3.7
out of 5
Far East Square
Singapore
Telephone: (65) 6743-9743
Website: http://villagewok.com.sg
Category:
Restaurants » Chinese (Traditional)
Opening Hours:
Lunch: 11.30am – 2.30pm
Dinner: 5.30pm – 9.30pm
VILLAGE WOK Restaurants is the only restaurant in Singapore featuring old Canton Village cuisine. The fresh, home-cooked dishes are made with recipes steeped in heritage, perfect for the whole family. Be it their Village Smoked Chicken or Village Oyster Noodles, each dish is backed with hours of preparation through several stages of cooking and served with culinary perfection, complimented by their specially-created sauces.
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Village wok, a simple name for a simple image. Traditional food at a semi affordable price and secret recipes which brought about a fortune. I'd like to thank the owner for inviting us for a tasting session and for the wonderful hospitality they've shown the group.
Hidden in a rather inconspicuous corner along Cecil and Amoy street is this extremely Chinese looking restaurant. The interior is adorned with simple antique furniture and the bare minimals, tables, chairs, air conditioning and lots of white cloth. In simple fact, its simplicity extends to its food offerings as well. Thats not a bad thing by the way.
In fact, the restaurant is simply a front for a greater business, the actual supply and selling of their famous and secret sauces.
DIY Popiah Set ($20 per set) - An apt start to our session began with one of their more popular items, the do-it-yourself popiah. At $20 a set, this is pretty good value for money since its possible to serve up to 5 people. The real draw lies in the process of making these little delectable dishes. A little bit of carrot here, some shrimp here, a little cucumber and sauces there, its actually loads of fun for such a simple process. I have to complement the chili sauce provided because it was mild yet retained some spiciness for a suitable kick.
Chilled crab with special vinegrette sauce ($30 per crab) - To enjoy this dish, one must first reserve it with the restaurant since there's only a fixed number of these little crustaceans available daily. The real draw of it lies in the succulently sweet meat and sinful eggish paste that comes with each one of these crawlies. Taken as it is, its already a treat but simply swab a little of Village Wok's top grade vinegrette and you'll be sold on paying a whooping $30 per crab.
Steeply priced? Definitely. Worth a try? The depends on your wallet.
Fried Brinjal with crispy squid in BXO sauce ($15) - This dish was a surprise to me simply because, i dislike brinjal and this dish made me reconsider my opinions of this tasty plant. The sweet sauce coupled with the fried squid served to give the soggy plant more texture and taste then i'm ever tasted before. I enjoyed this dish and have been trying brinjal made dishes ever since.
The Phoenix soars ($21 ) - A flashy name for a simple dish. The is basically just a plate of roasted and white boneless chicken. The twist lies in the addition of lettuce to wrap the chicken in and of course, Village wok's own chili and garlic sauce which proved once again to complement it very well. I prefered the white chicken which was more tender but otherwise was only impressed with the sauce since i've had the same conceptualised chicken in other establishements.
Black pepper ham leg ($23 ) - Pig's trotters honestly do not appeal to me but this was once again a surprise. The crispy skin coupled with a thin layer of fats and thick lean meat provided a decent balance to the palate. There's a slight "porkish" smell from the fat but is easily negated with Village wok's rather spicy black pepper sauce.
Village Wok Celebration Parade ($22 ) - Simply roast pork and char siew in an extremely nicely set dish. The presentation for this did loads to make us hunger for it. This dish was another of their simple dishes done well. Tender, juicy and sweet char siew with an equally juicy roast pork in mustard sauce, whats not to like?
Steamed Pating fish with preserved vegetables ($44 ) - I love fish and i love batang chopped into little pieces to be used in porridge. This rendition is sadly not one of those i liked. The salty preserved vegetables and steamed fish didn't seem to complement each other since fish are supposed to be sweet and having a salty base simply didn't bring out the flavor i've come to expect and love.
Smiling fortune noodle ($8 ) - This noodles happens to one of the cheapest items you can find here. In fact, its rather value for money, has a strong shrimp taste and is a tad spicy. I liked it though.
