大吃の喜 (Tai Shek Hei)

Noodles and rice are the staple in our Asian context, while the Caucasians live on their bread, try telling the older generation that there isn’t rice for dinner and you’ll get the answer from their reactions. There are many different kinds of noodles; the Japanese ramen, soba and udon are especially popular. And then there’s the Korean noodles, and of course, our Chinese noodles.

And among our Chinese noodles, there are many types with wheat flour based ones like lamien, vermicelli, and the thick noodles. For their egg base counterparts, there are the thin noodles (you mian), and the mee pok which are commonly found. How about bamboo noodles?

I was given the opportunity for a food tasting session at Tai Shek Hei. The boss John See, and his wife Amy invited me for lunch to try out their speciality, bamboo noodles. Tai Shek Hei had recently just opened a month ago at Joo Chiat road, just directly opposite the Dunman food centre.

So you might ask, what’s so special about bamboo noodles? The tedious process in making the noodles from dough using the bamboo machine specially created by John. I didn’t get the chance to see the noodle-making process that day because they had already made their batch of noodles the previous days. The chef will normally make about 200 servings of noodles each time, and usually every two days they will make new ones to ensure the freshness of the noodles.

My friend and I had a quick tour around the kitchen and John explained the concepts behind Tai Shek Hei to us.The staff are all from China, thus might have difficulty with their English when taking orders.

Tai Shek Hei has got very simple furnishings, with the artwork depicting the joy of the chef in making the noodles, adorning the wall. What i like about the place is its unpretentious feel, coupled with the soothing music, provided an cosy environment which was unlike other typical Chinese restaurants.

Speciality Tobiko dumpling bamboo noodle ($6.80) In Hong Kong, they actually preferred the soup version of the wanton mee to the dry one which is more popular in Singapore. The speciality Tobiko dumpling bamboo noodle was one of the most springy noodles i ever tried before. The noodles were so springy that they literally “bounce” on your tongue.

We also tried the dry version of the bamboo noodles, with equally good results. Although some people might find it expensive, given there’s only four dumplings with the bamboo noodles, but you can’t compare it with the normal wonton mee, for one, the noodle’s really good, and the process in making them was certainly not easy.

The Tobiko dumplings would redefine the dumpling experience. Their dumplings were packed fully with ingredients like shrimp, meat, water chestnut, tobiko (Japanese flying fish roe). One bite of the dumplings was all it need to let the essence of the fillings sinked into your month.

Speciality fried tobiko dumpling ($4 for 4) Besides the dumpling soup, Tai Shek Hei also got the fried version, which i felt that was even better than the soup one. The crispy wonton skin was a delight to bite, you can hear the crunching sound. And just for the information, the wonton skin was also made with their own machine.

The fillings were the same as the soup version, shrimp, meat, water chestnut, tobiko (Japanese flying fish roe).

Chives & egg pancake Personally, I didn’t like chives as i found the taste too strong, but for food tasting sake, i tried one of them. The chives dumpling, or pancake as they called it here, was fried until golden brown, with the green chives inside shining though the translucent skin.

There’s plenty of juice from the chives which came rushing out when we took a bite. I think this one’s good for chives lovers, with the crispy golden brown skin and the juicy chives. But for me, I still can’t accept it.

Honey Gourd ($4) We had a sampling portion of the honey gourd, which was an innovative dish on the menu. Gourd which was bitter in nature, when paired up with the sweet honey, gave a balanced taste of sweet-bitterness.

Fried honey dew Another inspiration of Amy, this was created on the day we went, so we got the opportunity of trying it first-hand. They provided a bowl of ice water, to soak the pipping hot fried honey dew into it, before eating. The idea was to prevent customers from burning their toungue.

And also the contrast of fried hot honey dew when come into contact with the icy water was apparent. But i found that the chili padi which was part of the ingredients overpower the sweet honey dew taste. A creative idea no less, and we shall wait for the chef to refine it.

Roast Combination ($10 for small) Not many restaurants are honest with their customers, but Amy frankly told us that their roast combinations got mixed results. Their roast pork was not up to the grade, and they had since removed it from the menu. Leaving with the roast duck, char siew, and soy-sauce chicken.

The soy-sauce chicken was actually the better one among the trio, with Amy proudly saying that’s the one that can brave the test. My first taste was a tad dry and hard, but thats probably because i got the breast meat. The other parts of the chicken were fine, smooth and silky.

The Char siew was average, although not juicy and tender enough, their rendition’s still passable.

I thought that the roasted duck was all right, nothing fantastic, but i had eaten worse.

Cod ($8 for small) We rounded off our meal with the cod which i thought was reasonable at $8 for a small serving. The fish was fried to crispy golden brown. It’s difficult to judge the freshness of a fish when it’s fried, but I have no complains about the cod since i always like them.

All in all, Tai Shek Hei has got really excellent bamboo noodles, one of the best i’ve tried so far. I think it’s worth a try, even though you might complain it’s too expensive, but hey they are a Chinese restaurant after all. The menu is still in-process, as they are still testing and trying some new dishes, while removing the inferior ones. The items are a case of hits and misses, with the tobiko dumpling noodle, and the chives pancakes worthy mentions.

The PRC staff might not be adapt to communicating in English as yet, but they are busy learning the basic terms to cope with the need. Service is still slow as the new entrants are still coping with the F&B experience, but things are getting better with each day. I’ll like to thank John and Amy for inviting me to try their bamboo noodles, and I’ll go back again for them when i’m in the area next time.

You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!