Garden Kway Chap: At least this Famous stall is going to last another generation
The hawker scene in Singapore is undergoing a change much like the rest of our society. Not enough Singaporeans want to clean tables and serve food anymore, so we have to hire people from China to help us. Not enough Singaporeans want to work in retail, so we have to hire people from the Philippines to help us. The same thing is happening in our hawker centres. Not many people want to carry on their parent's stall and you really can't blame them. Being a hawker is hard work and only a handful of stalls achieve that status where IRAS would come knocking at the door.
So in twenty years' time, you would be hard pressed to find stalls like this one where there is a proud family tradition of cooking and serving good hearty hawker fare. One way that hawker tradition is going to be preserved is if the stalls go the way of places like Beach Road Prawn Mee or Kim's Hokkien Mee. That means that we have to recognize and reward good hawkers by allowing them to charge more for a better bowl of noodles. Then they will expand, take over a whole coffeeshop and make it like a restaurant. The younger generation would then find that being the CEO of a the restaurant attractive enough to want to carry on the family recipe.
Fortunately, for this stall at least, there will be Kway Chap for us to enjoy for one more generation as the son has taken over from the dad. I think this might be the most famous stall at this particular food centre and perhaps it is the father's legendary status that makes it attractive enough for the son to continue the family business. But I can only postulate.
Anyway, the Kway Chap here is very good, but I did not find it to be that exceptional. Then again, I have not found any Kway Chap to be exceptional. The braising sauce was good, the kway was smooth, no one item stood out, but everything was above average. I wonder if the 6 chopsticks awarded by Makansutra was given when the Dad was still selling the Kway Chap? 4/5
Conclusion
So are there any fans of this stall who think that my rating is too low?
Garden Street Kway Chap
Serangoon Gardens Food Centre
8am to 3pm
Closed on Mondays
17 comments:
My parents say this is the real blanco court kway chap.. but I am too young to have eaten there before.
Anyway, they also said it tasted better when the old man was helming the stall. I remember he was still there for a period of time just 2-3years back. For me though I agree with the rating 4/5. Not very special but above average.
Anyway, did u happen to go to the pigs organ soup stall aka the one with the long queue? The soup is nothing special but I think the braised pigs organs there are better than this stall!
Never tried this stall but six chopsticks then must be darn good. Perhaps young man need to read this post and persist to carry the crowning glory his dad once enjoyed.
Hey ieat!
This is the old blanco court kway chap as verified by parents, but they said that the quality has really deproved a lot since the old man retired. It's a shame really, because I remembered it used to be my Mum's favourite Kway Chap stall. ):
Nice to see a kway chap post from you. I see that they do have the kiam chye. Do they serve it with duck meat too as like those in Penang?
Nice post on kway chap. I too, felt that it will be real pity for the next generation as I believe the art of cooking kway chap will be lost very soon in the near future.
I think that your rating is justifiable. I myself find that the taste is a bit bland.
I still think that the best kway chap comes from the now defunct hawker center at Hougang Ave 3/Ave 7 (opposition ward). Too bad the lady boss is not selling anymore (or is she? anyone knows? =))
There were actually 2 Kway Chap stalls at Blanco Court. This one and To-Ricos (which is now at Old Airport Road HC).
While both had queues, this one was the better one. 45 minutes to an hour's wait was common during lunch time. It was good.
However, during my last visit to this stall several months back, I felt that the standards have dropped.
Such a pity about the drop in standards! I think quite often when the children take over, they will try to modify the recipe to suit the younger generations taste instead of preserving the recipe.
must try wahcow's fav at Bedok! :)
Have eaten at both Kway Chap stalls at Blanco Court.This was the better one than.Tried twice before at Serangoon Gardens I would have given much lower ratings.
I have to agree with most of the post here that the current standard is nowhere near his dad's legendary status.
Hmm I have tried it before too and thought it was only decent. However, Soon Huat's Pig organ soup (in the same hawker centre) sells fantastic pig organs!
I agree with a lot of the posts above. Yes this was originally from Blanco Court and I remember eating there when the old man was cooking.
Agreed, with the 2nd generation, it is still very good (way above average in my view, in fact, still one of the better ones in Singapore) but the last generation was clearly better.
To be very fair, it could perhaps be the ambience? Dirty hawker centres usually make the food taste better!!
Cheers.
Hey! I totally agree that the Soon Huat's pig's organs are much nicer. But i think they do not serve kway, only rice with braised sauce over it, pig's organs soup and mixed kway chap ingredients. ^^ And of course with my favorite kiam chye.
The last time i went on a weekend afternoon, i had to queue for about half an hour before it's my turn. But it's worth the wait.
reticent_aura: yes, they don't serve kway. What a pityyyyyy! But their soup and mixed ingredients were really fantastic. I always go in the morning of weekends. They open at 9am, so I am usually the very first customer.
I agree with Lost - Soon Huat's pig organs are a class above this stall which I feel is living in its past glory. I have not tasted the stall's previous owners Kway Chap but I have to say ieat's 4/5 is a little too generous. The Kway Chap here is really sub-standard. The braised innards are bland and so is the three-layered pork.
yes, this stall is from Blanco court, heard this son use to be commerical pilot,
yes standard drop, the opposite stall selling duck rice, with stewed pig organ taste better.
nice kway chap
try extra one eating house, exit B farrer park NEL,
stewed pig head, daily only 1, weekend 3, pig tounge,
I think it used to be at Kovan/Hougang St 21 for a short time?
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