Lim Joo Hin Eating House:Do Stars have good Tastebuds?
Whenever you walk into an eatery and see photos of stars adorning the walls, what is your first reaction? Well, I guess mine is the same as many others, which is "Ay this stall is frequented by all these movie stars, must be quite good". But you know, the stars are just like anyone else. There are some who are very discerning and others who just eat to live.
If you had caught the episode of Makan Lost and Found on Seng Kee's Bak Chor Mee recently, you might have caught my brief cameo appearance. I was on the set that day and had the opportunity to talk to both Gurmit and Michelle. So I popped the most logical question to them. "Are you really foodies or is this just your job?" Well, Gurmit was very honest and admitted that Michelle was the real foodie, but he just eats whatever. So, based on this, I would be more confident if I walked into a restaurant which has a photo of the Lao Ban standing next to Michelle rather than Gurmit.
When you walk into this Teochew restaurant, you are immediately greeted by photos of Andy Lau and Chow Yuen Fatt which are probably taken a few years after his role in "Man in the Net". (Nowadays that might be taken to mean "internet" but in those days, "Net" had a different meaning). So, the real question is, "How much of a Foodie is Chow Yuen Fatt?" He seemed to have adorned the walls of a few eating estblishments around Singapore. Anyone knows?
Anyway, based on the food in this restaurant, I would say that Mr Chow's tastebuds are not bad, or at least they are as not bad as mine, because I actually found the food here to be quite good.
But of course, good is relative. And in this case, it is good relative to the last couple of Teochew Muey's which I had which were quite bad (which is why they are not mentioned in the blog). So it is refreshing to find one where most of the dishes are quite ok.
One of the dishes here that I can recommend is the Lor Bak. Tender and savoury, it is certainly not the best I have eaten, but something I would be happy to order when I come back to eat again. 4.25/5
One of the dishes which was quite outstanding was this very simple peanut with ikan bilis which had some really addictive crunchy bits which I found out later was a mixture of chilli with sugar crystals. We had second helpings of these. 4.5/5
The other dishes were all generally quite good. Other dishes that I would order again were the Hae Bee Hiam and the Gu Rou Yoke (Sweet and sour pork). The porridge could have been hotter and I wouldn't order their braised peanuts again.
Conclusion
One of the better Teochew Porridge that I have had in recent days and one that is opened in the wee hours of the morning if you happened to have those hunger pangs in the middle of the night.
Lim Joo Hin Eating House
715/717, Havelock Road
Singapore 169643
62729871
Open 11am to 5am
30 comments:
And I thought our cult leader was not going to review this. Aint this the famous havelock road corner teochew muay off Beo Crescent?
The most memorable dish I had here was its fish cake. Or should i say, fish paste!
P.S: Somehow the recommendations of that last episode seemed to be duplicated from this blog. Noor Jannah's, Cilantro, Seng Kee...
This place can be quite expensive for teochew porridge but some items worth trying are the fishcake, braise duck, chap chye and this stewed fish in some mustard leaf which they call "shi gek he" in Teochew.
Les, I recommend this place Ye Shang Hai at Blk 116 Henderson Road for really good and cheap Teochew Porridge. It's a cab drivers' hangout. Their variety is astounding and you can eat like a king for a fraction of the price here. The pig trotters, "duo tao" mussels and vege dishes are quite good. Opens till really late so it may be convenient for you.
Hi ice,
Have you blogged it? What time do they open?
Personally find this place terribly overpriced for very mediocre dishes.
Most of the "lor" dishes are drowned in salt and apart from their saving grace of opening till the wee hours, this is one Teochew porridge stall I usually avoid :)
Ye Shang Hai at Blk 116 Henderson Road is worth blogging however, there's an even better Teochew Muay stall at Teck Ghee FC along AMK Ave 1.
It's called Economic Rice and Porridge i think and opens during lunch from 11.30-2.30 and dinner from 6.30-10pm. Closed on Mondays.
The lor duck is excellent and the dishes cost a fraction of Lim Joo Hin :)
Aiya Damien, early never tell me. Been eating even worse Teochew muay lately, so this one wasn't too bad.
Hi Les, Ye Shang Hai opens late morning till really late, I think 3am. No, I've not blogged about it but I've been there many times. I like this place coz during mealtimes the turnover is really high and the cooks whip up dishes as they finish so the food is really fresh from the wok and not left "heated" like at Lim Joo Hin. They really charge reasonable prices and food is good in my books. Once my parents and I (3 pax) ordered about 9 dishes with 3 porridges and 1 bowl rice we paid only about $12.
Oh forgot to add I think it closes on Tuesdays. :)
i know michelle personally, and so i asked her, when u eat on air, if really not nice, you can't really express that on TV right?
she said that if its nice, she will make plenty of comments and being very enthusiastic. but when she is silent and have very few words to say about it, then you will know that the food is not nice.
heh heh..
Forgot to add that the Lor Duck is soooo good at Economic Rice and Porridge at Teck Ghee FC that Uncle Smart tarpowed an entire duck on New Year's Eve for MIL :)
my god, u got to ask for the cockles, its not on display, its inside the counter near the duck. They drizzle some dark sauce and sprinkle with sugar peanuts.
The only thing i dun like abt this place is sometimes the china uncle very rude (clean table and serve food one), they ever drop our soya egg on table and din even bother to replace... And they count count count, then say $50...
