Dropped in at the newest Roast Paradise outlet at Tampines Mall.
I've been in touch with Kai and Randall regularly since meeting them at their first stall at Old Airport Road Food Centre back in 2015. The rookies entered a trade with hundreds of established competitors with long histories. Kai and Randall have done very well, learning and improving as they go, sometimes the hard way.
On the day of our first meeting in 2015, the charcoal oven broke, they realised they bought the wrong fridge (and a host of other teething pains hawker newbies face that test their resilience to the limit). They've come a long way since - now they have outlets in Old Airport Road, Killiney Road (Fook Kin), here in Tampines Mall and more exciting plans in the pipeline.
This outlet in the Kopitiam food court in Tampines Mall is not yet a month old.
Besides their popular char siew and sio bak (roast pork belly), Roast Paradise have added soya sauce chicken to their menu.
I had a 3-in-1 mixed platter which has sio bak, char siew and soya sauce chicken. It's ideal for the undecided.
Roast Paradise is first and foremost a char siew stall. The char siew is made with a fatty cut of pork belly which is transformed into a cut above through a propriety technique which Kai and Randall learnt from their sifu ๅธๅ (master) Bill Khoon of Famous Seremban Favourites.
The fatty char siew was cut quite thick which I like, as it retained it's juiciness well. The meat and fat were tender, and well infused with the sweet savoury marinate. I like it that it was not overly sweet. The slight caramel char and glaze outside added a bit of toasty sweet taste characteristic of Kuala Lumpur style char siew.
The sio bak was okay - crispy skin, juicy fat, tender meat were all there. But, I couldn't find anything that differentiates it from the average stall. Nevertheless, I liked it that it was neither overly salty nor stiff.
This is Roast Paradise's first foray into soya sauce chicken. The dish is enjoying a surge in popularity in Singapore ever since Liao Fan Hawker Chan clinched the world's first hawker Michelin Star in 2016.
I like Roast Paradise's rendition as the meat is tender and juicy, and it tasted sweet savoury with a subtle floral aroma. I could also taste a bit of natural chicky sweetness as Roast Paradise use fresh chicken and the sauce flavour was quite mild.
I prefer this sweet savoury rosy (flavour) taste profile over the rather flat savoury salty taste by soya sauce chicken stalwarts like Chew Kee and Liao Fan (before they were Michelin Starred).
I am glad to see Hakka mee still on Roast Paradise's menu. When I first tasted Roast Paradise's version at their Old Airport Road stall, I wondered how it would fare in Singapore where locals are so used to bak chor mee.
Hakka mee which has layers of savoury sweet flavours from lard and fried mince pork would seem rather flat tasting compared to the robust savoury, tangy, spicy taste of bak chor mee. I like both Hakka mee and bak chor mee, so I was glad that Singaporeans took to the former rather well. (The benchmark version in Seremban has more crunchy house made noodles and more robust savoury/ saltiness.)
Information for you ๐ If you are at Tampines Mall needing a no frills, affordable, satisfying meal, Roast Paradise's Hakka mee with char siew and/or soya sauce chicken would be satisfying and delicious.
Read about my earlier visits to Roast Paradise:
Visit 1 ๐ click
Visit 2 ๐ click
Read about Kai and Randall's sifu ๐ click
Restaurant name: Roast Paradise (Tampines Mall outlet)
Address: Kopitiam Food Court, Level 4, Tampines Mall. 4 Tampines Central 5, Singapore 529510
GPS: 1°21'08.1"N 103°56'42.7"E ๐ 1.352253, 103.945196
Nearest MRT station: Tampines
Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 27 Mar 2019
Salute these 2 young Singapore men for their perseverance and taking the hard and rocky road to making a living as hawkers. It's a very tough life for people in this food business. Wish them only the bests in their journey.
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