Tuesday 13 January 2015

Dinner at 姑妈家

We went 姑妈家 for dinner last week. Not my aunt, but 姑妈家 (gu ma jia). A restaurant! Though I wished I had an aunt with such awesome culinary skills.

Everything in that name sounds too traditional and homely, which very much describe what we are. 'Gu ma' serves near to authentic home-cooked food with less oil and less MSG. They celebrated their 5th anniversary this year and we were glad to be part of their joy, by being there to food taste some of their new dishes!

We were lovely greeted by the cute caricature of 'gu ma' on its signage. Which somehow gave me a feel that something really delish is cooking in there. Upon stepping in, I was convinced that everything's gonna taste yummy with its almost filled tables. It was a great weekday crowd. There are 2 levels in the restaurant.

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You won't miss it on a turn into Tai Thong crescent

While waiting for the dishes to be served, I was given an enzyme drink to savour. Hmm, I've to say it wasn't to my liking till I hear of its benefits that very day. With fruits and vinegar going through the process of fermentation or aging, enzyme level increases. This final product boosts body immune system, promote healthy digestion, detoxify and revitalize the body cells. That was when I decided to slurp up everything in my glass.

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Fruit enzyme jelly drink and the fermentation process

After a sourish enzyme drink, we were all ready for the dishes!

First dish was their traditional bean curd soup. Power packed with wholesome goodness and boiled for 6 hours with salted fish head, ham, pork ribs, peanuts and fresh bean curd. Soup drinking is always a nice start to meals.

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Signature soup -  Traditional bean curd soup ($28)

We then had noodles! XO prawn noodles and ubin lala bee hoon. Only the freshest prawns were chosen for the prawn noodles and with XO, it totally complemented the sweetness of the prawn. It was spicy and Jazz could slurp up a bowl of it. She loved it!

Ubin lala bee hoon is a replica of gu ma's childhood story in pulau ubin, where she grew up in. A simple and tasty dish that brought joy and satisfaction for everyone in her family. Vermicelli served with fresh lala was a refreshing try for us. A simple combination, but good tasting!

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XO prawn noodle - $36

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Ubin lala bee hoon - $18

I always love yam rings, and ta da, interestingly served with Kyoto pork ribs. All tender and good! The yam ring, which was crispy on the outside and soft creamy on the inside, perfected the sweet and savoury pork ribs.

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Yam ring with Kyoto pork ribs - $30

We were almost all stuffed, and more dishes were on its way. We had the Satay cuttlefish, which I loved it very much, because the cuttlefish was all too soft and tender. Too kind on my molars.

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Satay cuttlefish - $18

Then we were privileged to have a taste on its Chinese New Year dishes, Herbal chicken and lotus leaf rice. I was never a lotus leaf rice person, but amazingly fell in love with it. It was all too fragrant and good tasting!

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Herbal chicken and louts leaf rice

The best for the last, shrimp paste chicken. We love that it served only mid joint wings. Our family's favourite. What mattered was, the kids loved it and we had seconds to it. It was crispy and absolutely finger licking good!

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Prawn paste mid joint wings

Of course, there's always room for the sweet, dessert! The always sweet way to end a meal. Jazz who's usually the least adventurous with food, gave the tang shui a try. She was never into Asian dessert, but gave a thumb up for this. She even requested a second bowl of it.

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Tang Shui

It was a great meal, where over the table I met some other family bloggers too. In all, this made up a wonderful weekday evening for us. It was sumptuous, delicious and most significantly, all too homely. We were extremely well hosted and filled.

If you have not decided a venue for your reunion dinner, call gu ma for your reservation! CNY eve dinner is fully booked though. Reunion set menu are priced at $488, $588 and $888. Best part of dining here is, no service charge and no GST! Definitely a well-worth meal without hurting those pockets.

Gu Ma Jia
45 Tai Thong Crescent
Sennett Estate
Singapore 347866

Enquiries/reservations: 6285 2023
Operating hours (Daily): 
11am to 3pm (last order 2:30pm)
5:30pm to 10pm
Facebook page

Disclaimer: We were invited to this food tasting session by AT Marketing Consultancy. No monetary compensation was given. All opinions and photos are solely our own. 

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