Chef Andy’s Mee Pok with Prawn in Truffle Sauce Got to learn about Hooked The Seafood Bay whilst going around the Redhill neighbourhood one day. Located within the Chang Cheng Mee Wah coffee shop at Blk 75D Redhill Road, Hooked The Seafood Bay is one of the more recent openings in the coffeeshop, being stall that is serving up zichar offerings here. Having looked at the marketing collaterals surrounding the stall, Hooked The Seafood Bay seems to be a brand that is affiliated with Ming Kitchen 名厨 which in turn is also a brand under the Chang Cheng Mee Wah group. Hooked The Seafood Bay is a concept in collaboration between the Ming Kitchen 名厨 and Ah Hua Kelong; their marketing taglines mentioning “Farm to Zichar” for some of their dishes that they serve up. The facade of their stall at Redhill is pretty eye-catching; the bright lighting of its signages as well as the slightly dramatic illustrations of their fare on their signboard does help to draw some attention to the stall’s existence within the coffeeshop. The menu at Hooked The Seafood Bay does not really differ much from other zichar establishments typically found in coffeeshops / food courts and hawker centres all around the island from how the items are being categorised; this includes sections that are dedicated to Crab, Seafood Treasure, Steamboat, Beancurd / Omelette, Oceanic Fresh Catch, Poultry-Pork & Venison, Poultry-Chicken, Garden Greens, Fried Rice and Asian Noodles — that being said, the variety of dishes that they have to offer do seem to differ slightly from what one would expect out of such stalls (more about this later).
We were skimming through the menu and we managed to chance upon the Chef Andy’s Mee Pok with Prawn in Truffle Sauce that is being listed in the Asian Noodles section of the menu. This item is also marked as a recommended / signature dish at Hooked The Seafood Bay, and the item is also being listed as one of the “Top 10 Hooked’s Specials” as well. Not being a dish that one would typically find at zichar-style establishments, this can be easily said as a rather straightforward, spruced-up dish considering how there is the use of truffle here. Whilst there is no description of how the item would have turned out, the dish didn’t turn out to be too different from its namesake either — a fairly simple dish comprising of Mee Pok that is tossed with truffle paste, three (3) prawns, alfalfa sprouts, cherry tomatoes and greens. Giving the noodles a good toss, the Mee Pok turns out to be pretty springy — cooked just about right to also retain some bite and is actually done slightly better than how most minced meat noodle / fishball noodle stalls execute it even. Served dry, the noodles do seem to be strained off all the excess liquid that is cooked with before being tossed with truffle paste — there are no other distracting notes that came within the noodles except from the hint of truffle aroma that perfumes the tastebuds gradually as one goes through the entire plate. We aren’t typically a fan of the alfalfa sprouts in our dishes, but these didn’t really have much of an effect on the Chef Andy’s Mee Pok with Prawn in Truffle Sauce anyway. For the prawns, those were especially fresh — exceeding our usual expectations for a zichar-style establishment though we were also expecting a little more considering their “Farm to Zichar” approach; these carried a good bite and a natural hint of sweetness of crustaceans which is quite unmatched to most establishments of its type.
Meanwhile, we had also given another dish that is listed under their “Top 10 Hooked’s Specials” a go as well; the Homemade Kale Tofu with Fresh Shimeiji Mushroom & Miso Sauce under the Beancurd / Omelette section of the menu. This does seem to be their very own take of the typical seaweed tofu that some may be able to find at other zichar establishments elsewhere. The miso sauce does come with a light and savoury note, though we couldn’t really get that hint of earthiness that one would typically get out of the Japanese-style miso soup; this felt like a lightly savoury and slightly thickened stock that was meant to give a soft touch of flavour to the tofu instead. The tofu was largely smooth though came with some air pockets within; also came with a largely eggy note on its own as well. The kale doesn’t really bring much to the table; itself understandably lacking that sane umami notes that seaweed inherently carries, though we also that the dish also came with specks of kale rather than an another layer of it on the top over the tofu. Prices at Hooked The Seafood Bay can be described as slightly higher than that of the average zichar stall in a typical coffeeshop, hawker centre and food court — that being said, it is worth noting that these folks not only offer “Farm to Zichar” freshness from their seafood sourced directly from the Kelong, but they do also inject a bit of a creative touch to the dishes that they have to offer. Still, some dishes such as the Chef Andy’s Mee Pok with Prawn in Truffle Sauce does seem to be rather value-for-money; priced at $6.80, the fact that it does come with three )3) pieces of prawns this fresh and being tossed in truffle paste does give the item a good bang for the buck for those with smaller appetites.
