Jenny'S Kitchen Filipino Food

Hadn’t been exposed to Filipino cuisine until our visit to Roselio’s Kitchen at Toa Payoh Central some time back — that meal which we had experienced there had since made an impact for us well enough that we are now a little bit more adventurous to give other establishments serving up Filipino cuisine a go. Came across Jenny’s Kitchen which seems to be a rather new addition to the Happy Hawkers coffeeshop located at Blk 433A Sengkang West Way — the coffeeshop being a bit of a walk from Fernvale LRT Station and The Seletar Mall. Jenny’s Kitchen is prominently situated beside an outlet of Maruhachi - Donburi & Curry; itself also being rather attention-grabbing considering the bright yellow signage that they have used for the stall. On first sight, the way that Jenny’s Kitchen lays out the dishes that they serve up are rather reminiscent of local stalls serving up Nasi Padang / Mixed Economy Rice. That being said, patrons do get to also opt for the various Value Meals that they also offer — these would see the patron’s choice of meat alongside rice, sunny side-up and soup on the same plate. Of course, one can also opt for individual sides to add-on to their rice dishes as well.

We wanted to go for other Filipino dishes that we have yet to try when we made our visit to Jenny’s Kitchen on a weekend lunch service — that being said, they did not carry the items that we had intended to try in the day that we had made our visit (the Value Meals are subject to the availability of the meat dishes for the day); this is how we had found ourselves going for the Bicol Express yet again this time round. We had given quite a a fair bit of explanation on the dish and its origins in our write-up of our visit to Roselio’s Kitchen previously, though it is a Filipino dish that was developed in the 1970s. For the variant of the Bicol Express that is served at Jenny’s Kitchen, they have described the dish to come with elements such as Filipino Pork in Coconut Sauce and Chilli. We did notice that the portion of food at Jenny’s Kitchen was certainly more generous than that of our experience of the same dish at Jenny’s Kitchen; there were definitely more slices of pork belly, with the pork belly also sliced larger than they were at Roselio’s Kitchen. Digging into the dish excitedly, the Bicol Express here comes sufficiently creamy — much like what we had experienced at Roselio’s Kitchen, this feels like a rendition of Thai Green Curry which comes with a heavier proportion of coconut milk and without the basil. Though the stew is a little greasy, this went incredibly well with the soft and fluffy rice — the rice being cooked for a little longer than what we are used to in Chinese cuisine, though still not being particularly mushy. The pieces of pork belly slices comes all fatty and gelatinous for some parts whilst also carrying a good bite — a good contrast of textures whilst the green chili padi provides for a crunch that further adds on to things here.

The sunny side-up comes with a molten egg yolk; there aren’t any crisp, browned edges with this one, though it also is noted that it does not reek of any undesirable notes of overused oil as well. Meanwhile, the soup was likened to be that of preserved vegetable soup; zippy, tangy and rather appetising to have on its own. We have also opted to add a Longsilog to our order — the Longsilog being a Filipino sausage that is made out of real pork sausages; considering how it features only actual pork, the Longsilog comes with a very firm bite despite looking much similar to usual sausages, hotdogs or franks. It also came with a bit of sweetness amidst the savoury notes typical of cured meat, and also comes with a subtle hint of pepper to provide even more flavour. It does seem that Filipino cuisine is starting to get a little more accessible across the island — whilst Lucky Plaza has been quite the spot where most Filipino businesses are based out of, there has definitely been an increase of F&B establishment specialising in Filipino fare that is operating out of the heartlands; stalls like Roselio’s Kitchen and Jenny’s Kitchen being examples of such. For Jenny’s Kitchen, these folks have seemingly stuck to serving up more classic forms of Filipino cuisine without western influences; these folks not only serve up pretty tasty Filipino cuisine (as evidenced through the Bicol Express that we have had), but also at decent prices — the Value Sets being priced at $6, and comes with quite a substantial portion size. The menu also comes with short descriptions; helpful for those whom are interested but still afraid of making their first step to embrace Filipino cuisine in fear of unable to accept the flavours of the food. Quite a decent starting point for one to give Filipino cuisine a try; a stall which we will patronise if we were to stay around the area!