Mia's Review: Guan Hoe Soon Peranakan Restaurant

Very recently, I had an extremely nuah staycation at Katong V Hotel with DS, Sa and T. And for dinner, DS and Sa treated us to Peranakan food! 

According to Sa's recommendation, we visited Guan Hoe Soon Restaurant located a 20 to 25 minutes walk away from the hotel. We've made a reservation and when we reached promptly at almost 8pm, most of the tables were occupied and only that one table at the innermost corner was empty (though not yet cleared). So if you're intending to drop by on a weekend for dinner, do make reservations.

Nothing much to show about the restaurant's decor, actually. It's really a very typical, and humble-looking restaurant. 

But looking at the number of awards they hung on their wall, it's really not that humble at all. 

Nonya Chap Chye

This dish has the total homecooked food feel to it. I guess it partly because chap chye is one of the dishes my mum and grandma loves to cook for us. A good mix of cabbage (which is a mixture of being still slightly crunchy yet soft enough to have absorbed all the flavour of the gravy), beancurd skin (dao kee), vermicelli, mushroom, black fungus (my favourite!) and bits and pieces of fatty pork here and there, all drenched in goodness of the braised gravy. 

This is just plain awesome if you're craving for some 'homecooked' food.

Ngoh Hiang

A thin layer of the beancurd skin fried till golden brown and crispy, holding on to some densely packed minced meat that's flavourful yet subtly sweet.

Need I say more?

Otak Otak

This has got to be my favourite dish of the night. 

They're soft yet not mushy, spicy yet not tastebud hurting hot, flavourful yet not overwhelming salty.

I could have easily ate 4 plates of this with just one bowl of rice and I'll be done. Truly satisfied. :)

Ayam Buah Keluak

This is my first time trying out Buah Keluak and I'm sorry to say it's really not my cup of tea. I felt like I was eating some black (rotten) innards or.... brains. Never eaten either, but the mushy texture and weird acquired taste that even the spiciness of the dish couldn't mask it at all was just.... unappealing. 

The chicken, on the other hand, was great in comparison. Though cooked till no longer juicy and tender, it wasn't tough on the teeth at all and has the yummy flavour of the spices packed in every bite of the meat. A really good (chicken) dish to go with a bowl of piping hot white rice. 

Ikan Kepala Assam Curry

Lastly, this dish has caught me in a dilemma. I'm a huge fan of fish (and this is a white promfet, omg!) but hardly a lover of assam. And it just has to be so well done that the flesh is totally dripping with the sourish flavour of assam curry. Mehhh.... 

A must try if you're a huge fan of fish and assam curry, if not.... 

Guan Hoe Soon has been dedicated to serving us Peranakan food since 1953 and is one of our oldest Peranakan Restaurant (or so they say). 

They're located at 38/40 Joo Chiat Place, which is of a walking distance of approximately 20 minutes from Katong i12.

For more information, visit their website HERE.

Till then,

Mia