Had a seminar to attend at 3pm and feeling famish, I looked dashed around the Qwan Im Temple area (Bugis) and stumbled upon a corner coffee shop.
It's one of those "walk past" type of places but I was hungry and so I hurried into the kopitiam to check (look for something to eat).
Pressed for time, I was about to settle for tau sa bao and kopi (coffee) when I spotted this stall deep inside the coffee shop. The name Grandfather Food Empire sounded a bit fanciful but it got my attention 😬
Anyway, random bak chor mee is better for my morale than random tau sa bao. So, I settled for this as there was no queue at this time (around 2:30pm).
I opted for the smallest $5 serving. It's got everything I expected - noodles, sauce, pork liver, minced pork, lean pork slices, pork ball, stewed mushroom, lard croutons, scallion.
There's lots of sauce to amply coat every strand of mee pok noodle. It's robustly umami savoury salty, lardy with a bit of spicy heat. The taste of tee poh umami was pronounced even though there was wasn't any visible tee poh fish pieces. Actually, this is good as I am one of those who prefer tee poh to be tasted but don't have to be seen 😬
I enjoyed this delicious noodles and perhaps a bit more tangy zing from vinegar would make it perfect for me. (Next time, I shall ask for a bit more vinegar which I am sure that they will be more than glad to oblige.)
The pork liver slice though thin was skilfully done pinkish - I like the nice "powdery" soft crunch and gentle bitter-savoury liver taste.
The tender pork ball was generic but tasty with savoury and light spice flavour. The shreds of stewed mushroom were soft spongy and saturated with savoury and mushroom flavours.
They were generous with the crunchy lard croutons.
The accompanying pork soup was just no frills savoury, useful for washing down the slurpy flavourful noodles.
I was in a slight hurry but felted satisfied with this quick comfort meal. Had ample time to get to my seminar with a warm stomach and grateful heart.
Can try if you are in the Bugis area, especially if you like umami savoury salty lardy type of bak chor mee. Grandfather Food Empire has a good following.
Tan David Chao Hsiung said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDelete"they should not put their crispy pork lard in a plastic container because it soften to have it last longer it should remain with the oil. another problem when it is in plastic container is it will turn smelly after awhile. fresh pork u do not need to soak or marinate them with flour or any mix - they come out tasting great when it is fresh - most famous stalls do not marinate their meat or liver. mushroom stalks are quite tough and takes a long time to cook - stalks should be left out. cannot disagree that their bowl gives good value for money. sorry do not meant to be overly critical."
Just a bowl of above average “cut and paste” Bak Chor Mee, modeled after Lai Heng Mushroom Noodles in Toa Payoh Lor 4. Not a “must try” because this type can of Bak Chor Mee is sprouting up everywhere.
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