Kay Lee Roast Meat Char Siew - After the S$3.5 Million Takeover @ 125 Upper Paya Lebar Road [Singapore]

When news broke of an offer made for the best char siew stall in Singapore (at a record of S$3.5 million), i was still nursing my wound in Korea and like many others, i wondered if this would spell the demise of this well-known yet expensive roast delight.

I had to check it out myself and from what i see; nothing has changed, at least physically. The shop was still of the same layout; the spiky lady boss was still there; a few new staff members manning the counter; that's about it. 

My S$5 plate of char siew rice appeared to have shrunk a bit with lesser meat but there was something of higher significance. This is coming from a person who takes an extremely unhealthy standard when it comes to roasted food. 

How did the meat become so lean?!!?!? That thick (no doubt, sinful) layer of glistening, charred fat was inconspicuously missing; in that slight moment, i was just a little wee bit disappointed. 

Thank god the meat was surprisingly quite tender; coupled with the caramelised texture, it was still a blissful meal although now that i have tried the crystal char siew from you kee, nothing really quite beats having the greasy piece of char siew sliding down my throat.

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Location

125 Upper Paya Lebar Road

[Near Tai Seng MRT Station]

Map

As above

Price

Char Siew Rice - S$5

Additional Information

For past postings, click here and there. 

KwangJang Market - Affordable Local Korean Food @ Seoul [Exit from Line 1 Jongno 5(o)-ga Station]

When it comes to pampering ourselves with local Korean food, it's hard not to think of Gwangjang Market which was featured heavily in many travel shows and even on Running Man; the immensely popular variety show from Korea! 

For those who wish to make a trip there, you might be pleased to note it is located right outside the metro station known as Jongno 5(o)-ga (of line 1); exits 7 to 11! Absolutely convenient!

I was totally expecting a food market similar to the hawker centres in Singapore but what i found were much more in line with our neigbourhood centres.

Well, it wasn't a bad thing since it meant i could check out other non-food stuff even though priority was still on items i could squeeze into my mouth! Zoned into a few sections, it was undeniable that the food zone was the key attraction among visitors.

Evidence of our Singapore upbringing; we looked out for queues and decided to join the one right opposite stall B-37 (from North Gate 2)! 

We were going to dig into one of these; bindaetteok, also known as mung bean pancake! At that moment, i couldn't quite fathom how this simple thing could generate so much interest.

Can read Korean? You may note the information as above for the eatery we were about to enter.

A wait of fifteen minutes and we were finally seated! Yipeee! The bindaetteok shall be the appetiser for our late lunch at 4.13 pm for which we were already insanely famished!!

Given there were so many food stalls waiting for us to try, we asked for only one pancake at ₩4,000 to be shared between Louise and myself; Joyce was on a no-carbohydrate diet.

Fresh from the griddle, this was extremely crispy and its hotness served as a warm respite from the colder weather in Seoul that day.

Flavour was rather bland and enhancing it for a better experience would require the essential help of the crunchy soy sauce onions and kimchi sides!

Now on the search for more food, especially for Joyce who was in dire need for meat and vegetables!

Guess i wasn't wrong in stating that bindaetteok is one of the symbolic foods in Gwangjang Market; there were so many stalls selling it although none appeared to be as popular as the shop we went to!

For a Sunday, the market wasn't as crowded and i thought it was just a matter of good luck. Truth was, only the food zone of KwangJang Market is open on Sundays!

Most retail shops were closed even though you might still find some open to draw the Sunday business; the traditional hanboks were so beautiful!

Aside from bindaetteok, there were many other food to choose from and this proved to be a disadvantage as we couldn't quite agree on what to have next!

Makeshift sellers outside the market; this can be commonly seen in many places like Namdaemun and even along the main street near Hotel Manu.

As usual, we kept a lookout for the most popular stall and eventually identified this one (A-69) right in the middle of the long food street where it also happened to be a busy intersection! 

We were drawn by another much needed item; the existence of an English menu even though it hardly made any sense. The sundae i know of consisted mainly of ice cream which was definitely unavailable in the stall! 

It helped to look at what others were ordering and pointing at it to make an order. We succeeded by ordering the bibimbap; from this angle, it did seem more like a salad bowl!   

Frankly, i wasn't impressed; too healthy tasting (barley rice, minimal seasoning) and could have benefited from more hot sauce. The next time i am in Seoul, i would make a trip to have the best bibimbap said to be at Myeongdong! 

This bean paste soup just tasted funny. 

The highlight of this stall came from one of the items shown in the above picture. Can't be the pork trotters since i am not a fan of it. This item i am going to share with all of you can be found in Singapore and i have tried them twice; both of which left me disappointed.

Kimbap, which was often mistaken as sushi! The version here in GwangJang Market was much thinner but boy, was it a lot more addictive! The sweet crunch of pickled radish and carrot coupled with the aromatic seaweed roll were simply put, delicious! If you choose not to have it the traditional way (with wasabi), you can always dip them in the yummy ddeokbokki (spicy rice cake) sauce.

Come to think about it, i should have ordered another serving of kimbap! The ddeokbokki, by the way, didn't stick to my teeth and featured a sweeter sauce that had its spiciness kicked in after a few seconds. Nice too! 

Age is catching up and my tummy could no longer fill in any more food! I am not so much a person who likes to travel with many people but i could not deny the fact that a bigger group would give rise to experiencing a wider variety of food. 

A retail section that was open for business. 

We didn't stop for a better look as the items would not be easily placed into our limited luggage. Whatever the case, it was time to digest the food by walking over to dongdaemun! 

