Eng Seng Restaurant: Ring Up First or No Crabs for You!

With Amagada

Black Pepper Crabs $38 per kg

We should do a poll to see whether there are more Chilli Crab lovers or Black Pepper Crab lovers. I think that there was one time when Chilli Crabs were the runaway favourites, but then Black Pepper Crabs came onto the scene and stole top spot from Chilli Crabs. Of course, nowadays there are a few other crab fads like Crab Bee Hoon and Salted Egg Crab, but I still think that Chilli Crabs and Black Pepper Crabs are still by far the favourite amongst Singaporeans.

Today we talk about Black Pepper Crabs and as you all may already know, the creation of the dish is widely attributed to the famous Long Beach Seafood Restaurant. But if you ask where is the best Black Pepper Crab around, a lot of people will tell you about this particular place where you have to ring up early in the day to book your crabs before coming down at around 5pm to start queueing for a table.

The notoriaty of this place is legend. The queue is so bad that it had intimidated me enough to not to try it after all these years. There is also the rumour of a Empress Dowager like figure commanding the restaurant and rumours of the Uber Food Nazi chasing people away for the lack of crabs is the stuff of Singaporean Hawker Lore. And then, there is the fact that they are usually sold out by 8pm. How to eat like thaaaaaat? Then again, like that, how not to eaaaaaat?



What finally brought me to the restaurant was when I heard rumours that the restaurant had moved to somewhere in Yio Chu Kang and that the restaurant in Joo Chiat is closed. In fact, I have driven past the alleged new restaurant (which I shall not name at the moment) and it says clearly on the signboard that they were previously from Joo Chiat Place. I think it was Holydrummer who told me that he had already eaten the black pepper crab there. So I started making plans to visit the new restaurant at Yio Chu Kang since I thought I might get a chance to eat the crab before people find them and we have to start queuing again.



But as I was organizing my trip there, one of my patients told me that she had just eaten Black Pepper Crab at the old Joo Chiat Place! After making sure she wasn't seeing me for diarrhoea, I decided that I would get to the bottom of this mystery once and for all.

So we eventually found ourselves sitting at the old coffeeshop at Joo Chiat Place at 5 pm waiting for our Black Pepper Crabs. We were lucky as we did not ring to reserve our crabs ahead of time but still managed to order some because they had a good supply of crabs that day.


As our gowment says, Two is not enough!

The verdict: Strangely addictive. These Black Pepper Crabs are not like the ones served elsewhere. The sauce is slightly sweet and not overly spicy. As Goldilocks would say, "it is just right!". It was so shiok that I think I ate more crabs at that one seating then I ever had for a long while. 4.5/5

The lady manning the register told me that there is some secret ingredient in the black sauce that they used but stopped short of telling me what it was. She also insisted that rumours of there being a change in management at the restaurant was untrue and that everything was the same as before. She appeared to know about the restaurant in Yio Chu Kang but wouldn't say anymore about them.

Conclusion

I guess the real question is whether I would bother calling up earlier in the day and come at 5pm to start queuing up for the Black Pepper Crab the next time? Quite honestly, I think I would.

But back to the mystery at hand. Something must have happened to have started all the rumours! Anyone knows of what actually happened?

Eng Seng Restaurant
247 Joo Chiat Place
(Jn Joo Chiat Place and Still Rd)
4.30pm to around 8pm
64405560
91113564 Eunice

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Ya Kwang: Italian Cze Char

With Camemberu, Keropokman and Amagada

Huay La Ban Mian $5

You would be forgiven if you thought that this was a blog about Italian food. This is not a plate of Pasta con Vongole. It might look like Vongole and maybe taste a little like Vongole but Vongole it is not. Instead, it is a Fried Ban Mian with Huay La and it is eaten in a coffeeshop amidst the smells of Kway Chap and exhaust smoke.



