Saturday, June 11, 2016

BBQ Box (串烧工坊) - The Chinese Style Barbecue @ Geylang [Singapore]

When the Great Kon spoke of a cheap barbecue place that he had been patronising very often, i wasn't thinking of Chinese style BBQ. Nevertheless, i totally trust the Kon's judgment and went ahead with his recommendation in our recent meet-up! 

As i strolled from Kallang MRT station to the eatery along the nearby Geylang road, i could count at least four dining establishments serving the same kind of food. Woah, never know Singapore's red light district is so big on Chinese bbq.

Notable difference from its competitors - BBQ Box had the most customers! Don't be fooled by the above photograph as the neighbouring shop space, missing from the picture, served as extra seating capacity for the restaurant.

Decor was generally wood and brick although i would strongly suggest you take some time to read the wall posters as the Chinese quotes were hilarious! p.s. i am a person with low laugh point (笑点低). 

100% bbq, 100% bbq on the spot and 100% handmade bbq - on second thought, maybe 100% consists of bbq, bbq on the spot and handmade bbq! Having a diploma in marketing means i am skeptical when it comes to marketing gimmicks! 

Items on the table - vinegar, salt, soy sauce, chilli and even a bowl of garlic! Guess you do need garlic to thin the blood after indulging in cholesterol rich BBQ stuff. I am happier to see the tissue dispenser! 

The large plate placed in the middle of the plate served a very important purpose which i shall share shortly. Don't be a dork by asking the staff to bring you more of such plates; i almost did. Haha.

Drink list and the rock sugar sydney caught my attention! As i have never been to Australia before, just the name alone made me curious and i knew i had to order it. Those who can read Chinese would know what sydney refers to as the name of the drink was also published in Chinese in the same list.  

Snow pear (it does sound very vaguely like sydney) drink with rock sugar - too sweet for me and it would be better to dilute the drink with plain water! Drinks were quite reasonably priced and bottled water was only a dollar each. 

Didn't wait too long for our food and here's the purpose for the large plate - all barbecued items ordered would be placed on it for distributing! 

With close to fifty items under the BBQ category, i am not going to everything since i don't have the stomach space to eat every single one of them! Furthermore, we were a hungry bunch that day and the meat on the skewers disappeared almost as soon as they were placed on the common plate! 

Managed to get a  decent shot of the barbecued shishamo and loved them for the light marinate consisting of Chinese spices and herbs. And of course, the egg filled bellies! Cruel right?! 

We couldn't believe it when Kon said the one thing we must order at BBQ Box was the grilled bread - c'mon, how amazing can bread be and even Alex exclaimed that he couldn't imagine eating bread as a main in a restaurant. 

Both us had to eat our words as they were incredibly tasty - the buttery aroma hit our nose as soon as they were placed on the plate, fresh off the grill and once our teeth sank in, our mind went bonkers; the combination of herbs and spices together with a generous sprinklers of sugar was perfect and like Alex, this item was the most memorable! 

Cold noodles - an appetising starter that you should order first to hype up your appetite with its slightly vinegarish flavour. 

Oyster mushroom was alright although i found them a tad salty. I regretted not getting a pot of Chinese tea given the kind of food we were ingesting. 

Grilled pig skin was too soft for my liking - Kon did say we could request from the kitchen to make the skin crispier; a texture i could never say no to.

As grilled bread was too good, we were under the impression that grilled mantou slice would be as mind blowing! It was a major letdown and would be literally tasteless if not for the spices on it. 

Frankly, the spices and herbs used were generally the same for all grilled items and to me, it's just the differences signature of the various meat, vegetables, fungi etc. Texture was important obviously and as far as meat was concerned, i have a personal liking for the juicy and fattening grilled pork (pork belly actually according to the item's name in Chinese).

Even though i enjoy eating, i don't fancy downing everything down my throat and innards like intestine are a no-no. I took a big step in BBQ Box by trying a small piece of grilled big intestine; it was super nice and could have overtaken the place of crispy pork lard. The only deterring factor was that i could not go beyond the psychological barrier that i am eating something that is essentially carrier for shit. 

State of the common plate - filled with oil! Definitely not something i can have weekly or even monthly but our Great Kon's record was like three times a week! 

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Location
103 Geylang Road (flagship store)
Singapore 389212

Map
As above (nearest MRT station is Kallang).

Contact
(+65) 6835-7456 

Order List
I forgot to take the receipt from Kon but for a general feel of the pricing, you may refer to the order list as above. Do note that non-spicy takers can opt for non-spicy BBQ! 

Additional Information
There were two other branches in Singapore; 262 South Bridge Road (Chinatown) and 21 Tan Quee Lan Street (Bugis)! For our Malaysian neighbours, there's one at Skudai, Johor Bahru! Scan the QR code at WeChat for a 10% discount!

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