Fatty Cheong - One of the Best Char Siew and Sio Bak

Ever since I have been to Foong Kee and savored what I consider to be the best char siew in Singapore, I have always been recommended to try Fatty Cheong's Cannot See Daylight Char Siew at Brickworks Food Market.

Well, I have finally made this culinary pilgrimage with my regular food kaki, Ken and I was certainly not disappointed. But is it as good or even better than Foong Kee? Read on to find out.

We went there on a Saturday late morning and as expected, there was a long queue of eager patrons waiting to get their hands on this popular char siew. Thankfully, the folks at the stall were razor quick and we got our food in no time, despite the queue.

Cannot See Daylight Char Siew

The reason its being coined as Cannot See Daylight, is that it refers to a cut of the pig that is beneath the pork shoulder where there is just an equal amount of fat and lean meat, which is neither too greasy fat or too chewy meat.

The first thing that hit me was the beautiful sauce that came on the plate with the meat, and it had a beautiful caramelized and sweet flavor. The char siew itself was quite tender but somehow, it was not as charred as the Foong Kee's version, which some may actually prefer.

All in all, I have to rate it as the second best in Singapore, as I still prefer Foong Kee's more charred and slightly more bitter version, which gave a better balance. Fatty Cheong's version is still excellent, and far exceeds any other char siew stall in Singapore, including Shunfu's Fu Shi one by a long mile.

Sio Bak

The sio bak was equally brilliant, and was exceptionally crispy on the skin. The meat portion was also well done, not too tough and not too much fatty meat and had a nice balance of fat and meat to give you that perfect texture and bite.

Wanton Noodles

We also tried out the regular items like rice and noodles, just to make sure that this would be more than just a char siew stall and they were uniformly excellent. I am glad to report that despite having a reputation for being a roasted meat stall, standard dishes like noodles and rice here still provide a good value and quality as well.

So, in the end, Foong Kee still reigns supreme for me, but make no mistake, Fatty Cheong is popular because it is almost every bit as good in their char siew and sio bak.

Between Fatty and Foong Kee, I think there is really no need to visit any other char siew stall in town, and yes, you cannot eat this every day, so it has to be a really good one to visit to have your char siew and sio bak fix.

Fatty Cheong
ABC Brickworks Food Centre
6 Jalan Bukit Merah
#01-120