SUKA MAKAN: MONGKOK DIM SUM @ CHEONG CHIN NAM ROAD

The current task at hand is to try all the restaurants on Cheong Chin Nam Road. That will take the best part of a year but you've got to start somewhere. So for our second entry is Mongkok Dim Sum. Mongkok is the shopping district in Kowloon, Hong Kong where I buy some of my CDs and indulge in the shared passions of Singaporeans and Hongkongites - food and shopping. 

The selling point of Mongkok Dim Sum is not just the food but the fact it operates 24 hours a day. That means if you get hunger pangs at 4 am in the morning, this is a possible solution. However at 6 pm in the evening, we can still do the yumcha thing which is a morning activity.

The dim sum - we picked three favourites - was excellent. And we had to try and the highly-touted beef hor fun. This one is called Geylang Lorong 9 Beef Hor Fun, which is the hot and wet variety with the flavour of tau cheoh (bean paste). Why Geylang? I suppose people go to Geylang to get hot and wet. Anyway, it's very tasty and the beef slices are very tender too. Will come back, perhaps at 4 am to get hot and wet.

Hot and wet: this Geylang beef hor fun 
is as delicious as it looks.

MONGKOK DIM SUM

8 Cheong Chin Nam Road

Singapore 599733

Mongkok Dim Sum - Cheong Chin Nam Rd | Grab Dine Out

SUKA MAKAN: KOON BAK KUT TEH & LAU SAN PRAWN NOODLE @ CHEONG CHIN NAM ROAD

Cheong Chin Nam Road is a stretch of shophouses, 95% occupied by restaurants, that runs parallel to Upper Bukit Timah Road just after the entrance to Beauty World MRT station. It occupies the landmark used to be called 7th Mile (or Chik Kor in Hokkien), which included the now-demolished Beauty World Market. There is a bewildering choice of restaurants, serving a wide range of cuisines. We settled for this outlet as it has two of our favourite hawker dishes, bak kut teh (meat bone tea soup) and prawn noodles.

One shop, two franchises

This place combines two franchises, Koon Bak Kut Teh and Lao San Prawn Noodles. The former has long existed on its own and has a deservedly good reputation. I had never heard of the latter, no big loss. Online Google reviews reported a horrendously rude PRC staff, but thankfully no such person fitting that description served us. She probably got the boot, so good riddance. 

The piping hot soup is refillable
whenever you run out.

Side dishes: pork belly & tau pok

Prawn mee pok with pork ribs
has just one small measly prawn!
The fish cake also has holes.

The bak kut teh soup was hot and peppery, with the pork slipping off the bone, how it should be. The prawn mee was a joke, only one small prawn sliced into two. The soup was just too salty. Lesson to learn for future visits: skip Lao San and stick with Koon.

Some history about Beauty World
and the Cheong family (no relation).

KOON BAK KUT TEH

& LAO SAN PRAWN NOODLE

10 Cheong Chin Nam Road

Singapore 599735

Koon Bak Kut Teh, Singapore - Bukit Timah - Restaurant Reviews, Phone Number & Photos - Tripadvisor