One of my readers recommended me to try Ah Seng Bak Kut Teh after I did a comprehensive review of popular BKTs in SG and JB.
For those who missed out on my earlier posts, have a read if you’re interested:
Song Fa Bak Kut Teh
Founder Bak Kut Teh
Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh
Ya Hua Bak Kut Teh (best peppery broth in SG)
Soon Soon Heng Bak Kut Teh (Top winner from JB)
Hong Ji Claypot Herbal Bak Kut Teh (almost on par with Soon Soon Heng)
I always prefer brown herbal BKTs to clear peppery ones and that was why I crowned Soon Soon Heng BKT as my champion. 🙂
Anyway, hubby and I came by Ah Seng Bak Kut Teh in Hougang Central. They also have a second outlet in Bugis (492 North Bridge Road).
Pretty much the same fare as you would see in most BKT shops including braised dishes like preserved vegetables with pork belly, pig trotters and intestines. They also serve bak chor mee if you like a little variety.
Our usual meal would include the signature pork rib soup, braised pig trotter, braised peanuts, salted vegetable and you tiao.
The Signature Pork Ribs Soup ($6) came with a good portion of meaty ribs that were tender but still with a nice bite. The soup wasn’t the most robust I had but it was well balanced with white peppercorns and garlic so it wasn’t the overpowering type.
I also liked that the service staff would take the initiative to go around refilling the soup for customers without us requesting so. You can have as many rounds of refills as you like.
The Braised Pig Trotter ($6) wasn’t super tender and that would be good if you like your trotters to be somewhat chewy and springy. Even though there was a high ratio of fats to meat, I didn’t feel sickly from eating those fats as they melted away in my mouth. 肥而不腻 🙂 The braising sauce was flavoursome and tasty too. I enjoyed dunking my you tiao into this instead of the peppery BKT broth.
Braised Peanuts ($2) were decent but a tad on the salty side.
Preserved Vegetable ($2) was crunchy and not overly salty.
The You Tiao ($2) was soft and bready and normally I don’t like such bready ones but I didn’t mind these because they were fresh tasting with no rancid oil smell. And like I mentioned earlier, they tasted great when dipped into the braising sauce of the pig trotter.
White rice was $0.60 per bowl. Prices mentioned included GST. There was no service charge.
Overall, this was a decent BKT place. I wasn’t wowed by the food but if I’m in the vicinity and I’m craving for BKT, I’m happy to come back again. Next time, I will give their bak chor mee a try. Someone on the next table ordered it and I thought it looked quite good.
Ah Seng Bak Kut Teh
806 Hougang Central
#01-158
Singapore 530806
Opening hours: 9.00am to 10.00pm daily