Over the past two weeks, I visited Mong Hing twice. Once with a group of girlfriends - that first foray to the restaurant left such an indelible mark for me that I simply had to put the restaurant to the test again by taking my family of picky eaters (especially my dad and brother-in-law) during the CNY period and trying out one of the set menus for 10 people. Well, the restaurant did not disappoint yet again. Each dish was just as delicious, flavoursome, generous on ingredients. Moreover, despite the crowds (they were fully booked), they were even prepared to prepare a few la carte dishes that I wanted my family to try in addition to the set menu- oyster on omelette and the tofu yam dish. The highlight for my family was the steamed pomfret cooked to perfection. Other notables were the fish maw soup that had generous proportions of ingredients, sambal crayfish, abalone with broccoli and the yam dessert. Every dish was wiped clean and relished with delight. Seeing my dad enjoy every mouthful was sheer joy for me. Service, in the form of James (I think that's his name), was fabulous too. He was friendly, accommodating and provided wisdom on our choices without being overly imposing. Thank you Mong Hing, you've a whole family of avid supporters now. 

(Note: Pictures can be found at http://wildchildurbancity.blogspot.com/2012/03/mong-hing-teochew-restaurant.html)

Recently, my father's friend invited us to dinner at Mong Hing Teochew Resturant. According to Mong Hing's website, it started rolling in the 1950s "at Singapore river side's new market". My father's friend was a child then, and was friends with the restaurant's chef, his family and the restaurant workers. They called him "fat boy" in dialect, and still recognise him today.

Mong Hing is much smaller in size than Beng Hiang, but the restaurant's design, decor, and its bar-type counter reminded me strongly of Beng Hiang. But I am too excited to go into detail about decor. It is a rare experience loving every or nearly every dish you eat at a restaurant. I had this experience at Mong Hing, and I want to go into its food. You must see the pictures.

We had:

- Pork Jelly

- Golden Pouches: The Golden Pouches were fried to a crisp yet not oily. Each was filled with delicious ground pork, pure and not mixed with cornflour. I could have eaten the fillings of five of them.

- Steamed Pomfret Teochew Style

- Mong Hing Sambal Crayfish: When the crayfish arrived, it was covered in so much fried egg and onions that I thought it was crab. In my opinion, the egg and onions outshone the crayfish. I did not taste much sambal in there, not of the sambal kangkong kind at least, and in fact the egg and onions tasted like they were fried char kway teow style. They were so good that they could be a dish on their own.

- Prawns with a julienned vegetable that was like leek: The prawns were big, fresh, springy and juicy.

- Hor Fun

- Sea Cucumber with Fish Maw: We were served with a generous amount of braised sea cucumber, fish maw and mushrooms so that each person could have had two pieces of each.

- Yam Paste Gingko Nuts & Pumpkin: I did not have any of this, but it was so delicious that my mother had half of my bowl, and my father's friend had the other half. Everyone else finished their bowl really fast.

And at the end we were served a complimentary plate of fruit and tea to clear away the grease.

My father's friends and my family enjoyed the food so much that we are planning to return soon. I already know a dish I want to try: Mong Hing's braised goose meat!

Another long overdue post. Caught up with a couple of friends over dinner at Mong Hing, a Teochew restaurant at Keypoint and where I once had a pretty good dinner before.

Prawn Rolls - The heh zhor was decent - Lean meat with pockets of fats and bits of prawn. Crisp but not too oily. Good for many bites, especially with the sweet plum sauce.

Homemade Beancurd - This certainly didn't look like beancurd, not with the circular shaped, golden brown exterior. And honestly it didn't quite taste like tofu. The texture was more like Thai prawn cakes, just a lot less dense and "fluffier" so to speak. Definitely not smooth and silky, the way I like it. The only giveaway was the taste, which had a distinctive beancurd taste. Although I like tofu, this is something I will definitely not order again.

Prawns with Deep Fried Pumpkin - At $24++ for 6 prawns and 6 pieces of pumpkin coated with flour and deep fried, this was a joke. The prawns were drenched in sweet and sour sauce, which masked the natural flavour of the prawns. Total waste of prawns. The pumpkin however, were sweet and not too bad as a filler.

Stir Fried HK Kailan - Decent with a tinge of wok hei but lacking in dried sole fish. Wouldn't hurt to give a little more, would it?

Braised Goose - The goose was good - not too dry and well braised with the sauce not coming across as too salty.

We ended the meal with yam paste (orh nee) but I failed to get a shot of it. It was good but could have done with a little more fragrance. The infrequent bits of unevenness made for a nice smooth, yet inconsistent texture.

The 5 of us chalked up a bill of about $133. Not too expensive but quality of food seems to have dropped since my last visit. Maybe I should just stick to the likes of Huat Kee or Liang Kee or maybe I should give Mong Hing another chance.

See all my pictures here.