Famous ex-Ngee Ann Polytechnic food court chef now at hotplate oyster omelette stall at Beauty World
The poly stall’s original cook left to work for this new rival eatery serving “upgraded” versions of the fluffy Japanese-Chinese fusion omelette.
Ah Meng (standing) used to work at the popular Japanese cuisine stall located at Ngee Ann Polytechnic's Makan Place food court. (Photos: 8Days/Dillon Tan)
If you’ve ever studied or worked at Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), you’ll do a double take when you walk past Osa Kaki Fuyong at Beauty World’s food centre. The Japanese fusion stall, which opened in early September, serves a slightly elevated version of the polytechnic’s best-loved dish.
Chances are you’d have queued up for the super popular (and original) “Kaki Fuyong” dish at the polytechnic’s canteen.
Sold at the Japanese Cuisine stall at NP’s Makan Place food court (which is open to the public), generations of students have eaten it and curious first-timers have joined the queue because #FOMO. Yes, even this writer, who is an NP lecturer, has succumbed. This dish is so popular, that it even inspired a student web series named after it.
So, what is Kaki Fuyong? It’s a hybrid Japanese-Chinese dish of kaki (oyster in Japanese) and egg (a la the popular zi char egg dish fuyong dan). It’s served sizzling in a round hotplate which, like all hotplate dishes, just makes your canteen meal feel a little more special.
COOKED BY THE SAME PERSON AT NP
Peep into Osa’s stall at Beauty World and you’ll spot a few familiar faces. Cook Ah Meng (centre) used to wield the hotplates at the NP stall for eight years before he left a year ago. At NP, he met Jack Lim (right), 47, who used to operate a steamed rice stall at the same food court, and his brother Samuel Lim (left), 34, who was the food court’s manager.
After leaving NP, the brothers hired Ah Meng to work at their mentai donburi stall at a coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio. They also run Beauty World Wanton Mee at Beauty World Centre. When the stall next to their Wanton Mee stall was available, the brothers grabbed it to start Osa Kaki Fuyong, naming it after the popular oyster omelette dish.
THE MENU
“I’d say our Kaki Fuyong is an ‘upgraded’ version of the NP recipe as we have adjusted it based on what we like, and also offer more variety [of toppings] in our menu,” says Jack Lim, who adds that “we really love the NP Kaki Fuyong, that’s why we decided to bring this to Beauty World Centre”.
Imitation is indeed the highest form of flattery though the NP stall does not have a monopoly on the yummy hotplate egg dish, of course. We’ve also heard of similar offerings at Nanyang Poly and NTU.
Ironically, the stall at NP (which we hear has been sold to a new vendor) no longer serves the eggy dish with oysters, only with chicken karaage (S$4), pork (S$4) or grilled saba fish (S$4.50). Each portion comes with rice and miso soup.
In comparison, Osa’s version starts from S$5.50 for their cheapest chicken karaage set, served with a bowl of rice. Miso soup with salmon or beef costs another S$1.50.
Osa’s menu has a whopping 38 items. Choose from oyster (both raw and the breaded deep-fried version), salmon, beef, house-made chicken karaage and store-bought ebi fry and scallops.
Served over an omelette made with two eggs, it is then topped with the original brown glaze (the signature sauce), Japanese curry or kimchi cheese. You can also have your omelette with Korean ramen instead of rice.
KAKI FUYONG ORIGINAL, S$5.50
Call it nostalgia. This dish that started it all is still our favourite. They are quite generous with their oysters, which is briefly simmered in a sweet-salty sauce. We counted at least 10 smallish ones. If only they were as big and plump as the ones pictured on their signboard but at S$5.50, we can’t complain.
A translucent teriyaki-esque glaze cloaks the oysters and seeps into the fluffy omelette. It crisps up at the edges, just the way we like our hotplate dishes. It’s not quite as satisfying as orh luak, but still very appetising,
We recommend eating it with the plain white rice that comes with your main dish though for just S$1.50, you can swap your rice with a heaving bowl of Japanese curry udon. That would overpower the original sauce, though.
BEEF KIMCHEESE FUYONG, S$7.50
The Kimcheese range is the least popular of the three but we actually really enjoyed this. Piquant kimchi and a slice of cheese, which is blow-torched before serving, add sour and savoury notes that cut through the richness.
SALMON CURRY FUYONG. S$6.50
You get a decently-sized piece of fried salmon. The home-made Japanese curry is also, well, decent. Not the best we’ve had, but competently executed.
CHICKEN KARAAGE KOREAN RAMEN, S$6.50
The four chicken chunks are crispy outside and juicy inside – definitely tastier than the pre-fried, cold and dry morsels we get at NP. The omelette doesn’t stay as hot as it would on a hotplate but is instead, soft and fluffy.
Our only complaint: The Korean ramen, mixed with some of the seasoning pack and Osa’s secret sauce, is a tad too salty.
BOTTOM LINE
Is the kaki fuyong here better than the Ngee Ann Poly original it was inspired by? Well, yes. Even those new to this not-quite-Japanese fusion dish will find it a tasty treat that sets Osa apart from the other Japanese food stalls at the hawker centre. So although this writer can eat it cheaper on campus, we’d still make a trip to Beauty World Centre for that Kimcheese omelette. With oysters, this time.
Osa Kaki Fuyong is at 144 Upper Bukit Timah Road, #04-18, Beauty World Centre, Singapore 588177. Open daily 10.30am to 8.30pm. Beauty World Food Centre will be closed for renovation from Oct 16 to 31, 2023.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
