One advantage of living in a multicultural urban centre like Melbourne is the myriad of opportunities for trying out new cuisine with friends of different ethnic backgrounds who can guide you through the menu maze.
On my first visit to Singapore Chom Chom, I was glad that S, a Singaporean, was on hand to explain some of the more unusual dishes on the 200+ item menu. S credits Singapore Chom Chom as cooking some of the more authentic Singaporean dishes in Melbourne, with many dishes not available anywhere else.
With her culinary background, our party of six non-Singaporeans pretty much just let her point out some interesting dishes and resorted to ordering by number. We selected:
#1 Loh Bak ($8.30) I think meat wrapped in deep fried bean curd? Though it also came with some fried tofu.
#15 Rojak ($8.80) a cold dish of cucumber.
#41 Nasi Lemak Special ($9.80) with…um…I can’t really tell. Fried egg? Fish cake? Peanuts? Curry?
#57 Bah Kut Teh with Rice ($10.80), a pork ribs dish served in a broth. The kind of home-cooked dish that Singaporeans/Malaysians seem to wax lyrical about but not something obviously appetising for me.
#67 Assam Fish ($10.80), a sour-ish fish dish served with rice.
#95 Mee Hoon Kueh ($9.50), a kind of hand-torn starchy noodle topped with crunchy fried fish which is time-consuming to make and hence not readily available in restaurants. I’m glad this was my choice, definitely the kind of soup noodle I like.
#138 A decent Char Kway Teo, though lacking a bit of variety in colour in my view ($9.30).
Washed down with some sweet barley water, a Kickapoo ‘the original joy juice’ (like a lemon squash with a cool name), Sarsi sarsparilla and my childhood favourite, Yeo’s chrysathenum tea.
It was a hearty and super-cheap meal, coming to a grand total of about $18 per head. I’d definitely return to try more dishes, but only on recommendation – I don’t feel confident enough navigating that menu on my own and I certainly don’t want to be lumped with Westernised Singaporean food!
To read more reviews, try Addictive & Consuming. For more cheap Asian eats nearby, try Izakaya Hachibeh (Japanese), The Grand BBQ (Cantonese) or Ghin Khao (Thai).
Rojak deserves a better description than that. It is essentially a ‘salad’ consisting of cucumbers, turnip, pineapples, dough fritters (you tiao) and tau pok (bean curd) mixed with a sweet and savoury prawn paste-based dressing and served with chopped peanuts!
Hi Sybones
Thanks – I actually had no idea what rojak was as I was actually too full to try it
Jetsetting Joyce
It’s been awhile since I’ve been there. It is not a bad place. Ok for a quick weekday meal with no fuss.
Twitter: jeroxie
| July 29, 2010, 3:42 pm
Hi Penny
Any other recommendations instead for authentic Singaporean food?
Jetsetting Joyce
I went here about a year ago and I have to say…didn’t enjoy it at all. Probably because I was alone so they felt it was fine to treat me like I was invisible.
I had an old high school teacher who used to say that when we got hyperactive, we’d been drinking Kickapoo Joy Juice. Had no idea it existed!
Twitter: eatdrinkstagger
| July 30, 2010, 8:51 am
Hi Gem
Do you remember what you ate there? Other than the service, did you think the food was poor as well?
Jetsetting Joyce
I’ve eaten at chomchom so much over my uni years. =/
Their bak kut teh is terrible. I hope that wasn’t your first bak kut teh, coz that’s a really really bad rendition of a BKT.
Their Loh Bak isn’t that great either. It’s okay. But for that price, way overpriced for the quantity AND quality.
And the Nasi Lemak… not something to crow about either.
Their chicken rice used to be pretty darn good, then something changed and it’s below average now. Which upset me quite a fair bit coz I used to go there just for their chicken rice.
The Mee HOon Kueh’s okay. Not amazing, but not bad either. Good when you are especially craving it!
Having said all that, I’d still go back to Sg Chomchom, if only for the hawker-like speed and somewhat authentic food!
Twitter: berrytravels
| July 30, 2010, 4:31 pm
Hi Celeste
I didn’t have any of the bak kut teh actually, as it didn’t look appetising (was enjoying my mee hoon kueh). Though I’ve actually never had the dish before so wouldn’t be able to tell whether it was bad or not. Where would you recommend for authentic, better Singaporean food than Singapore Chom Chom?
Jetsetting Joyce