This is a relatively simple dish. The secret lies in the type of clams used. Jason uses what he calls a Huay La (Huay = Flower) as opposed to the more common La La. The Huay La is much sweeter than the La La and that characteristic bitter aftertaste gives the al dente (should I say QQ?) homemade Ban Mian a great sauce to create gastronomic symphony. Certainly a most unexpected hawker dish!. 4.5/5

This is actually my second time eating this dish in a week and this time I gatecrashed on Keropokman's lunch AGM of the Alumni of Batu Pahat Bloggers. By the time I got there, the alumni was already halfway through their agenda and two eyeballs short of their steamed salmon head! You can read Keropokman's account here and Camemberu's here. So not say I say but other bloggers also say that this Ban Mian is good, ok?


Prawn Tang Hoon $7

I did not want to eat crab that day, but I was still yearning for the marvelous Korean Tang Hoon, so I requested that Jason do a Prawn Tang Hoon for me instead. The dish came with a pleasant, and unexpected addition of belly pork as well. The Tang Hoon was wonderfully slurpilicious as usual, however the prawns did not give it as much kick as the crab usually does. OK, still managed to satisfy my Tang Hoon craving but not quite hit the umami spot. 4/5


Teriyaki Beef Hor Fun $5

Jason loves everything Japanese and used to run a Japanese stall over at Suntec City. So there is a lot of Japanese influence in his food. The Kway Chap for instance uses Kikoman soy sauce instead of the normal Soy Sauce. I tried his Teriyaki Beef with rice set which was so good that my son finished the whole thing before I got enough of it. So I asked Jason to try something new for me. Instead of rice, I asked him to fry a Teriyaki Beef Hor Fun instead.

Well, let's just say that it was so good that one of my fellow bloggers Tah Powed a portion home. I like the fact that Jason uses a really nice beef and he doesn't tenderize it by soaking it in bicarb. So the beef is nice and beefy and the homemade teriyaki sauce is quite shiok. The Hor Fun still can be improved as it did not have that wok hei flavour. That aside, this is a dish that I am looking forward to eating again soon. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Not many stalls get repeated blog posts. What can I to do? Everytime I come here to eat, I either discover something new or create a new dish!. So how not to blog? Anyway these one dish items would be a great idea for a quick lunch if you are tired of the samo samo and want to try something tasty and novel. Hope you enjoy it and if you have any ideas for something new, just ask Jason to try it and write about it in the forum for everyone to know!

Click here to read the other Ya Kwang Posts.

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Joe's Kitchen: Joe's a Thai Guy

With ieatfamily, Chinchaiguy, skinnyfoodie and cafelatte

Claypot Crab Vermicilli $15

I have eaten very little Thai food in Singapore. I used to love Thai food, but I must have eaten Thai food less than five times since we came back from our 2 year stint in Bangkok. And that was like five years ago. I guess it must be that I have never found really authentic Thai food in Singapore and also that I just cannot get myself to pay $6 for a plate of Khao Pad Gai (Fried Rice with Chicken) when I used to buy it for 20 Baht (80 cents) just down the road from my apartment.

My favourite Thai food is difficult to find in Singapore. It is typical Esarn (North East region of Thailand) cuisine which comprise of Som Tam (Green papaya salad), Khai Yang (Grilled Chicken) and other salads eaten with Sticky Rice. Except for Golden Mile Complex, you can hardly find this in any of the Thai Restaurants in Singapore. In fact, the Thais themselves love Esarn food. If I were to pick the top Thai food that is most eaten by my Thai friends, I would say it is Som Tam with lots of chilli padi eaten with Sticky Rice. It is to the Thais what Hokkien Mee and Chicken Rice is to us Singaporeans.


Prawn Cakes $2 per pc

When I was invited to Joe's Kitchen, I was told that the chef was previously the head chef from Parkway Thai. With a name like Joe, I thought he was a Singaporean guy. But I was pleasantly surprised that Joe turned out to be a Thai guy who had married a Singapore girl (our secret weapon for attracting foreign talent). Not only that, but Joe's from Esarn as well! OK, Thai food cooked by a Thai guy in his own little restaurant. This is worth checking out!

