Our Review On The Legendary Bak Kut Teh (South Bridge Road Outlet)
We visited the Legendary Bak Kut Teh located inside Kingly Building, South Bridge Road on a Sunday Afternoon after our Aerial Yoga Stretch Lesson over at Dream Dance And Yoga Studio.
We were there around 2:30pm and the place was still pretty packed with only a few tables of 6 seaters left and none of the 2 seaters left. We were told that we might have to share the table with other new customers. We decided to take the only table of 2 seaters outside. Only qualms where we were sitting beside a family of 6 who were having a nice chat (quite audible) and many people walking alongside.
Ambiance
The Legendary Bak Kut Teh seemed to be a very popular eating place and we could see many photos on the walls of local and overseas celebrities who had eaten here. Decor was very traditional and simple. Overall ambiance was cozy but conversations could easily be heard by your neighbours.
So, a little history lesson that we read about Legendary Bak Kut Teh was that the original stall was located at Rangoon Road and this South Bridge Road was the second outlet. It’s a family business and currently the second and third generation are manning and growing.
Menu And What We Ordered
Over here at Legendary Bak Kut Teh, there’s no QR Code Ordering and we were presented with a well-maintained Menu, an Order Chic and Pencil. Similar Menu can be found on their website. Categories include Main Dish (Bak Kut Teh Selections), Signature Side Dish (e.g., Braised Pig’s Trotter, Ngoh Hiang), Assorted Pig Organs (Soup & Intestines), Fresh & Stir-Fried Vegetables, Daily Special (e.g., Steamed Fish), Add-Ons like Rice, Rice Noodles, You-Tiao and Beverages.
We went with their A4 Legendary Bak Kut Teh ($12.50), R2 You-Tiao ($2.50), R3 Rice Noodles ($2.50), M7 Braised Pig’s Big Intestine ($10), C2 Lettuce with Oyster Sauce ($7.5), D3 Fresh Lime ($3.0) and D6 Water Chestnut ($3.0). Initially, we thought we had to pay for our orders inside first but one of their staffs saw that we were ready and took in our orders.
Taste
Utensils in a big cup of hot water, two small dishes of dark sauce with chilli and wet wipes were served first. We were nicely informed to be careful of the hot water and that they were for the utensils. This was quite a traditional way of using hot water to sterilize the eating utensils.
The dark soy sauce with chilli had a rich, savoury taste and not too spicy and it went well to enhance the taste of the pork ribs and the broth of the rice noodles. It was much easier to dip the pork ribs into it than to scoop with the soup spoon and mix with the broth.
We returned the wet wipes to the cashier counter to save some cents off the final bill.
Our Water Chestnut and Fresh Lime Cold Drinks were served next. These drinks were not home-made but still tasted authentic enough.
After a short wait, the majority of the dishes like the You-Tiao, Lettuce with Oyster Sauce, Legendary Bak Kut Teh and Rice Noodles were served.
Serving size of the Soup was one-person’s and very thick and peppery. It came with 2 Long Pork Ribs and a big garlic. Three-quarter of the soup was good until the last quarter which tasted a bit bland. At that point, we were wondering if there were any free soup top-ups, we didn’t ask and we did not see any from other tables.
We enjoyed the Long Pork Ribs. The meat could be easily be torn off with the chopstick or be held by the end of rib and we just torn the meat off with our mouth. Pork meat texture was smooth, tender and tasted fresh. No meat got stuck between our teeth. Dipping the meat into the dark sauce added some bit of savoury taste.
We liked how they presented this Lettuce with Oyster Sauce dish. It looked neat with the lettuce nicely stacked with a good serving of Oyster Sauce and Fried Shallots. Shallots were crispy and Oyster sauce was not overwhelmingly salty. Lettuce was in short slices and it was easily picked up with the chopsticks. Lettuce was also crunchy.
You-Tiao was presented in a small bowl and cut in equal sizes. They were not oily but we had wished they were at least a bit crunchy on the outside. It was fluffy on the inside.
The size of the Rice Noodle was just nice for one person. Soup tasted just like the Bak Kut Teh but none of the peppers. Rice Noodle Strands were a bit bland so we had to eat it with the dishes and with the dark sauces.
The Braised Pig’s Big Intestine was served like 5 minutes after the majority of the dishes was served. It came with a small dish of chilli.
We liked the chewy texture and light savory taste of the big intestine pieces. The insides were well washed. Chilli went well with it but a bit spicier would have been better. Sauce was not salty and went well when mixed with the Rice Noodles.
Payment
After the meal, we went in to the cashier counter to settle the bill. We mentioned our Table Number, and returned the unused Wet Wipes. After that we were presented with the bill which included the 10% Service Charge and 8% GST. Prices quoted above were before these additional charges.
How To Get To The Legendary Bak Kut Teh
Address:
- 46 South Bridge Rd, Singapore 058679 (Google Maps) / +65 6535 9969
Other Outlets:
- 154 Rangoon Rd, Singapore 218431 (Google Maps)
Opening Hours:
- Daily from 11am to 10pm
Sites: