Tracy’s Sarawak Kitchen (Serangoon Gardens)

"Wok hey" is their words, not mine. Only order this if you like the noodle so much or want a typical zichar stir fry. It has none of the seasoning of kolo mee so it's not my thing.

I love kolo mee and theirs was kinda disappointing. It has the necessary components but was just not that fragrant.

We were actually pretty stoked on hearing about the new opening of Tracy’s Sarawak Kitchen at myVillage at Serangoon Gardens. For those whom are unaware of the brand, Tracy’s Sarawak Kitchen was a stall which we had first visited some time back when they had just moved their operations to their Geylang outlet around a year ago. These folks had been operating as a coffeeshop stall for quite a while; a pretty low-profile establishment which specialises in Sarawakian cuisine, it was definitely much excitement when we first heard about a new outlet that they were intending to open that sounded like an independent eatery within a shopping mall. Turns out, the outlet of Tracy’s Sarawak Kitchen at myVillage at Serangoon Gardens takes over the unit which was previously tenanted out to the now-defunct outlet of East Treasure Speciality Prawn Noodles that occupied the space. The space which Tracy’s Sarawak Kitchen occupies at myVillage at Serangoon Gardens sits in the middle of the shopping aisles; a shop unit with a tight kitchen space and an equally tight dine-in area despite being well-sized enough for a good number of dining tables meant for patrons in groups or twos or fours. Much like its Geylang location, Tracy’s Sarawak Kitchen at Serangoon Gardens serves up some of the most iconic dishes that they also serve up at Geylang — this includes their various Kolo Mee offerings, as well as items such as their Tomato Crispy Noodle and Moneycai Longevity Noodles (most whom have visited claimed this to be a must-try) that is listed in the “Authentic & Unique Sarawakian Food” section of the menu. Beverages available at Tracy’s Sarawak Kitchen includes a number of canned drinks sourced from Sundrop; a Sarawak-based beverage company with a company motto of “Enriching your lives with the Joy of Borneo” – we have noticed these drinks to be sold at some establishments serving up Sarawakian cuisine in Singapore as well.

We had actually made our way down to Tracy’s Sarawak Kitchen at myVillage at Serangoon Gardens wanting to give their Moneycai Longevity Noodles a try — this is especially considering the number of rave reviews we have heard about the item, and that the item was also one that we had missed out on trying during our visit made to their Geylang location as they were out of Moneycai during that time. Unfortunately, it does seem that fate isn’t really in for us to give their Moneycai Longevity Noodles a try this time round either — they had informed us at the counter that they had again run out of Moneycai when we made our visit to the myVillage at Serangoon Gardens outlet on a weekend dinner service; in fact, they ran out of almost all items that are not part of the “Kolo Mee (QQ Mee)” section of the menu. We went with the route of getting the Original Kuching Kolo Mee with Char Siew again this time, though they had also run out of Char Siew and thus replaced it with a sunny side-up. The Original Kuching Kolo Mee is as good as we remembered it to be; the noodles itself were springy and carried a good bite — carried quite a good flavour considering how it was tossed in a sauce that seemingly contained pork lard, hence giving the noodles a light savoury note almost akin to that of Thai-style wanton noodles. Adding the crispy pork lard which they have conveniently placed at the side for patrons to help themselves to further on adds on to the flavours of the dish further. There does seem to be bits of braised pork going around the entire bowl also; these further adds a further contrast of savouriness against that of the noodles – one that is meaty without any undesirable porky stench and comprising largely of meat with a lean cut. The sunny side-up which was served in place of the Char Siew came with a flowy egg yolk; crisp browned edges around the sides that added to the texture of the dish without any undesirable notes of overused oil. Overall, still a good eat at $5.80 — something which we still feel is pretty pocket-friendly. That being said, we do wish to be able to give their famed Moneycai Longevity Noodles a go some day — something that seems a little different from the usual Sarawakian cuisine which we are used to that are popping up all over the island these days; hopefully the third time is the charm for this item for us!