I was pleasantly surprised with the Thot Man Goong (Prawn Cakes). The texture was perfect. It had a nice springy consistency with bits of prawn in it and marinated just right. Same stuff I used to get in the best Thai restaurants in Bangkok. 4.5/5


Mango Salad $6

The Green Mango Salad was also refreshingly good. Joe gave it a bit of twist by garnishing it with deep fried cuttlefish which gave it that extra ooomph. The heat and saltiness has been toned down so it did not have quite that kick you'd often get in Thailand. However, he confirmed that he does use palm sugar rather than granulated sugar, so it is still quite authentic. I'd like mine with a dash more fish sauce and vinegar though. 4.25/5


Stuffed Chicken Wings $2 per pc

Stuffed chicken wings are one of the easiest things to eat and great for the kids. One of the things about the Thais is that the labour cost is so low that they can afford to get people to do the most labour intensive work. I remember eating seafood in Thailand where they actually served the meat from the crab legs ready peeled! I used to imagine a group of ladies in the back using their teeth to crack open the shell and pulling out the meat from the crab legs! Suffice to say, I never really developed a taste for ready peel crab legs served cold with a dip.



The same amount of labor intensive work goes into preparing the stuffed chicken wings. For every wing, someone has to dislocate the joint, pull out the radius and ulnar bones of the midwing and then stuff it with a mixture of water chestnuts, corn, chopped chicken meat and mushrooms. Hard work but really easy to eat! Being partial to anything with crunchy water chestnuts, I really enjoyed this. 4.25/5


Green Curry Chicken $4.50/$8.90

One of the problems I find when eating Thai food in Singapore is they way they have to modify the dish to suit the local palate. So take for instance the Green Curry Chicken. The spices have been toned down and they have made it richer by adding more coconut milk. They also made it less sweet. Instead of the baby green brinjal which comes in two sizes (chickpea and egg sizes) they use the mature purple ones. I found that the Green Curry lacks balance and the coconut milk was overpowering. 3.5/5


Pineapple Fried Rice $4.50/$8.90

A proper pineapple fried rice needs to have the rice baked in the pineapple. This is quite obvious from the name of the dish in Thai (Khao Ob Saparot - Rice baked (in) Pineapple). However, even in Thailand, this dish is often simply a fried rice with pineapple. A nice pineapple fried rice should be mildly spiced and have that sweetness of the pineapple infused into the rice. But the fact is that most of the time you get to taste the Pork Floss and the Cashew nuts. Unfortunately, Joe did not choose to bake the rice in the pineapple, so this is rightly called pineapple fried rice and I found that again he has toned down on the spices. This dish can be so much better. 3.75/5


Tom Yum Soup $4/$8.90

Tom Yam Soup is arguably the most famous Thai dish overseas. In order to make a good Tom Yam, the soup stock has be great. The Tom Yum soup at Joe's is very good, although, again I found that the spices have been toned down. I think that it might be wise for them to actually let the guest choose the amount of spice they want in their dishes. You know, like 3 grades of spiciness - Ang Moh level, Singaporean level and Thai level so that we can get to custom it to our liking. For me, I would have liked the Tom Yum to be more hot and sour. 4/5

One of my favourite Thai dishes is Prawn Baked Vermicilli which really is a Teochew dish that the Thais have adopted. The secret to a good vermicilli is that piece of pork fat that they place at the bottom of the deep pan when they cook the dish. Aiyah, Joe removed the pork fat because most Singaporeans are health conscious. You want a die die must try Crab Baked Vermicilli? You need that extra ingredient! 3.5/5

Conclusion

Judging from the dishes that did not have to be modified to suit our local tastes, I think that Joe has the ability to cook up a really authentic Thai meal if he was given permission to. I would really love it if they would add Sticky Rice with Som Tom and Khai Yang to their menu. Too many Thai Restaurants assume that Singaporeans will not like it, but I am sure that a place selling these dishes will be a hit with Singaporeans.

At any rate, Joe's Kitchen is a great place to enjoy Thai food where it is small and informal enough for you to get to know the chef and his wife. For me that means that I can get them to cook the dishes the way I like it. Aside from that I think the prices are also quite reasonable, so it is worth checking out the place if you have a craving for Thai food.

