Gorillla Curry Review: Salted Egg Pork Curry Rice For $5.50 At Bukit Batok

Gloopy, hearty curry ladled over a pile of white rice is a far cry from aesthetic cafe fare. Gorilla Curry , formerly known as Lao Cai’s Curry, aims to harness all those comforting qualities in their curry rice dishes, but with a unique twist.

Nyonya-style chicken curry is paired with meats ranging from the ubiquitous braised pork belly to nouveau interpretations like salted egg pork. While this stall has been serving up curry for the best part of 10 years, they only made the move to Bukit Batok four months ago.

Along with them came adjacent sister Hokkien mee stall Mian Wang 1971 , which is run by the same staff and chef. Food at Gorilla Curry Their Braised Pork Curry Chicken Rice ($6.50) combines two of the stall’s most popular meats.

A slab of fatty lu rou partners a pair of chicken drumlets that swim in vivid yellow curry. The sunny yellow hue of our curry had us anticipating a pungent turmeric aroma and savour , but we were instead greeted by strong nuttiness and creaminess from the coconut milk . There in addition wasn’t enough curry, leaving us with bare pockets of white rice once the meat and gravy were consumed.

It was a tad overcooked and wasn’t fully permeated with curry, resulting in bland meat as we approached the bone. Gleaming golden chunks of salted egg pork were the flagship act in our Salted Egg Pork Curry Rice ($5.50) .

The protein is prepared in a similar fashion to its sister stall’s salted egg calamari, and is first deep-fried before being doused in a margarine-based salted egg yolk sauce. Sumptuous salted egg taste smacks your tongue from the get-go, supplemented by its usual partners in crime – curry leaf and chilli padi. That meant it lacked the bouncy bite that a ring of calamari or thicker cut of pork would possess.

Intense salted egg savour is always desirable, but that intensity made us even more aware of the curry’s lack of spice. Overall, that meant the mellower flavour of lu rou proved a better companion for this curry rice.

We were taken aback by the appearance of our Red Glazed Pork Belly Rice ($5.50) . Yet, we in addition felt this meat didn’t dance cohesively with the curry, with both pork and gravy losing their character when eaten together.

The verdict With its array of creative takes on curry rice, Gorilla Curry serves up hits and misses in equal proportion. Be sure to check out our review of its adjacent sister stall, Mian Wang 1971 !

Dive deeper into the world of Chinese-style curry rice with our review of Eleven Finger Scissors Curry Rice or our list of famous curry rice stalls .