Joo Chiat Food Stories
Pu Tien Chinese Food in Joo Chiat
There's now a fantastic new eatery in Joo Chiat that's become a magnet for foodies living in East Coast. Located at 178 Joo Chiat Road, the month-old Sheng Restaurant serves authentic Pu Tien Heng Hwa cuisine. Friends who have eaten there have been waxing lyrical about the food served. One of their favourites is the Fried Mee Sua that gets sold out sometimes by early evening. It's real good because proprietress Serene Toh is a stickler for quality. "If we don't get the right kind of mee sua to sell, we just don't." Serene is a stickler for detail and quality. Other must-eats include their stir- fried yam with garlic and shallots, Wuxi pork ribs which is a slow-cooked braised pork in the chef's signature secret sauce, deep fried tofu that's made fresh every morning, and Sheng's specialty lor mee. Never mind Sheng's location, which is in the heart of Joo Chiat's ktv stretch, because it serves only families, which are coming in droves. Sheng is opened for lunch and dinner seven days a week 11.30am to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 11.00pm, last order 10.30pm. Contact Serene at 63480859.
East Coast Top Zhi Char!
Joo Chiat's very own zhi char Madame Low has opened an air-con unit right next to her popular eating house. Now we can lunch in real comfort. The15 year eatery is easily one of the best in the neighbourhood and good for multiple visits. But, be warned, the surroundings can be colourful in the evenings. Must-try dishes include their Emperor Shrimp, Seafood Fried Rice, Thai style fishhead curry..
Sunset Bay Sentosa Comes to Joo Chiat
"We've never felt so urban, you know," laughed Cindy as she described her four-day rush to set up the family pub-cafe at Eurasian Community House in Ceylon Road.
"For more than 13 years we were out there by the sea in Sentosa. That's what we've always been used to since we were young. We were all raised outdoors by our parents," said Cindy. So much so that now, even among the tall trees, shrubs and green of Eurasian House, there's this urge to reach out for the wide open sky and stars.
"We'll turn this place around," said a self-assured Cindy. "We want to recreate that ambience and feel that our regulars have come to expect from us, and where our new customers can feel welcome as a family too. Give us a couple of months or so."
Cindy is one of the three Eurasian siblings of Sentosa Foam Party fame. Remember the evening in December 1997 when Singapore threw its first foam party and turned the island's party scene on its head?
Cindy, Paul and Gary Berlandier, who were then operating Sunset Bay, Singapore's first public beach bar, have come one full circle.
Now it's Sunset Bay @ Eddie's Place in Eurasian House, Ceylon Road.
So who does the cooking around here? Cindy and Gary looked at Paul, nicely turned out in his white chef tunic. "I learnt first how to cook from our father, a big game hunter. I was then twelve. Dad had killed a wild boar, upriver Endau, and he had brought the pig into camp," recalled Paul, smiling. "And there and then he gave me instructions and forced me to cook my first wild boar devil curry, in the Malaysian jungle."
Of course, you won't find wild boar devil curry in the Berlandiers' menu, which has been totally no pork no lard since Sentosa days to cater to their customers' needs.
Still, the menu reads like a Eurasian banquet, with recipes culled from mum Evelyn's (now 78) family secrets, late dad's recipes, and Paul's own culinary creations - devil curry, chilli beef cashew, beef smore, mutton vindaloo, sambal prawn, Tropicana fish and chicken, and lamb stew - all served with sambal belachan, chinchalok (preserved baby shrimp in brine), and pickle on request.
Sunset Bay is probably now Singapore's only Eurasian restaurant with a Eurasian cook. (Joo Chiat has another very good restaurant - Casa Bon Vento - that also serves Eurasian food, along with Malaccan Peranakan.)
At Sunset Bay, you can also order some of Singapore's best tasting chicken
wings, fish and chips, teriyaki chicken chop, sirloin beef steak and mixed
grill plate, among others.
