We were kind of in a EOY/CNY festive mood, so with S's family in tow, we headed down to Serangoon Gardens to try authentic Nyonya food at Pow Sing. There are two Pow Sings; Pow Sing on the left serves ordinary tze char; Pow Sing Restaurant (below) is the one that we were headed to.
You can't miss the huge rooster sign.
Pow Sing Restaurant's interior is rather cramped, with neighboring tables too close for comfort. It is advisable to make a booking as it can get really crowded for dinner and you'll have to wait a long time for a table.
Achar & Peanuts ($3) are not complimentary, but you wouldn't want to miss out on the Achar which was deliciously piquant.
You can't go wrong with the Chicken Rice ($14, half chicken) at Pow Sing. The chicken was extremely tender and was perfect with the special chili sauce and ginger.
Sambal Kang Kong ($13, medium) arrived just the way S's family loves it -- with extra spicy sambal belachan and full of wok hei.
Next up was the signature Sambal Prawns ($20 for about 8 prawns). The sambal sauce leaned more towards being sweet rather than spicy and the prawns were very fresh and plump.
Opting for something safe, our Claypot Tauhu ($15, medium), came with a decent amount of mixed vegetables, layered pork and the silken tofu. But as always, tofu seems a tad pricey.
The Nyonya Salad ($9, small) was surprisingly refreshing. Although it consisted of mostly the ingredients Sher doesn't like, eg. ladies fingers and pineapple. Crushed peanuts were scattered over the salad, resembling rojak.
The dish that S has been waiting the whole night for -- Ayam Buah Keluak ($13, small). This was the tamarind version, and although it looks spicy, it's far from it. The Buak Keluak (black nut), is apparently highly toxic (contains cyanide) and a requires a lot of careful preparation before it can be eaten. Sher says it tastes like assam chicken.
Let's take a closer look at the Bua Keluak. It's actually full of this black paste that tasted a lot like black bean paste... intriguing but falls short of expectations. What we did was to dig the paste out of the nut and then smear it all over the chicken pieces. Unlike the chicken rice chicken, this one was kind of dry. Turns out that not everyone at the table was keen on the dish, but we had no qualms about eating ;)
Overall, our dining experience at Pow Sing was a mostly positive one. Service was brisk and the food was good. We'll probably be back for the Itek Sio (Nyonya braised duck with tamarind and coriander).
Pow Sing Restaurant
Address: 63/65 Serangoon Garden Way
Tel: 6282 7972/ 7286 4813
Opening Hours: 11am-3pm (Lunch), 5pm-10pm (Dinner)
Damage: $20/pax
As promised, we returned to Chin Chin to try the famous Chicken Rice and Hainanese Pork Chop. (Read our earlier post here) At 7pm, there were only eleven white chickens left; all the roasted ones were sold out. It was very crowded and almost impossible to find seats.
No chicken rice meal is complete without abundant amounts of chili sauce, minced ginger and the mandatory dark soya sauce.
We ordered the small portion of the Hainanese Pork Chop ($6) and it came fried to a crisp, but slightly moist on the inside. On the side were some potato wedges and green peas that have been boiled till faded/yellowish-green. Goes without saying that we did not finish our peas.
The pork chops came with a bowl of tangy sweet tomato sauce with onions slices. While the sauce was mildly sweet and great for dunking the pork chop, it was too watery for our liking. Overall, S found this dish rather lacklustre. Sher on the other hand, thought it was decent (she loves anything fried & crispy).
Along with the pork chop, we had one portion of the chicken ($4). Despite being the chicken breast (because Sher didn't want bones), it was very succulent and went well with the fragrant rice.
Lastly, we shared a Fu Rong Omelette ($6). We were expecting prawns in our omelette but turns out that it did not contain any ingredients at all besides the obligatory bit of spring onion. Hmm ... so we paid $6 for a plain omelette?
Chin Chin Eating House
Address: 19 Purvis St, Singapore 188598
Phone: +65 6337 4640
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun, 07:00-21:00
Damage: from $6 per dish (small portion)
Walking down Purvis Street, you will find many eateries selling chicken rice and Thai food. Today, we had an inclination to go for local food, so chicken rice it was! However, we had no idea which was the famous stall, so like all typical Singaporeans, we went for the most crowded one at that point in time -- Chin Chin Eating House.
To get to Chin Chin, we wouldn't suggest driving as you'd be hard pressed to find parking space. It's just a short walk from Bugis Junction anyway.
Your cookie cutter tse char menu. Everyone else had a plate of chicken on their table and we immediately regretted not ordering one. Another recommended dish is the Hainanese Pork Chop. But if you are just here for the chicken rice, you can get a single portion for $4 (not too shabby).
Sher had a sudden crave for spring onion stir fried pork rice ($5.50 for small), which turned out to be quite a big portion. This time round, we made a conscious effort not to over-order, so we only ordered one 'main' dish. Although slightly lacking in wok hei, the meat was tender and the combination of fragrant spring onions, onions and ginger could hardly go wrong.
Crispy beancurd ($6 for small) was quite a steal. True to its name, it was crispy and best eaten hot. Normally, you'd expect tse char beancurd to cost at least $8+ dollars and with more garnish than beancurd. A curious phenomenon because beancurd isn't that expensive in the first place? Anyway, don't bother with the chili sauce that comes with this dish, its passable at best. Instead we dipped our beancurd in the chicken rice chili sauce with crushed ginger (:
Had to go for the Dou Miao or pea shoots ($8 for small), which is one of our favorite vegetable dishes. This portion could probably feed 4 pax, if you order the standard one dish per pax.
At such reasonable price, we will definitely be back to Chin Chin, with a bigger group, so that we can try more of their specialty dishes! Stay tuned for our reviews on its famous chicken rice & Hainanese prok chop!
Chin Chin Eating House
Address: 19 Purvis St, Singapore 188598
Phone: +65 6337 4640
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun, 07:00-21:00
Damage: from $6 per dish (small portion)
