Lau Phua Chay Roasted Delicacies 老半齋燒臘 @ Alexandra Village

So, I was back at the food centre the following week and I decided to order the char siew and roasted pork rice. It is self-service here whereby you queue to place your order, wait to collect your food and make payment.

When I received my order, I was appalled by the ghastly sight! Never before have I seen such a revolting plate of rice!

I could not discern the char siew from the roasted pork under that blanket of molasses-looking gravy which I later found out to be caramelized bean paste and malt sugar.

My plate of char siew and roasted pork rice comes with an hard-boiled egg and bowl of cabbage soup. Portion wise, it is rather filling for me and I wasn't expecting an egg to be included so I would say $4 for this meal is quite worth it. Furthermore, the soup comes in quite a big bowl and there is even chicken meat in it

Looking past its unappealing appearance, the gravy actually had a unique flavor that goes very well with the rice.

When I had a piece of the char siew, I finally understood why the stall command such a long queue despite the 'ugly' presentation of food. Unlike other roast stall that gives you thinly sliced and anorexic char siew, their coarsely chopped char siew has great char with fats that melt in your mouth.

The roasted pork, on the other hand, did not fare as good. There was no crackling to speak of as the skin has turned soft probably from the gravy.

Next time, I will ask for the gravy to be served separately on the side.