Thursday, July 16, 2009

Ah Chuan Oyster Omelette: At long last!

With Taukwa

Oyster Omelette $4

I have been waiting 3 years to eat at this stall. No kidding. The last 5 times that I visited Toa Payoh Lor 7 food centre, it was either on a day when he was closed, not yet opened or on holidays in China.

When I first starting blogging back in 2006, one of the first group of hawkers that I targeted were the Hawker Legends listed by Makansutra. This was the first batch of hawkers who won the award and I think that most of them deserved the honour. Three years on, I have almost completed the list. After Ah Chuan Oyster Omelette, there is only one more left and that is Mattar Road Seafood BBQ. Ok, must press on to finish what I started three years ago!


Ah Chuan: The most important thing is to control the fire

I have been largely disappointed with this particular dish the last few times I have eaten it. Mind you, this is a high calorie, high cholesterol kind of dish, so when you eat it, you really want to make sure that the calories are worth it. From my point of view, this is a dish with simple ingredients so it is really dependent on skill and experience to get it right. The flavour comes basically from eggs, oil, oyster and fish sauce and I feel a good oyster omelette should not even need to be bathed in chilli to taste good. But even if you prefer it with chilli, the chilli sauce here is well balanced and has the right amount of sourness to cut through the oil.

The texture on the other hand is a bit more complex. There's got to be just the right balance of crispy starchy bits, crispy brown egg bits, chewy starcy bits and sticky starchy bits. And of course it is a given that the oysters must be fresh.

I must say that this is the most satisfactory Oyster Omelette I have eaten since I started blogging. The oysters are big, juicy and fresh and the texture of the dish is just perfect. The only thing I can think of that would make it even better is if he fried it in pork lard. 4.75/5

Conclusion

Oyster Omelette is one of those dishes that I try to avoid eating too much of because it really isn't all that healthy. So if I were to have the craving for oyster omelette, this is the one stall that I will head to gurantee that my calories are not wasted.

What to do next:

After eating the Oyster Omelette, go for Chendol at Dove Dessert!
If you still have the stomach, you must not miss Hai Nan Xing Zhou Beef Kway Teow.
Check out the rest of the Hawker Legends.
Where else to eat Oyster Omelette.

Ah Chuan Oyster Omelette
Toa Payoh Lor 7 Food Centre
Stall #01-25
3pm to 9pm
cloosed on Tuesdays

22 comments:

iJeff said...

Haha, you have finally managed to try Ah Chuan Oyster Omelette. Shiok right? It is one of my favourite or-luak.

iJeff said...

Yes, Hai Nan Xing Zhou Beef Kway Teow and Dove Dessert's Chendol are my favourites too!

Damien said...

You finally got to try it!

I just had it for dinner and I can still feel the bucket of oil swimming inside me. hehehehe..

The other two stalls I'd have my fix for Or-luak are at Newton FC.

Can't recall the name but one stall belongs to the mum of Robin who used to ply his trade at Glutton's Bay.

Anonymous said...

Been eating at this stall since I was a kid. This stall's couple is a dream team, they don't quarrel, always soft-spoken, and hairstyles never changed over the years.

Best is, the quality of their oyster omelette is always up to standard.

Anonymous said...

Which do you think is better ? This or Simon Road's ?

ieat said...

Well, this stall got my highest rating.

The one at Simon Road, well I have to give the stall owner one more chance perhaps. The day I was there, he fried it too crisp. Ah Chuan's Oysters are definitely better.

Round one goes to Ah Chuan.

I like what Anonymous said about their hairstyles. I reckon he doesn't even cut his hair. It is just permanently like that, like a helmet he puts on every morning.

Anonymous said...

hair set permanently and worn like a helmet ? hmm, I never thought of that.

oh, you should try the rojak stall in the coffee shop just directly opposite the chendol and oyster omelette stalls. The rojak stall's manned by a old man with a tummy like laughing buddha.

there's a roasted duck and char siew stall at the coffee shop near to lorong 6's main road, used to be good, not sure about now though.

nemo said...

Can someone please tell me where is this food centre as in which block?
Would like to try it soon. Thanks in advance.

Anonymous said...

sorry, multi-storey carpark is via blk 17 [lorong 6]

Anonymous said...

blk 22 toa payoh lorong 7.

you can either park at the multi-storey carpark at blk 18 [enter through lorong 6], or there's a car park behind blk 20 [enter through lorong 7]

nemo said...

Thank you very much, that is detail description indeed.

Ping said...

Hmm... Les, the one time I tried this with Pong it wasn't amazing leh... But I probably can't judge cos' I'm not an or-luak expert. I guess all you guys must be right. Shall try it again when I get back. :)

Anonymous said...

It is good but I have tasted better one at Blk 409 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 food centre. I went last Sunday to the Lor 7 stall and was not impressed at all.

Anonymous said...

visited this stall after your review...hmm found some charred bits but overall quite good =)

But the oysters are very fresh...and juicy ...infact the best so far!

fatme said...

Yes yes this my favourite Or luak.Have tried most of Or Luak around nothing beats this.

smart said...

Anon, Yes I recommended Les that Uncle Rojak opp. Dove but he doesnt like it. However I & smarter like it. That Uncle will even serve you if you want it at the F.C.
By the way the yellow tail fish ball noodle stall (next to Dove) will open a branch at ION. This time they will introduce 'keok' (dumbling)at this new stall.

nemo said...

Tried this oyster omelette yesterday with my wife, it is good and the oyster is big and fresh.
Everything for only $5.
After eating this we also order a plate of char kway teow from a stall at the end and then my wife order a plate of ice kachang.
I did a walk around and found a stall selling hainan herbal mutton soup and order a bowl as well.
What a feast and this mutton soup is good and taste very unique, unlike all mutton soup that I tasted.
One more thing that I like about this place is that this place is windy, my wife was quite reluctant to come here when I say it is a food centre in Toa Payoh.
Well she change her mind and says she will come back again if we are in Toa Payoh.
Thanks for the recommendation, guys.

ieat said...

Thanks for that mini review nemo. Hope to hear more of your reports!

jencooks said...

To me Ah Chuan Oyster Omelette is just perfectly how I wanted it to be. The oysters if I am not wrong comes from Korea. I have been going around and nothing beats Ah Chuan. A collegue sms photos after I told him a month a ago and he went sniffing there only to send me a email with photo of the shutters closed. His second trip bore fruit and again sms with photos that his plate was empty with the word SHIOK ! Their next door noodle is also quite nice.

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hi ieat,
You have a great blog here and I love coming to check out the places you recommend. Have been reading your blog for awhile now and I would like to say thanks by sending you the Kreativ Blogger Award. Please go to my blog for details. ;)

Anonymous said...

since we're on the topic...can someone tell me wat's the difference between 'or luah' and 'or jian'?

ieat said...

From what I understand, we Teochews don't say jian. We say luak when we are describing the frying process. I think Jian is used by the Hokkien.

There is of course Orh Neng which is Oyster omelette which is not fried with the sticky sweet potato flour.

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