When I was younger, the de facto meeting place for gatherings was definitely at least a cafe, or a nicer restaurant for a special occasion. While I enjoy going out to fancy restaurants, I also like having a simple dinner at a Zhu Chao stall with my friends.
For one of our gatherings, we decided to meet at Tiong Bahru as everyone is working nearby. Since I’ve been to Sin Hoi San Seafood Restaurant, I asked my friend to recommend another eating place in the area, and she immediately suggested Por Kee Eating House – a very popular Zhu Chao Stall at Seng Poh road opposite Tiong Bahru Market.
Like what I’ve mentioned in my Singapore Must-Eats post, Zi Char (also known as Zhi Char/Cze Char/Tze Char/Zhu Chao) is a Chinese stall (in a coffee shop) that serves a variety of ala carte dishes at affordable prices.
The signature Home-made tofu braised with mushrooms is also highly recommended, and this is coming from a guy who only likes hotplate tofu. We also had the famous Champagne Pork Ribs ($16 for small), and it was really good.
As you all know, I’m on a quest to find the best sweet and sour pork in Singapore. Even though I have been disappointed each time, I still continued to try them. Unfortunately, Por Kee’s Sweet and Sour Pork ($12) was only mediocre. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing either.
The food at Por Kee Eating House is good, but not great. Furthermore, the prices at Por Kee are slightly higher than the typical Zhu Chao stalls; vegetable dishes start from $9 (small), and the meat dishes are around $12-16 (small).
I wouldn’t go all the way to Tiong Bahru just to eat this, and even if I am in the area, there are plenty of options to choose from.
Where do you usually eat in Tiong Bahru?
Singapore Food Blog Review
Por Kee Eating House
69 Seng Poh Lane #01-02
Tel: +65 6221 0582
Unfortuantely, every restaurant in the area only excels in one or two dishes each. The crab bee hoon at Golden Spoon (across from Por Kee) is great and the sizzling pots at Ting Hing (Tiong Poh Road) are worth checking out.
Wow Ting Hing has these HUGE oysters you should check out!
For sweet & sour pork, I like Lucky Seafood which is the coffeeshop just behind Sin Hoi San.
I haven’t been back at Lucky for about a month or so now as I’ve been away, but it’s one place I return to for dinner quite often. I’ve never tried the porridge, but always order dishes with rice.
Yum !
I luv sweet n sour pork! ^^
Sweet & Sour pork at Lai Huat Sambal Fish at Lavender is very good.
I like the ZiChar at Kok Sen (Keong Siak Street) and Sum Kee(opp Zion Road Hawker)
Never been to Keng Eng Kee to Bukit Merah Lane but my friend say is good.
Went to Por Kee eating house yesterday and the food was fantastic and the standard is even better than mandarin court , blossom at marina or even comparable to humble house ? The price is higher but the standard is definitely so much better than any ZC stalls in singapore. the pork rib was simply the best of the best. I only love pork rib made by sam leong when he was humble house and now i tasted that again !!!
Keng eng kee at bukit merah is opened by my uncle! worth a visit but there are a lot of people during weekends and you may have to wait an hour for the food to arrive
Just went there yesterday and the service was terrible. It was as if I owed them a million dollars (I was not rude to them or anything!). How hard is it really to speak to customers nicely?
They made a mistake by sending us the medium size soup instead of small. We checked with the waitress to confirm if its small and she said yes. But when came to payment, they argued that they gave us the medium size n not the small. And we should hv rejected n told them so. Ridiculous reply fm the woman attending to us. She even took back the extra portion meant to be taken away. Never came across such people. Will never go back there again