Por Kee Eating House 1996, 波記冷氣海鮮酒樓 (Tiong Bahru)

An old school place for those who crave for great oriental cuisine in a nostalgia setting of the earlier times. Set in the Tiong Bahru old time great food location where the most delicious gourmet used to reside and some like Por Kee Eating House 1996 still manage to retain their location.

I was glad to see the many tables and chair stacked up outside the restaurant as many of these chairs and tables will mean that the restaurant can be really very packed and have many good supporters. I walked in with great expectations... Its not a huge restaurant, pretty small I should say, perhaps 5 huge tables that can seat up to 10pax and few small ones for couples and small groups of 3-4pax. As there is only 3 of us, we had to share a huge table with another small group of 2pax.

The menu was this really interesting RED COLOURED BOOK, (a real old school) with a few rather simple and regular dishes. Besides ordering the few regular popular dishes such as the Pork Rib Soup with Peanuts, Sambal Potato Leaves, Fried Rice, Crab Beehoon in a claypot and not forgetting the all time speciality PORK RIBS steaks...

They do still have this little cabinate by the pillar that house all the eating utensils, cutlery, chilli and other condiments as well as the hot water refill which brings back many memories of the old chinese restaurants my mum and dad used to bring me. The nice smiling aunty quickly brought us our utensils, set our table and served us a cold dish which is pickled cucumber with pineapples as well as many other stuffs.

The food came in a jiffy. I simply love the soup, the natural sweetness of the pork ribs and the peanuts simmered into a light and rich broth. Usually I do not like the meat cooked in soup as it would be hard and rather tasteless but its not so for the ribs. The pork ribs in the soup is soft and melts in your mouth, with the richness of the soup infused into the meat. The potato leaves in sambal was just of the right spiciness and the crab beehoon was flavorful and meaty but nothing is as fantastic as the Speciality Pork Ribs Steak...

Steamed, Roasted and Carmalized with a plentiful portion of grade A seasoning, this Pork Rib Steak is the best ever pork ribs i've ever eaten in Singapore. Served in a good portion that can easily feed 2pax. Why I call it pork ribs steak is because... it is served in an individual plate with one bouquet of bok choy with knife and fork for you to slice through the thick and succulent porky steak. The meat is seriously tender and the skin glazed with a generous topping of honey and aromatic spices. Its abit like a very well made char siew but less sweetness and more glaze, the taste is pretty balance and leaves a sweet roasted aftertaste. One whole slice of solid steak with little tendons and fats, simply too good for one especially if you wash it down with a nice pot of chinese Kok Poh Tea... It sure leaves me satisfied and extremely happy yet somehow I don't feel struck by guilt because I feel that its calories well spent.

The perfect main course for an oriental meal! If you are coming to Por Kee.... please come with an empty stomach as the food is very reasonably priced and portion is always more than what I expected. Do make reservation if you are coming and big groups are great... Support these antiquated restaurants as they are the reminiscences of whats left of our Singaporean Culture.