JB Ah Meng (已搬遷) 新店位置

So I did a bit of research on HGW and realised this place was located in one of the seedier Lorongs in Geylang, plus there’s an urban legend that this is a hot spot for gang fights. How exciting right? Thing is, you don’t actually understand how dodgy the locale is until it hits home that you’re spending New Year’s Day surrounded by many shady-looking uncles looking for a hearty bite before, I dunno, making a shady deal – the ratio of males to females is around the region of 99:1, I kid you not. But shadiness aside, uncle crowds tend to be highly accurate indicators of the presence of excellent food.Snake beans with lotus root (蛇豆炒莲藕) ($10 for a small portion) - This was a dish I would never have ordered had it not come highly recommended on HGW – snake beans are not my favorite veggies. Yet I was glad I had heeded the advice of the reviewers, because the lotus root chips were excellent. They were sliced into thin flakes and coated with a small amount of batter, then fried to the point where they were crispy but still retained their mild, natural sweetness. I would totally buy a packet of these to snack on at home.Deep fried fish skin (香炸鱼皮) ($10 for a small portion) - Another dish I was reluctant to order, this time because it sounded gross. Terribly unadventurous, I know. S persuaded me to order it as an appetizer whilst we were waiting for B and L to arrive. I ended up polishing off half the dish because these babies tasted nothing like the gloopiness and slime that I’d imagined fish skin to be. They were crisp (and stayed that way 2 hours after they were served), not too greasy and had the fragrance of fish keropok. Paired with the raw mango slices and dipped into the accompanying chilli sauce, each was a crunchy and tangy slice of heaven.King pork ribs (排骨大王) ($10 for a small portion) - Went off the tried and tested route to order the pork ribs because it sounded delish. We were on the fence for this one: S and L thought it was average – S said you could find this at any zhap chai bng stall and L was nitpicky about how the meat wasn’t fall-off-the-bone tender. On the other hand, B and I liked it because… I guess we just like to eat pigs lor. The sauce was defo a bit too sweet for my liking though. It’s still an above average dish la, just looked a bit lacklustre beside the rest of its outstanding peers.White pepper crabs (白胡椒螃蟹) (market rate; aunty charged us $32 for 2 crabs that day) - Friends, I have no idea what breed these crabs are, but they’re damn meaty. I was picking out meat from every nook and cranny of the crab’s body and the flesh was sweet and firm. I don’t know if we simply got lucky, but something tells me these folks have a stringent criteria for selecting the crabs to use in their dishes. Crab aside, the creamy white pepper sauce was outstanding. It packed a punch without being too spicy – my nose runs whenever I eat something too spicy for me, and my nose remained where it was throughout the course of this dish.JB sanlou meehoon (新山三楼米粉) ($8 for the medium portion) - You know how there’s a genre of rom-coms where there’s a super handsome dude who pretends to be a servant/low-level salaried employee/beggar but is actually the heir to a multi-million dollar conglomerate? This, ladies and gents, is the food equivalent of that dude. The nondescript appearance of this plain-looking beehoon belies the fragrance and flavor that it packs. I still think they could be more generous with the squid, eggs and prawns, but the conspicuous absence of these ingredients might actually highlight the taste of the beehoon. The minute it touches your tongue, a flavor burst of unadulterated wok hei explodes in your mouth. I’m quite sure this is the best beehoon I’ve tasted.Salted egg prawn balls (咸蛋黄炒虾球) ($18 for a small portion) - The last dish to be served was also the undisputed star dish of the night. This dish has received a number of mixed reviews – apparently it’s lauded by Makansutra and ieat but panned by a number of other bloggers. For us, it was a hit. All four of us did that eye-widening thing the minute we bit into one of them juicy prawns… who doesn’t love the lethal combination of salted egg + crustacean? The little balls of fried salted egg bits that crowded the bottom of the dish pan tasted sooo good we kept shovelling them into our mouths. Only gripe I have is that the batter could be crispier, although admittedly that could require more flour which would affect the taste of the batter. Also the name prawn ball is a bit misleading – the prawns are not minced, they’re whole. And so damn good. I actually thought the tense atmosphere (our sole guy friend, B was constantly shifty and looking nervously behind him throughout the meal, then became the poster boy for bravado when we dashed back into the safety of S’ van) enhanced the entire experience. It’s one of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had. If you’re looking for some excitement in SG, I suggest you head to Geylang Lorong 23 on a weekend night. Just remember to bring some pepper spray (or a bodybuilder friend) along.For complete review and pictures, please visit: http://theyummyyak.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/jb-ah-meng-%E6%96%B0%E5%B1%B1%E4%BA%9A%E6%98%8E%E5%B0%8F%E5%8E%A8/ 繼續閱讀

