Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
My visit to Horiginal Beef Poached Rice & Wok was completely unplanned— I had initially wanted to patronise another stall in the same coffeeshop, which was unfortunately closed. Instead, I came across this stall, and was surprised to learn that the popular Horiginal Beef Noodles brand had a poached rice and wok concept, too.
Tucked away in CT Hub 2, Horiginal Beef Poached Rice & Wok offers an expanded menu compared to its original counterpart, which only sells beef noodles. The menu boasted both beef and seafood poached rice, as well as an assortment of wok-fried dishes like hor fun and fried rice. On top of that, they also had multiple beef noodle and soup bowls.
I jotted down a few dishes I wanted to try from across the vast menu and headed down to place my order. To my dismay, luck was really not on my side that day— I grimaced as the stall owner informed me that almost everything I’d wanted, including everything on the wok series menu, the rice bowls and the seafood soup, was not available that specific day. The only thing they had in stock was the noodles and beef soup. Shucks.
I had no choice but to order whatever I could get that was available. Hopefully, future diners will get to enjoy the full menu.
What I tried at Horiginal Beef Poached Rice & Wok
I had initially intended on having the Supreme Beef Poached Rice (S$13.80), which would have come with more ingredients, but like half the items on the menu, it was unavailable too. Hence, I settled on the next best thing I could get: the Mixed Beef Poached Rice (S$8). The bowl of rice and beef soup was topped with a variety of cuts of beef and egg floss.
I had expected the beef soup to taste like most other Chinese beef stock, but surprisingly, this one had a noticeable sourness to it. The savoury flavours of the stock were largely overpowered by a tangy sour taste— it wasn’t unpleasant, by any means, but I found that I wasn’t a big fan of it compared to regular beef soup. It also lacked the robust, rich flavours that I had come to expect from beef soup.
When paired with the rice and beef, the dish as a whole was pretty comforting, though it did really just taste like rice and soup. The assorted beef cuts were all pretty bland on their own, so I’d definitely recommend grabbing some sauces and condiments at the stall to dip them in.
The bowl came topped with a good amount of egg floss, which was pleasantly flavourful and oily, giving the otherwise soupy dish a bit of an indulgent touch. However, it did get soggy very quickly, since it was placed directly on the soup. Still, it added a nice bit of dimension to the rest of the pao fan.
I decided to go all out and get the Supreme Beef Mixed Noodle, available in either a S$12 or S$15 portion. Though I’d gotten the S$15 portion, the bowl I received was surprisingly the same price as all the other bowls. However, there was a noticeably generous pile of ingredients in the dish, justifying its high price point.
All noodle dishes came with the choice of 4 noodles: thick bee hoon, kway teow, yellow noodles and wheat noodles. I got the thick bee hoon, which was smooth and acted as a simple base for the mountain of ingredients.
The dish came with a variety of beef slices, cuts and included innards and tendons too, perfect for those who enjoy the different kinds of beef. However, I personally wasn’t that impressed with the meat, as I found certain cuts to be too tough and chewy. Overall, the beef was almost completely tasteless, and required a liberal amount of condiments and sauces to give them a semblance of flavour.
The soup was the exact same as the one in the Mixed Beef Poached Rice, with a sour profile. The dish as a whole was definitely pricey, though it did come with a huge amount of ingredients.
Horiginal Beef Noodle: $5 noodles with generous ingredients and starchy gravy
The 7-in-1 Mixed Beef Noodle (S$6.50/S$8.50) was another popular item on the menu at Horiginal Beef Poached Rice & Wok. It was almost virtually indistinguishable from the Supreme Beef Mixed Noodle, with the main difference being the amount of beef provided. Even so, this bowl was pretty generous with its ingredients, topped with beef slices, beef balls and innards.
Honestly, this tasted identical to the Supreme Beef Mixed Noodle at almost half the price. The extra ingredients in the Supreme Beef Mixed Noodle didn’t do much to elevate the overall flavours of the dish, so if you’re simply in the market for a bowl of beef noodles with a sizeable amount of ingredients, the 7-in-1 Mixed Beef Noodle is more worth the price.
Finally, I go for the cheapest item available, the Beef Ball Soup (S$5), which came with 6 beef balls. I opted for kway teow as my noodle choice.
Each ball was chewy and springy, but unfortunately, like their various beef counterparts, they were pretty tasteless and bland. Regardless, the flavours of the soup helped to add a bit of dimension to the dish. And, at least the stall offers plenty of condiments.
Final thoughts
I wish I could have tasted the other unavailable dishes at Horiginal Beef Poached Rice & Wok in order to come to a fairer conclusion on their food, but lady luck was simply not on my side.
Overall, these beef dishes were pretty satisfying and very filling with a generous amount of ingredients. However, I found that I personally preferred other kinds of beef broth, and I wasn’t all that mind-blown by what I tried.
Regardless, those working in the area can look forward to enjoying comforting bowls of beef noodles and poached rice conveniently. Perhaps I’d give this stall a try again in the future, and I would love to be able to taste their wok series and seafood soup for myself.
Expected damage: S$5 – S$15 per pax
Where to eat: 12 pao fan stalls in Singapore to visit on a rainy day
