Does the name ‘Mee Racun’ ring a bell with anyone?
Well, in late 2015, we posted about a place in Pasir Ris’ Downtown East (at the now demolished Asli Village) called ‘Pondok Upeh’ which served up such a dish.
No doubt, we were served the wrong dish back then (which you can read about HERE) but when we saw the name ‘Mee Racun’ on the menu, we had an inkling that this might just be the same place reborn.
So Pondok Daun Opeh opened about a month ago in Tampines Ave 4 (along the same stretch as the old Papa John’s Pizza and current Zoul’s Corner) and it always seemed crowded especially on weekends (we tried visiting once but can’t get a seat!). Well, we eventually made it there and had a go at what seemed like some of the more popular dishes on the menu.
Don’t ask me why the call it ‘Mee Racun’ because I haven’t the slightest clue 😛
Even back then at Asli Village, I didn’t know and for some reason didn’t ask but you have to admit – it’s a pretty interesting name and does kinda make you wanna order it just to see what it’s like right?
Well, you get to choose you noodles. I (obviously) went with the Kway Teow which turned out to be a huge mistake by the way (more on that later). But I can tell you one thing – there’s A LOT going on with the dish they call ‘Mee Racun’ LOL
First and foremost (Hoo ah!), there’s so much stuff in here! Besides the noodles (which I recommend you DON’T choose Kway Teow) , you also have fish cakes, veggies, beef, a piece of omelette and… a tulang!!
I have no idea why there’s a tulang there but I’m guessing it does kinda give a ‘WOW!’ factor to the dish.
The gravy itself is kinda a beefy-spicy kinda flavour. Okay-okay lah but could use a bit more kick if I can be honest.
But I do think that the weirdest thing has got to be that piece of omelette. I mean, like, macam it doesn’t belong here you know what I mean? Don’t get me wrong – I’m not complaining lah but it’s really so weird. You’d expect like maybe the usual poached egg or maybe even a hard-boiled egg. But a piece of omelette? I cannot think of another noodle dish I’ve ever had where it came with a piece of omelette 😛
I thought that maybe they had made a mistake or maybe they wanna ‘clear stock’ (cos they sell Nasi also) so brought it up to the staff. But not only did she confirm that the omelette was correct, she even told me that the Mee Bandung is the one that came with the poached egg (as evidently seen in that last review we mentioned).
Oh well.
Mum had the Mee Hong Kong which came with plenty of seafood (she changed to Kway Teow too by the way so it was technically Hor Fun :P) but kinda lacked flavour.
‘Tawar’ is a good way to describe this dish. Even some chili jeruk could not help.
On the other hand, the Char Kway Teow Utara was absolutely SEDAP GILER!!
Definitely the kind of dish I wish I had ordered for myself to be honest.
Good ol’ Char Kway Teow and done the way I like it – ‘basah‘ and ‘lecak‘ style with some gravy to make it slurp-able. There’s some seafood in there but the star of the dish is definitely the great flavour. Oh I hope that this dish is consistently cooked this way everytime we visit. Should have checked to see who’s the cook LOL
I think the only fault of this dish – it’s surprisingly NOT served in a Daun Upeh.
PS it’s not that spicy but you can probably ask for more spicy if you’d like.
Interestingly enough, the menu at Pondok Daun Opeh also features a few Thai-inspired dishes. We decided to try the Thai Fried Honey Chicken which turned out to be quite tasty actually!
It’s got kind of like a tangy honey lemon flavour and the chicken was pretty crispy (when it first arrived at least).
The menu also features (for some reason) dishes like Mee Rebus, Mee Siam, Mee Soto and the likes. They’re listed under the ‘Morning Special’ section but they were still available when we visited at night.
Oh! And as you’re waiting for your food, there’s a chance you may be served some Otah-Otah (probably only during selected hours of the day). I found myself failing the test of resistance and tucked into a few 😛
Saw a guy busy bakar-ing them (over an electric grill thingy) in the back so you may yet get them while they’re fresh. They’re charged individually (I think like 40 or 50 cents each maybe? I forgot lah!) and you just let the counter know you had some when you go to pay.
And by the way, when you order Sugarcane with Lemon, you may get limes instead 😛
You know what they say – when life gives you lemons, you make Sugarcane. With Limes.
Daun Upeh has been used way back when since kampung days not just as a vessel to contain the food but I’ve also been (repeatedly told) that it enhances the flavour of the food as well. Plus, it helps the food retain heat hence retaining that shiok factor as well.
For me personally, I never really got the ‘special’ function of Daun Upeh and always saw it more as just an extra gimmick and definitely something handy if you’re planning to bungkus something home (especially handy in the old days when plastic containers were not so common). But I know plenty of people who really do vouch for the flavour and experience enhancing powers of this leaf.
Before I left, I asked the guy at the cashier if this was indeed the same stall that was located at Pasir Ris’ Downtown East Asli Village. He wasn’t quite sure of the details (and seemed quite confused actually) but he did say that it was originally from Pasir Ris so I guess this is the same place.
There are probably quite a few places that serve up Daun Upeh dishes but I don’t think many actually specialize in it and have more than half their menu served on Daun Upeh. So if you’re craving for it, you know that Tampines has what you’re looking for.
But I still can’t get over that omelette…
PONDOK DAUN UPEH
Blk 801 Tampines Avenue 4
S 520801
Operating Hours: 7.00am til 11.00pm Daily
All information (including prices, availability of item on menu and Halal status of establishment) are accurate at the time of posting. All photos used in this site are property of The Halal Food Blog unless stated otherwise.