Joe's Kitchen Blk 125,
Bukit Merah Lane 1 #01-182
(Opp Alexandra Hospital)
11am to 3pm 5pm to 10pm
62708484
Jamie 98577007
Disclosure: This was an invited review

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Ya Kwang Dai Pai Dong: A different Cze Char Experience

With smart, liverpool, iwatch_ueat,bashful hunter, bashfully hunted, fashionfoodie, pk

Hong Shao Fish Head $18 (half) $30(whole)

Ever since smart discovered Ya Kwang, he has been eating here almost every week with his family or his group of cronies. He's commented on them so many times that I felt it was time to blog it again so that you all can understand what the fuss was all about.

Ya Kwang is about experimental Cze Char. It's owner, Jason is not your typical Cze Char hawker and for that matter not your typical Singaporean either. Rather than playing safe and selling the usual Cze Char favourites, he continues to introduce dishes that you don't commonly find in Cze Char stalls. So, a trip to Ya Kwang usually means you get to taste some of his new dishes or even invent new ones if you wish.

The dish that smart has been raving about is the Hong Shao Fish Head. If I recall, this dish started off as a curry fish head, but one of smart's cronies could not take spicy dishes, so Jason came up with the Hong Shao Fish Head instead. It's a good dish and my only complaint is that the gravy could be a little thicker and that there could be a few more pieces of Sio Bak in it. Otherwise the fish head (He uses Ang Kor Li) is very fresh and the gravy really makes you want to eat more rice (know what I mean?). 4.25/5



Another new dish is the Ti Wan Chye with deep fried crispy Bean Curd. The two elements are an interesting contrast in texture, but I did not think that the flavours synchronized that well. This one needs a little more tweaking but it was an interesting try. 3.5/5



I remember having this dish in a Teppanyaki restaurant in Sydney. Essentially its chunky pieces of ribeye beef flash fried with teriyaki sauce. Not quite novel BUT certainly not something that you normally get in a Cze Char. We felt the beef could be cut just a little thinner so that it was easier to bite. Otherwise the thicker chunkier beef was actually good because it was cooked medium so it retained a lot of the juices. 3.75/5



Of course a trip to Ya Kwang would not be complete without the signature Crab Tang Hoon which I have already written about in the my previous blog. Still good and prices are still reasonable compared to other crab bee hoon places. 4.5/5

Conclusion

There you go. A trip to Ya Kwang is always enjoyable because Jason is pretty hospitable and accommodating. So you get to order your dishes the way you want or even suggest new dishes. Not everything is die die must try, but there are some winners and some of the new dishes need tweaking. But that's the beauty of it, since you are there to experience something new and to offer feedback for further improvements. I think you can expect to hear a dissertation from smart on the Ya Kwang Cze Char experience.

Ya Kwang Dai Pai Dong
709 Geylang Road (Lor 37)
11am to 11pm daily
98170006
Special orders before 7 pm

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Ya Kwang Dai Pai Dong: Crab Tang Hoon!

With Amagada, SCS Butter and Happi Mummi

Crab Tang Hoon $25 for 2 Crabs

Just while you are still thinking about going down to Ya Kwang for the Lobster Noodles, let me just throw one more dish into your list of Must Try dishes. Ever since I discovered this Ang Moh Pai (Westernized) Cze Char Hawker, I have been back a number of times to try out new dishes. It's great when the Cze Char Hawker just happens to have traveled the world in his younger days. It means that he has a wider perspective of food and are willing to experiment with a wider range of ingredients.

Just take this Crab Tang Hoon for example. This Teochew dish is quite popular in Bangkok and there are a few Cze Char stalls that already offer it in Singapore. When I was living in Bangkok, this was one of the standard dishes that I must have everytime I have seafood. In fact I prefer Tang Hoon to Bee Hoon as I find that it absorbs the flavours even better.



