Sek Tong Gai 食通街 - Commonwealth

Location: 47 Tanglin Halt Road, #01-317, Singapore 141047

Rating: 8.5 / 10

Budget: $$

Soon Hock cooked with Bean Curd and Minced Meat in Claypot

Used to have a strong following at Kim Seng Road in Tiong Bahru, the defunct See Lee Chinese Cuisine disappeared for a few years before resurrecting as Sek Tong Gai 食通街 in the quaint neighbourhood of Tanglin Halt.

WHAT TO ORDER

The menu is presented unexpectedly using an iPad in this run-of-the-mill Cantonese Cze Char eating place. The 10+ signature dishes are marked, and this is a good way to start. More exotic options like Alaskan King Crabs, Lobsters, Bamboo Clams, are also available.

WHAT SO GOOD
Almost all the tables that night had their signature Soon Hock cooked with Bean Curd and Minced Meat. Not particularly eye-pleasing, but the meat of Soon Hock is very fresh and soft despite having deep-fried first, and combines well with the brinjal and minced meat.

Our favourite dish is the Deep Fried Seafood Rolls with Salad Sauce. Nicely battered crust provides a coat for the tasty fish paste and prawns.

The Claypot Chicken with Salted Fish, is served with tender pieces of chicken thighs and wings. The gravy is delicious, though a tad salty for my taste bud, goes terrifically well with the rice.

The Hong Kong Kai Lan is an interesting one. The leaves are fried, giving them a crispy texture, before serving on top of the stalks.

NOT SO GOOD
The Soon Hock cooked with Bean Curd and Minced Meat is quite pricey. At $94 for the claypot I had, this is not something I will have frequently (I know Soon Hock is not cheap!)

The Mixed Vegetables with Vermicelli in Claypot is rather uninspiring and lacks presentation. The saving grace is the rich broth that you could drink like a soup.

Deep Fried Seafood Rolls with Salad Sauce

Claypot Chicken with Salted Fish

Hong Kong Kai Lan

Mixed Vegetables with Vermicelli in Claypot

One dish that I have missed out is the Steamed Pork Ribs, which has received rave reviews on the Internet.

ieatishootipost Survey: Singapore Top 10 Cze Char Dishes

Another survey conducted by ieatishootipost. This time round was on Singapore Top 10 Cze Char Dishes. A total of 8497 votes has been casted. Below is the result:

1. Har Cheong Gai (Prawn Paste Chicken) 1002
2. Sambal Kangkong 821
3. Hot Plate Tofu 758
4. Sweet and Sour Pork 685
5. Cereal Prawns 572
6. Pai Gu Wang 550
7. Hor Fun 538
8. Curry Fish Head 506
9. Salted Egg Prawns 491
10. Hae Zhor 451

The results seem quite reasonable to me.

Chicken meat is probably the most popular meat as it is acceptable in terms of palate to most and rarely restricted due to religious reason. As such, I am not surprised to see Har Cheong Gai so high up in the ranking.

Interesting to see only one veggie dish making into the top 10. Maybe the votes are spread across different types of vegetables with various types of cooking methods, except for Sambal Kangkong which is more distinct.

Personally, I would place Curry Fish Head high in the ranking, but I could understand not all people can take spicy food and Curry Fish Head is not something you would order every time when you eat Cze Char. 

A little surprised to see two prawn dishes, with Salted Egg Prawns being the second one, in the Top 10. I would have thought that at least one egg dish to be included.

Do you agree with the results? Any of your choices not up in Top 10?

Most importantly, where are the best ones of these top dishes?

Sembawang White Bee Hoon You Huak Restaurant - Sembawang

The length of the queue usually can provide some indication whether the food is good or not. However, it does not mean if the queue is long, the food must be good. Many times, the long queue is a result of convenience. For example, if a place has very few eating options nearby and many people happen to be there for some other reason (e.g. exhibition, theme park), I will not be surprised that the queue is long, even the food is subpar. On the other hand, if it is a place of inconvenience and people are willing to travel and queue, this speaks a lot about the quality of the food.

