Open for 4.5 hours, queue will be over 1 hour

It’s night at Telok Blangah Crescent Food Centre and the place is just about abandoned. All the rows of stalls are darkish, aside from one. From a stall in that solitary aisle come the rhythmic, musical clangs of a steel spatula on a steel wok. Hai Kee Teochew Cha Kuay Teow remains to be open.

There are 9 folks lined up earlier than me within the queue. I do the mathematics: 5 minutes X 9 = 45 minutes. It appears an absurdly very long time as a result of the queue appears comparatively brief. However, that’s some of the notable issues about this stall: each plate is constituted of scratch by itself. Even in case you order a number of plates directly, they’re cooked individually.

Wait, we should. The aged woman in entrance of me takes the chance to take a seat at one of many empty tables straddling the road. Behind me, one other 3 folks have joined the ready occasion. The musical clanging carries on, continuous.

What I attempted at Hai Kee Teochew Cha Kuay Teow

I had heard concerning the reasonably uncommon default cha kuay teow at Hai Kee Teochew Cha Kuay Teow. It is served with hum (cockles) and never with lup cheong (Chinese sausage). I personally choose it the opposite manner round. Apparently, you’ll be able to ask for it to be achieved to your liking.

Unfortunately, I used to be simply so glad to be inserting my order after the 45-minute wait that I forgot to ask! So, there I used to be with my Cha Kuay Teow (S$5) with all of the cockles and not one of the sausage. I wanted I had ordered the smaller (S$4.50) model as a substitute.

Really, the serving is large. It fills the whole plate and rises as much as fairly a top (in comparison with different stalls).

It’s additionally a bit wetter than I’m used to.

My plateful had the fantastic darkish color that I like in my cha kuay teow, due to the beneficiant spatula-full of darkish sauce added to the combination. Also combined in there have been 2 eggs, now just about indistinguishable from the remainder of the plate.

There was additionally a beneficiant serving to of bean sprouts. They and the crispy pork lard added a vital crunch to the combination.

I very fastidiously hunted down all of the 20 or so cockles and piled them onto one aspect of the plate. Well, nearly all. 2 of the buggers had gone full camo and made their manner into my mouth. I’ll should admit that they weren’t as dangerous as I had imagined. Still, they’re an acquired style that I’ve not but determined to amass.

On the opposite hand, I did miss having lup cheong with my cha kuay teow. As far as I can recall, this was the very first time that I’ve had the dish with out that important (to me) ingredient.

That mentioned, the wealthy flavour of the noodles within the sauce, the feel and crunch from the pork lard and the sprouts, and the general eggy contact left me fairly happy with my alternative.

When I left at 8.54pm, 6 minutes earlier than Hai Kee Teochew Cha Kuay Teow’s scheduled closing time, there have been nonetheless 6 folks in queue. I puzzled if they’d be served or left to make extra well timed plans for an additional day.

Final ideas

It’s a bit troublesome to guage this cha kuay teow compared to different stalls the place I’ve had the identical factor. It’s all my fault— had I been paying extra consideration, I might have ordered my ‘standard’ model with Chinese sausage and with out the cockles. That would have allowed me to make a greater comparability of style and flavour.

That doesn’t make my go to a whole failure, although. There is little doubt that Mr. Loh dishes up some delectable plates of this widespread favorite. It has its personal enchantment, one thing that’s confirmed every single day from the queue at his stall.

I’m a bit torn concerning the preparation type. Obviously, he has perfected a manner of doing issues that works for him (and attracts the countless line of shoppers). At the identical time, there isn’t any doubt that each one of us would like if he managed to prepare dinner in greater batches and served them up only a bit quicker.

That mentioned, Mr. Loh is an aged man who has achieved an admirable degree of nationwide fame along with his distinctive type (and fantastic cha kuay teow). When all the pieces you’ve achieved works, there may be going to be little incentive to alter. I believe I like that.

Expected injury: S$4.50- S$5 per pax

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