Chinese language-Western Kopitiam stall with bak chor mee, duck confit & mee pok carbonara

Simply the opposite day, I made my approach to Ong Ong Lai Espresso Store at 165 Bukit Merah Central, planning to go to a reader-recommended stall. As meals writers, we all the time want a backup plan in case a sure stall is unexpectedly closed or, in my case, disappointing. It prompted me to swiftly change to ‘immediate searching mode’, main me to find JOFA Grill nestled throughout the similar kopitiam.

Whereas approaching the stall, I seen one thing that you just don’t see on a regular basis. It primarily bought Western dishes nevertheless it additionally had a menu providing bak chor mee and soups.

That’s once I realised that the parents behind JOFA Grill are literally from the identical group that owns JOFA Mee Pok at Tampines.

What I attempted at JOFA Grill

All of the Western choices on the stall include 2 aspect dishes. I didn’t need to get the Charcoal Grill Rooster Chop (S$8.50) or Charcoal Grill Striploin Steak (S$14.90), as each these dishes are bought just about in all places else. As a substitute, I used to be drawn to the JOFA Duck Confit (S$12.50).

For somebody that has ready duck confit up to now, the primary impression that I had was that it appeared considerably dry. Sizewise, it was respectable; neither too large nor too small. Its color was additionally promising, possessing a golden-brown look with slightly char.

As my knife sliced via its crispy pores and skin, I used to be pleasantly stunned at how easy it was to chop the duck leg in half, revealing the stringy meat fibres paying homage to pulled duck.

I slathered the house-special peppercorn sauce, a staple accompanying all of the Western mains. Although it was decently seasoned, I did want for a bolder punch of spice coming from the peppercorns. If I didn’t know what the flavour was, I might need mistaken it for an bizarre demi-glace.

Sorry cooks, I judged the duck confit even earlier than tasting it! It turned out to be actually tender and moist. The pores and skin was fragrant and scrumptious with only a teeny-weeny trace of bitterness coming from the char, which was completely superb.

I’m used to chilly fries after snapping photograph after photograph with my digital camera, so it was an added bonus that they managed to remain delightfully heat and crispy.

The opposite aspect dish that I selected was the seaweed bomba broccoli. Not sure whether or not they had been air-fried or baked, my eating companion and I had been intrigued by the remarkably crispy floret portion, devoid of any oily texture. Even the stalk half was performed nicely— what sorcery is that this?

The seaweed seasoning additionally had slightly warmth, which tingled my style buds with out being too overpowering.

For the Carbonara Pasta (S$7.90), I used to be given a alternative between spaghetti and mee pok. Naturally, I selected the latter which is much less generally seen. Sure I do know! Purists will in all probability have a match after recognizing cream within the image above.

Rooster Field: Pockets-friendly Western mains in sizable parts in Taman Jurong

The strands of mee pok had been drenched in a creamy sauce with items of pork bacon and a luscious soft-boiled egg, full with a sprinkling of parmesan powder and dried parsley.

I unleashed a golden stream of yolk as I prodded the egg with my fork, and proceeded to combine every thing up. The creamy sauce had a pleasing garlicky undertone and the overwhelmed egg enhanced its richness with out being excessively cloying.

The feel of the mee pok was nice with a pleasant chew and the bacon bits had been sinful and scrumptious. There was only one challenge; the alkaline style was slightly overpowering, leaving a bizarre sensation on my tongue. Aside from that, every thing else was good.

The JOFA Bratwurst Sausage (2pcs) (S$6.90) got here with my selections of butter corn and mashed potatoes, with a aspect of peppercorn sauce.

The sausages had been in all probability flash-fried briefly as a result of its skinny, crispy layer of pores and skin. Whereas the insides had been nonetheless moist, I needed that the sausages had a stronger flavour because it was slightly on the tasteless aspect.

At first, I didn’t give significance to the mashed potatoes because it regarded to me like the moment type however boy, was I mistaken! It was made utilizing precise potatoes, giving a fluffy and buttery expertise, immediately skyrocketing my satisfaction metre from 1 to 10!

Whereas having fun with the earlier 3 dishes, I couldn’t resist the urge to strive their bak chor mee and ended up returning to the stall to order the Minced Meat Noodles (S$4.50). My bowl of mee pok was served with pork slices, a few fishballs, a solo meat ball, fried fish sticks and minced pork.

After tossing all the weather collectively, all the color palette of the dish transitioned right into a shade of pink, paying homage to the night solar. I additionally found golden nuggets of pork lard hidden beneath which imparted an indulgent burst of flavour, or what I name ‘lard-tastic‘!

That being mentioned, the alkaline style of the mee pok was much less distinguished as in comparison with earlier.

I like spicy meals, however nothing had ready me for the incoming wrath of the chilli once I took my first mouthful of noodles. It was barely overpowering, which numbed my style buds.

Considered one of our writers, Amanda, had tried their noodles up to now at JOFA Mee Pok and located the spice stage to be slightly underwhelming. In my case, it was on the other finish of the spectrum. If the chilli was rather less spicy, it will have been good.

The pork slices had been yummy and tender whereas the fishballs had been bouncy and contemporary. I additionally appreciated the items of fried fish sticks which gave the noodles a pleasant crispy texture.

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