88 Hong Kong Roast Meat Specialist – Gorgeous Charcoal-Roasted Meats You Simply Cannot Resist

88 Hong Kong Roast Meat Specialist is not new in the market but they have recently opened their flagship outlet in Lavender. As many of you know, the boss, Martin Ong, does one of the best sio baks in town! We fell in love with the biscuit-like sio bak skin that we kept going back for more.

He has moved a few times and this latest one in Lavender Street is their flagship. This space is where he will prepare all the roast meats and deliver them to the rest of the outlets.

I have known Martin for a long time, since he started his first stall in Tampines. He was originally trained in Western cuisine. But this guy never stops learning. He took years to experiment and develop his own technique for roasting pork. The last time when I met him at his old stall in Tyrwhitt Road, he was showing me how he modified his roast oven. With his new flagship stall along Lavender Street, he is finally able to do charcoal roast.

You know lah, charcoal smoke is one of the things that can bring roast meat up a notch. A lot of stalls are using gas oven either because of convenience or the restrictions within the stall. Hence, I am happy that Martin is able to use charcoal to roast the meats now. Not only do the meats get a nice char, the meats are imbued with a lovely smokiness that’s quite noticeable!

I kept saying sio bak sio bak sio bak, so just how good is their sio bak? Well, you really want the skin to be crispy. I think Martin has got the right formula. The skin is really crispy; brittle to the point that it is almost breaking.

The sio bak are air dried for at least 24 hours. You can hear the crackling sound when you bite into skin. The skin is dry and it breaks apart like biscuit. The first bite produces a noisy crunch as the skin breaks, then you will find yourself sinking your teeth into well-seasoned, tender, and juicy meat.

The other meats, surprisingly, were so much better than the last time I tried them! In fact, they fared as good as the sio bak. The roasted duck was really beautifully seasoned, with quite a refined taste that wasn’t too gamey. Martin collects the duck juices that oozed out during the roasting process and baste the meat in its own juices to keep it moist.

The char siew was, for me, one of the best barbecued pork I have eaten in a long time. Eating Martin’s char siew is like eating a fatty version of bak kwa. He has to first braise the pork loin with a sweet malt sugar marinate, before he can roast the meat. Then, he drenches the beautifully roasted meat with a dark gooey sauce.

Nothing says comfort food like tender well-caramelised barbecued pork with the perfect fat-to-lean meat ratio. Enjoy that burst of oil when you bite into a piece of juicy char siew. The layer of fat had been roasted until it’s white and creamy, like lard. It was also not too sweet despite being covered in maltose.

I like to order their wanton mee because I can have both their juicy char siew and tasty wanton. Mix the noodles well with their chilli and lard oil. You can also pair the noodles with their other roast meats too. I guarantee you will have a very satisfying lunch – just make sure you get here by noon before the crowd builds up.

The meats usually start parading in from the kitchen at about 11am. If you are early, grab a cup of coffee and their luncheon meat omelette sandwich for breakfast first!