always addictive.

Total Bill was $50.3 for 4 person, and like what i mentioned, prices here are slightly more than their original location at AV, and I think that food quality-wise, AV also fared better than the one here. Serving was very fast, less than 5 minutes for the dishes to be cook since there wasn’t much people eating there.

This actually bring about another question, since there aren’t much customers, which could mean that there is a possibility that the food is not as fresh as compared to AV which had better customers flow. Again, this is based on my personal opinion, and does not reflect the truth for Rong Guang. But for me, i’ll go back to Rong Guang @ Alexander Village, not this one.

Rong Guang BBQ seafood
301 Ulu Pandan road
Tel: 6468 8290

Tian Wai Tian has been around for as long as i remember, and i believe they need no introduction. Located just besides the PIE expressway at the Upper Serangoon road exit. If you are coming from train, then stop at Potong Pasir MRT on the North-east line.

There isn’t any ambience to talk about, Tian Wai Tian is your typical zi-char in a normal coffee shop kind of place. Tian Wai Tian is so popular that besides the seats in the coffee shop, they also have tables at the back alley.

The most amazing thing is actually Tian Wai Tian only serves a few of their popular dishes, as in they don’t even have a menu to choose from, its always the same old few dishes, yet they pack in the crowd everyday!

Fish Head Steamboat ($20)

Tian Wai Tian’s famous fish head steamboat! There are two types of fish to choose for your steamboat, the white promfet and the red groupa, which we got. The soup base is always a very important item for any steamboat as all the essence of the ingredients are cook together in it.

The soup here is pretty good, and you can have it topped up too. But i find it to be slightly on the salty side. More vegetables are needed to have a better balance.

Well a must-try dish if you come to Tian Wai Tian, since this is their signature dish.

Prawn Roll ($7)

I believe the prawn roll is a very common dish and most people should be familiar with it, my family usually have it during the Chinese new year! The prawn roll here is good, dipped in the sweet sauce, awesome!

Tofu Prawn ($12)

The tofu prawn in spicy sauce taste refreshing initially. Seldom do we see a combination of prawn and tofu cooked in spicy sauce. However, the taste is a tad too much and we can’t finish the dish.

Fried prawn sauce chicken ($8)

The fried prawn sauce chicken is mainstay dish on most of the zi-char stores, my favourite so far is the one in Holland Village XO Fishhead store. But the ones here are pretty decent i guess.

Sambal Kangkong ($6)

Kangkong are best done in hot spicy sambal, and the one at Tian Wai Tian doesn’t disappoint. Hot and spicy!

Total Bill is $55.50 for 4 person. Tian Wai Tian serves their famous fish head steamboat, with the few of their popular dishes. Variety isn’t what you can have at this zi-char store, but if its some familiar dish that you need, find them here!

Service-wise, practically none, this is a zi-char, not some fanciful restaurant. The auntie working there can be quite rude and snobbish, so don’t say you are not warn.

Tian Wai Tian
1383 Serangoon Road
Tel: 6292 9982