One of my favourite is the cantonese restaurant call Restoran Oversea, which serves the best char siew and roast pork I've ever eaten! Every now and then, I would crave for these two items and tried looking around Singapore for something similar but have been disappointed thus far.So when hubby told me that the restaurant has opened a branch here, I was thrilled. To celebrate this year's Valentine's Day, hubby decided to give me a treat there, as I was always talking about going to KL for the char siew and roast pork.
He called the restaurant in advance to reserve a table, as well as one plate each of the char siew and roast pork. That turned out to be a good move, as we later overheard a waitress telling diners at a nearby table that the char siew was sold out - and that was about 7pm and they came only shortly after us.
Besides the famed char siew and roast pork, we ordered beancurd with petola, pan-fried large crystal prawn in "special soya sauce" and Oversea special fried rice.
It's sweeter than most char siew you'll find in Singapore and is nicely caramelised and sticky, but definitely not as sweet and sticky as what you get from the original KL restaurant. The pork used here has little fat, thus making it tougher compared to the KL char siew. Though I consider myself quite health-conscious, I must say I much prefer the KL version - and the same goes for the roast pork. The fat adds fragrance and gives it a melt-in-the-touch texture.
Roast pork
Its skin is so crispy your fellow diner can likely hear the crackling in your mouth. Even then, I thought the ones in KL are even crispier (it could be that I'm biased). But my main complain is that there's not even a hint of fat in this roast pork and the meat was on the dry side, so it was actually quite tough.
Beancurd with petola
On the menu, the options for cooking the large crystal prawns are: superior soya sauce, salt and pepper, and thai style. We opted for pan-fried prawn in superior soya sauce or known as '干煎虾碌' in Chinese. That's when the waitress recommended us the "special soya sauce" and told us the next time we order, we should request for it (supposedly different from the 'superior soya sauce' - but why don't they list that instead??). And this is one of the dishes I liked best. The chef did a good job in ensuring that the prawns were cooked just right so that it wasn't too dry, and the "special soya sauce" makes the prawns really tantalising; the shell was so crispy that I ate it all up.
The fried rice was really aromatic but we found it a bit too oily. As we chewed on the fried rice, there was something crispy in it but we weren't sure what it was. At first I thought it might be lard, but it didn't quite taste like so. So I decided to give it a close examination and found some crispy fried rice - something like 锅巴 (crispy rice cracker). It was certainly a great idea to put in the crispy fried rice to give that added dimension.
The Verdict
While it was a satisfactory meal, I wish the char siew and roast pork had retained it's KL taste and texture. Even though Singaporeans are generally quite a health-conscious lot, I think we are not averse to having some fatty food once in a while, if that is what makes the difference between mediocre and extraordinary fare.
So when hubby asked me if my craving has been justly satisfied, I told him I really wish to visit KL again.
Restoran Oversea
100 Beach Road
#01-27-37
Shaw Leisure Gallery
Singapore 189702
Tel: 6294 2638
