We're often at loss as to what have for lunch. We always made a mad gamble to head blindly to a certain location and decide on the last minute, where we'll be dining at.
Initially, we meant to head to Parkway Parade. Then a colleague decided to just dine at the Marine Parade hawker centre. After which, another colleague recalled that Charco's had just moved into this area.
Entrance...
From the multi-storey carpark, that is. Back door into the foodcourt which brings you right to Charco's stall (hence that label on the door?).
Rack of Ribs + 3 Salads - $15.10
My order.
Choice of salads:
(clockwise from bottom) potato salad, Greek salad & Caesar's salad. The potato salad is kinda' plain, actually. But nice, nevertheless. I love the sour-y vinaigrette used in the Greek salad. Aside from the cucumbers & capsicums, there's also some chunks of feta cheese.
Yum!
As soon as I know that I'm heading here, I've set my mind on ordering their ribs. Aside from the one time at Breeks, I've never really had BBQ ribs anywhere else.
However, I wasn't sure if I want the regular ribs meals, which will come with only either chips, creme potato and peas. I had seen their salad display and I KNOW I WANT them.
Only when my colleague placed his order for this, do I realise there's such an option. However, the ribs had appeared pretty large in the picture and I fear that they'll be too much.
Turns out, they already conveniently cut the ribs up upon serving so we can easily nibble or slice, piece by piece.
Rack of Ribs + 3 Salads - $15.10
My colleague had a similar order, with different varieties of salads.
Since the ribs used is from lamb meat, the 'gamey' scent is pretty much inevitable (although I personally think that using rosemary does help a bit). My colleague, the foodie was griping so much about that. And the fact that the meat was not fall-off-the-bone kind of tender.
I asked him what the usual ribs are like (read: pork). He went on to glorify the tenderness, how meaty and definitely not 'gamey'.
I told him straight on that I don't have much of a choice, have I? It's either lamb of beef. And beef ribs tend to be tough and dry. Beside, I'm fine with this scent since we do get it when we wallop the beef/bone steak anyway.
Honestly, I like the ribs here. The BBQ marinade made the meat slightly crispy at the edges and leave a somewhat sweet aftertaste. The meat is tender enough such that we don't have a tough time chewing. Makes it all the more fun to just pick up each piece with our fingers and nibble on the meat and lick the sauce off the bones.
3 salads
My colleague chose the:
(clockwise from bottom) coleslaw, Caesar's salad & chicken avocado.
In the latter, it seems that the term 'avocado' only apply to the sauce used (like a guacamole??). There's also farfelle pasta in that.
The Caesar salad is worth ordering. Comes with a piece of boiled egg, some chicken bits, croutons & shredded cheddar cheese.
Gonna check out the seafood salad & creme potato the next time I'm here.
Hawaiian Meal - $8.50
Another colleague's order. Pineapple fritters, chips and 1/4 chicken.
The chicken here is the Charco's chicken, which is the one marinated with herbs. Another version would have been the Portugese chicken, which is supposedly spicy.
I didn't really try the chicken so I can't comment on its texture. Except that I got a large piece of the skin and it was crispy! However, the flavor seem a tad... mild. Maybe because this is the herb-y version. Not sure about the spicy, Portuguese one, though.
The chips here seem to be sticks cut from an actual potato, reminding me of those served with orders of 'Lamb chop' at at
Indian
'mamak' stalls.
Oh, chilli, ketchup and BBQ sauce are free-flow.
Whee!
Their online menu
HERE.
Location:
Blk 89 Marine Parade Central
#01-750,
Island Food Junction
They've since shifted to another location nearby:
Blk 80 Marine Parade Central
(an old coffee shop)
