Whenever you ask around about where the best carrot cake is, invariably someone will mention Chey Sua. In fact, by the way people talk about it in our forum, this stall’s reputation is almost legendary.
My taste for carrot cake has also been undergoing some evolution. As a kid, I used to like the black one which is cut up into small little pieces and fried with an extra shot of black sauce. In fact, I still used to prefer black over white until quite recently. Now I find myself moving away from the Dark Side to embrace the white carrot cake.
Actually both types of carrot cake have their own merit. But the reason that I am leaning towards the white version is because it is a little more sophisticated than the black version. With the black version, most of the taste is in the sweet black sauce and the texture is not really an issue. But with the white version, the taste profile is more complex. You have the taste of the Chye Poh, the carrot cake itself and eggs which have their distinctive flavours. Then you have the contrast in texture between the crispy eggs and the soft carrot cake.
The contrast in texture is what Chey Sua does very well. And they do this by basically frying one side to a crisp while leaving the other side only lightly fried. So texture wise, this is a very nice carrot cake to savour.
However, I felt that the flavour of the dish lacked a bit of ooommph that day. Judging from the rave reviews from the forummers, this should have been something to behold. 4.25/5
Like many good carrot cake stalls, Chey Sua still makes their own carrot cake. In particular they steam theirs in small aluminium bowls which they claim are forty years old! One look and you can be easily convinced that they are forty years old. The stall was first started by the current owner’s mother who passed on the skills to the daughter. According to her, it is still fried the same way that her mother use to fry.
Conclusion
A good carrot cake which I know has a loyal following. But I just can’t help but wonder if I caught them on a bad day. I am sure there are many fans of this stall, so do let me know if their quality varies from day to day.
Congrats to Chey Sua for being awarded the Bib Gourmand 2016!
Update 6 Sep 2016
I have subsequently returned to Chey Sua on several occasions and felt the carrot cake is actually very good. It is flavourful and the contrast between the soft carrot cake and the eggy crust is excellent.
Wonder what was the time you went as it would have taste best during the earlier timing of the day (before 11am)….plus it would be much more tasty with the “ooommph” if you do order with some chili….
Just my 2 cents worth of opinion la…