Home-made Nonya Kaya with bread - Now this was weird, the kaya was balanced and sweet enough to have all of us popping each piece of bread into our mouths non stop. In fact, after all the food above, we managed to clear 3 plates of this strangely addictive yet simple item. Many of us were tempted to purchase the kaya home as well.
Black glutinous rice with coconut ice cream and lemongrass ice cream($4.50) - Dessert is also a simple affair with the surprise hit being the lemongrass ice cream. I liked the way it cleaned the palate and refreshed our heaty breaths after a heavy meal.I'd recommend it over the coconut ice cream anyday.
True to what our host said, the sauces are the star of the day. Without which, the food offerings would have seemed too simple to be worth the amount they commanded. I can understand why people would pay to have these sauces supplied given their popularity with even my group. However, i do need to point out that this meal would have cost in excess of $200 if we were billed for it. And i do feel its still too steep a price to pay.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!wah it took you so long to write this review!
18 Mar 2009 at 11:01 pm
This restaurant looks very 'china' from the outside but quite westernise inside it. Their famous dish is the cold crab but it must be ordered in advanced. I can't magine how a cold crab taste, so I did not give it a try.
We tried the Popiah, smoked chicken, wasabi prawn, crispy tofu, fried brinjai and the Yee Mee. It is quite unusual to have popiah in a restaurant. I personally like to have it at home on some occasion and you can eat as many as you like but not in the restaurant because it can be very filling. The Popiah is quite tasty but a little sautish. The ingredient used is not much different from others but the 'skin' and the sauces are home made and that makes the different.
I use to take wasabi prawn from Pine Valley restaurant. I expect the similar taste here too. Unfortunately, it tastes differently. Firstly, the wasabi used is not spicy at all ( no smoke come out from the nose ). The prawn is fried with flour and therefore a little hard outside. I wil prefer it to be fried without any flour so that it can be a crsipy outside but soft internally.
The smoked chicken is good. I don't know what do they use to marinate it but I believe should be one of their home made sources. Of course being boneless is the main contribution to this dish. It tastes a little different from others and I took quite a lot of it.
The crispy Tofu is interesting. A thin layer of crispy skin to hold the tofu and it melt at the right time as soon as you put it in your mouth.
The Fried brinjai is also their specialty according to the staff. However, I don't really like it because it taste like normal brinjai but with sweet saurce used for 'Chin Chong Fan'. I still prefer it to be fried with 'heibee'.
The restaurant looks clean, simple and tidy although the painting hanging on the wall are a little out of place. The waitresses are freindly and attentive. Reasonable crowd on a weekday afternoon and yet not noisy. It is quite a suitable place for casual lunch if you are inside the business district area.
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Was roaming the Raffles place area one late Saturday morning and popped by Village Wok for an early lunch. Actually that was the only place that opened at 11 ish so I didn't have much of a choice honestly. It also helped that they were hawking a set lunch set reasonably priced at only $8.90.
Located amongst a row of restored shophouses just opposite China Square, Village Wok is easy to miss especially if you are driving past because of the lack of prominent signage. The interior is simply furnished with parquet flooring and white washed walls.
Preserved Vegetable Soup - The preserved vegetable soup or 梅菜汤 came with the set and was rather normal but hey, its better then nothing.
Beancurd with Minced Meat - This was an extra order at $6 and honestly I was quite taken aback by the small portion. It was probably just enough for 2 pax - adequate but not exactly bang for the buck. To give it credit though, the beancurd was smooth and almost silky with a nice savoury taste to it while the topping of minced meat was generous.
Village Smoked Chicken and Char Siew Rice - The smoked chicken was purportedly an award winning dish hence I had to order it. While high expectations may have ruined the experience a little for me, I must admit that the chicken was actually quite decent. Faintly crispy skin with the meat harbouring a hint of smokiness without being too dry. I did find it a little too salty for my liking though and I do have a high tolerance for salt. As for the BBQ pork, lets just say that I've had better.
Hor Fun with Egg Sauce - Okay this dish was a tad disappointing honestly. It tasted average at best and the only upside to it was that the sauce wasn't too starchy or overwhelming. Still edible though.
