Friday 19 September 2008

Singapore - The Best Breakfast Ever






Asia seems to have some of the best breakfast's ever. Pho Bo or Ga in Vietnam, Nasi Lemak in Malaysia to name but a few. Although Europe has a few good ones, like churros and chocolate, and the infamous English fry up, which I can not really eat now. Too much grease. Life sucks huh? In Singapore they have many, but my all time favourite is at a small tea stall in a food floor within a public housing estate in China Town. 

The place has been there for decades, run by the same people and I hope for decades to come. It is only a place you would goto if someone took you to, and the chances are if you found it you would never have sat down and ordered something. We were originally brought here by a friend of ours Tay Lai Hock, who we met whilst I was getting a massage in the street by a blind masseuse in Kunming, China. He is our guide and mentor on all things Singaporean, especially the food and where to eat it. He has never let us down. I keep telling him he should start up a Singapore Food Tour. Sampling the delights of what makes Singapore tick. 

When we arrived at the "Morning Bah Kut Tea" stall, the place was full, and they had to put another table out for us. This being Singapore, the plates and cutlery are all plastic, cheap to buy and easy to wash. Tay ordered breakfast for us, thankfully as I would not have known what was on offer. What came was two lots of pork ribs and liver in soup, fried intestines, pigs trotters, some unctuous vegetables that went so well with the rice. The tea was being warmed in a pot over a charcoal burner by our table. Fabulous. 

The meat on the ribs literally falls apart in your mouth, but with enough bite to border on perfection. The soup is probably the best in Singapore. Although some refute this claim, as their is a shop owned by the guy who refused to open especially for the Governor of Hong Kong, but from what I know his soup isn't that good. The liver takes me back to my youth, when my dad used to cook liver for me as a child. The intestines, which I ate the lot, were so good I could of ate them all day. This was all washed down with some hot tea, to clear the amount of fat we had just consumed with all that pork. 

The bill for this massive feast which would have fed about 6 people, was 25 Singapore Dollars. Us being greedy for all things fantastic ate the lot, and we were suitably stuffed. I hope it doesn't take us 2 years to return to breakfast heaven. 

4 comments:

Nasal Explorer said...

were so good I could of ate them all day

"could have eaten them all day", surely.

Unknown said...

Hey man, after reading your post, I am very keen to try this place out for myself. Any clues on the address or street name?

Mzungu said...

Hi Ruth,

The exact location I do not know, but it is very close ot Chinatown metro station. It is in a shopping mall on floor 2 or 3 I think. I hope you find it, it is awesome.

J@Feasttotheworld said...

Happened to stumble upon your blog by chance. Great write up and coming from Singapore myself, Bak Kut Teh is one of my favourite dish...in fact I've made one myself just yesterday. Glad you've enjoyed it too.