Fat Lady Char Siew + Roasted Pork Having been lunching around quite often at Hong Lim Food Centre of the late, one stall that had caught our attention would be The Legend Roasted Meat Rice and Noodle. Situated at the ground floor of Hong Lim Food Centre, it is located near the Hiong Kee Dumpling’s unit where all the preparation for the dumplings are done (the retail of their dumplings is located at another unit at level two). On first look, The Legend Roasted Meat Rice and Noodle does look on the most part, pretty much like any stall serving up Hong Kong-style roast meat at a coffeeshop or a hawker centre setting — the roast meats hung behind a transparent cabinet in full view of the potential patrons walking by the stall. The stall does, however, have photos of Bruce Lee adorning its walls; an interesting touch. Just like any stall serving up Hong Kong-style roast meat stall that one can find in a coffeeshop or a hawker centre, The Legend Roasted Meat Rice and Noodle serves up a variety of different roast meats — this would include Roasted Duck, Char Siew, Roasted Pork and Soy Sauce Chicken; all the roasted meats can be ordered in the form of a platter for communal sharing across the table, or in individual formats with either rice or noodles according to the patron’s preference. The stall also does serve up Char Siew Wanton Noodle, Dumpling Noodle and Mushroom Noodle as well; they also do have a Fat Lady Char Siew 肥婆叉烧 on their menu which is available everyday, though larger quantities of it will be made on Wednesdays and Fridays as compared to the other days that they are open for business.
Having enquired if they still have the Fat Lady Char Siew in-stock while we had made our visit to The Legend Roasted Meat Rice and Noodle on a weekday lunch, we went straight with ordering a two (2) pax platter after they had re-affirmed to us that the Fat Lady Char Siew is still available for the day (we seemingly ordered the last of it for the day) — we also paired the Fat Lady Char Siew with the Roasted Pork as well. We were actually told that there would be a minimum requirement of getting the $15 portion of the Fat Lady Char Siew if one is to order the Fat Lady Char Siew on its own — the stall owner having explained that the Fat Lady Char Siew that they have is pretty comparable to that of Char Siew offerings priced at a higher price point served up at Chinese restaurants, and that they are already serving it up at a very low price point since it is only logical for them to do so considering the setting that they are situated in. The stall owner did also tell us that the Fat Lady Char Siew served up on the day of our visit is on the leaner side; he has definitely got fattier ones on a better day.
The Fat Lady Char Siew that we have had on the day of our visit to The Legend Roasted Meat Rice and Noodle would suit especially well for those who find the lean Char Siew not meaty enough for their liking, while some fatty Char Siew would be too gelatinous and jelat — their Char Siew carried a good meaty bite without being actually too fatty. The texture definitely close to that of the Bu Jian Tian Char Siew 不见天叉烧 that some establishments serve up considering how they might have use the same cuts anyway. The Fat Lady Char Siew was also not too sweet here; still more Hong Kong-style than Malaysia-style such as the likes of Roast Paradise or Char; the ends being the best parts because of how it carries that smokiness from the charred bits, while the accompanying sauce that came with the Fat Lady Char Siew well-complimented the meat for how it provided a savoury note before the sweet honey glaze from the meat takes over. While some may note how their Roast Pork looks a little thinly sliced and not quite as neat as how some others do it, we love its crackling skin that well-complimented the fatty pork belly beneath — nothing too gelatinous, and carries a good bite whilst being melt-in-the-mouth; all whilst being savoury from the spice rub that that was part of the preparation process that made it taste pretty old-school in a good way.
Having finally tried The Legend Roasted Meat Rice and Noodle, it is needless to say that the star at the stall would be the Fat Lady Char Siew — the textures and flavours of the Char Siew was a highlight for us; a pretty well-executed plate of fatty char siew that is served up at a hawker centre setting. They seem to also do their Roasted Pork pretty well as well; apart from that old-school flavour, the melt-in-the-mouth meat along with that light and biscuity-crisp skin made the Roasted Pork here sit particularly well with us. There was no one point of time that we felt the meats being too jelat here — in fact, we just could not get enough of it, polishing the plate of roasted meats in no time. Prices are pretty reasonable here though we didn’t exactly fully understand how they quote the prices of the roasted meat platters here — our bill came up to $22 for the Fat Lady Char Siew + Roasted Pork platter for two pax with an additional plate of noodles and a plate of rice. For those whom are looking for individually-portioned rice and noodles, most of the noodle dishes are priced around $4 to $4.50, while the rice dishes are generally listed around the price range of $4 to $5 — the Fat Lady Char Siew Rice is priced at $7, while the Fat Lady Char Siew Noodles would cost $7.50. Based off our interactions with the stall owner at The Legend Roasted Meat Rice and Noodle, one thing is for sure — he does take pride in the food that he is serving up, and he is always happy to speak to patrons more on his food, be it when he is busy chopping up the patron’s orders behind the counter, or during his lull time where he made a trip down to our table nearby to tell us more; definitely a hawker stall to visit for his Fat Lady Char Siew especially, and also one that is worthy of supporting with how proactive he seems to be about his business!
