Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh - A hidden gem in Sin Ming

Rong Cheng Bak Ku Teh offers soft premium pork ribs in a rich peppery garlicky broth. If not for Food Panda, I would never know of Rong Cheng. Today, we decided to go to the restaurant itself to try the dishes.

The service was very prompt. Upon taking our orders, the dishes were served less than 10 minutes later.

During the ordering, I realised that the menu does not state premium ribs which is different from Food Panda menu. I need to pay 11 bucks if I order premium ribs online. At the restaurant, the waitress told me that premium ribs are called "long (dragon) gu (bones)" When I asked her for the cost, she told me that they do not charge extra. Indeed, when I checked my receipt, it was 7 bucks for the bowl of ribs you see in the picture. The meat was so sweet and soft especially with the black and thick soya sauce. The soup is refillable.

When I ate it at home, I was very impressed with the braised sauce. It was so well balance and the meat was extremely soft. The skin and fats melt in your mouth. When the dish arrived, I was bitterly disappointed because there was no meat at all. I told the waitress about it and she walked away. I was thinking she might have thought I was a difficult customer because I should have known that pig trotters was meant to enjoy the fats and not meat.

To my pleasant surprise, another waiter served us another bowl of meat much later. I am very impressed with their service. The meat was just as soft and tender as I remembered. Thumbs up! Next time, during ordering, I would remind them to choose a mixture of meat and fats.

I did not particularly like the beancurd sheets because they were not soft enough and have yet to absorb the flavours of the braised sauce.

Rong Cheng enjoys serving half cooked liver. I have experienced it at home and I had to cook it again. I requested them twice to cook the liver. I suspect this is because some of the pieces are very thick. After cooking it twice for me, the liver tasted perfect. Some of the pieces were still pinkish.

I would definitely be back because of its tender ribs and perfectly braised trotters. The You Tiao, soaked in the broth, was a wonderful complement to the meal. Including a root beer, the bill came up to S$28. Another interesting thing to note is that the menu has Zi Char items like prawn paste chicken. This would definitely be a good place for you to host your family or relatives from overseas who want to try our local dishes.