Friday, August 15, 2008

Bang Bang Chicken and Rat Noodles

Bang Bang Chicken

Bang Bang Chicken. At first I snickered at the name, wondering in a mildly perverse way, "What the heck is Bang Bang Chicken??" It took me a couple of seconds before I realized that it was actually Szechuan Bon Bon Chicken, a close relative of the spicy sesame and peanut sauce-covered dan dan mian. See, we were at the newly resurrected Canteen (1 Scotts Road #01-101B, 6738-2276), which now focused on modern renditions of local food like a "chili crab sandwich." I am not a big fan of fusion, so I was a bit concerned when they said that their version of Bon Bon chicken came in a salad form. But I was rather happy with how well the spicy garlicky mixture came together with the greens in the end.

The amusing names didn't stop there. The dish that was featured most prominently on the menu was the XO Sauce Lo Shi Fun, the last three words of which literally translated into "rat noodles." No, they were not made of rat meat; it was named as such because the fat and stubby rice noodles looked like rat tails. I wasn't as big of a fan of this one though. These guys topped the noodles with some ground meat and bits of century eggs, all of which was delightfully spicy but nothing that I'll crave at the end of the day.

Still, one thing that scored big points with me was the fact that they had cans of Calpis featured right at the top of the drink list. I don't think I'll be making any huge effort to come back, but if I do, then I'm definitely ordering the Bang Bang Chicken again. Besides, it's just so much fun to say out loud in English.

1 comment:

Little Chef said...

Hey there hungry boy. Your posts are pretty cool, especially when you get to travel about and post "Reports" from abroad. I enjoy reading them. You must have the coolest job!