Keng Eng Kee (KEK) Seafood 2023
124 Bukit Merah Lane 1
#01-136 Alexandra Village
1A Tampines Street 92
#01-K2 SAFRA Tampines
http://www.kek.com.sg/
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| Signature Moonlight Hor Fun (SGD $7.80) |
Delicious & Reliable Zi Char
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 9
Service: 8
Value for Money: 9
Spent about SGD $41 per person.
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Founded in the 1970s by the late Madam Low Peck Yah and husband Koh Yok Jong, Keng Eng Kee Seafood is a renowned Chinese Zi Char, offering delicious dishes at wallet-friendly prices in a casual setting. Fondly abbreviated to "KEK', Keng Eng Kee Seafood is now run by her grandchildren and 3rd generation owners - oldest brother Paul Liew oversees business development, middle brother Wayne Liew is the executive chef, and youngest sister Liew Jia Min heads the operations. Together, they have digitalised this heritage brand, and brought their flavours to the world stage by representing Singapore at various international tourism events and culinary collaborations, in cities such as San Sebastian, Copenhagen, Busan, Manila, and New York City.
Ambience at Keng Eng Kee Seafood is casual and functional. The simple furnishings and warm lights are moderately acceptable, but the place is usually fully booked and bustling. Many are multi-generational repeat customers, having dined here regularly across the last 50 plus years. The appeal then, is not so much the ambience itself, but the comfortable familiarity, nostalgia, and soul of the place.
Service at Keng Eng Kee Seafood is friendly and efficient. Staff recognise regulars, and accord decent respect to other diners, as well as the elderly. They're efficient at carrying out requests, and able to offer decent recommendations. As the place is usually busy, cleaning and turnover is performed quickly, so as to accommodate the next set of diners. Payment is performed over the counter, the bill isn't brought to the table.
Food at Keng Eng Kee Seafood is traditional Chinese Zi Char, with a good range of Chef's specialities and house creations. Ingredients are fresh and of good quality, and their style highlights simplicity, with good wok hei / breath of the wok. Little wonder people return time and again for their delicious dishes. Portions are sized for communal group dining. Prices are slightly cheaper than elsewhere and wallet-friendly, budget about SGD $41 per person.
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| Keng Eng Kee Seafood Exterior |
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| Keng Eng Kee Seafood Interior |
A straightforward Chinese Tea (SGD $1) to accompany a meal. Has warm earthy flavour, helps relieve the palate.
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| Tea (SGD $1) |
The Chrysanthemum Tea (SGD $2 per person) is light, with a floral sweet flavour. Quite nice, best served warm. I like that they avoid adding sugar to sweeten it, so you get the natural taste (which is quite mild).
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| Chrysanthemum Tea (SGD $2 per person) |
A simple bowl of White Rice (SGD $0.80) to accompany most dishes. Has a fluffy sticky soft texture, with a faint grainy sweet flavour. Worth ordering!
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| White Rice (SGD $0.80) |
Ordered the Tasting Platter (SGD $34.80) to sample a trio of the house signature deep-fried items. Of the trio, the Dough Fritter With Seafood Paste was the most average. That's not to say it was bad; the crisp you tiao / dough fritter was properly crunchy, and it holds the bouncy soft seafood paste well, carrying nice sweet savoury salty flavour. But it was unspectacular compared to the other items. The handmade Prawn Roll or Hae Chor was excellent, a delicious juicy ball of secret house spices (including 5-spice powder), tender minced pork, bouncy deshelled shrimp, crunchy water chestnut, and soft carrots, wrapped in a thin tofu beancurd skin and deep-fried till crispy. This was smoky meaty salty savoury sweet nutty in flavour, absolutely yummy.
The Golden Pearl Roll is a house signature, with tofu beancurd skin hand stuffed with crumbly salted egg yolk, tender ham, soft shiitake mushrooms, and bouncy deshelled shrimp. Shaped like a pocket, this carries light meaty earthy salty sweet savoury flavour. Overall, the trio represent a good appetizer to open the palate. Highly recommended!
