Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
Lok lok places are a dime a dozen in Malaysia, but in Singapore, the growth of places selling skewered foods is still relatively slow. So when I heard that there’s a shop at Pasir Panjang Food Centre selling lok lok and offering a cheese dip to go with it, I had to make my way down.
JQ Pot is the place to be for the Westies who want some lok lok but don’t want to travel halfway across Singapore for it. Tucked away at the corner of the food centre, it might be a little hard to find, but once you see the trays of skewers you know you’re there.
Once the Cheese Pot ($38) was brought out, I was so excited to start grilling. The set comes with 18 sticks of food that you choose, and additional skewers can be purchased if you think it’s not enough. I choose prawn, squid, enoki wrapped in bacon, cheese wrapped in ham and chicken yakitori sticks.
The cheese used is a mixture of nacho cheese and mozzarella, for that gooey, stringy texture. The cheese provided was more than enough for three people, but in case you’re a cheese guzzling monster, JQ Pot provides refills for free.
One skewer that you have to try is the cheese wrapped in ham. I know, I left the skewer on for too long and all that precious cheese oozed onto the grill but can you blame me? It looks way too good, and I managed to scrape it all off to eat anyway.
If you like your lok lok fried, just let the friendly owners know and they’ll deep fry your skewers for you. The skewer you die die must try is the Japanese dried cuttlefish, which was so airy and crispy to the point that it’s addictive.
If you’re looking for something a little more soupy, check out JQ Pot’s Mini Hotpot Set (starting from $5). I had the Tom Yum Beef Set ($5.50), and the soup was spicy and packed with flavour. With the amount of beef, vegetables and instant noodles provided, I felt that $5.50 was really value-for-money.
If spicy food is not your thing, try the Milk Soup base instead. The Pork Set ($8) came with a good mix of pork collar and pork belly, and the soup was definitely interesting. It smelt a little like condensed milk, but the taste was savoury and subtly sweet.
Pasir Panjang might be a little far for people who don’t live in the west, but grilled food and cheese? That’s a winning combination and I’d definitely travel down again for it.
