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Punggol Coast Hawker Centre is a new and vibrant hawker centre that opened earlier this year. Crowds of energetic students from the nearby Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) Dover can often be found in the hawker centre with their heads buried in their laptops, typing away.
With such a youthful crowd filled with Singapore’s future, you’ll be surprised to hear that a part of our storied past is tucked away in this hawker centre. I speak of none other than South Buona Vista Braised Duck.
Astute readers may recall the stall closing down on 7 Feb 2024. The stall owner, 66-year-old Mr Ang, took a year-long hiatus and travelled around the world. But after a while, he got bored. He heard the cries of his loyal customers praying that he’d reopen somewhere. What else could he do?
Thus, Mr Ang reopened South Buona Vista Braised Duck in Punggol Coast Hawker Centre, seeking an apprentice to pass his recipes down to, just as his old boss once did with him.
What I tried at South Buona Vista Braised Duck
Their humble Braised Duck Rice (S$5) is a simple, no-nonsense dish. You have the option of eating it with either white rice or yam rice, and I highly encourage you to take the yam rice. For its economical price, I think the portions are just right. However, the greedy part of me wished for just half a scoop more of rice, or a handful more duck meat.
The light brown colour of the yam rice was quite aesthetic, but it had a dry texture. There was a layer of sauce at the bottom of the plate that attempted to add some moisture, but it was too thin and did not add much.
Normally, yam rice has a distinct aroma, one that’s reminiscent of dried shrimp or sesame oil. I didn’t experience any of that with this yam rice. It lacked the blandness of white rice and had only the subtlest of sweetness from the yams. In a way, it tasted like nothing.
I feel like this issue could be remedied if they poured the sauce after they plated the rice, instead of what I presumed to be before.
The Houson Duck: Award-winning Teochew duck rice from my childhood
The slices of duck meat were thin and sparse. While the meat had a sweet and starchy taste, the texture was inconsistent. Some pieces were tender, while the others were firm and chewy. Overall, it could use more time braising in the pot, as the flavours were just not there.
Two duds in a row worried me. Was this the standard of South Buona Vista Braised Duck? Despite this, I remained optimistic and held out that their special handmade chilli would save the day. It’s a mix of watery Chinese sweet chilli and thick Malay sambalchilli, and it gave a strong first impression with its punchy scent.
It was a very novel experience tasting both sweet and garlic-like spiciness together, and it elevated the rice into something much more palatable.
No duck rice is complete without a variety of side dishes to complement the main dish. In this case, I just hoped they were the dish’s saving grace.
South Buona Vista Braised Duck offers a Side Dish Platter (S$3 for Small, S$4 for Medium, S$5 for Large), which comes with an assortment of braised delights: tau kwa, tau pok, an egg, and braised peanuts.
I liked their tau kwa as they were ultra soft and satisfying to chew through, with a generous 6 slices on my plate. It tasted even better when dipped into the handmade chilli. The tau pok was firmer and moister than most other kinds of tau pok you can find, which I enjoyed.
The braised peanuts were a rough ride, to say the least. They were in a confused middle ground between mushy and hard. Either texture would have been fine, but it was neither. It needed much more time in the pot.
Finally, the egg was average at best. Not bursting with flavour like I thought it’d be, but nothing bad.
Final thoughts
I don’t want to believe that this is the true standard of South Buona Vista Braised Duck, but I left thoroughly underwhelmed. This wasn’t the fabled duck rice that was hyped up; it tasted like any other plate of duck rice. This is definitely not the legacy the owner wants to pass on.
Hopefully, the standards will improve. A hawker icon going out like this just does not feel right.
Expected damage: S$5 – S$9 per pax