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| Tasting Platter (SGD $34.80) |
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| Prawn Roll |
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| Golden Pearl Roll |
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| Dough Fritter With Seafood Paste |
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| Tasting Platter |
The Stir-Fried Spinach (SGD $10.80) features fresh crunchy crisp spinach leaves, simply stir-fried quickly to release its natural taste. Has a lovely vegetal sweet flavour, yum. Good!
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| Stir-Fried Spinach (SGD $10.80) |
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| Stir-Fried Spinach |
The Spinach With Eggs Of 3 Kinds (SGD $12.80) features fresh crunchy crisp spinach leaves, in a thick gloopy gravy of whisked eggs, salted eggs, and century eggs. The trio of eggs lend a beautiful eggy salty sweet savoury flavour to the natural vegetal sweet notes of the spinach leaves. Lovely when paired with white rice. Good!
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| Spinach With Eggs Of 3 Kinds (SGD $12.80) |
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| Spinach With Eggs Of 3 Kinds |
The Stir-Fried Milk Cabbage (SGD $10.80) features fresh crisp nai bai / milk cabbage, simply stir-fried with ginger. Has a pleasant vegetal sweet spice flavour, feels so wholesome. Good!
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| Stir-Fried Milk Cabbage (SGD $10.80) |
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| Stir-Fried Milk Cabbage |
The Cuttlefish With Water Spinach (SGD $11.80) has a base of crunchy kang kong / water spinach leaves with vegetal sweet flavour, but the portion is far too small to consider this a vegetable dish. Instead, the generous slices of thick cut cuttlefish, crunchy and slippery with neutral notes, is the star here. Completed with a thick shrimp paste and sweet sauce gravy studded with crushed peanuts, lending bold shrimpy savoury sweet nutty flavour. Worth ordering!
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| Cuttlefish With Water Spinach (SGD $11.80) |
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| Cuttlefish With Water Spinach |
The Coffee Pork Ribs (SGD $15.80) here is among the better renditions around. The pork ribs, boneless and well-marinated with a thick coffee reduction glaze, are tender and juicy with a light chew to texture, carrying robust smoky earthy meaty savoury sweet salty flavour. Highly recommended!
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| Coffee Pork Ribs (SGD $15.80) |
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| Coffee Pork Ribs |
Staff recommended the Market Fresh Roast Chicken (SGD $14.80 Half), so we ordered a half chicken. Sourced fresh, the chicken was perfectly roasted, with a crisp crunchy skin that bursts with salty savoury flavour. Beneath, the bouncy tender chicken meat comes easily off the bone, carrying lovely meaty sweet savoury flavour. Paired with a light chicken salt on the side for added depth of salty savoury notes. So good, we wished for more. Highly recommended!
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| Market Fresh Roast Chicken (SGD $14.80 Half) |
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| Market Fresh Roast Chicken |
Easy to eat, the Prawn Egg Omelette (SGD $8.80) has juicy but small deshelled prawns in a generous portion, studded within the fluffy moist egg omelette. Has lovely eggy salty sweet savoury flavour, delicious. Best paired with white rice. Good!
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| Prawn Egg Omelette (SGD $8.80) |
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| Prawn Egg Omelette |
Loved the Salted Egg Squid (SGD $16.80), which has small bouncy squid rings coated in a crispy salted egg yolk batter. With a light crunch when bit, followed by pleasant salty spice savoury flavour next, this was rather addictive. We kept reaching for more. Highly recommended!
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| Salted Egg Squid (SGD $16.80) |
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| Salted Egg Squid |
We got the Butter Cereal Prawns (SGD $24.80) deshelled as an option. Served with a generous coating of crispy crunchy cereal oats, each large bouncy juicy prawn was a delight. The butter helps form a crust around each delicious morsel, and you get the distinct fresh sweet savoury flavour of the prawns beneath the grainy savoury salty spice coating of the butter cereal oat crust. Good!
