88 Hong Kong Roast Meat Specialist at Tyrwhitt Rd – You Won’t Want To Miss Their Sio Bak

Hong Kong 88 Roast Meat Specialist has shifted again – this time just one street away from his previous location! To be honest, I am getting tired following him around because he seems to be changing location way too frequently. I really hope that he will settle permanently at this present location.

If you have been following MissTamChiak.com, you will recall that I have been raving about their very solid sio bak which is what owner Martin is known for. He has got the right formula – the golden brown skin is crispy brittle to the point that it is almost breaking.

He takes more than 2 hours to make the sio bak, from braising to drying then roasting. The end result is a dry and crispy skin that has a biscuit-like texture, with the first bite producing a noisy crunch from the skin before it gives way to the juicy layers of well-seasoned tender and moist meat under it.

The last time, Marin’s char siew didn’t impress. But this time round, it was good. Adding malt sugar into the pork loin, his secret sauce has got a thick gooey goodness. He grills the meat into a dark red caramelized skin with some sweetness and smokiness. He also has a stall that sells wanton mee just situated right beside his roast meat stall. Imagine having this with the noodles, oh man.

Look at this! Look at this! Such glistering skin that can almost reflect (note: I didn’t edit the colour saturation of the photo). Now, I am impressed. Using duck from Malaysia and slaughtered in Singapore, you get (almost) fresh duck. He marinated the duck with minimal seasonings, hence you get the natural sweetness encased in a layer of crispy, fragrant skin. It’s even better with the sambal chilli! Guess, what, he has fine-tuned his charcoal roast so all his meats now got that smoky aroma that is missing in many roast meat stalls.

To complete the whole cycle, Martin has hired a chef who used to work in a popular chicken rice chain to cook the rice and chilli sauce. While the soya sauce chicken we ate had a nice texture, we thought they were a little too generous with the sauce. However, we get a perfect plate of aromatic rice enhanced with ginger and garlic. Coupled with the tangy chilli sauce, the elements are very well-matched.