$30 for a 2 pax lunch in a empty restaurant smack in the middle of Raffles place is not too expensive if you ask me. Food quality is decent but service was almost non existent save for the taking of our orders and serving of food. In conclusion, a relatively reasonable place for a nice relaxing lunch during the weekend. I can't say the same for weekdays though.
See all my pictures here.
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What determine whether a dish is good? There are several factors, the freshness of the ingredients itself, the skill of the chef, and of course the sauces that are used in cooking the food. Sauces are vital to the overall taste of the dish, in simple terms, they helped to “colour up” and enhanced the food.
What will you say if chili crabs are served without the thick and spicy gravy sauce, or how about your burger without any mayo sauce? These are some simple examples, but i’m sure you got the idea. Village Wok Restaurant is a showroom for The Village Wok sauce room. Their core business is actually being a sauce distributor, and the restaurant itself is the place for their customers to sample the sauces.
Village Wok restaurant is located at Far East Square, Telok Ayer Street. I had the chance for a food tasting session there organised by Yebber, courtesy of Village Wok’s owner Miss Dawn. A table of 10, consisting of long-time yebbers and some new faces join us for this meal. The Central Business District (CBD) is virtually a ghost town on weekends, and when we went for lunch during a Sunday, there wasn’t anybody around, and we had the whole restaurant to ourselves.
Although the restaurant isn’t their main business, that doesn’t mean that the food there isn’t good, in fact it has to be good so that their customers get to taste their excellent sauce with the good food. The food at Village Wok has a large part to do with their sauces, so i thought it will be appropriate to introduce some of the sauces that we had.
I sweared by their sweet and spicy chili dip (top picture), like the name implies, the sauce is spicy with a hint of semi-sweet, excellent to go along with finger food like chicken wings and fries. There’s also the chili dip (right) which can be use for all kinds of dishes, but go especially well with chicken rice.
Popiah DIY $20 /set
We started off our meal having some hands-on experience with the popiah DIY set. Now there isn’t much places which actually allow their customers to do-it-yourself (DIY) with popiah, and i have to admit the process’s very much fun and all of us enjoyed “playing” with the popiah. From what i understand, each popiah set can serve 6 people, personally i felt that the price was rather steep but for the experience of doing our own popiah, its rather worth it.
The restaurant prepared the ingredients like shrimp, lettuces, cucumbers, and the turnips (bangkuang), the popiah skin, and the sauces needed for the popiah. Everything was done in an orderly manner, you’ll just need to put all the sauces, and ingredients onto the popiah skin.
And there we have it, our very own DIY popiah. Please don’t be deceived by the ugly appearance of the popiah, i guess our popiah-making skills aren’t up to the mark yet, some of us managed to do the popiah quite decently, while some were out of shape and doesn’t resemble a popiah at all. Nevertheless, the popiah fillings were fresh, and the sauces used greatly enhanced the flavor of the popiah, not to mention that it’s made from our very own hands.
Chilled crab with special vinegrette sauce ($30 per crab)
The chilled crab on its own was fresh, but eaten with Village Wok’s special vinegrette sauce it did really compliment the meat very well. Their vinegrette sauce was made from top grade vinegrette with their special recipe of course, and it taste slightly sweeter than your normal sourish vinegrette. Having said that, i’m neither a fan of crab nor vinegrette.
Fried Brinjal with crispy squid in BXO sauce ($15)
Unfortunately, the next dish wasn’t my favorite neither, i also didn’t like bringal. But for food tasting sake, i gave the fried bringal a try and to my surprise it doesn’t taste as bad as i had expected bringal to be. The purple vegetable was fried with crispy squid using their special BXO sauce, and it wasn’t as brinjal-ish as i thought. The crispy squid added some extra crunch to the dish, but overall it wasn’t to my personal liking.
The Phoenix soars ($21 )
Very nice name indeed, the phoenix soar is quintessentially roast and white boneless chicken. Both chicken tasted as nice, so we were having a debate as to which one was nicer. Some preferred the roasted chicken, while some found the white chicken tastier.
The yin-yang chicken came with lettuces wrap, together with some cucumbers, tomatoes provided it with some healthy touch. And of course chilli and garlic sauce, this made an excellent dish which we couldn’t get enough of, the chicken was gone in a flash.
