Baba King

Ok, I admit that the show 'The little Nyonya' did influence me, a partial Nyonya, into wanting to eat Peranakan food. :P

I especially wanted to try the Chicken Ponteh, which they kept emphasizing throughout the show.

Chicken Ponteh Buah Keluak (8/10)

The meat was very tender and flavourful but it wasn't really what I have expected - the show raised my expectations too high. :P



Beef Curry



Sambal Long Beans (7/10)



Fish Maw Soup (8/10)

Also longed to have this soup after watching the show. :P I'd say this soup is a good dish to complement the other strong and flavourful but heavy dishes. Light with a tinge of sweetness. Sedap. :)



Service

Blur and bochup staff. There were many staff but none of them attended to us when we were standing at the entrance. Gave us 4 sets of cutlery when there are only two of us. Waiter almost wanted to put the cutlery and serviette on top of small puddles of water on the table (that they are supposed to wipe off but did not). :P

Their boss used to chat with my hub and his colleagues as they were regulars. Hub said their service used to be better when their boss was around. :P

Place
Baba King Nonya Delicatessen Pte Ltd
1 Expo Drive, #01-31
Singapore Expo

Chilli Padi Nonya Restaurant

It was my mummy's birthday. I wanted to bring her to somewhere special this time, instead of the usual chinese restaurant. I thought it would be interesting to bring her to her Nonya Restaurant, since she is a quarter peranakan. Oh, and that makes me 1/8th. :P As usual, I did some research on the web before I chose the restaurant. There were many good comments about this restaurant and so I decided to go for it.

Type
Nonya

Taste
Overall : 7/10



















From Top left and clockwise.

Kueh Pai Ti (8/10)
We had Kueh Pai Ti for appetizer. It was good. I like the crispy 'cup' so much, I had a second helping.

Cabbage Roll (8/10)
Don't you just feel like ordering it by just looking at the photo? I don't eat otar, but this dish, with otar wrapped in cabbage is one of my favourite dishes for that night. It tasted just as nice as it looked. The gravy taste superb especially when poured over rice! My brother was grousing over the price though. It costs him $4.20 per roll (cut into three). But I thought it was worth the price. :P

Kepetin Bak Wan (7/10)

The soup was good, but the bak wan was not as tender as I would like it to be. Surprisingly, I prefer the blander version of Kepetin Bak Wan in Simply Peranakan in Esplanade. :P

Ngor Hiang (6/10)

The Ngor Hiang was a disappointment and definitely not something worth raving about.


























From Top and clockwise

Honey Pork (10/10!)
I would definitely rate this as the best dish of the night! I almost gave it a miss, if not for my hub and brother. I thought there were already many dishes that were ordered and besides, this isn't their 'star' dish. It's so good, I can have the whole plate to myself and just a bowl of rice to go along for my dinner. :P

Chap Chye (5/10)
My mother and I wanted to give this a skip because we had one really bad experience of this dish at Simply Perankan. But we decided to go along with my hub and give this dish 'another chance' It turned out that it's indeed better, but still not too our liking. This is the only dish left unfinished. :P Looks like chap chye's just not our cup of tea.

Curry Assam Fish Head (6/10)
This is supposed to be their signature dish, but I don't fancy that at all. The curry tasted fine, but it's not something that makes you want to conquer the whole pot. In fact, after a few spoons of curry, I stopped returning to the dish. My mother, on the other hand, found it rather nice. Both of us preferred the one at Perankan, though. Seems like the two of us have been comparing the dishes between the two restaurants. Talk about competition!

Ambience

Very Peranakan. My mummy can relate to the antique perankan stuff on display as it brings back memories. I am so glad she likes it.

Service
üüüüü
Nothing special or any things extra. But I must say the dishes were all up in a jiffy.

Price
$$$$$
$70+ (after 20% for ocbc card holders) for all the above dishes. It's a good deal, I must say!

Place
11 Joo Chiat Place
#01-03