Swa Garden Part 1

As promised, I've taken a pic of Swa Garden's Fried Kway Teow. Just ate it yesterday with Marky and his parents. It was a struggle to take photos of the food. I didn't want his parents to think that I'm Siao, every single dish also must take a pic...So I only took the Kway Teow and the Orh Nee (芋泥). I'll make a trip down soon and post more mouth watering pics. =Þ

By the way, yesterday's dinner was great! The first dish to arrive was Kai Lan with Ti Poh (Dried Sole Fish) and although I had some reservations about the Ti poh (because I don't really eat them when they come with Bak Chor Mee), it kinda tasted not bad. And before I know it, I was munching these crispy, yet not very salty fish pieces, one after another. The Kai Lan on the other hand had a good 'wok hei' taste and wasn't very salty too.
Damage: $12

Next to come was their 招牌豆腐 (House special Tofu). Although Marky's mum didn't think the tofu was very nice, both of us simply loved this dish. And to add to the fact that Marky is definitely NOT a tofu eater, it shows how nice the tofu is. The tofu seems to be homemade and the fried skin has a tinge of fragrant garlic taste which I find appealing. The slurpalicious thick egg sauce that the tofu swims in comes with bits of crab meat, mushrooms, shreds of chicken and green peas.
Damage: $14

Third dish was deep fried crispy whole chicken which I wasn't crazy about because the breast meat is quite hard and dry, which didn't appeal to me. I still think that "手拉手"(I'll do a review on this soon!) makes a better version of crispy chicken which you will definitely not regret eating.

Damage: $14

Following the disappointing chicken, came another house special, Fried crayfish. I don't really know the exact name for this but who cares? You just gotta know that this is good stuff! The deep fried crayfish meat is stir fried in a black sauce and accompanied by fried 九层塔 (Basil that is commonly used in Taiwan). The meat is tender and not overcooked and the 九层塔 is a good mix with the crayfish.

Damage: $18

Second last dish was of course my favourite Swa Garden's Fried Kway Teow, which I have the picture to show you. (Finally) Swa Garden's version of the fried Kway Teow is superb, with the pieces of mildly salted Chye Poh and lots of kai lan, all pan fried to perfection. As you can see, their version has the kway teow slightly crispy, which is the reason why I like. However, Marky on the other hand doesn't like it so dry. But he still likes the kway teow for its unique taste. This is definitely a 'must try'.
Damage: $8 (1 bowl each for the 4 of us)

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Last but not least, how can we end such traditional meals without orh nee. A perfect ending to the meal. With its appropriately smooth yam paste, delectable pumpkin paste, surprisingly nice gingko nuts (I hate gingko nuts usually) and chopped chestnuts in clear sauce, who can resist this?
Damage: $10 (Ard 2 bowls each for the 4 of us)

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Traditional food are being phased out nowadays and it is a pity that these delicious food prepared by the older generations are faced with so much competition from the 'New-Age' food. I hope everyone can give these traditional, yet humble food places a try to bring back the nostalgia of the good old days.

What's more? There's NO service charge!

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Swa Garden Restaurant
No. 540-542 MacPherson Road
Singapore 368223
Tel: 67445009
Business hours: 12noon - 2.30pm & 6pm - 10pm
(Taken from Viv's blog. Hope you don't mind, Viv!)