And you down them all with good beer, fine wine or soda.
We tried one evening, on recommendation, Paul's lamb stew, devil curry and Tropicana chicken. We thought this wouldn't be enough for three adults as the prices, averaging $8, seemed to indicate small portions. We were pleasantly surprised.
While not exactly American, they were sized just right for Asians - true value! "These are beach cafe prices, ah," Cindy said. "We decided to keep them about there, because our regulars have gotten used to them. Can't change too much, now." We are not complaining.
But the test is in the eating. Paul's own rendering of lamb stew was nice and tasty. The medium diced meat seemed stewed over low fire long enough to get it into a state of tasty tenderness. But we did feel it was a bit "lammy". Maybe it's because we don't take much lamb, although we know of lamb eaters who will not have it any other way.
Paul's chicken devil curry lived up to its being the Eurasian community's iconic dish. The gravy was full bodied and the spice mix of mustard powder, tumeric powder, candlenuts and vinegar was just right. It left one feeling satisfied - especially when we scooped the gravy onto our rice and then poured lamb stew over it. And it was not chilli hot as one would expect, probably to cater to a wider mix of customers.
However, Paul's Tropicana chicken was just tops. Not exactly Eurasian, but a fusion of moist thick orangey red Eurasian rempah topping on a juicy slab of Brazilian marinated fried chicken. There was just no getting away from this dish. Certainly, this is one dish where looks are deceiving. It just tasted better with each bite.
Sunset Bay is clearly family friendly. Two other families were there when we dined - a family of four playing darts and pool and dancing to the Berlandiers' 70s, 80s, and 90s music, and another playing table football.
So, come dressed in beach wear - it's back to the kampung. "Less is best," said friendly and smiling Cindy.
Sure will!
Wanton Mee
It
is the only wanton mee stall in Singapore where you need to go to the stall-owner,
empty bowl in hand, to ask for soup.
Fei Fei in Joo Chiat is debatably the country's best wanton noodle stall. It is iconic to the neighbourhood, having been around for more than forty years.
"It's not that we are arrogant," explains Vincent Lim, one of two brothers who run this family business at 64 Joo Chiat Place. "Our grandfather had set up a small stall in the back lane of Mangis Road with three tables and fifteen chairs, behind his terrace house. There was so little space people had to stand around while eating. That was why he did not offer soup in separate bowls. When his customers finished the noodles and wanted soup, they'd bring the empty bowl to him. That's been the tradition."
And one that clearly marks out Fei Fei from other wanton stalls.
But for wanton aficionados, it is the texture of Fei Fei's egg-based noodle that differentiates it from the other stalls in Singapore. Some others say the chilli sauce also makes it unique.
"Our noodles are still hand-made," says Vincent. "Our grandfather learnt to make it the traditional way, and we have adapted that to our factory."
Vincent's grandfather had learnt the ingredients and techniques of noodle-making from his village elders in Guangzhou. He belonged to the Sang Mui dialect group, and, in those days, they helped each other to make a living through fermenting soya sauce or hand-making needles.
That's why, to this day, Fei Fei's regulars swear by its full-bodied, almost chewy, tasty noodles.
To bring out the best in the noodles, Fei Fei's dried wanton mee does not come with any fancy, saucy concoction. Instead, it is simply flavoured with its very own specially made chilli sauce, which regulars swear is another stand-out.
"We buy the chilli base," says Vincent. "Then we mix and cook it to the way we want it." Till today, like Fei Fei's egg noodle, the chilli sauce recipe is only known to him and his brother Kevin.
Supper at Joo Chiat
By Terrence Teh
I’m proud to tell people I live in Joo Chiat, particularly because food is never far away, any time of the day. In fact, I fear that I scoff unconsciously at friends whenever the topic of supper comes up, especially if they reside in the Western or North-Eastern extremities of the country. Hah! I’ve got great food at my doorstep. (Gosh, I did it again) Truth be told, if the Katong area is the cradle of great food in Singapore, then Joo Chiat must surely be in-charge of the supper division. While the rest of Singapore is sleeping, Joo Chiat is alive with bright lights and bustling traffic, revealing a treasure-trough of food gems long salivated at in local supper folklore.
