Expanding is always a problem for F&B operators, keeping to a solitary flagship store or opening new branches have their pros and cons. While it is good to retain it’s exclusivity by having just a solo location, it can be also a problem whereby you have limited seats to serve the ever-growing customers.

But having mutiple locations doesn’t necessary mean that it’ll be good for the business, even thought you have more accessible points, but the higher costs which comes along with it will poses a difficulty to the operators. However, the issue we are more concern with, will be the drop in quality of the food.

It is a common scene in the F&B industry with the increase in branches, the quality of the food will somehow be affected, and not on par with their original outlet. That’s why i don’t trust franchising, or the commercial restaurants. It can be a dilemma, and expanding should always be taken into consideration seriously.

Having went to Rong Guang @ Alexander Village, I was expecting the same standards at their other branch located at Ulu Pandan, near Sunset way. However, the same experience was not replicated this time round.

Rong Guang @ Ulu Pandan was much bigger than the one at Alexander Village (AV), they had their own area, which was spacious and could seat many. Ventilation was definitely much better than the stuffy hawker centre at AV. But the business there wasn’t as good, which only made us wonder why.

BBQ Sambal sting ray ($14)
The notable difference with the one at AV was the pricing. The small, medium and large portions were $10, 12, and 14 respectively, was more expensive than the pricing at AV, at $8, 10, 13. The sting ray here was not bigger than the one at AV, thus i concluded the higher price was because of their higher rental fee.

Sambal Kang Kong ($8)
One of the most popular dish in Zi-char stores, the sambal kang kong that we had was fierce and fiery with the sambal belachan. But the vegetables were too “old” and lacked the crunch, which rendered fail for this one.

Sweet & sour pork ($8)
I think i never mentioned before that i absolutely love sweet & sour pork, since my recent posts didn’t featured any at all. I’ve been looking around for good sweet & sour pork, but sadly to say, i couldn’t find any.

Good sweet and sour pork, must have the right amount of bite in the pork and the not-so-sweet nor the not-so-sour taste in the sauce. Needless to say, the one here wasn’t up to my expectations.

Prawn paste chicken ($8)
The prawn paste chicken, or Har Cheong Kai, was another dish that we always ordered at zi-char store. Its always freshly fried, not too oily, crispy on the skin, and juicy in the meat. With a twist of lemon on it, no wonder Har Cheong Kai is always a crowd favourite.

But the description that i had just mentioned was not about Rong Guang’s version. The prawn paste flavour was quite tame, and not strong enough. For a fried chicken its still all right, but it didn’t make the cut for a prawn paste chicken.

Prawn roll ($8)
As a kid, i always look forward to Chinese new year since my grandmother will always prepared lots of prawn roll, or heh zhor. The waterchestnuts and minced prawn and pork wrapped within the crispy skin, dipped in the sweet sauce, was always addictive.

Total Bill was $50.3 for 4 person, and like what i mentioned, prices here are slightly more than their original location at AV, and I think that food quality-wise, AV also fared better than the one here. Serving was very fast, less than 5 minutes for the dishes to be cook since there wasn’t much people eating there.

This actually bring about another question, since there aren’t much customers, which could mean that there is a possibility that the food is not as fresh as compared to AV which had better customers flow. Again, this is based on my personal opinion, and does not reflect the truth for Rong Guang. But for me, i’ll go back to Rong Guang @ Alexander Village, not this one.

You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!

It's fun going for food discovery on different parts of singapore at times. Today we went to Rong Guang BBQ seafood as our friend who lives near the estate told us: "Die die must go there for the "peng" stingray, SUPER sedaplicious!!!"

(-_-)"... Say until like that, how can we don't go?

Ok, we started off with a plate of keropok (not the usual peanuts as snacks) which tasted pretty good esp with the "cinjialo", quite a weird combo i know but works pretty well for me

As we were all quite full, we only ordered 3 items - fried rice, shrimp paste chicken and of cos the highly reccommended STINGRAY.

Ambience - Old school tze char standalone restaurant with ample parking space, situated beside a park along ulu pandan road.

Presentation wise, pretty old school tze char style, serve piping hot but took quite some time.

Taste - Shrimp paste chicken was good, crispy and flavourful of the shrimp paste with juicy juicy flesh. Fried rice was ok but add points for using fresh succulent big prawns. As for the stringray..... Good but not super fantastic to make me go WOW yet, i think can do better with the serving size and sambal paste can be spicer to give the extra kick.

12 September 2007 : I came here with my clan (My M, My D, SG-HO, CC, MC, JO, AO) & RL for dinner. I made a reservation for 730pm and we got a table in the outdoor dining area. The restaurant was not crowded... probably because it was a weekday night.

We ordered :

1. Sliced Fish Hor Fun ($6)


2. Sambal Kangkong ($8)


3. Sambal Sotong ($12)


4. Pork Rib ($16)


5. Shrimp Paste Chicken ($12)


6. Baby KaiLan ($8)


7. Hotplate Tofu ($10)


8. Drinks


9. Pickled Vegetables


10. Rice (9 bowls)


11. Wet Towels

Wednesday (12 Sept 07). Came here with JC and the C-clan to have dinner. We paid $95 for 9 pax (7 adults, 2 children). The items we ordered were:

Sliced Fish Hor Fun
Sambal Kangkong
Sambal Sotong
Pork Rib
Shrimp Paste Chicken
Baby KaiLan
Hotplate Tofu

F&B:
I found all the food to be acceptable. It was just like a normal zhi char.

Ambience:
We were seated outside. It was alright. I felt that the ventilation provided by the ceiling fans was acceptable. There is ample parking available. Despite the restaurant being located at a busy junction, the traffic does not adversely affect the dining experience.

Value:
Satisfactory.

Service:
Satisfactory. Able to get the attention of the staff, and they are responsive.

Rong Guang opened its first stall at the Alexandra Village at the junction of Alexndra Road and Jalan Bt Merah. It was horrible to eat there because the tables were small, crowded and everything was rushed. They opened up this place at Pandan about 2 yrs ago and we've been regular patrons since then. It is one of our more regular places to eat when we want something simple, tasty and low priced. See you there.

Reservation: Not needed but if guests are VIP - then book. Avoid the table near the altar - the incense smoke gets into your food. Parking is good too, lots of space and the valet (free) with a pony tail guides you safely into a good parking slot.

Food: Iced cold water sold at 30cts a glass, order the medium or large stingray done two styles - half in chilli and the half crispy without chilli. Consistently the best I've eaten. Their Kang Kong belachan is the best in town, strong dried prawn sauce, not overly chilli hot. Surprisingly their "chow sam loh" fried kway teow with torman fish slices is also tasty. I did not like their chilli crab but others do. Other mandatory dishes - tofu on hot plate and their oatmeal prawns. All are tasty and freshly prepared. Nothing left on the plates after we go through it.

Ambience: Set next to the river (canal more likely) it is cool in the evening and the alfresco dining allows you ro appreciate the fairly clean air surrounding Singapore. Traffic along Ulu Pandan road is not to bad in the evening but exhaust fumes can irritate you.

Value: three sizes S M and L, low prices for stingray 8, 12, and 15 I think.

Service: Great and friendly