Sweet-Tooth Guppy:

When Sommelier Guppy told us about this Tze Char Stall at Chinatown, Tong Ah Seafood that we must absolutely patronised, all the guppies got into a frenzy. We all know that Sommelier Guppy has a refined palate and high expectations when it comes to food.

Excitedly, the guppies made plans for an “assault” of Tong Ah Seafood. Finally, the fateful day arrived and the Hungry Guppies bounced to the Tong Ah Seafood in high spirits!

What greeted them was a long list of enticing  dishes on the menu. All of which made them smacked their lips in anticipation. After a moment of deliberation, the Hungry Guppies made their orders and swiftly, the food was served. Hot. Delicious. Without the guppies having to wait for too long.

Here are what the Hungry Guppies feasted on:

Salted-egg Cereal Prawns

These are yummilicious. Pity that each Guppy was given only 1 serving, that is one prawn each.  I found myself scrapping the leftover cereal crumbs on the plate after the prawns were all eaten up. The prawn meat was fresh and succulent as well. Overall, this dish was tasty with a slightly sweet and spicy tinge to the well-cooked prawns. The salted egg flavour adds a special touch to the dish.

Pa Pa Guppy had to order this dish as while he was busy fiddling with his recalcitrant camera (which was giving him some problems), all the dishes were snapped up by the rest of the Guppies.

Not too heavy on its taste, the braised pork is tender and lightly flavoured. However, as I am not a great fan of  pork, and have not tasted other braised pork dishes I cannot exactly tell if this dish is superior to that which other stalls offer. Overall, I would grade this dish satisfactory, not a must-try.

A special dish of Tong Ah Seafood, I must say that the sauce has an excellent flavour. The bittergourd, contrary to its name was not too bitter and the meat was not too hard, cooked to the right degree. I guess the cook is probably quite experienced and skillful to know exactly the exact duration of cooking his dishes.

This dish is easily my favourite dish of all the other sumptious dishes. Topped with chinese pickled radish, chinese mushroom and minced pork, the beancurd is soft on the inside with a slightly firm skin. The toppings complemented the smoothness of the beancurd wonderfully. This dish is savoury without being too flavourful. If I can only pick one dish to feast on, along with some white rice, this dish would easily be my choice.

The salted-fish fried rice is not too bad to me but I have eaten my share of better salted-fish fried rice. To me, this dish is too lightly flavoured. I can hardly taste the saltiness of the salted fish! However, this also meant that it complemented the other more flavourful dishes which the Hungry Guppies feasted on. Judging from how Give-Me-Rice-Guppy kept going for more servings of the fried rice, it must have been really good to him. I would never eat the fried rice on its own with no accompanying dishes.

I love this dish! Maybe it’s because there’s a slight sweet tinge to it. The chicken is tender, not overcooked, not undercooked, just right. And the sauce all over the chicken is very very savoury. There’s also aspecial flavour of the curry leaves added to this dish. I must say this dish is a delicacy in its own right. I am rather impressed with it. This dish, along with the beancurd dish mentioned earlier are must-trys of Tong Ah Seafood I must say!

Tze Char Stalls are all over Singapore. But the key in getting a satisfied meal always and simply lie in the stall patronised.

Gobbling Guppy:

The food is GOOD. I love every dish that we ate. The braised pork was tender and juicy with tasty bits of lean meat. The pork with bittergourd is a love at first tasting for me as well. I enjoyed the Beancurd as well as it goes well with the other more flavourful meat dishes that we were having. I think the Salted-fish fried rice is quite tasty as well. I am also quite impressed with the speed that the dishes were served. There was no need for any long waiting time at all. Quality food!

Papa Guppy:

I was skeptical about Tong Ah Seafood initially because I feel that when there’s too much excitement and hype about a certain eatery, there is bound to be some disappointment. I found out that I was not entirely wrong in my pre-assement of Tong Ah Seafood. The food served is delicious but not exactly what I would describe as exceptional. Basically, the bottom-line is the food did not live up to the hype and all the enthusiasm of the Hungry Guppies I think. Still, I may go back there in the future.

Spicy-Guppy:

The Claypot Chicken is my favourite dish.It has a rather pleasant and savoury flavour and I was mildly surprised to find that it has been cooked with curry leaves as well. This is the first time I ate claypot chicken cooked with curry leaves. I guess that must have given it its unique flavour. The rest of the dishes are not bad as well. This is not too shabby a place for a family meal.

Health Freak Guppy:

This meal is not the best option of a health-conscious Guppy. Deep-fried Salted-egg cereal prawns…. FRIED rice with SALTED fish…Fat laden braised pork… Oh My.. I am already looking at spending more time on the threadmill. Still once-in-a-while indulgence in such rich food is certainly understandable… no?

Sommelier Guppy:

I have been eating frequently at Tong Ah Seafood. Infact, I dine there almost once a week. The dish that I really enjoy is the Pork with Bittergourd. Somehow the bitterness of the bittergourd complements the saltiness of the pork very well. I am very impressed with the way the cook controlled the amount of heat used to cook this dish. The bittergourd is not overcooked and the pork has a nice texture to it. I also like the Beancurd with Chai Poh, minced meat and mushroom as it has a very delicate taste to it with much of the saltiness coming from the Chai Poh. I feel that all the ingredients put into this dish has a purpose and they serve their purposes well. From my ample experience of dining at Tong Ah Seafood, Thursday is generally not a good day to dine there,as somehow the food just isn’t as delicious on Thursday. Maybe they have a different cook to come in on Thursdays.

Da Bao Guppy:

To me, all the dishes have their strong points. All are tasty and Da-Bao worthy. Infact, after my meal, I actually packed some beef hor fun back for the family. I would definitely bring my family here for a meal.

Give-me-rice Guppy:

I ate alot. ALOT of Salted-fish Fried Rice. It’s really yummy and I like it alot. I think I, alone ate half of the plate of fried rice.

Expat Guppy:

I enjoyed the food at Tong Ah Seafood but I wonder if some of the dishes may taste even better with some spices and some chilli. My favourite dish is the salted-egg cereal prawn. I think it has quite a special taste.

Travelling Bug Guppy: A Tze Char (pronounced as Zi-Char) stall is a Chinese food stall serving a wide range of a la carte dishes. People usually eat the dishes with rice. Tze Char  literally means   ‘cook & fry’, in reference to the  use of frying (almost always with woks) in preparing the dishes sold at the stall. You need not have a party of people so as to dine at a Tze Char Stall. You can also order one dish which will be served with rice. Popular one-person meal can consist of sweet-and-sour fish with rice and seafood hor fun (rice noodles).

Details of Tong Ah Seafood:

Address: 36 Keong Saik Road

Telephone: 6223-5083