Black pepper ham leg ($23 )
The black pepper ham leg or pig trotters was really one dish that lingered in my mind even after the meal. Usually I didn’t really fancy eating pig trotters because of the thick layer of fatty meat, but this one was exceptionally good. Under the skin was a layer of fats, the meat below was lean to eat. And it came with Village Wok’s black pepper sauce.
For those health conscious eaters, simply remove the layer of fats below the skin. We lamented the fact that we took too long taking photos of this, which resulted in the crispy skin being a tad soft when we started eating.
Village Wok Celebration Parade ($22 )
A combination of Village Wok mustard roast pork and BBQ pork char siew. Again we couldn’t agree on whether the roast pork or the char siew was better. The char siew was tender, juicy and fulsome with the BBQ sauce. Another thing to note, Village Wok didn’t use any colouring, so the char siew here wasn’t red in colour which was evident in the usual ones.
But I always favoured roast pork over the char siew counterpart, the mustard roast pork did not disappoint, crispy layer with really tender meat. The portion of fats to meat was well balanced, not too fatty and not too lean.The roast pork, or sio bak, was really one to die for.
Steamed Pating fish with preserved vegetables ($44 )
I always had the belief that fresh water reared fish won’t be as nice and fresh as seawater fish, but the pating fish here proved that there’s always an exception to everything. According to Miss Dawn, Village Wok actually had their own fish farm to rear the fishes, so freshness was definitely guaranteed.
They used preserved vegetables, or chye poh to steam the fish. It wasn’t came out to be as salty as i had expected because they had specially soaked the chye poh in water to reduce the saltiness of the preserved vegetables. Nevertheless, i preferred my fish to steam with either salted soy bean, salted vegetables, or light sauce.
Smiling fortune noodle ($8 )
The smiling fortune noodle was Village Wok’s rendition of prawn noodles. Tangy noodles harmonised with delectable fresh prawn essence, topped with big fresh prawns. The stock base was no doubt tasty, but too salty for our liking. There was a rush for water after finishing the noodle.
Home-made Nonya Kaya with bread
We had a plesant surprise when they served bread with nonya kaya for our first dessert. The Nonya kaya was home-made from Miss Dawn’s grandmother recipe.The kaya was made without any flour, and was very eggy in taste. I liked it, but i did find the kaya flavor a tad strong, nonetheless we generously spread our thin slice of bread with super thick layer of kaya!
Black glutinous rice with coconut ice cream ($4.50)
I did not find the glutinous rice with coconut ice cream that special since i didn’t really like black glutinous rice. But the rest unanimously agreed that this was the must-have dessert.
Lemongrass ice cream
The lemongrass ice cream was another mystery to me as i couldn’t figure out the flavor of the ice cream initially until somebody pointed out it was lemongrass. I guess its due to the fact that Thai cuisine isn’t really on my radar often, but like what the others mentioned, the lemongrass flavor was very evident, and if you like the scent of lemongrass, this will do it for you.
All in all, Village Wok Restaurant did a great job matching the food with their speciality sauce, there was a different sauce for every dish, and it complimented each other very well. Prices are generally slightly higher, but given the comparison with other Chinese restaurants, they are still considered within range.
I heard that they are very crowded during weekday lunch as the office working crowd like to frequent the place, so do make reservations in advance before going. Once again, i’ll like to thank Yebber, and Miss Dawn for the food tasting session.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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I felt honoured to be invited for this food tasting in this restaurant which is actually near to my workplace.
I heard that their main business is their variety of sauces, and this restaurant is to showcase their sauces.
The restaurant's decor itself was quite simple and elegant looking. The dishes were also delicious. We ate those recommended dishes thus they should be the best in this restaurant.
Popiah DIY $20 /set
Completely healthy with stewed vegetables in prawn stock and condiments.
Had a bit of fun wrapping my own popiah and it tasted good...especially with their sauces.
Chilled Crab with Special Vinegrette Sauce @ $30 /crab
Really enjoyed the crabs alot with or without the sauce because they tasted very fresh and they were in quite big pieces...yum...Furthermore, they had been cut well enough for us to eat the crab meats at ease.
