The Dead Cockroach: Ga-Hock Roasted Meats - Wanton Noodle @ 794 Upper Bukit Timah Road

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Taking up the prime spot at Ga-Hock Eating House is Ga-Hock Roasted Meats.

You will not miss the stall if you are coming from the main road.

I heard the roast meats here are fantastic so I ordered a plate of wanton noodle ($4) to try. There is no one before me and I got my order in under five minutes.

I let out a little gasp when I saw the staff ladle some dark sauce into the plate but I am too late to stop him and the deed is done.

Honestly, I am not a fan of such dark sauced noodle.

My plate of wanton noodle came with generous portions of char siew, some obligatory greens on a mound of noodle and a bowl of wanton soup served on the side.

I helped myself to the pickled green chili and sambal chili on the counter.

The wanton skin is thin, soft and slippery while the knob of minced meat wrapped within, negligible.

The three wantons in the soup were at best average and not particularly memorable. I noticed that the staff got his wantons from the fishball noodle stall next door and that got me thinking: are the stalls here run by individual operators or are they actually all under the same boss?

As mentioned earlier, dark sauce noodle does not appeal to me.

A simple concoction of pork lard oil, a splash of soy and sambal would be pleasing enough. I felt that the addition of some mysterious, sticky dark sauce simply overwhelm all the other flavors with its saccharine taste.

To add insult to injury, the noodle's texture is softer than I would prefer. A little springier with a bite is much more welcoming.

The highlight for me would be the moderately thick char siew which seems to come with higher fat content. (I am unable to take a clearer look due to the dark sauce)

In the past, I always thought that I like fatty char siew but when I had the bu jian tian (pig's armpit char siew known for its fattiness) from Zhong Yu Yuan Wei at Tiong Bahru Food Centre many years back, I find them too revolting to swallow. In the end, I left them untouched.

I thought it may be just a one-off thing but when I had the bu jian tian from Fatty Cheong at ABC Brickworks Food Centre, the same scenario happened. I figured out then that I simply cannot stand that jiggly fatty texture in the mouth.

Even though this char siew seems fatty, I am unsure if it is bu jian tian as it does not give me that repulsive feeling which the two previous-mentioned stalls did.

In fact, I like this char siew for its tenderness and chewiness.

On my next visit, I will try their other roasts with rice instead and drizzled with just si yau and sok yau (豉油/熟油). I will give the dark sauce a pass, tyvm.