A group of us met up again and this time with the courtesy invitation of Mr. Teh of Siong Ho Fish Head Bee Hoon and Criz for the liasing.

Siong Ho Fish Head Bee Hoon/Porridge stall is the only stall in Village Cafe, just by the roadside of busy Weld Quay (directions at the end of the post).

Look for this brown building landmark across this cafe. It’s a pretty small home-turned-business outlet and can accommodate only about 10+ tables. But although it’s just a small shop, there’s lots of customers buzzing in non-stop to taste the delicious dishes. It was full house that night and it was not even a weekend!!!

Among the ingredients to suit your palate.

The giant grouper fish head shown courtesy of the chef/boss.

 

Usually the patrons will just let the chef to choose a few common ingredients for their bowl of noodle/vermicelli/porridge but among what you can choose are, fish meat/fish head pieces (raw or deep fried), squid, frog, prawns, quail eggs, crab, pig’s kidney, fishball, meatball, minced meat and beancurd. Looks little but a combination of these can give you a whole lot of different types of servings.

The tomyam paste used for the fiery soup. It is not done by them but bought. There’s a choice of thin or thick vermicelli, instant noodles and porridge.

 

Tomyam ingredients of tomatoes, chilli padi, mushrooms, and mint leaves. Clear soup ingredients of chai poh, kiam chye (pickled vege), deep fried garlic, and spring onions.

This is the sought-after deep fried fish fillet or fish head pieces. Very crispy!!

 

Fish head (left) and fish fillet (right)

 

The chef proudly showing the grouper fish head and busy preparing + dishing out bowls after bowls.

 

The budding chef, learning and helping his sifu.

 

We were first served with the coffee shop’s specialty drink, Hot/Cold Blended White Nutmeg Juice with Plum - RM1.70/glass.

I’ve drink nutmeg juice in a lot of shops but most (if not all) of them uses the instant ones (syrups from bottles) to make this drink. But this shop blends it’s own nutmeg juice, hence the freshness is there. A refreshing juice!!!

 

We chat and chat away like we’ve known each other for years, and soon the first dish and many more starts to trigger in.

(Note that prices of some dishes are based on weight and selection of ingredients)

The most common type which is Fried Bass (Kalak Fish) Fillet Thick Bee Hoon Soup - RM5. The soup base is sweet due to the hours of boiling with bones. The deep fried fish fillet adds extra sweetness to this dish.

It’s best taken with cut red chillies and chilli padi for those who loves spicy.

 

Then came the tantalizing Tom Yam Prawn Maggi Mee - RM9 for 3 large prawns. All the "ooo-ahh" can be heard from us as the tomyam really captured our attention and the aroma was really captivating!!!

This tomyam is hot but yet has a hint of sour and sweetness. Added with prawns, it is a clear winner among the dishes that night!! Thumbs-up as I love spicy stuff!!!

 

Squid Maggi Mee Soup - RM5 is another variation prepared by the chef. The seafood taste is apparent here in the soup. The squid is cooked just right, therefore does not taste rubbery.

 

 

Prawn Bee Hoon Soup - RM9 for 3 large prawns. This time thin vermicelli is used and makes it a nice combination. The vermicelli is smooth and the sweetness of the prawns can be tasted even in the soup. I did not have the chance to try the prawns but from the look of it, is is real juicy and sweet (as apparent in the soup taste).

The chef added kiam chye in and it adds another dimension this dish. Good one!!

 

First four bowls up and gone in seconds!!! Haha 

 

Second round came soon after we were finished with the noodles. This round includes porridge. First was Fresh Grouper Fillet Porridge - RM7.50 (75gms). This porridge is like "moi" (rice cooked in soup base) instead of "chok" (rice boiled until it turned thick). The fresh fish fillet is appetizing and sweet!! Adding deep fried chopped garlic to the porridge is highly recommended!!

Frog Porridge - RM12 (RM6/100gms). I have not tried any frog dish before and not likely will, so I hardly touch this dish. I just took a sip of the porridge to taste the flavor and it turned out sweet and meaty, like meat porridge. How does frog meat taste like anyway??

(Don’t worry froggy, I’m too timid to eat you!! Won’t dare to try it anyway)

Then came another dish which made us go "ooo-ahh" again, Crab with Thick Bee Hoon Soup - RM10 (RM5/100gms). The crab is undeniably good but I feel this combination of thick bee hoon is not suitable. It’s just my opinion, as I prefer other type of noodle/vermicelli compared to this thick version.

We also has the chance to try the Fried Bass (Kalak Fish) Fish Head Mee Suah - RM5. The fish head is very good and mee suah is another version to savour the sweetness of this dish!!

And finally, as the saying goes, "save the best for last", the chef indeed save the best for the finale by presenting to us a huge claypot bowl of Mixed Seafood Tom Yam Soup - RM17 (based on selection of ingredients)

 

We were so delighted as the earlier bowl of tomyam noodle was not enough for us to savour this yummy tomyam. Almost all of the ingredients displayed were added to this tomyam, making it really the best dish to end the night.

(We actually ordered another small bowl of tomyam after this, with beancurd, minced meat and meatballs. The soup taste turned out a little different due to the beancurd. It became less sour and hence more adaptable for those who can’t take too sour/spicy soup. Haha we are indeed people who had to try different versions as taste-buds experiments!!)

The soup was fiery hot but makes you crave for more, spoonful after spoonful!!  

Directions:

Along Weld Quay main road, if you are coming from the ferry terminal, look out for these signboard on your left - Lim Jetty (temple), Chew Jetty (hawkers), Tan Jetty, Lee Jetty. After passing all these clan jetties and a Shell petrol kiosk, there’s a few attap houses before you reach this shop. The Village Cafe is just next to Trans Mission Enterprise and Chun Heng Auto Repair. Siong Ho Fish Head Bee Hoon/Porridge is closed on every 1st and 15th of the chinese calendar month.

Name: SIONG HO FISH HEAD NOODLES AND PORRIDGE
Address: 107-A, Pengkalan Weld (Weld Quay), 10300 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 12.00noon-11.30pm
Contact: 019-458 8693 (Mr. Teh/Ah Ho)
GPS: 5.411497, 100.336845

For other reviews:
Criz
Steven
New Kid On The Blog
Cokeworld Citizen
Gourmet Garden

This stall does serve a good deal of fish head bee hoon/porridge and tomyam dish. The ingredients are all very fresh.