Laifabar is a noodle house that specialises in traditional wanton noodle, dumplings and roast meats. Chef-owner Royce Lee inherited the recipes by his grandmother, who used to be a hawker selling homemade taupok and wanton noodle back in the 1970s.

Known for its “Bu Jian Tian” Fatty char siew and wanton noodle, Laifabar first started and made a name for itself as a wine bar turned noodle house at Scarlet hotel in Ann Siang Hill. Then it moved to Lucky Plaza B1 Lucky Food Centre in December 2020 for a brief period before shifting to the current location at an industrial building in Bukit Batok in April 2021.

With the move to a bigger space, Laifabar has expanded their menu to include rice options to pair with their roast meats.

On Laifabar’s menu, there are four types of roast meat—char siew, roast pork, roast duck and Soya Sauce Chicken.

There is a top-up of S$2 to upgrade the Char Siew to their signature Bu Jian Tian Char Siew for mains.

Out of the three roast meats that we’ve had, the signature Bu Jian Tian Fatty Char Siew was the clear winner. It had the right proportion of fats to meat ratio and it was truly outstanding.

The difference between the Bu Jian Tian Fatty Char Siew and the leaner Char Siew is the texture of the meat. Bu Jian Tian Char Siew is fattier and a lot more tender than the normal Char Siew. Unless you are not a fan of fatty Char Siew, we definitely recommend upgrading it from the normal Char Siew to the Bu Jian Tian Char Siew.

The Roast Duck was also excellent and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

We didn’t quite like the Roast Pork as it was too fatty (not in a good way) and not as crispy we would like it to be.

Laifabar’s new outlet at Prestige Centre in Bukit Batok isn’t the most accessible location, but their excellent roast meats are worth travelling for. Otherwise, they offer islandwide delivery on Grab and you can still get their roast meats without going all the way to the west of Singapore.

Laifabar
Prestige Centre at 71 Bukit Batok Crescent
Tel: 9181 6383

Famous roast meat eatery, Foong Kee Coffee Shop is closing on 15 June 2021.

Foong Kee Coffee Shop is one of the best Chinese roast meat stalls in Singapore. It’s a rather unassuming coffee shop at first glance, but when you take that first bite, you’d understand why the queues don’t ever seem to disperse till lunch hours are over.

In an interview with 8 Days, Foong Kee’s chef-owner Derrick Wong, 58, confirms that his shop unit has been sold to a new owner who is starting another business there.

The owner mentioned that he is closing his roast meat eatery as he needs a rest after working for more than 20 years. But he did not rule out a possibility of a comeback in the future.

If you are planning to make a trip to Foong Kee Coffee Shop before it closes for good on 15 June 2021, here’s what you have to try.

It is undeniable that their roast pork is fantastic. The ratio of fat to lean pork meat was just right, and the crispy crackling skin had such a satisfying crunch to it. The savoury marinate really did permeate through the meat itself as every bite was so flavourful.

The char siew didn’t lose out either. The caramelised crust had a wonderful char and smokiness to it, with the slightly burnt edges playing off the sweetness of the sauce. The fat on the pork wasn’t overwhelming either and was just enough to keep the lean meat moist enough.

While they’re more famous for the former two, we felt that their duck deserved much praise. The cuts of duck meat were absolutely succulent and tender, with its natural game meat taste amplified in a pleasant umami way without being too heavy. The skin was also really thin and crisp, which we liked a lot.

Though roast ducks have a tendency to have a thick layer of white fat on it, this was just the right amount as the fat melted like butter and gave the meat an extra fragrant burst of flavour. It was oh so sinful, but oh so good.

The chilli deserved a special mention too. Rather than the usual viscous and sweet chilli paste, theirs resembled more of the Thai variety. It was sweet, tangy and spicy all in one. We appreciated that it brought out another element of flavour to the roast meats without covering it up like the usual chilli paste.

Foong Kee Coffee Shop
6 Keong Saik Road
Singapore 089114
Daily: 11am –  8pm
Nearest Station: Outram Park