D & I had our fortnightly lunch session at a kway chap place place he's been coming to for over 5 years. It's apparently the sort of quiet, out of the way place that inspires loyal customers. On and off he'll rave about it, so when he told me where we were going to eat, all I could think was "Finally!".
It was still pretty quiet when we got there at 11.45 am, although I wasn't sure if it was because we'd missed the lunch rush or if people were put off by the impending drizzle. Either way, finding a seat wasn't an issue.
From our table, I looked out at the groups of old men who were drinking coffee and playing chess a way away while D went to place our order. Apparently the lady running the stall knows him as 'The Egg Guy' because whenever he orders, he gets two braised eggs for every person eating. This has led to situations where they've plated 16 eggs or more for his table, which apparently does not happen with other diners. Today, with just the two of us there, it was a simple order of kiam chye (salted vegetables), four eggs, a serving of pig intestines, and two kinds of bean curd (tau pok and tau hoo).
The kway (Thick, flat noodles) here is wonderfully silky, without being so soft that it disintegrates - there's enough bite to it The chap (Soy sauce broth) itself is also enjoyably light but flavourful. But what really stood out for me was the chilli, which had a nice sour tinge to it. Halfway through, I idly toyed with the notion of getting a second helping of kway just to be greedy, but found one bowl to be sufficiently substantial.
The kiam chye was pleasant. Nothing to shout about, but perfectly serviceable and a good counterpoint to the other flavours.
Most braised eggs have been cooked in sauces for just long enough to stain the outside brown without really being seasoned. Here though, the aroma permeates the entire egg, making it good and savoury, and as you can see the egg whites are a nice tanned shade all the way through. The intestines were surprisingly tender, and while I didn't quite enjoy the tau pok because it was a tad too dry for my liking, I greatly enjoyed the tau hoo.
All in all, a good place for kway chap.
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