East Bistro Serangoon myVillage • Hong Kong Flavours by Tony Wong Former Lei Garden HK Head Chef ☏ 6634 2998

We have been fans of chef Tony Wong's East Bistro Restaurant since his days at Jalan Tampang in Sembawang. My article on East Bistro Sembawang from ten years ago.

In 2018, Chef Tony opened a second East Bistro outlet in Serangoon located on level 2 of myVillage at Maju Ave. This was my first visit to his East Bistro Serangoon outlet.

The interior was spacious, open, bright, and clean. Full length windows look out to old trees and a thriving suburban neighbourhood. Furnishings were simple yet comfortable and tables were well spaced out. Very welcoming, relaxing, laid back, unhurried vibes. Relatively hush for a busy dim sum place. Love it.

We started with 浓汤池鱼腐 Fish curd with luffa gourd in soup.

It's actually fish balls handmade with yellowtail fish. They called them fish curd because the texture was soft like bean curd or tofu. Mildly savoury with underlying sweetness of fresh yellowtail fish. The savoury sweet soup with luffa gourd was delicious too.

韭菜豬血 pork blood curd with chives.

Boiled pork blood curd with chives and savoury sauce. Not a menu item but added as pork blood was recently permitted for consumption in Singapore after a long ban (since 1999).

冰镇咕噜肉 sweet and sour pork on ice.

Truth be told, I still can't understand this dish. Fried battered pork cubes, enveloped in sweet and sour sauce, served on a bed of melting ice cubes.

Eat it fast before the ice cubes melt into water and the fried pork cubes lose their crispy crunch.

The sugary glaze coating the deep fried pork held up well in East Bistro's rendition - I can feel the subtly brittle glaze. The ice also supposedly intensifies the pork's flavours. I enjoyed it though I still don't get the hype behind it 😬

This dish, created almost like a prank or stunt for a 1995 Steven Chow comedy, is nearly mainstream now as many Cantonese restaurants serve it today.

盐焗星斑球 salted grouper slices.

Sweet tasting slices of fresh grouper with aromatic garlic bulbs and salt.

古法焖牛尾 traditional stewed oxtail.

Fall-off-the-bone soft tender, juicy, umami savoury beefy with subtle taste of Chinese spices, aromatics and chili pepper.

沙姜鸡煲 Chicken with ginger in a claypot.

Bite size chopped chicken marinated and stir fried with ginger, and other aromatics and soy sauce.

豬脚燜米粉 stewed pork fried bee hoon.

Comforting soft tender fatty pork leg stewed in soy sauce. I like it that the bee hoon was lightly seared in oil before stewing together with the stewed pork. The seared bee hoon infused the savoury stewing sauce but retained some of its crispness.

We also ordered a 油皇炒面 noodle fried in superior soy sauce.

I like to try this humble "simple" dish at different Cantonese restaurants. East Bistro's version was darker, the soy sauce savouriness more intense. The noodles were stir fried a little drier, well greased and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.

豆豉凌鱼油麦菜 a homely humble dish. Leafy yau mak greens stir fried with canned dace fish.

Fresh crunchy juicy greens stir fried with savoury salty dace fish preserved with oil and fermented black beans.

原创杨枝甘露 Chilled mango sago pamelo dessert was created by Chef Tony in 1984 when he was with the famous Lei Garden in Hong Kong.

冰花炸旦球 Ice Flower Deep Fried Egg Balls. Fluffy eggy fried dough balls coated with icing sugar.

Approved

We enjoyed East Bistro's dishes. Good food at competitive prices. There are many more dishes on the menu which we need to come back for.

We didn't have East Bistro's famous pao fan 泡饭 this round, but you must when you come (if you haven't tried it before).

We had it a few times before and it was truly amazing.

The porridge was cooked Teochew style with the rice grains tender but still whole in the chicken broth. There were bits of diced chicken and mushroom which gave the brothy porridge added texture and a gentle layered umami savouriness.

The surprise was the sizzle and crackle of golden fried rice crisps tossed into the porridge just before serving. The crackly rice crisps added delightful texture contrasts to the soft boiled rice, tender chicken and spongy mushroom in the soupy porridge.

Chef Tony shared with us how East Bistro's signature Chef Tony's Special Pao Fan is made. An East Bistro original, many other restaurants have emulated this dish subsequently.