Buddy showed me a simple no frills, little eatery in International Plaza at the heart of Singapore's financial district serving traditional fare at affordable prices.
Earth Kitchen Cafe is located inside the 50 storey International Plaza which is a mixed residential and commercial complex 5 minutes walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT station.
Earth Kitchen is located in an obscure corner and doesn't even have a signboard - I mean there is no signboard saying Earth Kitchen. For over three decades, the little eatery is a well kept secret among residents and office workers in International Plaza and nearby buildings. (They used to be at level 1 but moved upstairs due to, what else, rental.)
Needless to say, Earth Kitchen took a big hit with WFH (Work From Home) regulations during this ongoing pandemic since Apr 2020. The low profile eatery has almost zero online presence and is even wrongly listed as "Permanently Closed" in Google ๐คฆ♂️ Anyway, Earth Kitchen is still soldiering on, wounded but still fighting.
Okay..., the prawn mee doesn't look compelling despite the three large prawns. Already said it is no frills ๐
Earth Kitchen has a small menu - they also have claypot chicken rice and various fried noodles. I was quite keen to try their fried hor fan after smelling the aroma of caramelised sauces wafting from the kitchen. The eatery is a small space so you can smell what's cooking ๐
Saving the hor fun for next visit. (If you tried before me, please share in the comments ๐)
Despite its somewhat underwhelming looks, the soul of the dish - the prawn soup packed quite a punch. Not the over the top umami, overweight body type soup in vogue among millennials but the nostalgic old school type.
The robust soup is made by boiling pork socket bones, fried prawn heads, dried chili, etc., (the boss David would say no more) for at least four hours. Its body was relatively light but the umami savoury spicy flavour was hard hitting. I like it.
The blanched yellow noodles were generic and relied on the umami savoury spicy soup clinging to the strands for flavour.
There's a clump of blanched kang kong (like they do in Penang).
The good sized prawns were fresh, crunchy and naturally sweet. I like it that the prawns were already shelled ๐
There's sambal available if you need to boost the soup flavours. The sambal tasted umami savoury, spicy, sweet. I didn't use it as the soup was robust and flavourful enough for me.
Boss David couldn't tell me much except that this is his sister's recipe. David said his sister is a passionate and talented cook. She started Earth Kitchen and David joined her 11 years ago.
This prawn mee I recognised as very similar to those no fame, no name but homely, popular market stall type that I tried in Penang. Except, this one is sans lean pork slices.
I asked David for more soup which he kindly obliged with a small bowl. He even skimmed off the red chili oil for me ๐ Solid robust umami savoury spicy flavours.
If you are around the Tanjong Pagar area and want to try something traditional, look out for Earth Kitchen. Try also their fried hor fun. I trust that it will be nice, based on what my nose told me. I shall go for the hor fun, hopefully soon.
Written by Tony Boey on 15 Sep 2021
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