{"id":55243,"date":"2020-07-23T07:44:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T23:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/?p=55243"},"modified":"2020-08-17T13:13:57","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T05:13:57","slug":"195-pearl-hill-cafe-chinatown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/zh\/2020\/07\/23\/195-pearl-hill-cafe-chinatown\/","title":{"rendered":"195 Pearl Hill Cafe, Chinatown: The Haunting (Good Food) of (Pearl) Hill (Terrace) House"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Located on a mound behind People\u2019s Park Food Centre, 195 Pearl Hill Cafe <\/strong>requires some legwork to climb up the stairs. Be prepared to do a little cardio if you don\u2019t drive.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It\u2019s a strange little cafe. The menu is a combination of Hainanese pork satay <\/strong>and Italian staple<\/strong>, pasta, salads, and sandwiches.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If that\u2019s not strange enough, there is no cafe. By that, I mean there isn\u2019t a physical space. Pearl Hill Terrace is designed like a school (historically it’s an old police station) and the cafe\u2019s kitchen occupies the entirety of a small pantry-like room.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Makeshift foldable tables and plastic stools are placed along the corridor. And at the corridor is the satay man (whose name is Ah Pui) with his tin box of burning charcoal. Charcoal smoke fills the air, acting as a rudimentary form of mosquito repellent, and also body deodorant for your fellow mrt passengers after you leave the place, on your way home.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"
I’m in Florence! PS: they enlarge David’s genital!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

(Elsewhere, imitations of famous Italian statues line the building whose walls are painted with neat but vibrant street art, surrounded with verdure. The space exudes an uncanny mix of mellow kampong vibe, a postcolonial fascination with European art, and a nostalgia for 80s.)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Tiong Bahru satay<\/strong> man, Ah Pui, started illegally with a wooden push cart more than 40 years ago. After playing \u201ccatching\u201d and \u201chide and seek\u201d with the authorities, he legalised his business and has now set roots here at the cafe.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"
Hainanese pork satay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

The Hainanese pork satay<\/strong> (10pc, $9) is excellent. I have eaten tenderer pork satay but there is a piece of lard on every stick, giving it juice. It\u2019s grilled gorgeously with burnt ends. Smokey. I love that it\u2019s slightly bigger than the usual satay, giving a great mouthfeel.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In the peanut sauce there is homemade pineapple pur\u00e9e; you can still see strands of fibre. Wonderful, probably the best peanut sauce I\u2019ve tasted. The sauce is so great, I wonder if they could have made it into a pasta, like satay bee hoon. Satay pasta seems very on brand for the cafe.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"
Pomodoro chicken pasta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Speaking of pasta, their pastas are fantastic too. They don\u2019t stray away from classics and don\u2019t seek to innovate but the two pastas we had were quite amazing.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Many chefs say their pasta is cooked al dente but few can achieve the standard here. The texture of linguine is perfect. It\u2019s bouncy but not hard or doughy. It\u2019s a joy chewing it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Too bad they ran out of homemade pesto<\/strong>. (A woman who arrived after us quickly went to \u201cchope\u201d 5 pesto chicken pasta so we couldn\u2019t have any. URGH.)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"
Aglio olio prawn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

The aglio olio prawn <\/strong>($13.90) doesn\u2019t have many ingredients. Just linguine tossed in garlic and olive oil with about 8 prawns. But it\u2019s easy, breezy, cooling on a hot day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The pomodoro chicken pasta <\/strong>($13.90) – it\u2019s quite obvious that the tomato sauce is homemade because it tastes different from the generic sauce. It\u2019s lighter, more appetising, tangier which I enjoy. You can taste the integrity of the tomatoes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The chicken breast in the pasta, however, doesn\u2019t take on the flavour. So the meat seems plain.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"
Bo Bo Chow Chow<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

For desserts, the bo bo chow chow<\/strong> ($5.90) is a mix of bobo chacha and jing chow (grass jelly). Think of this as Blackball or \u4e5d\u9c9c. I don\u2019t like blackball and \u4e5d\u9c9c but this one is awesome. Maybe it\u2019s because they hand make their own taro balls with Japanese sweet potato using traditional method. It tastes more \u201cnatural\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Besides the charcoal smoke drenching your clothes, the other area that can be improved is that the food took some time to arrive, although the main man fronting the cafe is friendly and good natured, the type I would vote for in an election. PAP might want to recruit him to prevent more slippage in future elections.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"
Matcha from Shizuoka, and Nanyang latte<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

While the service is slow, the food is made delicately and priced reasonably. Their drinks are on the light side, on brand for the cafe, and not a bad thing. Including an iced Nanyang latte <\/strong>($6, Indonesian Robusta coffee beans roasted with butter and sugar), and iced matcha<\/strong> ($6) from a tea farm in Shizuoka, we paid about $42 for two persons.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

195 Pearl Hill Cafe<\/a><\/strong>
195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace #01-56 Singapore 168976
tel: +65 9748 9904
11am – 8pm, closed Sun
facebook<\/a> <\/address>\r\n

Food: 7.5\/10
Price\/value: 7\/10
Decor\/ambience: 6\/10
Service: 7\/10

<\/p>\r\n

\r\n

You may be interested in…
– Baker\u2019s Bench Bakery, Outram: Sourdough-based Breads and Pastries<\/a>
– Bao Makers, Jiak Chuan Road: Cafe Carving their Own Space with Local Buns and International Flavours<\/a>
– Apollo Coffee Bar, Serangoon Gardens: Shockingly Expensive at This Super Popular Cafe<\/a>
–Walking on Sunshine, Orchard Central: Expensive but Terrific Garden Cafe<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\r\n

Written by Dr. A. Nathanael Ho.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

195 Pearl Hill Cafe serves Italian pasta and Hainanese pork satay. 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