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Location

Exit from Jongno 5(o)-ga (of line 1) Station

Map 

As above.

For the summary of my South Korea trip (including Seoul and Jeju Island) and links to the respective day, click HERE.

One of the better kaya toast in town - 正明茶室 @ Hong Lim Food Centre [Next to Chinatown Point]

Hong Lim Food Centre is no stranger to me but i never did venture to the first floor as there were so much more to eat on the second level where snaking queues formed in front of many hawker stalls during lunch! 

Hence, when Joyce and her colleagues suggested having a "very nice" kaya toast for dessert after lunch, i grabbed the opportunity since the shop, 正明茶室, is located on the seldom-visited ground level. 

At S$1.40 for two slices of bread that were further split into thinner slices, these brought back fond memories of Nam Heng kaya toast along Simon Road which is, sadly, no longer in operation. 

The boss was so funny! Upon seeing me whipping out my Nikon-san (the simple yet affectionate name i gave to my DSLR), he insisted on placing the half boiled eggs to "complete the picture"! In case you are wondering if they are complementary, he took back the eggs right after i was done! haha. 

With such a thick chunk of butter right smacked in the middle of two thinly-sliced toasts, it was obvious the end result would taste extremely buttery; a criterion often well-received by fans of kaya toast. Strangely, i could not quite make out the kaya and assume initially it could be just butter sprinkled with sugar on toast. 

Of course not; even though the aromatic custard kaya spread wasn't as generous as Nam Heng, it was still a near match and to be totally honest, i am already craving them for tomorrow's breakfast!

Praying that the stall is open for business. 

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Location

531A, Upper Cross Street, 

#01-46, Hong Lim Food Centre 

Price

S$1.40 - Two Slices of Kaya Toast

Other Stalls within the Food Centre

Lee Kheong Roasted Delicacy - Roast Duck and Char Siew

Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee

Ji Ji Wanton Mee

Dongdaemun (東大門市場, 동대문시장) Section 1 - An Incomplete Visit @ Seoul [South Korea]

Dongdaemun in Seoul was renowned in Korea for its position as a humongous shopping district with thousands of stores that remained open till the wee hours! Now, we are talking about 5 am or so; some even operate 24 hours! 

Hence, don't be misled by the historical gate in front of you and think that everything in this area is just boring history you could easily read from the internet. 

The three of us actually walked from Kwangjang Market and almost got lost even though it was just a simple straight road ahead of us! Nevertheless, we can't be blamed as we could not help noticing that the crowd was getting thinner as we trudged along.

Condition improved after we arrived at dongdaemun (the gate you see in the first photo); turn right and you will not miss the gaudy signboard of Pyounghwa Clothing Market! 

Louise had a list of shopping complexes to conquer that day and the first one we stepped in was Doota Fashion Mall; items inside were of a higher end and this would translate into higher prices. 

Both sisters, upon seeing that i was bored, dumped me at this cafe known as Gaongill so that they could check out ladies wear and accessories! You know how long i was abandoned there? An hour!!!! 

As we didn't have mobile /data connection, all i could do was to get a delicious cup of sweet potato latte and play candy crush. Can you imagine that!? I am literally wasting my time! :(

Out on the street again (like finally). There were indeed a lot of dessert cafes in Korea but i didn't quite have the stomach / time to relax in a cafe. 

Some stage performance i think; unlike one of my friends, i didn't chance upon any popular K-pop groups like Girls Generation, Big Bang etc. Put it this way, put them in front of me and i might not be able to identify them too! Except for Yoona or Suzy from Miss A.

Said to be a must-have, i was prepared to endure the chill from the soft ice cream which was in addition to the windy weather in Seoul that day. Unfortunately, the machine had broken down. Yippppppeeeeee, less fats for all of us! 

Entered Hello apM; personally, the first thought that came to mind was its similarity to Platinum Mall in Bangkok. The major difference, however, was that most, if not all, clothing were for the incoming winter! 

Nothing really suitable for the horrendously humid and hot climate we have back home. Louise did spot a cap that she was rather keen in; after bargaining, it still cost over S$30 which we found to be exorbitant! She eventually got one of an almost same style in Zhuhai (China) for only S$5.

To be honest, i don't find products sold in Korea to be economically priced although they were often compensated by a higher quality. This is my view which could be slanted given i didn't have time to visit section 2 of dongdaemun; said to be filled with wholesale outlets! 

At this time, my tummy was searching for something hot to warm it and this came to my attention as i noticed quite a constant flow of customers while waiting for both sisters to check through a promo arena for children's clothes. 

My aim was on the sausage wrapped with a layer of fish cake. Other options include having the rice cake replacing the hot dog. Being a meat eater, it's obvious i would go with the sausage.

At 3,000 won, it was really juicy and delightful to have in the windy weather! You may also choose from a variety of sauces like tomato, BBQ, mustard and a delicious spicy version.

Shopping carts on the spacious walkway. 

In my entire dongdaemun visit, these adorable piggy banks appealed most to me! A pity they were really heavy and prices were in the range of almost S$50. 

Surprisingly, we had much better shopping at Lotte Fitin! Do keep in mind that most purchases in official shopping complexes like Lotte and Doota are tax free

Last look of section 1 of dongdaemun before we took the train back to Hotel Manu. Would i be back? Maybe i would, to give dongdaemun a second chance by covering section 2. 

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For the summary of my South Korea trip (including Seoul and Jeju Island) and links to the respective day, click HERE.