Hawker Review: Ng Ah Sio Ba Kut Teh

S was just complaining about how high maintenance gfs are these days (a conclusion that he and his guy friends came up with which is totally baseless and untrue). According to them, we are too picky with food and always (absolute terms again) eat at expensive restaurants and refuse to eat at hawker centers. Such a sweeping statement. I'm sure there are those people with less discriminating taste buds but obviously you picked those with better taste (it's a compliment to you guys too!). Seriously you guys have too much of a double standard. BOO.

Anyway, because of that stupid conclusion, S made me have hawker for dinner last night. He claims that i would only eat this for hawker food and so we ended up at Rangoon road for some Ba Kut Teh.

S has brought me to this place before. Ng Ah Sio used to open only during the day but now that Founder has also moved down the road, i suppose they are feeling the pressure and hence you can get their BKT all day long. Yay to market competition. I couldn't remember how Ng Ah Sio tastes like (which kinda meant that it wasn't good enough for me then) but since Founder is more easily accessible, i decided to go ahead with NAS.

From what i recall, they have refurnished the place. It used to be pretty run down but now it's tiled, air conditioned and alot cleaner. Now this is more my kind of hawker place (Just kidding, i'm not that spoilt). However, it's kinda hard to differentiate between the big 3s now that their stores all kinda look alike. Somehow the character and old school charm has given way to commercialization. They now sell their BKT in satchels. 

The picky me asked the server what kinda soup they serve before i ordered. I'm a fan of the Teochew peppery clear soup and i was extremely suspicious of NAS as the pictures showed a dark soup. Was told that they add dark sauce to their soup and hence the colour. I remained doubtful till i tasted it. 

I ordered the Spare and Pork Ribs Combo ($7) just so i can judge the quality of the meat. The meat was easily separated from the spare rib but the same couldn't be said of the pork rib. Like Founders, you only get better stuff if you pay more. I still prefer Song Fa because the normal ribs are more tender and much meatier as compared to the premium ribs (read about it here).

However, the texture of the meat seemed coarse and somewhat dry. That left me shaking my head every time i bit into the ribs. The soup packs a peppery punch and i believe they were over-generous with the seasoning (hopefully not MSG). Zhang Ziyi would send this right back to the kitchen because it is SO SALTY! I consider myself to be a savory person and this is too much for me even. Gulped down 2 cans of drinks after. :P

Had the braised beancurd and tau pok ($2) with it, alongside my youtiao ($2). Nothing spectacular once again and on the salty side once more. 

One thing i'm sure from this experience is that if i can't remember anything about a restaurant i've dined at in the past, i should just steer clear of it. For Ng Ah Sio, it's more of a hype than anything else and I can be sure i'm never coming back again. For those with a higher tolerance for salt, give it a shot. I'll stick to Song Fa for now. 

Ng Ah Sio Ba Kut Teh

208 Rangoon Road

Tel: +65 6291 4527

Tue-Sun: 7am - 10pm

Closed Monday