And once we ask them to tell us how he get the $40, then he made a mistake, end up was $30 plus... my god.
I avoid Lim Joo Hin at all costs. Expensive and not nice.
i believe tat michelle is really a foodie as compared to gurmit. u can see her "glowing" wif happiness when she's eating! ;)
I love this teochew muey joint! It was the first I'd been to and to date the best by far. Though I do find it a bit pricey just like ice has mentioned.
My favourite dishes at this joint is the Tua Tng (big intestines) and the Kiam Chye Buay (salted veg). Both done to perfection and just heaven eaten with the porridge.
i have to reiterate that damien's taste buds are very similar to mine.... the tcm at this place CMI imo... everything is drowned in oil and salt, not very fresh and overcooked to death. the only worse thing than their food is the hygiene standards...
still the yardstick is xu junsheng, which unfortunately is not operating now, and which i hope is only temporary.
the henderson road one, sounds good. must check that out.
Actually the best Teochew muay can be found in Chinatown Complex, I think Uncle Smart can vouch for that, is Tew Chew Street Teochew Porridge. The Teochew plain porridge itself is worth a whole review & the hae bi hiam is really very good with a smidgen of lime. Cincalok pork and heng cai are also good. This place doesn't cook up a wide variety like many ubiquitous TCM stalls but what they have they really do them well. Every visit I'll buy home the hae bi hiam. Otherwise Chao Xing at Hong Lim is good for TCM too.
But alas both open from morning till early after lunch and not open in the weekends so Les, unless you're on MC haha, you can't blog about it. :)
Hmmm, looks like I have a few Teochew Muey places on my radar now!
Oh yes, that Tew Chew Street Teochew Porridge is way better than Lim Joo Hin which is salty plus oily and frankly, ingredients are neither very fresh nor of high quality. It's been a while since I ate the Tew Chew Street porridge, time to visit again soon. But note that variety's very limited, but tastewise and freshness, beats LJH anytime, anyday.
Since we have so many Teochew Muey experts here, I would like to pose this question:
Why do Teochew's eat Muey? Steam fish everyone knows it is because it is fresh, but why Muey?
try Teo Heng at Hong Lim ieat!...problem is they usually sell out by 2.30pm!
if not wrong this stall put "rock sugar" on top of the "chai buey" ,from then i know how the sweetness from!!!!
Jalan Berseh FC level 2, the Muey not bad, charcoal stir fried most of their dishes
Wow, so many recommendations for TCM. I didnt think before much of TCM, just sit and eat cos it's like home cooked food but maybe I changed my mindset here.
i shall bring my mum over one day. she likes teochiew cuisine =]
i tried there b4, too expensive in my view also. and i'm a teochew mui lover despite me being a hokkien lian! hahaha......thank God for the stall at my hawker centre, that gives decent fare and very good prices.
i love their:
- braised pig skin
- braised chinese mushroom (shitake)
- chilli stingray/shark meat with preserved veg (shark meat is more rare to spot)
- black bean mince pork (bah-chor)
- fish cake
- cabbage (my all time fave)
- steamed or stir-fried sotong (either plain or in dark soy sauce, depend on their mood)
- preserve veg (cai-buay)
and others, but wat i listed up there are those i'd order when i see it. they've more but i haven't tried all of them. the stall at my place is in tat Boon Lay hawker centre, the old one where Power Nasi Lemak operates at night. the morning thunder tea rice is wat i feel the best in s'pore. and they never franchise = only 1 stall. always see people pack by the 10s for office. POWER!
boon lay place hawker centre still has some old charm. =))))
ya LJH is very overpriced. It's usually minimally $10 per head and that's when u order the simple and cheaper dishes.
Have heard good things abt Ye Shanghai before too. Yet to try. Maybe one day during lunch keke.
I used to go to this TCM at a standalone coffeeshop under a block of flats that is quite near the Bukit Batok Driving Centre.
ya boy this place is definitely over price.. i went with husband (2pax) 4 dishes + 3 bowls of porridge (no duck or fish) cost abt $13...
n the afternoon i was there, abt 3+pm, i saw a mynah in the kopi tiam, "eating" the ducks which r cooked n placed in a pail on the floor n none of the staffs saw it... i regret not taking a foto n still eat from there...
Wah, paid $37 for tau kee, tau pok, tau hu, tau kua, tau gay... bottom line is very expensive lor...perhaps its 3am thats why...
I have to agree with you all. I paid $70 to feed 4 adults and 3 kids. They are on the pricey side.
$70 for 4 adults and 3 kids is definitely overpriced. But then again, they are known for being very pricey. You probably need only pay one third of that at Henderson. However, I feel that Henderson is only mediocre. The draw is the very reasonable price there.
I personally know the boss of LJH. According to him, the prices are charged according to the colour of the plates its being served on. You might want to check this out they next time you are there to be sure.
Hi, from what I observe from here thru the photo, I notice that none of them is true TCP. Why I say that is because a bowl traditional Teochew Porridge will be serve in this way, 1 side of the bowl is fill up with the muay (rice) and the other side will be just armd (porridge water). This is call one side mountain, 1 side sea. Don't believe ask the old Teochew Lau. There are more to test if a stall is really run by true TCP pro. Tell you guys later.
Post a Comment