Ah Chuan’s fried oysters (orh luak) are the gold standard in my heart, but I finally found a worthy opponent. Yes, the battle will be legendary. Old Airport Road hawker centre has orh luak stalls in abundance, but it’s only recently that I’ve unearthed the hidden treasure that is Famous Old Airport Fried Oyster. It’s right next door to another fried oyster stall, and apparently they’ve got bad blood between them. Yeah, it’s a cold war now, but it could get real hot real quick.⠀

Besides the classic oyster fry up, they do prawn, squid and a ménage à trois version with all three shellfish in one dish. However, man’s gotta stick with the classics, and this one is one for the history books. A plethora of plump, fresh oysters are lightly seared with the egg & starch concoction to form this greasy, gluttonously gratifying glob of fried fabulousness.⠀

The mix is decidedly more starch than egg, but that’s a good thing as Famous Old Airport pan fries it to a marginally gooey & remarkable crispiness. It might be a smidge greasier than Ah Chuan, but that’s pretty goddamn remarkable already. Each bite gives you an absolutely addictive blend of crunch & chew, and the fluffy eggy chunks are the wildcard that switches the play every so often.⠀

The chili is most certainly run of the mill stuff, being sufficiently spicy & sour to alleviate the effects of the grease in this fry-up, but not particularly memorable in either category. Still, you’re gonna want to flood your orh luak with the chili the same way Bukit Timah got flooded last month. Famous Old Airport Fried Oyster ain’t famous enough for my liking, and they deserve to be a household name for the way they flew my tastebuds on a first class trip to Flavortown.

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