Beng Who Cooks is a new restaurant at Neil Road. It is opened by Jason Chua and Hung Zhen Long who had dished out free meals from their former hawker stall in Hong Lim Complex. In recognition of their efforts, Straits Times call them the Ah Beng hawkers who became Covid-19 heroes. We thought that we should show support by stopping by to try some Beng cuisine.
For more information on the Covid heroes and background of new restaurant Beng Who Cooks, you can refer to the Straits TImes article on 22 November 2020.
The decor of the restaurant is bare and industrial. It looks like a concrete box with simple tables and chairs. In terms of aesthetics, we can appreciate the beauty of bare concrete, but not in terms of acoustics. Even though the restaurant was less than half full when we were there for lunch on a weekday, it was a noisy place.We understand that more furnishing items are expected, these would hopefully dampen the sounds at the restaurant.
Beng Who Cooks Menu
Here are pictures of the Beng Who Cooks menu for lunch. It is a short menu with affordable items starting from $8 for the Bak Chor Rice Bowl. A more sophisticated (and pricey) menu is available at dinner. You can find these on the BWC Facebook page (link below).
Our Lunch
For our lunch at Beng Who Cooks, we tried three types of rice bowls: Bak Chor ($8), Aburi Salmon ($15) and Brown Coloured Mushrooms and Tofu ($12). We also ordered an item from the salad section, cheekily named Sous Vide Chicken Neh Neh ($9)
We enjoyed all the rice bowls. They also looked quite beautiful. Like many people, we like onsen eggs and there was one for each bowl. The bak chor rice (above) was probably the best because the rice, minced pork and egg can be all mixed up. The combined textures and taste were wonderful. The Aburi Salmon (picture below) had nice burnt flavours.
The mushrooms and tofu bowl (picture below) provides an option for those who prefer a meatless lunch.
The most ordinary dish of the day was the one with the most colourful name. The salad with chicken breast was just that – pieces of bland chicken on a pile of leaves, garnished with some mozarella balls. You can probably tell that I am not a fan of salads. Those who like to eat healthy will probably like it as it seems almost fatless.
Overall, dining at Beng Who Cooks was a nice experience (apart from the noise issue which hopefully will be fixed soon). The food was good and service was friendly and efficient.
Ratings:
Food: 3
Service: 4
Value: 3
Atmosphere: 2
Overall Rating: 3 TOPs 
Beng Who Cooks
39 Neil Road
Singapore 088823
The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
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