The Phoenix Soars @ $21
Yin-Yang boneless Village Wok Chicken
The chicken wasn't bad too. Nothing much to comment.
Village Wok Celebration Parade @ $22
A combination of VW award dishes, VW Mustard Roast Crispy Pork and Village BBQ Pork
The BBQ pork was not coloured like those normal ones sold outside. Nevertheless, they tasted quite nice when accompanied with the sauces.
Fried Brinjal with Crispy Squid in BXO Sauce @ $15
Aaah~~this was my favourite dish! Ate alot of it and the brinjal pieces tasted really delicious and sweet as they were like emersed with the BXO sauce...They didn't have the strong vegetable taste.
Steamed Pating Fish with Preserved Vegetable @ $44
The preserved vegetable "cai por" was nice but as a matter of fact, I don't like fish. -.-||
Black Pepper Ham Leg @ $23
Voted The Travelling Gourmet’s favorite dish
Really big pieces! The skin was crispy and it should had been crispier if we had eaten them earlier. Not bad but I'm not a pork lover. Still had that strong pork taste which I didn't fancy much.
Smiling Fortune Noodle @ $8 (potion served was smaller that day)
Tangy noodles harmonized with delectable fresh prawn essence, topped with prawns.
Oh this was nice! The soup was nice especially with chilli powder! I finished drinking the soup!
VW Desserts - Sampler size
Black Glutinous Rice with Coconut Ice-cream @ $4.80
Lemongrass ice-cream
Kaya with bread
I can say that the desserts were all satisfactory and I was especially attracted to the lemongrass icecream. It tasted really unique and I didn't feel sick eating it though I was terribly full already. I wanted more in fact. The kaya also tasted good and it was fragrant...It was sweet but not overly sweet. Just nice!
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!wow, you are second! haha
09 Sep 2008 at 8:42 pm
yesh! so will u be the third? haha
09 Sep 2008 at 10:05 pm
Bobo had the chance to be invited for food tasting at Village Wok. Initially this bimbo was afraid that she would have problems finding the place, with it being in CBD and all. But it was really easy to locate. It's quite near the Food Centre just slightly off the main road.
Upon entering the place, Bobo was slightly surprised. The signboard and the decor of the place itself wasn't like other Chinese restaurants. It's not like pretentiously posh but very very simple.. like a family business sorts. It was later when the lady boss (a pretty one) explained, that Bobo understood that this place is more of a B2B sort of business, selling its famous sauces to other eateries.
It was empty that day... CBD, on Sundays, is a ghost town as every one knows. So they had all the space to ourselves and the freedom to make noise. Fantastic! haha.
Popiah DIY $20 /set
Completely healthy with stewed vegetables in prawn stock and condiments.
Honestly Bobo thinks it is a little expensive considering it's just vegetables and stuff. BUT try preparing all these things at home then you would know what a hassle it is. It's not only good and healthy to eat, it's like an activity for family and friends to do. The good thing about DIY is that you can put whatever you want in it and leave whatever you want out. Yummy!
Chilled Crab with Special Vinegrette Sauce @ $30 /crab
Bobo doesn't really like crab. Simply because it's troublesome. But the nice thing about this one was that they cut it up properly, so that it's easy to eat! They didn't need to use the hammer or weird tools to pry the meat out to eat. That aside, the flesh was sweet and fresh, tasty even without the sauce. They were told that the crabs were from Sri Lanka.
The Phoenix Soars @ $21
Yin-Yang boneless Village Wok Chicken
Bobo loved this one. She liked its tasty flesh and there was plenty of breast meat for her to pick. Yummy.
Village Wok Celebration Parade @ $22
A combination of VW award dishes, VW Mustard Roast Crispy Pork and Village BBQ Pork
Firstly, Bobo has to admit that she's not the sort who go for such meat. But she did try the Char Siew which was ok. The presentation of this dish is pretty special in that it looked like the chinese word "fortune". Cool eh.
Fried Brinjal with Crispy Squid in BXO Sauce @ $15
Bobo likes Brinjal! Initially she thought that this dish was carrot cake because it reminded her of the one at Taste Paradise. But it's brinjal much to her surprise. It was quite tasty but a little bit too sweet though.