So let's take a Crab Tang Hoon and think about how to make it even better. OK, I can't wait for you to think, so let me just tell you what Chef Jason did. Instead of using the normal thin local Tang Hoon, he used Korean Tang Hoon which is thicker and more chewy. Whoa, if you have even eaten Korean Tang Hoon before, you would wonder why we are still using the local Tang Hoon at all. The texture of Korean Tang Hoon is just fantastic. I love the way it is sticky without being gooey and it is so lively it just leaps into your mouth! Each and every strand was infused with the flavours of the Crab, ginger, stock and a few secret Japanese ingredients. Simply addictive. 4.75/5



The reason I keep coming back to Ya Kwang is that I am always game to try new stuff. This picture of the Mussles Fried Ban Mian is probably a world first. I asked Jason if there was anything new on the menu and he simply came by with a bucket of Mussels and said he could try whipping up a noodle dish with it. Sure, why not. Life is too short to always eat the same stuff.

You can think of this dish as a variation of the KL Hokkien Mee. The dark sauce is very similar but Jason added Seaweed and Tee Poh (Crispy Fried Sole). He also specially fried some Pork Lard to go with it. Oooohhh yeah. Even SCS Butter who usually doesn't like Mussels was lapping it up. I think that Ban Mian was good but it would have been perfect if the thick round Hokkien Noodles or Udon was used. I think I am going to persuade Jason to whip up a worthy KL Hokkien Mee soon! 4.25/5

Conclusion

I will be back soon to have the Crab Tang Hoon all to myself. For $25, you get 2 small crabs so it is quite affordable. If, however, you want your big Sri Lanka Crabs, you can order ahead so that Jason that get them for you!

Ya Kwang Dai Pai Dong
709 Geylang Road (Lor 37)
11am to 11pm daily
98170006
Special orders before 7 pm

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Eighteen Chefs: New! Lobster Mornay Pasta

Lobster Aglio Olio $18.90 for set with soup and drink

For those who prefer the Ang Mo version of Lobster Noodles, here is a cafe where you can find it!

I dropped into 18 Chefs one day for the baked rice only to be pleasantly surprised that Benny has started serving Lobster pasta as well! Good thing I brought along my camera that day. I can't resist taking some Lobster shots. Don't you agree they make the nicest pictures?

Now, you already know that Lobster Thermidor holds that special place in my heart so when I found out that Benny had some Lobsters in the premises, I could not resist but to ask Benny if he could make a Lobster Thermidor for me.


Lobster Mornay Pasta $18.90

I told Benny what I would really like is a pasta with a seafood cream sauce made by simmering the Lobster shell with scallops and prawns served with the Lobster Thermidor on top. "Can do or not?" I asked Benny. Benny gave me his usual "Severe" look and said with a note of confidence, "Sure, I can give it a try".

I think Grilled Cheese and Lobster is just one of those "sure win" combinations. The seafood infused bechemel sauce was scooped into the Lobster shell topped with cheese and grilled till nice and golden brown. I just love how the Cheese manages to absorb the Lobster taste from the shell. Too bad Benny didn't have a bit of Brandy and Gruyere Cheese as it would have given it that extra kick. Actually this dish should more correctly be called a Lobster Mornay than a Lobster Thermidor but I am not complaining. At $18.90, I would certainly be coming back for it quite regularly! 4.25/5


Baked Pepper Crab Fried Rice

For those who have been waiting for the Baked Chilli Crab and Pepper Crabs, Benny has confirmed that it will be on the menu on Wednesday nights starting from this month. You will have to call in advance to book it yah?

Conclusion

Found a place to get an affordable Lobster Mornay Pasta! Not quite as "Cheok" as a Lobster Thermidor can be, but "Cheok" enough for me to think about going back for another meal.

Eighteen Chefs
Eastpoint Mall
3 Simei Street 6 #01-36
12pm to 11pm daily
67821298

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Eighteen Chefs: Baked Chilli Crabs, Jamie Oliver, Drugs and New Beginnings

Please read the updates at the end of the blog

Cheese Baked Chilli Crab with Mantou. $20
Special Order for Wed nights only.

This is probably one of the most heartwarming blogs I have written. Not only is it about food for the tummy, but its food for the soul as well.

Are you familiar with Jamie Oliver's "Fifteen" restaurant? Jamie's World Class Restaurant has a reservation list which is 3 months long and he employs disadvantaged youths to train them as chefs. It turns out that we have our own "Jamie Oliver" in Singapore who takes in ex-convicts during their last few months of their jail sentence to train them in necessary skills so that they can have a new start in life. And the amazing thing is that he has been doing it before he even knew of Jamie Oliver.

