Mohd Sultan Rd Cheng Tng: Behave or you don't eat your Cheng Tng!
The concept of the Food Nazi was popularized by Seinfeld and it is a term I use for food sellers who have such a great following that they can afford to be cantankerous but people are still willing to suffer abuse in order to eat their stuff.
Now what is the difference between a Food Nazi and a food seller who just gives bad service? Somehow you still have that respect for a Food Nazi even though you are a bit scared that he might just nip off the tip of your nose. I have had mean and downright impolite people serving me before and these people really spoil a good appetite. I really have no impetus to patronize their stall anymore. But when a Food Nazi treats you bad, somehow you don't really get angry. In fact, you might find that the bad service is all part and parcel of the whole dining experience. So when I call a hawker a Food Nazi, please don't shun his stall. No, the bad service is all part of the fun.
This is the well known Cheng Tng Nazi over at Adam Road. Well known at least to my seasoned makan kakis the HolyC and smart. I just found him to be a tad grumpy that's all. When I asked why his Cold Cheng Tng does not have any longan soup in it, he merely replied that Cold Cheng Tng does not have any longan soup in it. OK, not quite verbal abuse. So what do I need to do to get the real bad service. Maybe he just was not in the mood that day.
The Cheng Tng itself is very cheng (clear) and it was a good Cheng Tng to quench the thirst. There was not really that much ingredients in it. The hot one is better than the cold one. The good thing about the Cheng Tng here is that it is full of that brown frilly stuff which I really like. 4/5
Conclusion
The classic Food Nazi that I know of is in JB and I am planning to blog him one day. If you all know of any other Food Nazis, please write in and let me know!
Mohammad Sultan Road Hot and Cold Cheng Tng
Zion Riverside Food Centre
Stall 7
11am to 9pm daily
Closed Monday nights
18 comments:
Food Nazi?? Try the pepper crab at still road. Hot and humid coffee shop, long queue, expensive price, abuses from the famous "Ah Hoon", but no choice... it is the best pepper crab around. The mee goreng is shiok as well and requires pre-order.
Came here three saturdays ago.
Great Cheng Tng too, but I still prefer my first love YLX at Bedok Corner. More soup, (relatively) less 'liao' (ingredients) - I like =D
What will happen to a Doc Nazi?
I'm not so sure.
No, Food Nazi is not our culture.
Sure some food taste better than others.
But the only time when something "is die die must eat" is when I am very hungry.
Ha ha, never thought of that! But I used to know a really old GP who used to be quite cantankerous. But he was very knowledgeable and still you get to respect and like him once you accept his brusque bedside manners! He must be pushing 80 now but he is still working the weekend shifts!
The 'real' cheng tng is the hot version. If you order the cold version you getting 'rubbish' that what my daughter said. She did not finish her cold 'cheng tng' A friend ordered hot cheng tng and requested him to add some ice but this 'Nazi' totally ignored him!.
I think this is the first mention on Soup Nazi http://food.asia1.com.sg/revamp/gdfd/fea_20050702_001.shtml
i never liked my cheng tng to be cold.. always feel tat e tng is diluted becos of e ice..
always prefer it to be hot n drink it when it's cool! =)
There's a local food Nazi helming a small, hole-in-the-wall Japanese joint at Far East Plaza.
Food was mediocre but the place is full because the prices are low. Everyone eats quietly and the atmosphere was pretty strained to me.
I hated it and don't know why people still go.
Very interesting term to use on a food seller ....
Actually, I really cannot stand bad attitude/service ..... whatever term you call it, nazi or not nazi... bad is bad... just like white lie or just lie, it is still a lie. Sometimes, we just use another term so that it doesn't seem that bad after all...
Anyways, for me, bad service is still a "no-no"... experience once, I will give them one more chance.. if they do it again, I will not go back again.... unless that is the ONE AND ONLY STORE that sells that product/service...
ok... back to the chng teng, I prefer my chng teng hot .... because the soup is thicker and I think more nutritious ingredient unlike the cold which has agar agar in it sometimes.
given the scorching hot weather these days, slurping a bowl of cheng teng is bliss. perhaps you would like to try the cheng teng at the thiong bahru market, at the stall called "Tian Tian" something.. the cheng teng is chock-a-block with ingredients. heavenly....
ps. agree that true cheng teng is the hot version, but if you really like it cold, why not get the hot version in a takeaway, chuck it in your fridge till its ice-cold? this way, you will avoid having ice diluting your cheng teng :)
the bedok corner one like nicer sia, the soup just tastes better.
Which is why its got a higher rating, no?
=D pretty much i guess.
I've heard of the food nazi at far east plaza, who apparently scolded his wife in front of customers as well, for...giving a customer less rice because he requested for it. =_=. For me, the food nazi i'll go back to is at Qun Zhong restaurant along Neil Rd, selling their xiao long baos (std dropped), guo tie (gd), chinese pizza and red bean pancake(very good). He barked at me and my friend for questioning his 'order' that we sit by the glass door in the restaurant when the place was almost empty. But i'll still go back for the chinese pizza.
My wife and I love this Cheng Tng stall and it's just down the road from our house. So it's easy to satisfy our Cheng Tng cravings..... However, the last time we got Cheng Tng from there, my wife found a WORM in it!
I tried to convince her that it's just a bit of extra protein, and nothing to worry about. But she's refused to eat Cheng Tng from there since.... sigh... and by implication, I also haven't eaten there for a LONG time....
Guess I'll just have to swing by Bedok Corner more often.
Let me add one more to the list of food nazi. My family and I went to the legendary bee hoon crab place at Geylang Lorong 35 last year. Peculiar boss/cook who takes the order himself. We were well aware of the long wait so we ordered some duck from the kway chap stall.(good but way way too expensive) Very Very Wrong Move. The boss/cook of the crab bee hoon place saw it and told us point blank to leave immediately. He said that we won't be able to finish his dishes after eating the duck. He wouldn't even let us "un-order" one or two dishes. He insisted on not serving us entirely and walked off. We were shocked and pissed to say the least. BUT... we went back anyway despite the experience cos his crab bee hoon is simply the best dish I've ever had in Singapore... albeit the guaranteed MSG buzz you get after each meal. Rated 4.9/5 in my book.
This stall is manned by the son now. He looks grumpy too.
I find the Cheng Tng above average but really liked their sweet potato pieces. However, the son just told me that they no longer sell sweet potato as it is not lucrative and it is troublesome to make.
I just tried cheng teng at this stall yesterday and can confirm the cold cheng teng isn't spectacular.
He pours a flavored sugar syrup over shaved ice and "TA DA" that's your cold cheng teng. Hence if you eat the cold version there is no "teng". It sure is a nice desert for a hot day but i couldn't find any other factors that I would choose this over any other average chng teng.
Another thing is that the chewable ingredients consists of mainly the white starch pearls, some lychee/rambutan and a few yellow sweetened nuts which I don't recognise. There are no barley/lotus seeds if you are looking for them.
This is what I think of the cold version. My own feeling is to skip the cold version, the hot one is possibly better.
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