It's been a bit of a while since we last came here.
Might it be that we tend to either stay in the Bedok/Bedok Reservoir/Kembangan area, or that we head straight into town these days rather than hopping from point to point?
Coming back to Leong Kee Bak Kut Teh brings back a whole lot of memories, which surprisingly, despite them having renovated, continue to stay.
I remember a time when the white fluorescent lit of the coffee shop interior cramped in the stall space, the counter space, and the coffee counter.
All that's gone, replaced by a fresh coat of cream-colored paint on the walls, a carefully hand-drawn mural, air-conditioning, and new furniture for dine-in customers.
No more do customers need to squeeze with each other at round black tables on the side five foot way beside the coffee shop.
No more too do customers have to sit out at tables in the back alley when the place is packed.
Now one gets air-conditioning whilst waiting for their food.
And a (quintessential) (ahem) Geylang view.
There's much about the food at Leong Kee that makes for a meaningful meal, especially if you're one fond, and familiar, with bak kut teh.
It might not come served in branded bowls or matching cutlery, but the claypot is solid, and the food's the same.
Leong Kee was one of the first few places that taught me to appreciate bak kut teh- it never used to be a particular favorite of mine- and because I learnt to love the black herbal version of the teh, thought I would only appreciate this style.
A person grows, of course, and today whilst I do go for the Teochew style of white peppery bak kut teh broth, I still have a thing for the black herbal one, and Leong Kee's the place I like to go to whenever the thought hits.
We ordered our regular dishes of bak kut teh and ter ka this hot, sunny afternoon.
A bit of anticipation on my part, I gotta admit- it had been so long.
Glad I was, then, when the food arrived just the way I remembered it- fragrant, bubbling hot, plenty of meat sitting inside.
There's something very heartening about the soup here at Leong Kee.
It might be the Cantonese in me who is very used to broths and soups and double-boiled stuff, but one gets this overwhelming sense of warmth even with just a little sip, as if someone had taken a warm, fluffy blanket and wrapped your entire body system comfortably in it.
Some people might find it weird, but really, it goes through you, and you can feel it.
Another thing I like about the food here is how huge their portions are.
They don't stinge with the size.
Where some places like to do lots of little bite sized here and there, here theirs are all big big chonky chonky with the pork ribs chopped thick and big, the vegetable and tau kee all one whole piece.
No elegant eating over here, just work your chopsticks and spoon, or better yet, throw away whatever dining propriety and stuff the whole piece of whatever you want inside your mouth.
I did it with the lettuce.
My friend did it with the tau kee.
This is not a place to put the entire piece of bak kut bone in your mouth though.
Too big.
One has to either tear it with the teeth, or with the hands.
I like alternating my meat and rice with sips of the soup. The warm broth softens the meat, makes it more flavorful, and wraps your tongue with a comforting feel better than if you were to eat the meat by itself alone.
There're no favorites when it comes to these two dishes.
I like them both equally the same.
Even the ter ka, which, although I said I would never eat, over the years, I have learnt to appreciate the solid, solid feel of the meat underneath the bouncy collagen-rich skin.
Friends sometimes tell me I ought to learn how to eat the pig skin.
It's supposed to be good for me.
But to my imaginative brain it looks scary, and till date, I haven't learnt yet how to look at it properly, much less stick it inside my mouth and chew on it.
Maybe I'm not good with savory types of collagen.
I'm better with the sweet.
But I like the gravy of this pig trotter dish.
And I love the parsley veggie that always comes resting on top of the chonky trotter meat below.