As fate would have it, Benny eventually found himself working at Fifteen restaurant for a few months, the one and only Singaporean to do so. It was there that he honed his Western Culinary skills. At that time he had been working at Goshen Restaurant which was operated by the Halfway House. Goshen was a Chinese Restaurant which was a training ground for ex-convicts as well.

Benny came home from UK only to find that they had closed Goshen down. So he ventured to open Eighteen Chefs which was a restaurant that served "Singapore's Best Baked Rice". Eighteen Chefs combines Benny's skills as a Cze Char Chef with his new found skills in Ang Moh cuisine which is exactly what Baked Rice is all about.


Baked Pepper Crab Fried Rice $20 Special Order for Wed Nights only

Now don't be mistaken about Benny's fierce looks. Like the old Standard Chartered Bank slogan, he really is Big, Strong and Friendly. We had a great chat about his new restaurant and his passion for music and food. Then we came up with a dish which I think would take Singapore by storm.

Up till now, baked rice had been something that is found in a Hong Kong/Macau style restaurant. It was an attempt by the Hong Kongers to emulate what their English "Masters" were eating. Not any more, we are going to make our very own Singapore style baked rice. And what is more recognizably Singaporean than Chilli and Pepper Crabs?

What I really enjoy about the Baked Chilli Crabs is the way the chewy Mozarella Cheese combines with the Chilli Crab sauce. Ooooh, you think it a bit wierd? What till you taste it. The Mantou Croutons on top really combines well with the cheese and Chilli sauce which is one of the best Chilli Crab gravy I have come across. 4.5/5

For the Baked Black Pepper Crab fried rice, Benny fries the rice first before adding his Black Pepper Sauce. Also quite shiok although I felt it could do with more of a peppery blast. 4.25/5
Both this dishes are only available if you give Benny a ring on Friday so that he can arrange for the Crabs by Sunday night.



If Crabs are not your thing you can create your own baked rice from a selection of sauces and ingredients. The Black Pepper Seafood Baked Rice was also quite shiok. I like the prawns here which are the "crystal" type where the meat is really bouncy. 4/5


Student Meals are $6.90. Pasta, Ice Lemon Tea and Ice Cream

Aside from baked rice, the restaurant also serve a variety of pastas with your own selection of sauces. The cream sauce here has got enough kick to it and you can satisfy your cream sauce crave here for just $5.90.

Now we come to the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" part. I promise this will lift your spirits.

Not many of us can say that we have many wasted years. But Benny, who is now 47 told us that he had wasted many years of his prime behind bars. Between 1983 to 1993, he was in and out of prison a total of four times for Heroin addiction. It all started innocently when he was 14. At that time, he was living in the Redhill area which was one of the hotspots for drug trafficking in Singapore. His own father was an opium addict and he grew up the youngest of 5 boys. Soon he found himself experimenting with marijuana. He recalled how they would use the stem of the papaya leave to burn the marijuana and suck the smoke as it bubbled out of the water. It was a practice fashioned after the Deep Purple song, "Smoke on the Water". Soon he progressed to Heroin and started "chasing the dragon". Before long, he was hooked on Heroin and would traffick the drug in order to satisfy his own craving.

He was put in prison for the first time in 1983. Heroin withdrawal takes 7-10 days to kick and it is agony for the addicts who have to go cold turkey. After 2 years in prison he was released. However, even though he was free from prison, he wasn't free from Heroin. The thought of "chasing the dragon" kept hounding him until he succumbed to its lure. So for the next eight years, it was in and out of prison. Heroin was a master that is not easy to be free from.

During his fourth prison term, Benny found himself very very ill. He collapsed in his prison cell and had to be admitted into hospital. It was there on the hospital bed, facing a near death experience, with all tubes sticking out from his arms and other bodily orifices that he came to the realization of how he had wasted most of his life. He felt he could not trust himself with his own life anymore. He decided to outsource the management of his life to someone else.

