Mr Teh Tarik @ Changi Village

It was Mother's Day actually and as always, we're always at loss as to where to dine that evening. We're aware that it'll be kinda'crowded everywhere.

My bro eventually reminded me that I've yet to check out the new branch of Mr Teh Tarik at Changi Village (they went one time, on a weekday evening). My bro then sound pretty enthused when he start recalling the Halal gelato shop next door.

So Mr Teh Tarik at Changi Village, it is.

Upon reaching there, I took a walk around to check out what's there. Indian food stall, Malay food stall, Western Food stall, Noodle stall, Zhi Char stall, Beef noodle stall, rojak stall up front (they also serve century eggs!) and others etc.

Wait... BEEF NOODLE?!

Aargh! It's like a dream come true! Well, apparently my male colleague had eagerly brought us to this coffee shop at Blk 3004 Ubi Ave 3, where there's this Chinese stall selling Beef Kway Teow. It was popular and rightly so, as affirmed by my colleague. Flavourful, beefy and thick broth with kway teow and generous amounts beef parts.

I can only watch and drool and my mind wandered to the very last time I had this kind of beef noodles. Indonesian 'Soto Sapi', Thaksin's Thai beef noodles and Vietnamese 'Pho Bo' don't count, mind you. I want this Chinese variant, with its thick, dark, gooey sauce (dry version) and thick bee hoon (also known as 'Laksa' noodles).

No points for guessing which stall I gleefully rushed to…

Looking up at the menu board, I analysed what they have to offer. Soup or 'dry' version. Choice of noodles. Beefballs, beef slices, mixed beef.. Aha!

As I ordered my, "Mixed beef, dry version with thick bee hoon." My mum came by to see what I ordered. I happily remarked, "Look, Ma… Tendons!" Immediately, she asked that I order for her too, just that she wants the soup version. 

Both of us really love beef tendons. I remember one time, I saw a plate of opaque white strips in the kitchen and I was like, "Euww... what's that?" Later on, my mum asked me to come over and try these translucent, jelly-like stuff, which she cooked with some sweet & spicy sauce. I had a bit and was blown away. Chewy, slightly bland yet it absorbed the flavours of the sauce really well. Awesome stuff!

My mum told me that those were the 'yucky' white stuff I saw earlier. They turn translucent when cooked. They are called 'tendons'. Or 'muscle'. The Malays refer to them as 'urat'.

I scanned the condiment containers and saw cut-up 'chili padi' (bird's eye chillies) and soy sauce, vinegared chilli sauce, white pepper and what looks like 'cincalok' (fermented shrimp sauce). I took a whiff (pungent!). Sure enough, it is. There's even calamansi lime halves. 

I remember when I had beef noodles at Banquet Parkway Parade (closed down already) and some place else (can't remember where), they serve the noodles with a small dish of 'sambal belacan' (chilli with shrimp paste) instead. I guess the idea here is to include fermented shrimp, huh?

Mixed beef - dry version

I was excited to see what's in my bowl. The varieties of meat made me delirious! Brisket (the dark brown chunks), beef balls,  tendons (the whitish ones), tripe and fresh, thinly sliced lean meat that's blanched in the soup prior to serving.

The thick and dark sauce carried a slightly herbal taste with peppery accents. Really something to yearn for on a cold, rainy day. All this for $6? Quite worth it, I guess.

Also served with a bowl of soup.

My mum's bowl of mixed beef in soup

Here in my mum's bowl, you can see the tripe (the whitish, long strip at the bottom) and cabbage in the soup.

The soup tasted delightful. Peppery and savoury.

We dipped our beef bits in the vinegared chilli sauce mixed with the 'cincalok' with a squeeze of the lime to offset any 'gamey' aftertaste.

After we came back to the table, it was my dad's turn. He took a walk around and we eventually saw him at the Beef Noodles stall. I excitedly tell my mum, "He don't eat the tendons, right? We can help ourselves to his!!"

Turns out, my dad was smart enough to tell the stallhand to omit the tendons and replace with other parts instead. Hmmph!


Our only gripe was that the brisket was slightly tough. Otherwise, it's a thumbs up!

Chicken Cutlet platter


My bro decide to order from the Western food stall. Apparently, their specialty is really fried chicken so fried chicken lovers, rejoice! 


I guess their batter makes all the difference. Appeared very KFC-esque at first look. Crispy (even crunchy) to the bite and the taste of the seasoning used was delish! Spicy, salty and slightly sweet (I think?). Chicken meat inside was juicy, too.


Saw another table having the chicken wings and they looked really awesome!! Gonna get myself some of those next time I'm here.

Cheese fries

This was pretty much ho-hum. Me thinks that they could do with more sauce. Agree…?

So that's a quick look at Mr Teh Tarik's latest branch. With their opening, there's a total of 3 eating places at that block 5 alone: 89.7 Supper Club (all Halal food), an eating house with the Halal Botak's Favourites and now this. Even with the closure of the market & hawker centre due to renovations, Changi Village is still buzzing with lotsa' activity (especially at night) with a great deal of family crowd hunting for good eats.

Gonna head there again soon. To think I live some 10-15 mins bus ride away! :)))


Mr Teh Tarik Eating House
Blk 5 
Changi Village Road (close to the junction)