Egg Talk (Compass One Kopitiam)

It does seem that Kopitiam has been giving some of their food courts a little bit of a revamp these days — the latest to have gotten the makeover appears to be that of the Kopitiam food court at Compass One; the renovated food court now follows the slightly more upscale aesthetic that they had been going for with their food court these days which includes the likes of their Northpoint City and AMK Hub locations. With the refreshed look of the food court, the Kopitiam food court has also seen the opening of new food stalls as well — whilst the hype over scrambled egg rice bowls isn’t quite as strong as it used to be, there are still plenty of such establishments sprouting across the island. We only got to find out fairly recently that Sungai Besi Scrambled Egg Rice 新街场滑蛋饭 that is typically found in Malaysia Boleh! food courts is a brand that is affiliated with Dan Lao 蛋佬; the brand also operates Kawan Bowl, which serves up a halal rendition of the same dish. Enter Egg Talk; yet another new concept by the same folks behind Dan Lao that again focuses on scrambled egg rice bowl offerings. Each concept that Dan Lao introduced does see slight differences in the meats that they serve up alongside the scrambled egg rice bowl, and Egg Talk is no different — one can tell that there is a slightly more Chinese take at Egg Talk as compared to the more casual items that Dan Lao has to offer; think items like the Crispy Duck Roll, Fried Beancurd with Curry Mayo, Crunchy Cucumber with Spicy Sauce and the Spicy Pork Scramble Egg Rice, just to name a few.

Having been to Dan Lao, Kawan Bowl and Sungai Besi Scrambled Egg Rice before, it was needless to say that we had to go for a variant of the scrambled egg rice bowl that is exclusively available only at Egg Talk. We were pretty lucky to snag up the remaining bowl of the Three Cups Mushroom Scramble Egg Rice that they had for the day. The Three Cups Mushroom here takes inspiration from the Taiwanese Three Cups Chicken, though the use of mushroom does seem to make this dish somewhat suitable for vegetarians as compared to the other scramble egg rice dishes that they offer on the menu. The main character of the entire bowl is still pretty much the scramble egg; this seemed to have been a mainstay for the various concepts operated by the folks of Dan Lap — they had managed to get the consistency of the scramble egg just about right being sufficiently runny and silky, giving the bed of rice beneath just enough moisture that makes it easy to down. We also like how the scrambled egg also comes with an eggy note that isn’t overly salty. To ensure that the rice beneath still carries ample flavour, there is always a light drizzle of soy sauce on both the rice and the scrambled egg itself. The Three Cups Mushroom Scramble Egg Rice would probably work well for those whom find Dan Lao’s scramble egg rice bowls a bit dry for their liking; the Three Cups Mushroom does come with a gravy that is of a viscous consistency that carried a sweet-savoury note almost akin to that of Hotplate Tofu that is served at zichar establishments in coffeeshops, food courts and hawker centre stalls all around. The assortment of mushrooms provides a bouncy bite and an earthy note to compliment the flavours the gravy, while the inclusion of omelette does make it rather similar to that of the thin egg layer that one can find at the bottom of said Hotplate Tofu dishes but silkier and fluffier.

We also managed to give the Crunchy Cucumber with Spicy Sauce a go, this is a cold dish that featured crunchy cucumbers that comes with a slight savoury note from the soy sauce and a tinge of spiciness that tickles the tastebuds — the bite of fried garlic helping to provide more depth to the dish with its garlicky notes. Dan Lao is one of those establishments that does get a conversation rolling — whilst their offerings are pretty comforting, there is also always an argument where their dishes are considered fairly basic and some do find it a little ridiculous as a dining option as compared to other stalls that serve dishes that may be less replicable at home. One thing is for sure though; Dan Lao, as well as its other concepts like Sungai Besi Scrambled Egg Rice, Kawan Bowl and Egg Talk do serve up pretty well-made and comforting bowls of scramble egg rice that is really relatable to the masses — this is perhaps the reason behind its popularity even despite having opened so many outlets and various concepts across the island. We do feel that Egg Talk sits in between that of Sungai Besi Scrambled Egg Rice and Kawan Bowl for the brand; the former doesn’t really quite detract away much from the formula that Dan Lao kept itself to whilst solidifying their brand in the local food scene, while the latter comes with bold attempts to bring flavours familiar to the Muslim community with quite a tweak made to their usual line-up. With their prices of their scramble egg rice bowls priced between $6 to $8, Egg Talk does make for quite an interesting eat for those residing in the north-east; alls one convenient spot for those in the area whom has yet to try Dan Lao’s offerings thus far.