中华肉夹馍 (Chinatown)

Was going around Chinatown Complex Food Centre one day and found yet another unfamiliar stall that seemed to have moved into the food centre in recent times. Located in the red zone of the food centre, it is easy to miss 中华肉夹馍 Zhong Hua Rougamo (PS: do note that the establishment does not bear an English name and the name in English is one which is a direct translation using the Pinyin pronunciation of the characters, as well as the generic term “Rougamo” used to describe such Chinese-style “hamburgers”) considering how it is stuck at one of the buzziest areas of Chinatown Complex Food Centre — that being said, it is located in the vicinity of Siam Basil that is one of the only few Thai stalls within the food centre, as well as Hakka Fun HamCha & Yong Tou Fu 客家咸茶与酿豆腐 for those whom are familiar with the said food centre. The stall bears a signage with a black background; one can also find multiple signages illustrating a Rougamo within the vicinity of the stall as well. As the namesake of the stall already suggest, much of Zhong Hua Rougamo’s core focus would be on their Rougamo offerings which they name the “Crispylicious Burger” — the establishment claims that their Crispylicious Burger are made fresh on the spot, and offers patrons wide a variety of different types of meats to go along with the Crispylicious Burger. For those looking for other offerings apart from Crispylicious Burger, Zhong Hua Rougamo also does offer two Hor Fan dishes, as well as sides such as a Thick Mushroom Soup and Fries to share across the table.

With meat options for their Crispylicious Burger ranging from chicken, pork, beef, fish and mixed vegetables (think salad greens) to choose from, we found ourselves settling for the pork variant. Most establishments serving up Rougamo tend to pre-make their crispy breads to speed up the process of serving — this is especially so considering how Rougamo tend to typically be a quick grab-and-go affair; it was certainly interesting to see what Zhong Hua Rougamo deems to be their Crispylicious Burger that is “made on the spot”. Turns out, the bread for the “Crispylicious Burger” are actually baked in small batches in the stall itself — they have claimed that they usually run out of the crispy bread and have to get new batches ready as soon as a batch has finished baking and is ready to be served, any excess crispy bread that they have prepared that remains yet to be sold after it is baked is then kept warm in a kettle charcoal grill that one can find in front of the stall. It is interesting to note that the pork version of the Crispylicious Burger at Zhong Hua Rougamo comes with braised pork; Zhong Hua Rougamo’s menu does not describe the various elements that goes into the creation of each dish, but other components that make up the composition included salad greens and Thai sweet chilli sauce.

Taking a bite into the Crispylicious Burger, we really were quite fond of the crispy bread itself; this was flaky and light much like how a good croissant would be — it was also piping hot considering how our order was the first one of the entire batch of freshly-baked bread that they had just baked for the lunch crowd. Unlike some Rougamo that we have come across, this felt really fresh and free from grease. The shredded cabbage do provide a good and refreshing crunch alongside the sufficiently moist and soft braised pork; the latter carrying a savoury note whilst being complimented with the slightly sweetness of the Thai sweet chili sauce. The only problem here seems to be how wet the Crispylicious Burger was; likely so from the combination of braised pork and the Thai sweet chili sauce. While the crispy bread still holds up well to the wet elements that came in between and still maintain crispness, we found the Crispylicious Burger to be rather difficult to eat by hand since the sauce tends to drip from the openings of the Rougamo; just make sure one has some tissues at hand just in case. The fries were also pretty decent; criss-cut fries which are only fried upon order and comes with a seasoning of salt and a bit of chili flakes for colour and for flavour. These were crisp and sufficiently salted; comes with Thai sweet chili sauce and mayonnaise to go along as well. It is difficult not to associate Rougamo from food kiosks / hawker centres to be a bit of a greasy affairs and sometimes with dry and over-baked bread; Zhong Hua Rougamo does attempt to change that impression of the dish with their freshly made on the spot Crispylicious Burger offerings, providing folks with a rendition of the Rougamo that is more tuned to local tastebuds as it seems. We did find it a little regretful that they do not offer a rendition featuring cumin-spiced meats, though their braised meats are quite decent. Their Crispylicious Burger offerings are priced at $4.80 irregardless of the type of filling opted for; a decent price that makes it a reasonably-priced choice to consider when dining at Chinatown Complex Food Centre.