During his prison stay, Benny had heard someone told him that Jesus is the Saviour. He knew the story about how Jesus suffered in his place on the cross and that He said that whosoever would believe in Him could be "Born again" and have a fresh start in life. He recalled how the message all became a reality to him as he laid there pondering about his wasted life. Finally, he cried out to God to save him and to give him that new life.

Things began to change for Benny during the next few years in prison. He started to attend Bible studies, pray and read the Bible. He became firm friends with Don Wong who was also a drug addict. Don left prison and is now serving as a full time pastor. When Benny left prison, he went straight into a halfway house run by the Church. He still could not trust himself not to go back to Heroin. During the next few years, he worked during the day and return to the halfway house every night.

However, the thought of Heroin slowly began to creep back into his life. It began to seduce him back into his old way of life. It was to be the final battle for his soul.

Benny recalls that fateful night when he was so battered by the thought of Heroin that he cried out to God. He told God that he had faithfully been walking with Him, praying and reading the Bible. Why is it that he still cannot be free from these thoughts? Why does he still have to struggle with it? Can't God just remove the craving from him once and for all?

Suddenly, he heard one Word from God that forever changed his life. Just one Word. "GRACE" Suddenly it all came together for Benny. He realized that God had broken the curse of Heroin over his life and that he was finally truly free from Heroin.

Jesus said......everyone who sins is a slave to sin.....So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:34.

Benny was no longer a slave to Heroin. He was free. And from that day on, the craving for Heroin stopped...completely.

Benny has never forgotten about the Grace that he has been shown which explains why he takes in convicts and delinquents to train them with the necessary skills for a new life. He hopes his story would be a source of hope for those who are struggling to find a foothold in life.

When you get to the restaurant, have a look at the mural on the wall which was painted by the ex-offenders. You will see a chef with a handcuff hanging off his wrist. This is the only indication of the work of Grace that is happening behind the scenes.

Conclusion

Don't come to the restaurant because of Benny's story. Don't even come because he has worked in Jamie Oliver's restaurant. Come because the food here is really quite good and Chef Benny has got a few surprises up his sleeves. Make sure if you want to try his baked Crab that you ring up before hand as it is a special order item.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

was blind, but now I see

Eighteen Chefs
Eastpoint Mall
3 Simei Street 6 #01-36
12pm to 11pm daily
67821298
Crabs are special order items. You have to ring up 2 days in advance and it is only available on Wed nights starting in August
Recommended by liveyrdreams

Update 17 Jul 2007

There have been some hiccups with the Baked Chilli Crab. As a result some of our readers have called up only to be disappointed that they were not available. Benny is planning to have it from August onwards. It will be a special order for Wed nights. Give 2 days advance notice.

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Ya Kwang Kway Chap: Heavenly Kong Bak, $10 Crab Bee Hoon, Yuppie Kway Chap and Peking Rectums!

Just in case you are wondering what this stall actually sells, the answer is.....anything that the owner Jason is passionate about. Well, the mainstay of the stall is the Kway Chap which was recommended by one of our readers, Iris. She described this as a Yuppie Kway Chap that would appeal to people who would otherwise not go near piggy spare parts. The other thing that caught my attention was that the stallowner happened to be an ex-flight steward. Now, an ex-flight steward opening a Yuppie Kway Chap stall in Geylang, don't you think that is worth investigating?

And amazingly, that is exactly how I would describe this Kway Chap. The taste is new age, delicate and clinical. The flavour is subtle such that you can't really make out the spices, but they combine to give the Kway Chap that umami kick. Even for a person like me who don't usually eat Da Chang Tou aka rectums, I actually found this one to be quite delectable. 4/5



Are you all familiar with the Ma Ling canned Kong Bak? I grew up eating it and ooohhhh, it is so yummy! It's got a very special taste that I can't quite describe but I instantly recognize when I eat it. Unfortunately, even though there have been many new stalls sprouting up selling Kong Bak Pau, there really has not been one that I could rave about.

