This has got to be the biggest discovery of the year, and the best part of
it is that it's right on my doorstep too! Stirling Road is just near Mei Chin
Secondary School, off Mei Chin Road off Queensway, which is near Queensway Shopping
Centre. I think you get the idea :) Anyway I will be including a map here soon
if you're still lost. Most of the people will also remember Mei Chin Secondary
School as the place where they took their Basic Theory of Driving Test, at least that's
where I took it (3 times amazingly!). This unobtrusive coffeeshop tucked away in
the midst of a bunch of HDB flats is where the local drama 12 Storeys was filmed.
I've never seen the darn movie, but those of you who have may remember the place.
Anyway, back to the review.
The coffeeshop is basically a zhi-cha (chinese cooked food) joint, and has tables which
spill over to the outdoor area in front. Let me relate our first trip to this place
(I have been back several times with different people and all agree that this is a darn
good beef hor fun, or at least they were trying to humour me).
We hit the place at lunchtime, and were at first apprehensive at the surprising lack of
business. We were told that the business was quite good. Nonetheless, we
decided not to turn back because anyway, the PARKING was FREE! (OK, so it's not free, but
from where you sit you can see the whole carpark so no parking attendant in a sunhat can
pull a fast one on you).
The next tricky step was ordering. Apparently they serve two types of beef hor
fun. Not to be daunted, we proceeded to order both. The surprising thing about
the coffeeshop was that they were heavily overstaffed (that's a good sign) and almost all
of their staff were busy PULLING THE LEAVES OFF A WHOLE HUGE STACK of kang-kong! The
next dish on the menu was easy! Sambal kang-kong of course!
As we busied ourselves with exploring the place and reading the review articles on the
walls (faded yellow newspaper cutouts), the food arrived. One type of beef kway teow
is the regular sort, fried with a starchy sauce and slices of beef and the other is fried
in a dark brown bean sauce and definitely looks more yummie! We proceeded to try
both, and the decision was immediately unanimous. The dark bean sauce won it hands
down!
Next pleasant surprise was the kang-kong. I have rarely had a plate of kang-kong
with so FEW STEMS in it. This makes the eating a great experience! For me, two
thumbs up for the kang-kong!
Eugene was next to voice his opinion. Coffee here is great. This coming
from the Spinelli's king. You gotta try it.
And the final surprise was when the bill arrived (for four people):
Kangkong - $4
Beef hor fun- $6 each plate.
This must have been the best meal we've had all year for four bucks apiece. We
were still craving more hor fun, but time was pressing and we needed to get back to
school. Perhaps next time we would wise up and order just the black kway teow - lots
of it. After all, when is there ever enough food when four hungry guys are eating???
By the way, I returned to this shop on several occasions. Each time it was for
dinner and the crowd was very decent. I tried their other specialty which is the
crispy-skin-prawn (prawn wrapped in bean-skin and deep fried) which is very nice.
That dish however is much more expensive than the others and really screws up the
bill-experience. However, my impression was that the dinner hor fun was never as
good as the lunch one. Also, if you go late, they may run out of plucked kang-kong
and give you unplucked ones :( That's just my speculation because I went late one
night and did not have such an extraordinary plate of kang-kong. Just my two cents
worth...
- Yuen Ho
