Tang Tea House - Rojak

So we're back at one of our favourite makan joints - Tang Tea House!
A wide array of food choices and accessible location in the East means we always head back here when we can for some good food and good times.

Today we try a crowd favourite. Something that seems so simple to make but you'd be surprised at how difficult it is to execute a good plate of Rojak.

Rojak with Century Egg ($5.00)

How can anyone resist a plate of Rojak?
There's just something about it that even if you're not the biggest fan, you're still going to take a bite or two if there's a plate of it in front of you.

My favourite part about Rojak (and I'm guessing it's the same for many of you too) is the You Char Kway that comes along with it. And it's always the first to finish and always not enough! That's why I sometimes order a whole plate of just You Char Kway (yes you can do that) but then again sometimes it's nice to have a little variety right?

Well anyways, I personally feel that they're a little stingy with the Char Kway here.

Taste-wise, it's a little less tangy than some other places we've had Rojak. Maybe less Asam water used?
Not too spicy but you can always ask for more chili if you like.

And of course, you don't have to have the Century Egg if you don't fancy it. You can always swap it out for some Sotong Kering if that's your thing. But I do have to say that Century Eggs do seem to be increasingly popular even among the younger crowds.

Adam's Verdict:
Rojak with Century Egg 2.5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Rojak with Century Egg 3/5 

Dad's Verdict:
Rojak with Century Egg 3/5 

Mum's Verdict:
Rojak with Century Egg 4/5

I remember there used to be a different stall selling Rojak at Tang Tea House but I guess they've moved on.
Guess this stall will have to do for now :)

Tang Tea House

359 Bedok Road
www.tangteahouse.com

Operating Hours:
11.00am til 4.00am Daily

Botak's Favourites: Sirloin Steak

Okay you guys remember my last post about Tang Tea House right?
Well some of you might be wondering... How come Maryah didn't have any verdict eh?

Well the answer is simple.
She didn't have the Beef Noodles or the Beef Kway Teow. She had...

Sirloin Steak Set ($12.90)

So if you remember the last time I had Botak's Favourites, it didn't go very well.


Well let's face it, my wife and I both love a nice slab of meat. And for some reason it's becoming increasingly hard to find a decent steak nowadays to be honest. For me, I personally have to go all the way to The Ship in KL to guarantee myself a delicious steak.

So how would my darling wife find the steak?

Well I guess you could say that Botak's Favourites definitely does its part in bringing Halal western food to the masses at a reasonable price. But as you would expect, you can't really expect to have the best prime cut ever in the history of the world right? The steak is actually pretty okay in terms of taste and value. Seasoning was simple and meat lovers will not complain about the portion of the cut.

But not to sound too critical, I personally feel that it's not too bad.
I mean, you DO get what you pay for when we're talking about this steak so we can't complain too much.

However, there ARE some things we can complain about.
Because even though we are paying a reasonably low price, you'd still expect some basics.

Case in point - the done-ness of the steak.
They actually give you a choice of how well you'd like you steak and then they kinda disregard your choice.

That's exceptional cooking skill to achieve a medium-rare steak.
The only problem is that we ordered it to be well done.

I know I know a lot of you steak people will argue that a steak is best enjoyed medium-rare or medium-well at most and not well done because the meat gets dried out and on the tough side.
And I do not disagree with you. But I do disagree with asking how we'd like to have the steak cooked and then just cooking it to some other result instead.

Okay fine let's forget about the steak for a minute.

You also get to choose 2 sides with your set.
So we had the Coleslaw and the Double Baked Cheese Potato. (You can also have the Fries or Corn btw)
Well. The Coleslaw was a little on the sour side (which is fine if you like your coleslaw that way) but the biggest crime of the day was the Double Baked Cheese Potato.

Double Baked Cheese Potato. But no cheese!!
Just great.

Maryah's Verdict:
Sirloin Steak Set 3.5/5

I'm still not convinced of Botak's Favourites.
But it's still one of the few choices we have to get such western food so we'll all keep going there I reckon.


Botak's Favourites (within Tang Tea House)

359 Bedok Road
www.botakjones.com/

Operating Hours:
11.00am til 4.00am Daily

Tang Tea House - HK Stewed Beef Noodles & HK Beef Kway Teow (No. 400)

I love Tang Tea House.

It has 2 things which I can confirm rock to the max.

1. The Roasted Chicken (which I will review another time)
2. Super Cooler (Don't ask. Just order.)

But you all know I'm a sucker for some beef when I see it.
So I decided to have a go at something on the menu that always catches my eye.

HK Stewed Beef Noodles ($6.00)

When I see this kind of noodle dish with a dark gravy like that, I'm immediately going to think of this Stewed Chicken Feet dish my dad makes at home. It's stewed with these herbs til the meat (or in our case, chicken feet) is so tender it's literally falling apart.

And in this case, the gravy is pretty close to what I had in mind.
It was very tasty (if you like the Chinese Herb Stew kind of taste) and this goes very well with the noodles.

But when you see the word 'Stewed' you're going to expect whatever it is being 'stewed' to be soft and tender because, well, stewing takes a longer time so the meat has enough time to break down.

Well the gravy may have been good but that's about all that was good.

Now I know you can't tell from the picture but trust me - that's one tough piece of meat.

And I'm quite surprised at how tough the beef actually was!
I'm talking about literally having to use a considerable amount of effort to tear apart that piece of meat with my teeth. I mean, it's fine if we're talking about a roast or a steak but this is supposed to be a piece of meat that was supposedly 'stewed'.

My sister-in-law, Yana, says that she's had this before and apparently it's improved since the last time.
I'd hate to have had it before the improvement lah like that.

Hmmmmm.....
Well FYI, that dumpling you see on the plate is nothing special either.
So you're paying quite a high price for some noodles and tough pieces of meat. And 2 dumplings.

Well  my brother had something else with 'HK' and 'Beef' in the name.

HK Beef Kway Teow (No. 400) ($5.00)

So my brother say this is the bomb.
The dish is tasty. The beef is super tender (No, it was not stewed) and he apparently loves it so much that even the bean sprouts are crunchy.

I personally think it looks a little dry (I prefer my kway teow a little on the wet side) but I tasted a few mouthfuls and it's not bad taste-wise. This was the 'Dry' version by the way. Maybe I'll try the other version next time just for comparison.

And yes - the beef was tender-er.

Adam's Verdict:
HK Stewed Beef Noodles 1.5/5

Yana's Verdict:
HK Stewed Beef Noodles 1.5/5

Azlan's Verdict:
HK Beef Kway Teow (No. 400) 5/5

Well did I get a bad batch of stewed beef? Maybe it's not always that tough?
Well I'll probably never find out unless someone else orders it next time.

So many choices at Tang Tea House. Look out for more reviews for this place in future!

Tang Tea House

359 Bedok Road
www.tangteahouse.com

Operating Hours:
11.00am til 4.00am Daily