King of Hong Kong Rice Roll (Tampines Mall)

HK-style Chee Cheong Fun had been all the rage ever since how Happy Congee has made freshly made-upon-order HK-style Chee Cheong Fun available to the masses — the wave of Chee Cheong Fun-centric establishments such as the likes of Cheong Fun Paradise, Chef Leung, Fei Chang Hao and Chef Wei HK Chee Cheong Fun had started to flood the F&B scene here.

A recent addition and one that has yet to be widely mentioned is King of Hong Kong Rice Roll (PS: has anyone noticed the trend of using “King of …” in an establishment’s name like King of Fried Rice and King of Pao Fan?) — one of the new stalls that has sprouted up in Kopitiam at Tampines Mall which serves up HK-style Chee Cheong Fun and Congee; the stall being described as being opened by “an ex-restaurant head chef” with “more than 30 years of experience”, and that “everything from the menu is said to be handmade”.

Thought I would give the Rice Roll with Dough Sticks a go first amongst all the items offered on the menu here since the items on the menu was pretty reminiscent of Happy Congee’s (yes, they also offer a Mala Shredded Chicken Rice Roll too). Perhaps my expectations have heightened over time, considering how I really liked the stone-milled variants from Rice & Roll and Chef Leung — that being said, the Rice Roll with Dough Sticks from King of Hong Kong Rice Roll still feels like it fell a little short in terms of flavour in general; even when compared with the same from Happy Congee. The rice rolls, whilst smooth and silky, seemed to have lacked the fragrance of the rice slurry; seemingly felt a little bland. This was even more prominent from the lack of soy sauce especially for the top-most pieces, considering how the soy sauce seems to be poured into the plate than over the rice rolls and tasted a little flat in its savouriness; missing out the slight sweetness that some soy sauces used in this dish would carry. It’s a real pity considering how I actually preferred the dough sticks used here; not overly toasty as it retains a crisp and chewy texture whilst not being overly greasy; the chili does help provide a savoury and umami note from dried shrimps however.

To be fair, the rendition of the Rice Roll with Dough Sticks at King of Hong Kong Rice Roll feels pretty decent — something which would work as a rather substantially-sized light lunch and one to solve those cravings for HK-style Chee Cheong Fun. It is just unfortunate how the competition has pretty much upped its game by quite a fair bit in a short span of time, and their rendition just doesn’t quite stand out against the others which have massively expanded, or in the midst of expanding their operations in the current time. Probably a stall that Tampines residents wouldn’t mind patronising for the convenience, but not one that I would make a special trip all the way out for to have.