This is the case for Sembawang White Bee Hoon, which is located in the relatively quiet Northern part of Singapore. But not so quiet for the restaurant itself. Despite arriving before 6pm, I still need to queue up for close to an hour.

The attraction of the dinner was of course the White Bee Hoon itself, a dish being ordered at every table. Frankly speaking, I have never heard of White Bee Hoon before this meal. I am not a big fan of bee hoon and usually find it too plain. But in this case, I was totally wrong. Wow! This was the feeling when I took the first mouthful of the bee hoon. It was so flavouful, a contrast from its white colour. The White Bee Hoon is simmered in the tasty stock and comes with wok hei flavour. The large serving is good for 4 people, if you order some other dishes as well. Definitely a Must-try dish here.

I found the chilli sauce to be very nice too, spicy enough and more sour than the typical. Really stimulate one's appetite.

Another very popular dish here. The crispy beancurd skin of the Meat & Prawn Roll (Ngor Hiong) has a lighter shade of brown and has a clean fresh taste, probably they change the cooking oil very frequently. The filling includes fish paste, in addition to the usual minced pork and prawns. Cannot really say it is among the best, but is another Must-try. Comes with the sweet chilli dip, instead of the typical sweet brown sauce.

I love Stir Fry Fish Head here. The chopped fish head chunks are cooked with mildly spicy flavoured chilli paste, which balances the sweetness of the fish meat. Should try.

Originally intended to order the wet version of Bittergourd Omelette and forgot to specific clearly when I ordered, I did not have any feeling of regret after tasting the dry version. The omelette is fragrantly fried, producing a layer of crispy surface. The sliced bittergourd will start to reveal when you tear open the omelette and is a nice pairing with the egg. Should try. But I probably will get wet version for comparison when I return again.

The Fried Chicken Wings served here is Indo-Style like those in some Nasi Lemak stalls, instead of the Prawn Paste flavour that you would find in most of the Cze Char places. Though recommended by the restaurant, it is just decent and some will find it too dry and not breaded enough. Can try.

Nice and not-so-filling Ice Jelly dessert to complement the hearty dinner. Can try.

Here is the menu with the prices and restaurant recommendations.

Will I come back again? Yes. Is it worth the wait? Yes.

I will probably try Homemade Fried Bean Curd, Sambal Kang Kong and Sambal Lala the next time round

Budget: $ $

Rating: 8.5 / 10

Da Shi Xi - Geylang

Ta Si Xi has three branches in Johor Bahru and is famous for its dim sum. However, when Chef Eric Teo, the celebrity chef who has appeared in a number of TV shows in Singapore, and his Malaysian partners decided to open a new branch in Singapore, they decided to offer cze char instead. Listed on the menu, you can find cze char items of Malaysian influence.

One of the signature dishes here is the Crab Claypot Rice. There are two options available (1 crab @ $50, 2 crabs @ $90). The amount of rice you will get for these two options are the same, so they differ only in terms of the number of crabs which are around 800g each. The rice is first stir fried with bacon until fragrant, and boiled with superior broth. The crab(s) and dried sole pieces are then added into claypot. At this point, all the sweet juices will start to flow and infused into the rice. When you open the claypot cover, the aroma will just fill the whole place! The rice is sweet and fragrant, and don't forget to scrap the bottom of claypot for the slightly burnt rice grain. On the other hand, the crab(s) has lost much of its flavour, sacrificing to the rice.

Another nice dish is the JB Curry Fish Head. Most of the ingredients are usual ones, though you will notice the generous addition of deep fried beancurd skin. What I like is the gravy, which is not as thick as typical, but is surprisingly "drinkable" and as a result very additive.

Also worth mentioning is the Deep Fried Pork Belly Hakka Style. Marinated with fermented red beancurd and other seasoning, the tender pork belly is deeped fried with flour to create crispy and tasty outer layer.

I have tried several other dishes, and found them to be quite nice as well.

Chef Eric also has partnership in The Red Chef, a family-styled restaurant at Bukit Batok Civil Service Club as well as Teochew Traditional Steamboat Restaurant at Balestier. Will pay a visit to these two eateries one of these days.

Budget : $ $

Rating : 8.5 / 10