Saturday, September 17, 2011

Hong Guo (红锅) @ Nex Mall

I was hungry and desperately looking for a place to settle my dinner at Nex mall. Most of the eatery in Nex mall seem crowded and worst, some with queue. We happened to pass by this Chinese restaurant in oriental style with red and white decorations. It appeared to be less crowded and a female waitress approached us politely to see if we want to dine in Hong Guo (红锅). So, we decided to try out.

I have not heard of this restaurant and no idea what their specialty was. Then I saw the white wall and menu written with a story of "Cross bridge vermicelli" (过桥米线 ).  The legend of this noodle was originated from Yunnan.

This "Cross bridge vermicelli" comes with an old history about a devoted wife preparing daily meal for her husband, a scholar who always forget his meal when he study hard. One day she accidentally discovered that the top layer of oil from the chicken soup could prolong the soup warmness. She soon adopted this method and improvises a combo-style meal with other ingredients such as vermicelli, vegetables and meat added into the soup. It then becomes very popular in Yunnan and others began to name the dish as “Cross bridge vermicelli” because of her devotion crossing the bridge daily to deliver this heart warming dish for her husband.  

I decided to order their specialty – Zhuang Yuan Mi Xian (状元过桥米线) and share with my kids. The dish is served in a tray contains 15 different kinds of ingredients dished in a sauce plate and with a bowl of hot soup and vermicelli served seperately. The waitress will provide assistant to pour in the ingredients starting from egg and raw and lastly, vermicelli. You can also DIY yourself if you do not requires any assistant. To my surprise, the soup was good and appetizing. 


There's something I need to highlight. You must add pepper in the soup, it really makes a great difference in taste. I choose to opt out pepper in the soup at my 2nd time dining because my kids complaint about the spicy taste when we 1st tried out in the restaurant. Well, the taste of the soup turned out to be alittle bland which is not as tasty as I have had before.


Cross Bridge Vermicelli

Vermicelli waiting to swim in the soup!
  
Ingredients all queue up for a good shower with the soup....yee pee!


All ingredients dive into the great soupy ocean waiting for me to enjoy... the soup was indeed tasty.

As for my hubby, he choose to try the spicy beef noodles which is quite satisfying. We also order two side dishes which are “Sichuan Saliver chicken” (口水鸡) and the crispy silver fish (盐银针鱼) . The Sichuan Saliver Chicken is a cold dish. The chicken is tender and coated with sichuan style chilli paste and bean sauce. The latter is the deep fried silver fish wrapped up with a layer of golden flour coating. It is also a spicy dish but I requested them not to sprinkler chilli power on it (For the sake of my kids). Both side dishes are indeed delicious and my kids enjoy the silver fish very much!


If you are a 1st timer tasting the Cross Bridge Vermicelli, you might find it quite cute and interesting in term of the food presentation. The food that Hong Guo's served is delicious and not too expensive, say about $8.00+ for noodles and $6.00-$7.00+ for one side dish. In overall, the sevice is good, fast and the staff is responsive and polite. It is worth giving a try! 



Yummy Beef Nooldes

Non Spicy Crispy Silver Fish


Address: 23 Serangoon Central #B1-75 S(556083)
Operating Hours: 11am - 9.30pm


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