Steamed Pating Fish with Preserved Vegetable @ $44
Preserved Vegetable... that's Chai Por, the thingy you have on chwee kueh? Bobo loves chai por. This particular version is not as salty as what people normally have which makes it seem healthier. But Bobo (being unhealthy) do likes salty chai por. The fish was normal she thinks.
Black Pepper Ham Leg @ $23
Voted The Travelling Gourmet’s favorite dish
Bobo had a very small bit of this. As above, she's not a fan of pork so she shouldn't comment on this, having not tasted enough versions.
Smiling Fortune Noodle @ $8
Tangy noodles harmonized with delectable fresh prawn essence, topped with prawns.
The serving given to them was slightly smaller that day as they already had plenty to eat. Each person had a pot to themselves. It was served nice and hot with a little tealight below. Bobo liked the soup base a lot and the noodles were served at the right time, so they weren't mushy. But she doesn't remember eating many prawns. One maybe. or was it two?
VW Desserts - Sampler size
Black Glutinous Rice with Coconut Ice-cream @ $4.80
Lemongrass ice-cream
Kaya with bread
Bobo liked the Black Glutinous Rice with Coconut ice cream the best. The other ice cream had a nice tinge of lemongrass in the aftertaste. But otherwise it was normal. Bobo isn't quite a fan of Kaya but she enjoyed it all the same. It wasn't the ultra sweet sort you get from the supermarket.
The prices might seem a bit high but it IS a chinese restaurant after all and such prices are pretty common for this kind of food served there.
We had the chance to taste many of their sauces which was really nice. Bobo wanted to buy the salted fish one home but she forgot. SIGGHHH.
For more pictures, click here
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Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Bobo so cute! Some in 3rd person voice some from 1st! :P
26 Aug 2008 at 2:20 pm
hahahhahaha oops.
26 Aug 2008 at 2:40 pm
yeah, "bobo liked the soup.." then "she doesn't remember..."
26 Aug 2008 at 2:50 pm
DIY Popiah anyone?
I love making my own popiahs! My grandma used to host Popiah party for us. As we grow up, everyone is too busy with work and stuff, we've not have any popiah party for long time. Now I've found the place to go for our next family dinner! Village Wok serves DIY Popiah Set! How cool is that? The set comes with all the necessary condiments, ingredients and the power chili. Love it! The popiah skin was neither too thin nor thick, just nice to wrap up all the yummy ingredients without having to worry that the skin will give way when bitten into.
Dishes ordered include the Village Smoked Chicken with BBQ Pork, Deep Fried Crystal Prawns in Light Wasabi Sauce, XO Crispy Tofu, Brinjal in BXO Sauce, Vegetarian Ee Mee and Pulat Hitam with Coconut Gelato ice-cream.
The Smoked Chicken served with their special ginger dip was quite tasty. Personally would prefer the meat to be softer thou. But still passable.
Wasabi prawns is deep fried and topped with very light wasabi sauce. As a fan of wasabi, this would attract me more if the sauce was more powerpack. This dish is best eaten while its still hot. The outer fried layer become slightly tough when I had my second piece when the dish has cooled off.
XO Crispy Tofu was good. Homemade tofu was soft and the XO sauce served on the side adds flavor to it. Simple yet tasty.
Fried Brinjal with Crispy Squid is not a vegetable which most would enjoy. But the ones at Village Wok managed to convince my friend to give it a go. He quite enjoyed it and even had quite a few pieces. Their special BXO sauce gives this purple vegetable a new life. The sauce was sweet and the crispy squid topping gives it a crunchy texture.
The Vegetarian Ee Mee was nice. There was plentiful of golden mushrooms which give the dish more texture when chewing the noodles. Sauce was not too thick nor saltish. Just nice to my liking.
The lunch ended with a refreshing glass of pulut hitam (black glutinous rice) with gelato coconut ice-cream. It gave a beautiful closure to the meal. Will surely order this when I return.
I was told that they've a special dish - Cold Crab with Special Vinaigrette Sauce. We'd wanted to try it, but this is a by-reservation-only dish. Must remember to place my order the next time I go. It looks pretty good. And Village Wok creates and uses only their own in-house brand of sauces and dips.
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