My blogger friend Derrick of SG Food on Foot blog invited me to join him at a food tasting at Old Geylang Restaurant while I was still in Shanghai hunting for hairy crabs, Xiao Loong Bao and braised pork knuckles. I agreed without a moment's hesitation because I support restaurants that aim to persevere our food heritage.
Geylang Singapore has also been interesting to me, especially the food scene in the area. Geylang is always changing, always colourful. I haven't been to Geylang for a while, and this place has never failed to intrigue me.
As I was a little early, I went across the street to take this shot while there was still sunlight. The road was congested and I caught this while the cars were waiting at the traffic light.
It was a Sunday evening and there was a healthy crowd at the air conditioned section.
The spritely boss, Mr Ong, who started working at his dad's turtle soup stall in Singapore's Chinatown is still passionate after all these years. Gracious Mr Ong was with us throughout the dinner, regaling us with humorous stories of his business and customers. Even now, Mr Ong is still energetically looking for recipe tweaks to capture customers' hearts through their stomachs.
Let's see what we had, beginning with my favourite.
Ironically, my favourite dish of the evening was neither old nor Geylang.
It is steamed Maine lobster with chopped and fried garlic sauce - a foreign talent from the other side of the globe.
I am fairly familiar with Maine lobsters having lived in eastern Canada for a few years where lobster season is welcomed like durian season in Malaysia and Singapore. The way Old Geylang does these ang moh lobsters delighted my tastebuds.
Maine lobsters are meaty and it's flesh springy and firm. However, it's flavours is missing a certain slight zing I found in local spiny lobsters.
But hey, Maine lobsters got claws whereas Spiny lobsters are clawless :P
Chili crab! Old Geylang's rendition of this ubiquitous dish in Singapore is old school i.e. more savoury and slightly spicy rather than sweet or tangy.
I grabbed the claw for the photograph and well, also got to eat it :P Yums.
The best way to wipe the plate clean of the chili crab gravy is with these fried buns.
Deep fried Marbled Goby or Soon Hock. This fish still manages to be sweet and tender after being fried to a crisp.
To me, Marbled Goby is the best frying fish as it retains it's sweetness and tenderness despite dunking in boiling oil.
The old style herbal turtle soup - the roots of Mr. Ong's fame and fortune, and perhaps also his vitality and charm :P Less oily and less robust flavours than the concoctions at my usual turtle soup haunt in Jalan Berseh food centre. Delicate herbal flavours, and perhaps, thus more appealing to people yet unaccustomed to the "exotic" dish. All the skin and gelatinous parts are nicely done, so this is a winner for me.
Guess what this is before you read any further :)
hehehe a picture of the friendly Mr. Ong before sharing about the above dish :P He's got a surprise for you.
Well, that was braised - wait for it - crocodile tail. It was all gelatine and white meat drenched in a savoury slightly sweet drippy gravy. No hint of any gaminess or fishiness, just the firm gummy gelatine and firm bland white meat dresssed in savoury sweet gravy. Friends around the table enjoyed it and personally, I would appreciate it even better if there was a little distinguishing natural croc flavour.
Fresh oysters fried and then dressed with thick egg yolk topping. Very rich and interesting blend of flavours and textures. Chewing pass all the batter and toppings, the fresh oyster flavour and juiciness inside is still intact like a wrapped jewel - I can taste the sea. I like this dish.
The glass char siu (BBQ pork) and siew yok (crispy pork belly). Personally, I prefer my glass char siu a little more candy like (sweeter and harder) and the crispy pork skin to be stiffer and more crackly.
Old Geylang's Peking duck.
Part of the Peking duck meat went into this stir fried noodles to send the guests off on a full load of carbo. It's an old Chinese custom - these days, we run out of stomach space by the 3rd course, not yet mid-way through the dinner.
Restaurant name: Old Geylang Restaurant
Address: 1, Geylang Lorong 23, Highpoint Association, House 6, Singapore
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/gegWr
GPS: 1.31303,103.881285
Hours: 11:00am to 3:00am
Non Halal
Date visited: 13 Oct 2013
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