Review: Lavender Food Square Kok Kee Wanton Mee - Expensive or worth it?

Dry Wanton Mee, $5

I love hawker food. Laksa, char kway teow, fishball noodles, hokkien mee, chicken rice, nasi lemak, bak chor mee... Today, I'm going to introduce to you my favorite wanton mee in Singapore (or perhaps in the world?) - Kok Kee Wanton Mee!!! The picture above is for the $5 portion. The auntie who portioned the noodles seemed to be in a good mood because she gave me A LOT of noodles, char siew and vegetables. The portions are usually smaller and that's why some people say it's overpriced. 

Nonetheless, I always have a good experience at Kok Kee and the aunties and uncles there are always super friendly to me. They only appear to be fierce but the uncle always jokes with me. Now, onto the main topic - WANTON MEE.

The main reason why this wanton mee is so popular is because its noodles are cooked al dente. The noodles are firm, giving them a nice texture to bite into just like how al dente pasta is like. Moreover, the noodles are drenched in this "secret recipe" sauce that made them so tasty and smooth I could eat them without any other ingredients. Don't worry about having it with chilli as the chilli is not spicy at all but simply adds flavor to the dish. 

However, my only gripe is that the char siew is at most average, leaning towards the dry side. They also lacked the charred taste and I usually just give them to my boyfriend who doesn't mind eating them. The only char siews I like are those with 30% fats, 70% meat and charred to perfection.

The wantons are nice though I think I can make better ones ahahahhahah. It's a personal preference but I think wantons taste better when spring onions are added in them. Nevertheless, these wantons have nice thin skins so thumbs up for that!

Lavender Food Square will be closed down in September 2014 and most of the stalls will be relocating, including Kok Kee Wanton Mee. However, Kok Kee Wanton Mee has yet to find a suitable venue so go eat it now while it's still there!!! Decide for yourself whether you like this controversial plate of noodles! It is definitely my fave in Singapore!

Summary

Cost:$5/person 

Food: WANTON MEE!!!

Service: Differs from people to people lol

Ambience: Hawker center

Dress code: Anything you want lol

Will I recommend it? Yes!

*There's usually a long queue but you will probably get your food within 15 - 20 minutes :)

Kok Kee Wanton Mee

Address: Lavender Food Square

 380 Jalan Besar

#01-06

Opening Hours: 

12pm - 2am

Closes as and when they like lol. Try to avoid Wednesdays and Thursdays as they tend to close on those days. 

Restaurant Review: Dancing Crab Singapore

While Singapore is known for our chilli crabs, we do have other styles of seafood as well. Recently, seafood boil in Cajun style has been hitting our shores, with restaurants such as Crab in Da Bag, The Cajun Kings and Full of Crab being a few of the pioneers. However, a new kid on the block, Dancing Crab, is emerging as a strong competitor. Dancing Crab, backed by Tung Lok Group, is definitely here to stay and also determined to knock down all competition. Here's why:

Crab Cakes, $13 for 2

These crab cakes were AMAZING. Chunks of succulent crab meat were used to make these crab cakes and deep fried to perfection. Crispy and yet not oily, these were the perfect light snacks to placate our rumbling tummies while waiting for our main courses.

Chunks of succulent crab meat!

Seafood Gumbo, $11

While this dish did not amaze us like the crab cakes did, we have to commend the use of extremely fresh seafood in this dish. The prawns were firm and sweet while the shellfish were plump and fresh. However, the rice was too soft for my liking and the tomato sauce was just a tinge too thick. Nonetheless, this would be great to fill up the tummy if some carbs were what you were looking for in addition to the seafood.

Combo Bag #01, $80

And this is the star of meal: Combo Bag #01, consisting of a huge Sri Lankan crab, 300g Prawns, 250g Mussels, Potatoes, Corn and Sausages. As mentioned, the seafood was super fresh, with the meat being succulent and sweet. We were told that only live seafood was used in order to maintain the freshness. At Dancing Crab, you also get to choose the type of sauce that you want your seafood to be cooked in. This was served in Dancing Crab Signature sauce (Mild) and I loved it. I also tried the Signature sauce in Spicy and Extra Spicy but preferred Mild out of the 3 as Mild was mostly tomato based. The spiciness, unlike Chilli Crab sauce, tasted like hot sauce (i.e. Tabasco sauce). So be warned, it's not the local type of chilli padi spiciness but Tabasco-like spiciness. So if you like tabasco, you may want to opt for the spicy sauce.

Gigantic pincer from the Combo #01!

Cornbread, $5

We were told that this is Dancing Crab's equivalent of fried mantous (fried buns). So while fried mantous are dipped in the chilli crab gravy, cornbread is used at Dancing Crab instead. These cornbread tasted pretty good on their own as well and can be ordered as an appetiser too!

Alaskan King Crab Legs, $13/100g

We also had the Alaskan King Crab Legs, this time round in Herb Butter. The Herb Butter was delicious and slightly reminiscent of the spread on garlic bread. Once again, the crab meat was fresh and sweet and we really enjoyed the meat.

The crab leg was as huge as a regular Heinz bottle!!!!

My mess :P

This was the mess that I left behind after the meal. So this is definitely not a classy sight but it is fun to just let loose and eat with your hands once in awhile. Go ahead, be messy, no one will judge. If you're the prim and proper kind who refuses to eat with your hands, then stay away. Otherwise, do go to Dancing Crab for the seafood!!!!

Summary

Cost: ~$55/person 

Food: Fresh seafood! 

Service: Polite

Ambience: Fun and casual, ideal for families or gatherings!

Dress code: Casual

Will I recommend it? Yes!

Takes Reservations

Dancing Crab

Address: The Grandstand

 200 Turf Club Road

#01-20/21

Singapore 287994

Opening Hours: 

Tues - Fri: 17:00 - 22:30

Sat - Sun: 11:30 - 15:00, 17:00 - 22:30

Contact: 6466 3306