The ten course dinner started with the Fried Fish Skin served with green papaya and sweet chilli sauce. The fish skin was crispy and not oily. I felt that the dish lacked a bit of saltiness. Probably some salt could be sprinkled on the fish skin or provided salty based sauce instead.There was a little commotion among us when the Stewed Chicken with Liang Fen was served. Everyone was wondering how the Liang Fen looked and tasted like which was hidden underneath the plateful of chicken and mushroom. Some said it tasted like Soon Kueh skin while others thought it tasted like Chee Cheong Fan skin. Nevertheless it was very tasty soaking up the delicious gravy of the stewed chicken.Next was the Fried Fish Head. The stall used red snapper fish head for the dish. It was chopped into pieces and stir fried with spring onion and ginger. An enjoyable dish that will go very well with beer.The San Lou Bee Hoon is one of JB Ah Beng's popular dishes. Do not be mislead by the plain looking plate of Bee Hoon. Hidden and sandwiched by the Bee Hoon was a layer of greens which gave the dish a little surprise and uniqueness. Simple but very good.The Baby Bok Choy with Tofu and Mushrooms had the thumbs up from all of us. The soft and smooth tofu melted in the mouth as well as my heart.For people that do not like to eat brinjal, this dish may change your opinion. The brinjal was coated with batter and fried with potato cubes and green capsicum. If I am blindfolded, I probably could not tell that I was eating brinjal.I love fermented beancurd and I was looking forward to the dish. However I was disappointed as I could not taste the fermented bean. The pork belly was also thinly sliced and dried.The Snake Beans with Lotus Root was my favourite vegetable dish for the night. The snake beans or commonly known as long beans had a nice crunchy texture. The deep fried lotus root was also very special. It felt like I was eating potato chips. There are many versions to cook crabs but the White Pepper Crabs at JB Ah Beng is a best try. Only three words to describe it. "Finger licking good"!The Salted Egg Prawn Ball was supposed to be one of the other popular dishes but it was a disappointed. I applauded the concept but it turned out dried and hard. 繼續閱讀

A few of us went to have dinner when one of our friends organized a makan session.So called JB cooking, meaning our neighboring country - Johor Bahru whereby many Singaporeans always go there either eating or shopping or massaging. Mostly the food at there is indeed worth the price as in cheap and good.So now our friend managed to find one that locates at one of the small lane at Geylang.We have ordered those foods which our friend had tried it before. The dishes are very nice. My most favorite and unforgettable dish is the sweet and sour pork, the rest like very common not special at all. 繼續閱讀

Geylang makan is not always very good to being kids as the place may be rowdy and let's just say it's not the cleanest option around. So since dinner just us 3 ladies, I thought we could 'rough' it out and eat at a non-child-friendly place. Alas, my pampered best buds were a little taken back at the 'basic-ness' of this Zichar stall. Bad news for them was that I drove them there so they don't have a choice. They left the ordering to me and we had: 1) Fried Fish Skin with Achar Sauce - this is a recommendation by Makansutra Mr Seetoh himself and I must admit it's a unique dish and the achar sauce is a good combination with the crispy fish skin. 2) Sanlou Beehoon - I don't know why 3rd storey but it's a crispy dry version of brown fried Beehoon. The crispness is interesting and not bad tasting at all. 3) Lotus Slice & Celery - I LOVE saute lotus slice so I figured I'll love this dish. It's...ok...I just thought the lotus slices were too fried that it has lost it's sweetness. Kinda like eating 'potato chips' with celery. Not bad tasting, just not what I envisioned. 4) Salted Egg Prawn Ball - This dish I like! Each prawn ball coated with a generous layer of salted egg and deep fried! What's not to love!?! Except my friend commented that it's also laden with MSG. Oh well... I don't think my friends enjoyed dinner immensely and with Geylang's tough parking & 'basic' makan layout, I'll need to return and try the white pepper crab with another group of friends. 繼續閱讀