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| Butter Cereal Prawns (SGD $24.80) |
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| Butter Cereal Prawns |
The Deep-Fried Sea Bass Fish With KEK Special Sauce (SGD $44) is well executed. The large sea bass fish is fresh, with the skin being crispy, and the fish meat within flaky and moist and tender. The thick gloopy house special gravy has beautiful starchy savoury spicy sweet flavour, complementing the savoury salty sweet notes of the fish. Lovely aromatics, though on taste, this didn't shout outstanding. Worth ordering!
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| Deep-Fried Sea Bass Fish With KEK Special Sauce (SGD $44) |
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| Deep-Fried Sea Bass Fish With KEK Special Sauce |
Their house Signature Chili Crab (SGD $8.80 for 100-grams, $79.20 for 900-grams) features a large, meaty fresh Sri Lankan crab, tossed in a thick gloopy gravy of egg and chili. Infused with spicy savoury sweet eggy flavour, you still get the natural sweet savoury flavours of the crab within. Of note is their gravy is a tad more sweet than other versions elsewhere, which somewhat tames the tingling kick of the spices. Paired with Deep-Fried Mantou Bun (SGD $7.20), crisp spongy and bready savoury in flavour, picking up the thick gravy well. Good!
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| Signature Chili Crab (SGD $8.80 for 100-grams, $79.20 for 900-grams) |
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| Signature Chili Crab |
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| Deep-Fried Mantou Bun (SGD $7.20) |
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| Deep-Fried Mantou Bun |
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| Signature Chili Crab |
Family loved the Claypot Crab With Vermicelli Soup (SGD $8.80 for 100-grams, $88 for 1-kilogram), easily our favourite dish. The star is the rich creamy soup / broth, infused with sweet savoury herbal flavour from the crab, tempered by the silky smooth thick rice vermicelli noodles with mild grainy sweet flavour, and the crisp napa cabbage with vegetal sweet notes. The large meaty fresh Sri Lankan crab holds excellent sweet savoury flavour, and the shell is already pre-cracked to make it easy to peel. Will return just to eat this again next time. Highly recommended!
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| Claypot Crab With Vermicelli Soup (SGD $8.80 for 100-grams, $88 for 1-kilogram) |
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| Claypot Crab With Vermicelli Soup |
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| Claypot Crab With Vermicelli Soup |
The Choy Hiang Tofu Beancurd (SGD $13.80) is lovely. The base is a large spongy soft square of braised tofu beancurd with grainy sweet savoury flavour. It's topped with a generous portion of braised minced pork with meaty salty savoury flavour, plated over a crisp lettuce leaf with vegetal sweet flavour. A nice comforting dish that feels so homely. Worth ordering!
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| Choy Hiang Tofu Beancurd (SGD $13.80) |
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| Choy Hiang Tofu Beancurd |
The Signature Moonlight Hor Fun (SGD $7.80) is among the iconic dishes that Keng Eng Kee Seafood is known for. This Chinese Zi Char dishes packs loads of wok hei / breath of the wok, infusing the mix of wide flat rice noodles, egg, mackerel fish slices, deshelled prawns, spring onions, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, and pork lard, with beautiful smoky aroma. The combination of ingredients have a smooth slippery juicy crunchy bouncy tender texture, and carry robust smoky savoury salty sweet flavour. Highly recommended!
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| Signature Moonlight Hor Fun (SGD $7.80) |
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| Signature Moonlight Hor Fun |
Their rendition of Yam Taro Paste With Gingko (SGD $4.80) or Orh Nee has a creamy thick yam / taro paste, lightened with thin coconut cream, and studded with firm gingko nuts. Has a lovely enticing earthy sweet nutty floral flavour. A decent dessert to complete a meal, though not as excellent as a proper Chinese Teochew rendition elsewhere. Worth ordering!
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| Yam Taro Paste With Gingko (SGD $4.80) |
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| Yam Taro Paste With Gingko |
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