Bee Kia Seafood Restaurant
The last time we met up with ZM and ED was 4 years, 3 months and 7 days ago. Why so specific, you ask? We'd lunch with them the very day they left and migrated to the land down under, so it's easy to remember how long they've gone. It's the first time they've been back, and ZM mentioned that he was craving beef hor fan, "the gravy kind", and I didn't want to waste a perfectly good meal opportunity at that (in)famous Geylang Lorong 9 one because their beef is known to be excessively artificially tenderised that it'd taste grossly pulverised. He only had 3 days in Singapore, and I wanted him to have fond memories of our food, not realize that he'd built it all up in his head and consequently underwhelmed, so I brought him to Bee Kia Seafood Restaurant, a cze char stall along Thomson Road that supposedly fried better beef hor fan.
Despite Bee Kia's name, seafood isn't what you should order when you dine here. It's their beef hor fan that's put them on every foodie's radar. I'd heard horror stories about their slow and rude service, so we made sure to arrive early for dinner. I'm glad to report that we experienced none of their reputed bad service. Food arrived barely 10 minutes after our orders were taken, and with the exception of the occasional pesky housefly buzzing around our food, we had a pretty decent cze char meal.
The signature Beef Hor Fan ($12), which you will see on just about every table, was pretty good. Not the best, but certainly one of the top few. Although the texture of the beef does taste artificially tenderised, it didn't reek of artificial tenderiser, nor did it disintegrate on our chopsticks. There was a decent amount of wok hei, and the velvety black bean sauce complemented the tender beef very nicely.
I know this is gonna scandalize their die-hard fans, but I actually preferred the Beef Bee Hoon ($12) to their hor fan. I liked how the plainness of the rice noodles tempered the luscious robust gravy.
They employ a very light touch with the prawn paste in their Prawn Paste Chicken ($10), so even ZM, who's mildly allergic to shellfish, lapped this up. I liked the subtle, not overt, prawn paste element too. The juicy-on-the-inside, crisp-on-the-outside chicken would make for a brilliant late-night snack.
We also liked the Sambal Kangkong ($8), fiery and smoky, with a good crunch.
Bee Kia Seafood Restaurant
1 Thomson Road
Blk 326 Balestier Hills Shopping Centre
Tel: 62548490
Open daily from 12noon to 11pm
Despite Bee Kia's name, seafood isn't what you should order when you dine here. It's their beef hor fan that's put them on every foodie's radar. I'd heard horror stories about their slow and rude service, so we made sure to arrive early for dinner. I'm glad to report that we experienced none of their reputed bad service. Food arrived barely 10 minutes after our orders were taken, and with the exception of the occasional pesky housefly buzzing around our food, we had a pretty decent cze char meal.
The signature Beef Hor Fan ($12), which you will see on just about every table, was pretty good. Not the best, but certainly one of the top few. Although the texture of the beef does taste artificially tenderised, it didn't reek of artificial tenderiser, nor did it disintegrate on our chopsticks. There was a decent amount of wok hei, and the velvety black bean sauce complemented the tender beef very nicely.
I know this is gonna scandalize their die-hard fans, but I actually preferred the Beef Bee Hoon ($12) to their hor fan. I liked how the plainness of the rice noodles tempered the luscious robust gravy.
They employ a very light touch with the prawn paste in their Prawn Paste Chicken ($10), so even ZM, who's mildly allergic to shellfish, lapped this up. I liked the subtle, not overt, prawn paste element too. The juicy-on-the-inside, crisp-on-the-outside chicken would make for a brilliant late-night snack.
We also liked the Sambal Kangkong ($8), fiery and smoky, with a good crunch.
Bee Kia Seafood Restaurant
1 Thomson Road
Blk 326 Balestier Hills Shopping Centre
Tel: 62548490
Open daily from 12noon to 11pm
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