In this story, I’ll try to touch the tip of the iceberg by sharing about four of my personal favourite supper joints in the Joo Chiat locality:
1) Fei Fei Wanton Noodles
Tucked away a stone’s throw from the madding crowd, the Fei Fei Wanton Noodle coffee-shop is packed night after night. It is not uncommon to see late-shift taxi drivers gathered amongst the tables for a quick bite (and taxi drivers know food best). Fei Fei has consistently been a Joo Chiat favourite for as long as I can remember. It arguably serves one of the best wanton noodles in Singapore. The noodles (S$2.50) taste fresh and are al-dente to the bite, and are mixed with a good proportion of chilli and tomato sauce. Marry this with soft wantons (dumplings) and thinly sliced char-siew, and you have a delectable dish that has satisfied supper-goers for decades.
Fei Fei Wanton Noodles
64, Joo Chiat Place
Open for lunch till late
2) Sin Hoi Sai Eating House
They say that change is the only constant, but it seems that along the portion of East Coast Road near the Joo Chiat junction, Sin Hoi Sai remains one of the few that has defied that statement. Branching out from the original Tiong Bahru locality, the Joo Chiat/Katong branch of Sin Hoi Sai has entrenched itself into the East-side supper scene as one of the mainstays since the 80s. Packed with a dinner crowd and open late into the night, Sin Hoi Sai offers a good variety of ‘zi-char’ dishes at reasonable prices, complemented nicely with freshly brewed Chrysanthemum tea. A clear favourite of mine on the menu is the Beef Hor Fun noodles, starting at S$4.00 for a small portion, enough to max out my tummy space. Compared to the hyped Geylang counterpart, you will find that Sin Hoi Sai’s version is able to compete in terms of taste, without having to use truckloads of MSG in its cooking.
Sin Hoi Sai Eating House
East Coast Road (opposite Holy Family Church)
Opens for dinner till late
3) AB & ABC Restaurant
I’m really curious how food journalists in Singapore manage to distinguish good prata joints from bad ones. As far as I’m concerned, all of them pre-cook their kosongs and their telohs and chuck them into a Tupperware, at least until an unsuspecting customer orders them. Before you skip to the next number on the list, let me draw your attention to H.M Hanifa’s Banana Honey prata. I’ve tried many others, and I’ve even tried the Banana-Condensed Milk version in Thailand, and my tongue has managed to relegate these as compared to H.M Hanifa’s. Freshly cooked, crispy prata filled with banana slices and topped with a layer of honey that goes well with or without the curry, coming to you at only S$2.00 a pop. For the chilli lovers who enjoy ultra-spicy fare, test your endurance against H.M Hanifa’s range of other foods, like Mee Goreng and Bryani.
AB & ABC Restaurant
Corner Joo Chiat Road and Duku Road
Open 24 hours
4) People’s Prawn Noodles
To those who don’t wish to travel all the way to Adam Road for quality prawn mee, People’s Prawn Noodles is a welcome sight. Down to the basics first: how different is People’s Prawn Noodles and why is it so good? For one, the soup stock is thick and tasty; evidently the cooks spend a substantial amount of time boiling it to extract the prawn head essence as the base. The prawns here, by the way, are huge. For a starter bowl (at S$5.00), you can get two big prawns sliced into half for easy access to the meat. Connoisseurs of prawns can order the more ‘deluxe’ version (at S$15.00), that is, a larger quantity of prawns included.
People’s Prawn Noodles
354, Joo Chiat Road
Closes at 3 a.m.
Join My Joo Chiat on Facebook and the Save Joo Chiat Cause