It's been one year since I came to 195 Pearl Hill Cafe at the former Combined Operations Room. A lot happened in a year - Pearl Hill satay set a new satay benchmark for many satay lovers, the legendary wait list ran to over 6 months, and Ah Pui the Tiong Bahru satay man behind Pearl Hill satay left to join Select Group to open a restaurant at Smith Street.
If you drive, there's ample parking at the top of Pearl Hill. If you walk, it is accessible by the long flight of stairs directly behind People's Park Food Centre.
The top of the stairs take you right in front of the foyer of the former Combined Operations Room. Walk right in and turn to your right. 195 Pearl Hill Cafe is right there, a few steps inside.
Still the same nostalgic, rustic feel for those who had been to government buildings in the 1960s - 80s. It's a hilltop oasis of calm and greenery above the bustle and grime of the city centre.
Maurice, co-owner of Pearl Hill Cafe grilled our satay - we were the first customers of the day 😂 We tried all three types of satay available at Pearl Hill Cafe.
Pincho Sate Chicken with Chimichurri Sauce (10 sticks for $10).
The tender grilled chicken meat tasted savoury sweet with a subtle smokiness. The chimichurri sauce was tangy savoury sweet. The meat and sauce complemented each other well.
Next was Pearl Hill Satay (Hainanese style pork satay). There were some changes since former partner, Ah Pui moved to his own restaurant at Smith Street.
The satay is now made with fresh premium bu jian tian 不见天 (so called "armpit" meat or "aeroplane" meat) instead of the ham cut previously used.
The marbled bu jian tian meat was tender soft, well infused with mild spices and tasted nicely savoury sweet with a subtle smokiness. The signature strip of pork fat bursted forth sweet juices with every bite.
The Hainanese style satay sauce with a large dollop of grated pineapple was marvellously flavourful - nutty, sweet savoury, gently spicy with citrusy zest and fresh pineapple taste. I was literally eating spoonfuls of this peanut sauce neat after all the satay already ended up in my stomach.
The bu jian tian pork satay and Hainanese satay sauce were perfect together.
(10 sticks for $11, I feel is good value for money.)
The biggest surprise was this Iberico Pork Belly Satay (it isn't strictly speaking a satay as it doesn't come with satay sauce). Instead of satay sauce, it is served with Himalayan rock salt and toasted sesame seed.
I was skeptical at first. No satay sauce or any sauce at all 🤔 It reminded me of those ubiquitous Thai pork skewers (moo ping) in Bangkok (which I am not a fan as most are too lean, too sweetly seasoned 😛 ).
But, one bite of this blew me away.
The juicy Iberico pork belly was sweet savoury. When eaten with Himalayan rock salt, the porcine sweetness and natural mineral saltiness blended together delightfully. I love this.
I can picture how great this satay would be with wine, soju, sake, or liquor.
($2.90 per stick. Worth it.)
Still one of the best places for satay either there at the quaint hilltop cafe or takeaway to grill at home.
Written by Tony Boey on 14 Oct 2021
Hi is the pork satay seasoned to same sweetness as ah pui at Smith. The latter is almost like bak kwa meat. Coming from Malacca satay history it's a torture for me to eat such satay. Never tried present pearls cafe. You must be ex Malaysian can feel where l am coming from.
ReplyDeleteHi Hi, I have never tasted Ah Pui satay at Smith Street. Only when he was at Pearl Hill. I am Singaporean but enjoy Malaysian food as well all my life.
DeletePerhaps you can try Pearl Hill's satay and share with us how the two satays compare. Thank you :-)