Keng Eng Kee, is also known as KEK, they first started out as a hawker stall along Old Havelock Road in the 1970s. Their forefathers, Low Peck Yah and Kok Yok Jong came to Singapore from Hainan Island, China in the 1950s. With the skills in authentic Hainanese cooking, they started out by selling Hainanese Chicken Rice in a small coffee shop located at Old Havelock Road. They then expanded their business after it prospered to include a Zi Char hawker stall. Koh Liang Hong, their elder daughter was tasked to manage that stall. She eventually fell in love with Liew Choy, their Head Chef and they got married. Liew Choy acquired the culinary skills of the old couple and mastered his own unique culinary style much later. And, they moved to Alexandra Village.
Paul Liew, their elder son, is in-charge of the operations. Chef Wayne Liew, their younger son, started cooking in the kitchen at the tender age of 19 and took over as Head Chef at 26 years old. Geraldine Liew, their daughter, is managing the day-to-day running of the restaurant. Their mother is in-charge of the financial management and their father, the former Head Chef is still taking charge of the overall operations.
The KEK in Pandan Gardens is started and managed by the third generation after working on the menu for almost 2 years. The kitchen is helmed by Chef Wayne and supported by Paul and Geraldine, manning the front-of-house services.
The menu still includes those popular dishes like Chili Crabs, Black Pepper Crabs and Moonlight Horfun with the newly created Wok Hei Burgers, the first of its kind, it includes choices like Coffee Pork Burger, Salted Egg Chicken Burger, Salted Egg Pork Burger, Salted Egg Sotong Burger, Marmite Chicken Burger, "Pai Gu Wang" Pork Burger and Sambal Beef Burger. They also serve Wok-fried Spaghetti that has the unique wok hei, the choices are Chilli Softshell Crab Spaghetti, Salted Egg Yolk Spaghetti, Prawn Paste Chicken Spaghetti, Lala Spaghetti, Sambal Squid Spaghetti and Black Pepper Beef Spaghetti. There are also other newly created dishes on their menu.
The menu still includes those popular dishes like Chili Crabs, Black Pepper Crabs and Moonlight Horfun with the newly created Wok Hei Burgers, the first of its kind, it includes choices like Coffee Pork Burger, Salted Egg Chicken Burger, Salted Egg Pork Burger, Salted Egg Sotong Burger, Marmite Chicken Burger, "Pai Gu Wang" Pork Burger and Sambal Beef Burger. They also serve Wok-fried Spaghetti that has the unique wok hei, the choices are Chilli Softshell Crab Spaghetti, Salted Egg Yolk Spaghetti, Prawn Paste Chicken Spaghetti, Lala Spaghetti, Sambal Squid Spaghetti and Black Pepper Beef Spaghetti. There are also other newly created dishes on their menu.
When my dining companion asked, "What are we having there?" which I replied, "Spaghetti and Burger." He looked at me with disbelief followed with a loud "Huh?".
Chilli Soft Shell Crab Spaghetti ($12.00). The spaghetti was wok-fried to infuse it with a rather slight wok flavor together with chili crab sauce, served together with fried soft shell crab. This is one of the best East-meets-West dishes that I ever came across as it was well-executed.
Salted Egg Chicken Burger set ($9.50) including a choice of drink. The fried chicken was tossed in salted egg yolk sauce with curry leaves and bits of chili. This has to be the best Salted Egg Chicken Burger that I ever had, it is much better than those served by Western food joints.
They have been listed in the guidebook by Michelin consecutively for 2 years.
KEK SEAFOOD PANDAN GARDENS
200 Pandan Gardens #01-12 SINGAPORE 609336
Operating Hours: 11.30 am to 2.30 pm / 5.00 pm to 10.00 pm (Daily)
No comments:
Post a Comment