Remember Black Rock Fish Head Steamboat at Techlink in Kaki Bukit which I wrote about last year? Well, they have since moved out of Techlink. They are now occupying a coffee shop in Kallang Bahru, and have changed their name to Gold Rock Fish Head Steamboat (金石鱼头炉).
They have a brand new chef who hails from Ipoh. He had been cooking since he was thirteen years old, discipled by his father who was a zi char chef. He has come up with some new dishes well worth checking out. The new chef is very competent. Having tasted his dishes, I am quite confident in recommending Gold Rock as a good option for your next zi char outing!
The whole coffee shop is run by Uncle Simon and my friend James, whom I have gotten to know quite well by now. Uncle Simon is someone I met many years ago when he was running a restaurant at Pasir Ris Park, so he is no stranger to the F&B business.
James is the more adventurous one. He is always trying out new ideas and looking for ways to innovate on classic dishes. He and I have spent quite a bit of time tossing around ideas on what new dishes might work well in a Zi Char. So here are a few dishes that worked quite well!
Fish Head Steamboat with Miso and Soybean Broth
I actually had a hand in creating this one.
When we visited, the chef had already come up with a miso-based soup, but I felt it could do with a bit more creaminess. I had recently tasted a hot pot broth made with miso and Hokkaido milk at a high-end hot pot restaurant in Singapore, and suggested that adding soymilk to the miso base might make it even more interesting. The chef took the idea and ran with it. He did a great job. The result is a soup that is flavourful with a lovely, satisfying mouth feel.
The miso and soybean paste broth is genuinely different from anything else in the fish head steamboat scene. It’s clean and savoury, but there’s a depth and a slight creaminess to it that works beautifully with the fish.
Red Grouper fish head steamboat is available in three sizes at $40, $55 and $70. Snapper starts from $29, $39 and $52. The Japanese miso soy milk broth is available at the same price as the regular menu.
You get a plate of sliced fish with the fish head already in the soup. You can add ingredients like yam and vegetables. A fun new addition James introduced after a trip to Taiwan is mochi (麻糬) at $5 for 6 pieces. It’s quite an unusual idea for a local steamboat, but it actually works quite well!
Fragrant Chicken (风味鸡)
This was my favourite dish of the evening.
I must say, this new chef is very good at deep frying. The crust is extraordinarily crispy and stays that way for a long time. James tells me they only use fresh chicken here, which is already half the battle won. Add a good marination to that and the result is a tasty, succulent piece of chicken encased in a crispy, puffy shell lightly coated in a kumquat-based sauce that is sweet and tangy.
But that is not all. The chicken is fried with an obscene amount of whole garlic cloves, which results in the crispy shell taking on a deep and savoury flavour. The whole dish is then crowned with a generous pile of deep-fried codfish sticks.
The combination of that crispy coating, the sticky-tangy glaze, the softened garlic, and the light crunch of the codfish sticks is the kind of thing your chopsticks keep gravitating to even when your tummy is already telling you to stop! 4.5/5
Deep Fried Salted Egg Lotus Root and Eggplant (咸蛋双味)
I’ve had a lot of salted egg dishes. My main gripe with some is that they can be a little oily. The sauce sits in a greasy puddle and the coating goes soft before you’re halfway through.
This one is different. The salted egg sauce here is one of the best I’ve come across anywhere. It is crisp, not oily, and beautifully balanced between the richness of the yolk and the savouriness of everything else. The lotus root and brinjal are fried to perfection, the coating clinging rather than clumping. If I hadn’t had so many other dishes to get through, I would definitely has a few more pieces!
If lotus root is not your thing, just ask them to toss anything else in that salted egg sauce. You really cannot go wrong with it. 4.5/5
Trio Meat Treasure (猪三煲)
This is a hearty, unapologetically bold dish. You’ve got thick-sliced pork liver, braised intestine, and lean pork all cooked together in a kung pao sauce and served in a stone bowl. I’m not a liver person myself, but all my friends who are absolutely loved this dish. It’s the kind of dish that will have you reaching for a few more bowls of rice without even realising it. Definitely one for the offal lovers at the table.
That said, while the kung pao sauce was already very good, I felt it could be a little more punchy. Perhaps a touch of salted fish or some extra dried chilli to give it that additional kick would elevate it even further. 4.25/5
Gangster Crab (霸王蟹)
The Gangster Crab (霸王蟹) is cooked in a Mongolian-style sauce, which despite its exotic-sounding name, is very much a zi char invention. The “Mongolian” label traces back to Taiwan where Mongolian barbecue first became popular, and the sauce has since evolved into something distinctly Southeast Asian. At Gold Rock, it’s a bold combination of soy sauce, oyster sauce, black pepper, and evaporated milk that gives it a creamy, peppery, slightly tangy character all at once. They serve it with tater tots on the side, which is an unexpected touch but adds a fun textural contrast.
It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you want to try a genuinely different crab experience, it’s worth ordering. They typically carry 2 crabs for $55, but these are on the smaller side. If you want 700g to 800g crabs, you will need to pre-order and they will procure them for you at $75 per crab. 4/5
Garlic Fried Prawns with Vermicelli (蒜香虾粉丝)
Prawn tang hoon is one of my favourite dishes, so whenever I see it on a menu, I will always be tempted to order it. GoldRock tries to make theirs a little different by deep frying the prawns and then topping them with a generous pile of separately deep-fried crispy garlic. It’s a good idea, but I feel the dish still needs a bit more tweaking. The soy-based sauce could be punchier, and the overall flavour didn’t quite deliver on the promise of those big, fresh, juicy prawns. It’s decent, but not something I would recommend at this stage. That said, given how good his other dishes are, I have no doubt the chef will get there eventually. 3.5/5
Don’t Miss the Satay and Otah
Before you go, I have to mention the satay stall in the same coffee shop. It’s run by another friend of mine, a young man who is genuinely putting in the effort to make his satay his own. The chicken and mutton satay are big and succulent, going for $1.20 a stick, which is fair for the size you get these days. He sources from a supplier but adds his own touches, including pineapple in the sauce, and is experimenting with glazes to make his version a little more distinct.
Having a plate of satay and otah to nibble on while waiting for your food to be prepared is always a good idea.
Conclusion
It has been a while since I reviewed a zi char with so many exciting new dishes. If you are looking for a fish head steamboat with a difference, the miso soybean broth is something well worth trying. And all the other dishes I tried are really very good as well.
GoldRock is still relatively unknown and is located in a relatively secluded area, so your chances of getting a table are still quite good at this stage. Weekends can get a little busier, but weekday evenings are still pretty quiet. However, with the quality of food the new chef is dishing out, it might just get busy very soon!
