Old Street Bak Kut Teh

OLD STREET, SINGAPORE'S BIGGEST bak kut teh restaurant chain, has just landed in Bangkok and we’re all here for it. With 23 locations across Singapore, Indonesia, Shanghai and Bangkok, Old Street has modernized the bak kut teh experience by putting all of its branches in a mall setting. For those who are not familiar with the dish, it’s simply pork ribs in a broth of herbs and various spices. Beloved in Malaysia and Singapore, it is often served with fried dough and dark soy sauce. There are three types of bak kut teh: Hokkien-style (a blend of herbs and soy sauce makes for darker and more fragrant broth), Cantonese-style (medicinal herbs help create a strongerflavored broth) and Teochew style (light and peppery broth). The latter is the style offered at Old Street as well as other shops in Singapore. But at Old Street, the soup is cooked for at least 12 hours, and continues to simmer throughout the day, a technique that packs in more flavor as the day goes on. Old Street is also praised for their dry bak kut teh (B182/small, B23/ large). The dish entails taking the meat from the soup, adding their homemade sweet, savory and spicy dark sauce, and then cooking it in a clay pot. It’s a variation that takes you straight to Flavor Town. If you’re feeling adventurous, try one of their frog dishes, particularly the one that’s stir-fried with Sichuan peppers (B400). (The dish stands on the spicier side so be warned). Meanwhile, the laksa bak kut teh (B180) and bottomless pork ribs soup (156/small, 208/large) pairs perfectly with their fluffy youtiao (Chinese fried dough). Wash it all down with soya milk (B40) and finish off with one of the desserts. We highly recommend the beancurd custard or the gui lin gao, a grass jelly treat with strong herbal notes.