Not anymore! I think I have found my regular Kong Bak Pau haunt. The Kong Bak here has got that special Ma Ling Kong Bak taste but without all that lard oil in the sauce. It is not overly sweet but instead has got a really "Kiam Pang" (Salty Savoury) taste that is quite irresistable. Jason told me that his method of cooking the pork is quite different and though he did not reveal what gave the pork its "Ma Ling" flavour, he did say that he uses Japanese sauces to marinade the meat before steaming for several hours. It was so good, I tar paued a whole box home only to find that my kids finished it all up when I got home late from work! Now if he had deep fried the skin so that it was wrinkly I would have immediately give it a 4.75. But even as it is, it deserves a commendable 4.6/5


Crab Bee Hoon $10

For those who like to eat Crab Bee Hoon for the Bee Hoon and not necessarily the crab, this is a good place to have your bee hoon without having to fork out at least forty bucks. The Bee Hoon here is pretty good and has that crustacean flavour infused into the Bee Hoon. For ten bucks you get a small but solid crab. Not a bad way to satisfy that crab bee hoon crave. 4/5


Peking Duck? Guess again!

I have to hand it to Jason to come up with this next dish which is "Peking Rectum". Yes it is Peking Duck but instead of Duck skin, Jason has substituted it with deep fried Da Chang Tou. The idea was so novel, I had to try it at least once. I must say that the texture of the deep fried Da Chang Tou was really like the skin of the duck. But of course it does not taste like duck, it tastes like a sweet crispy morsel of meat. It's something you definitely need to try and take a picture of so that you can tell the world about it. 3.5/5

Conclusion

Jason's the kind of new age hawker chef that is going to change the way we eat hawker food. Passionate, well travelled and innovative, his constant experimentation has already produced a Kong Bak Pau that really is darn shiok. I am really looking forward to more new creations coming out from his kitchen. He has already promised me that he will look into the possibility of stir fried Lobster noodles........ akan datang or should I say... makan datang... I hope... I hope....

Ya Kwang Kway Chap
709 Geylang Road (Lor 37)
98170006
11am to 11pm daily

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Lam's Crab and Prawn Noodles: Steamed Crab Bee Hoon!

This is quite a unique dish for those who are looking for new things to try. It is crab bee hoon but not the familiar fried version like Sin Huat or Heng Kee. It is instead, a steamed Crab Bee Hoon.



The Bee Hoon has been pre-fried and it really reminded me of mee siam. So all the special flavouring is in the bee hoon already. When you order the dish, all they do is to put the crab and and some fried ginger on top and steam it.

It is the first time I came across this dish. When I found out how they actually prepared it, I really had my doubts about how it would taste. I can't imagine how much crab flavour will actually get into the Bee Hoon.

For me, the beauty of Bee Hoon is its ability to absorb the flavours. A well prepared Bee Hoon can be marvelicious like the ones I mentioned previously.

My doubts were proven right. The bee hoon does lack the nice savoury crustacean flavour of a good fried crab bee hoon. This is not to say it is bad. It is not bad, just not that shiok. But for those who are looking to eat something that is more Cheng (less oily), this would be a good idea. For $10 a plate, you get a small sized crab. I guess it is something you'd want to try just to judge for yourself if you really like it. The group of us were not exactly bowled over, but you know, as they say, taste is subjective. 3.5/5


Prawn and Pork Rib Noodles $8

The Prawn noodles here is not bad. The soup certainly looks quite robust with all the bits of protein precipitates floating around in the soup. It was good but still lacked that ooomph that I have come to expect of a good prawn noodle soup. Still worth trying if you are in the Rangoon Road area. 4/5

Conclusion

We were not overwhelmed by the Crab Bee Hoon or the Prawn Noodle that day which was quite unexpected since this store was highly recommended by several people. Maybe it was just a one off. The Crab Bee Hoon was a dish I try once just for the sake of it. However, I have a feeling the Prawn Noodles were just a bit lack lustre that day and might usually be much better. There were quite a few people eating there on a late afternoon, so there must be something going for it.

Lam's Crab and Prawn Noodle
97 Rangoon Road
9am to 9pm

Update 25 May 2009
Lam's has moved down the road and the stall is now taken over by Dai Dong Prawn Noodle

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