Battle of the Moo Ka Ta in Singapore
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(Third place I tried and now it is my favourite!)
MooJaa in Keong Saik Road was a clear winner with the fantastic service - here you see our server placing the food in the pan for us. MooJaa has two sauces available, one great for seafood and the other for meat. I also enjoyed the amazing soup (Made from Chicken and Pork) and the really tasty Thai Tea and lemongrass drink. One set is $45 but you have the option to get the buffet at just $32 + $5 for free flow of drinks of your choice per person. Waiting for the charcoal to arrive felt short, as we had the fish skin and the delicious pork balls with cheese oozing out as a starter. It took about 15 - 20mins for the charcoal to be hot enough for them to bring out the pot of coal and the pan. Air conditioned, you get to eat in comfort. |
Golden Mile Level 1 ( First place I tried, No.2 on my list of favourite Moo Ka Ta places ) My thai friends raved about this place in Golden Mile and took me out for dinner. The food was good, and if I didn't try MooJaa, I would think it is probably the best in Singapore. The thai tea that they have as well as the flexibility to order thai dishes from the neighbouring stalls were a plus point too. Their dipping sauce is spicy with peanuts mashed in, delicious! Service is better if you speak thai, but one set that comprises pork, chicken, seafood, liver and vegetables go for $39 and the portions were really small. Reordering pork or liver sets you back by $10 per plate, and the portions are small, so be forewarned. Air conditioned but you will sweat while eating. | Geylang Lorong 8 ( Second place place I tried and if I return, it would only be for the Fish Head Curry ) We went to look for durian in Geylang and chanced upon the Mookata at Geyland Lorong 8. We waited so long that we ordered their Fish Head curry (FANTASTIC) and were overwhelmed by the HUGE portion of meat thrown haphazardly on top of a mountain of cabbage. Mookata was ok, but not as good as their fish head curry. The set here is $39 and the prawns, though big, were not really fresh. It could also be due to the fact that they brought the raw food out of the fridge and set them on our table while waiting for approximately 20mins for the black charcoal to be hot enough. The staff only speak Mandarin, so if you speak English or Thai, you will probably have to gesture. Outdoors and set next to the road. |
The MooJaa Reveal Review
" Moo Ka Ta, for the uninitiated, literally means "Pork Skillet" in Thai and refers to the special cooking apparatus created to enjoy both barbecue and hot pot at the same time. A trough of soup sits on a crock of charcoal, and a dome shaped grill is placed on the trough. This allows the smoke from the charcoal to waft up to the grill, perfuming the meats with some seriously fragrant "wok hei" (wok's breath)." Written by MooJaa, this accurately sums up what Moo Ka Ta is all about, and at the same time, gives you a little insight into the little details that help set MooJaa apart from the rest of the Moo Ka Ta places in Singapore.
At the heart of MooJaa
" I purchase the ingredients personally to ensure quality control. You can buy the same vegetable but only with years of experience can you find the best." " I have many paper qualifications as a chef, both in Singapore and in Thailand." "My salary here is good, and I work hard to make the food tasty and memorable with real thai ingredients." | "Mae Krua" (Chef) Nang is another intriguing character. Hailing from the Issan region of Thailand, Buriram, famed for the Som Tam and Kao Niu (Thai salad and sticky glutinous rice), she is so proud of the quality of her food and her ability to create authentic thai dishes that she gave us a little sample of both "Nam Prik Kapi" and "Pla ra Bong". Both Thai friends were instrumental in getting that amazing sauce, as they spoke in Laos (a dialect commonly found in the Issan Region) and were telling her how difficult it is to find real thai food here in Singapore. Pla Ra Bong is rarely found in Singapore, in fact, this is the FIRST and ONLY restaurant we have been to (we've gone to countless thai food places, from cheap to fine dining) that has Pala in their thai salads, making it so authentic that if a Thai from Issan finds out that MooJaa has Pla Ra, you won't be able to get a seat in MooJaa, it would be packed full...at all hours, and they open till 6am! So what is Pla Ra? Fermented fish sauce, a MUST in Issan cusine but really difficult to get. In fact, when asked how did she manage to get Pla Ra (Suppliers do not carry this!), she happily told us that she brings the precious sauce in when she comes back to Singapore from Thailand. We had so much fun talking to her (thankfully there were no other customers in MooJaa except for us - we came at 5pm) that we were sorry to see her get back to work when the customers started pouring in at 5.50pm. |
Look at how tasty the beef looks, on top of the BBQ pan. Notice the slight char on my crisp pork slices too! | Slight bbq flavour was perfect with the soft juicy beef - I didn't dip it in any sauce, and grilled in its own juices, this slice of beef was tender with no tendons to distract me from my little slice of heaven. |
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