I Saw I Came I Ate - Woody Family Cafe - A Peranakan Food Haven

Hello all, hope all of you are doing well. I am back again to do a sharing on a special dining place that holds a special space in both me and wife's heart as I think this is really one of the best food we can find near our house and we tend to reserve this place for special occasions. This time when my wife and I visit, it is celebrate her birthday. So let's get right on to the sharing.

The Place
Woody Family Cafe
Address: 12F Andrews Ave, Singapore 759930

Notes on this place: The cafe/restaurant is actually at someone's house whom converted part of their house into a dining area and when you drive by, you will not missed it especially it at night as it will be brightly lit. It is very near to Sembawang Park. However, carpark can be a problem as many times when I visit, I struggle to find a parking even when it is residential estate. So my tip will be to park at Sembawang Park take a short walk to the place.

The place really gives you the retro feel with its simple decor and looks really beautiful. I just like the ambience a lot, gives you the relaxing feel of actually eating at someone's house with additional lighting.

The Food
Now to the main highlight of this post, let's talk about the food that this restaurant serves. While this place serves an assortment of food, the star items of the place is actually its Peranakan food.

To give some perspectives, Peranakan food is cooked in a way where Chinese ingredients are cooked with herbs and spices and cooking techniques used by the Malaysian/Indonesian community. And because of this mix, we do have quite a lot of food that are on the spicy end of things and because also Peranakan food is not halal due to using pork/lard in some of the dishes.

And here's what my wife and I ordered:

• Nasi Ulam
• Tok Bulat Set (The one in the wooden serving tray)

Tok Bulat Set Includes:

• Achar (Pickled vegetables)
• Soup of the Day (Radish Chicken Soup)
• Sambal Tumis Sotong
• Babi Pongteh (Pork stewed in mixed paste)
• Nonya Chap Chye (mixed vegetables)
• Chilli Garam Fish Fillet
• Sambal Terung with Tiger Prawns

Let's start looking at each of the food closely as I share my thoughts and reviews on each item.

Nasi Ulam

Comprising essentially more than 16 aromatic herbs and spices tossed in steamed fragrant rice, sambal belachan that gives hints of sweet, salty and tangy flavours in all the right places. While it might look like a simple fried rice, the moment you put it in your mouth, it is like an explosion of taste, so many dimension and so rich in taste. Compared to normal fried rice, this is almost like the most premium fried rice you can get. However, there might be some whom do not like such fried rice packed with so much flavour, so it all depends on personal preference at the end of the day.

Tok Bulat Set

The highlight of our dinner. Something we always order whenever we come to this place. This is like the hallmark of Peranakan food sampled just enough for 2 people. The portion is scaled just now so that one will not be overly full or walk away feeling hungry. I will go through item by item on this amazing set of dishes that was served in a wooden tray and respective wooden bowls. I love the presentation and having a serving spoon in each of the dish other than the Achar.

• Achar (Pickled vegetables)
  A simple dish that is commonly found in Singapore and Malaysia made up of cucumber, carrots, pineapples that is prepared with vinegar and other seasoning to make into an appetizer dish. Simple, crunchy and nicely flavoured.

• Soup of the Day (Radish Chicken Soup)
  Very important part of the set. It can be used to wet the Nasi Ulam to soften it or can be drank alone. However, one key thing that this soup is the counter to the next dish which is flaming hot. Rich in flavour with a hint of sweetness and the chicken boiled to a point where the meat can fall off the bone with ease but without become too tough or dry.

• Sambal Tumis Sotong
  Oh my, this is one crazy dish. It is super spicy. I remembered asking my wife, are you sure you want to order this? She said yes. And here we are we have this nice spicy dish with Sotong (squid) and also Petai (bitter bean). Nice on the texture and totally flavourful. For first timer, I recommend to avoid this dish unless you really love spicy food.

• Babi Pongteh (Pork stewed in mixed paste)
  This dish is one of my favourite and I must order whenever I come. The lady owner of the cafe whom is also the chef stewed the pork to perfection. Nice and tender with good blend of the paste that elevate your taste buds. This is one signature dish of Peranakan food. A must try.

• Nonya Chap Chye (mixed vegetables)
  A simple dish consisting of cabbage, black fungus, button mushrooms etc. While it look seemingly simple, it taste really good and way better than the mixed vegetables you can find in coffeeshops.

• Chilli Garam Fish Fillet
  A piece of barramundi stewed in spicy sauce with the fish retaining its freshness yet able to gather sufficient amount of spicyness to give the fish a good layering effect of taste.

• Sambal Terung with Tiger Prawns
  The last of the set, Terung is egg plant (I don't like it, I had a post recently about it) and it's my wife's favourite. Stir fried in sambal sauce and mixed well between egg plant and tiger prawn. The prawns are fresh and have a nice bite. Even without the egg plant, the dish is awesome. Egg plant is fully gobbled up by my wife.

Overall:
Authentic Peranakan food at its best. I recalled chatting with the female owner (the chef) and she shared with me on how much effort is being put into each dish because of the spices needed and also the procedure of preparing. I can truly understand that and with her hard work, she presents to us amazing Peranakan dishes which is just so good. Kudos to her! If you haven't tasted authentic Peranakan dishes, look no further, this is the place to come to.

Closing
Thank you for coming by and reading my post, wife was so happy that I brought her here to celebrate her birthday and enjoying our favourite food together. Hope you enjoyed my sharing. Let me know your thoughts and I hope to share more good food with the community soon.