Tie Fun Wan by Chef Ken Chia – Nostalgic Old School Bowls

After operating Rice&Fries for 5 years, Chef Ken Chia, 43, decided to shut the restaurant, and open Tie Fun Wan. His decision stems from the desire to set aside more time for his family as being the boss of Rice&Fries required him to put in long hours at work. Currently a father of 3, Chef Ken wants to be more family oriented and have a work-life balance. After sourcing for almost a year, he found a cosy space near Farrer Park MRT.

I fell in love with the old school bowls which evoke nostalgia. Each main course comes with either Japanese pearl rice or Shanghai noodle. We added an egg (additional $1.50) to all of our bowls.

At first glance, Tie Fun Wan seems to offer local Chinese cuisine, but they actually serve fusion dishes. The reason why Chef Ken can serve the orders efficiently is because he sous vide most of his meats and eggs beforehand. Having worked in the hotel F&B industry, Chef Ken has mastered the Western method of tenderising meats, and different cooking techniques.

Sous vide for 72 hours, the beef slices are then drenched with a house-made teriyaki plum sauce, and torched. A smoky hint first hits you, before a sweet and fruity aftertaste does. As a beef-lover, I love love love this! If this is sold out and not replenished beforehand, the next time this will be available will be 72 hours later!

A fan of Lu Rou Fan (Braised Pork Rice Bowl), Chef Ken ensures that his pork belly has a consistently even amount of fats and meat. Insistent about not using frozen pork belly at all, Chef Ken also gets his dou gan (firm tofu) every 2 days from a wet market where the vendor makes them fresh everyday. I wished that the pork belly was more tender but I really enjoyed the braised sauce which complemented the Japanese pearl rice very well.

The Mala Pork Collar has been on the menu for just a month. I decided to have it with the Shanghai noodles. The pork collar is marinated before the mala sauce is added to it. The mala flavour and fragrance was quite legit but the dish wasn’t exceedingly spicy or mouth-numbing.

The Shanghai noodles were springy and had a great bite. Chef Ken mentioned that since he is a Malaysian, he came up with the idea of pairing the noodles with a house-made sauce that’s similar to the one used in Malaysian gan lao mian (dry tossed noodle).

My second favourite dish has to be the Teriyaki Chicken. Its skin was also torched till slightly crispy and beautifully charred. The chicken thigh was tender and smoky. Overall, it was extremely palatable for both kids and adults like myself.

The punny decorations all over the place shows how “fun” Chef Ken is. All for laughs and no offence! Many of Chef Ken’s friends who are chefs themselves tend to hang out here after work. A great news is that Tie Fun Wan will offer beer after getting the liquor license.

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.