Tekong at Changi

Shinta wanted to eat seafood and we found ourselves in my neck of the woods. The oddly named Tekong Seafood is at Changi Point, somewhat badly located in a building way to the back of the hawker centre. We were there on recommendation of Shinta’s guildmate and ordered most of his recommendations.

The gong-gong was decent, though nothing to shout about. A bit chewy, not particularly tasty nor fishy, went decently with the sweet chilli sauce. Next.

I quite liked the meesua though it’s not something that I’d make a special trip down for. I liked how the special meesua was just cooked so it was still rather stiff and almost chewy, a bit like very fine meekia. The sauce was the classic brown gloopy sauce that was very well made, aromatic and full of seafoody flavour. Yummy.

Things really started going when the deepfried squid rings appeared. They were so good that they disappeared before everything else and we had to immediately order a second plate of the stuff. The batter was very crisp and perfectly seasoned with plenty of salt crystals, aromatic curry leaves and a touch of sweet. I liked how the crispy outer layer gave way to the slightly chewy squid on the inside.

I thought the oat prawns were great too. I normally prefer prawns poached as it really brings out the flavour, but this time the flavour wasn’t sacrificed as they fried them so the heads were still juicy inside. Plenty of crunch from the batter and oats, prawns fried well so that it was so crispy that the shells could be eaten too yet still juicy on the inside. Nothing much to criticise here. Great stuff.

Aim of the next visit? To check out their crabs!

Tekong Seafood Restaurant
Block 6 Changi Village Road #01-2100 Changi Village
Tel: 6542 8923

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Mutton Stew and Sincere Service

I like Jacob’s Cafe for the great laid-back atmosphere, the chicken curry and the fab Hainanese mutton stew. The last time I was there with a friend, we almost came to blows over ownership rights of the mutton stew. This time, I learned my lesson and brought my mum instead. She hates mutton.

Before I go on about the food, I want to tell you how much I love the service here. I had the sincerest service ever. Our servers were all incredibly smiley and attentive. Water was topped up before we realised it, special requests were obliging accommodated. Sure, there were small glitches, but you know what? I felt so much that they just wanted to please that there was nothing to forgive. Call me a sucker for good service but where they serve you with love,  surely they also cook with great love.

Knowing that the mutton stew would be full of meat, I ordered a small garden salad to balance it off. It was a just-right portion of lettuce variations, pea shoots, carrot, red and green peppers, Japanese cucumber, tomato, cherry tomato, sundried tomato and onion rings, topped with vinaigrette dressing. (I’d asked for the dressing to be on the side, but the salad came dressed and with extra on the side instead!) With so many and such fresh ingredients, it was  all good. You can’t go far wrong with a fresh salad.

Next came my mutton stew. True to the homespun cooking style, there wasn’t much to recommend it for its looks. It was simply mutton slow-cooked with black fungus, tau kee (dried tofu skin) and bamboo shoots. The mutton was  tender the way you can only get by cooking the right cut and the right way. It reminded me again of how stewed mutton really beats the more expensive beef in terms of texture and taste so often. The fungus, tau kee and bamboo shoots added lots of texture to the stew: gelatinous, chewy, crunchy. I sopped up the thin flavourful juices with the crispy baguette pieces. It was all fantastic with the homemade garlic chilli sauce. As there was way too much meat by my standards, I took away half my portion. Had it with mee sua for breakfast a couple of days later. Still good.

My mutton-hating mum steered clear of the stew and went for the Europa sausage plate because they didn’t have chicken curry that day. The Europa plate had two sausages, the nurnberger and a veal sausage, with french fries and a side salad. The sausages were decent though I felt that the veal one had too much flour in it. I wasn’t too keen on the too-soft texture. Mum liked it all though, especially the french fries.

The damage was $37.60. Pretty expensive considering the location, but go for the specialty dishes like the mutton stew and the chicken curry and you’ll be happy.

Jacob’s Cafe
Blk 5 Changi Village Road #01-2049 S500005
Tel: 6543 1106