Hou Lah 厚啦

Hou Lah is one of those names that have been appearing quite a fair bit on social media way before its official opening over the weekend; located within the ground floor of a shophouse unit at North Bridge Road, Hou Lah had taken over the former premises of [working title] there. Hou Lah is not entirely a name that is new tit he local F&B scene to say the least; these folks had been a pop-up concept for a short while, with operations usually being within Pasar Malams (i.e. night markets) all across the island. The opening of their North Bridge Road location can be said as their very first move into a permanent space; the shophouse being tastefully designed for its facade with angled windows that gives it a slightly more outstanding look aside from the bright lights and orange paint that adorns the facade. Entering the space though, one finds a very cosy and setting that is decked simply with white walls and wooden furnishings — simple, though not too bare and minimal; certainly a welcoming environment to sit in for a decent amount of time even. One can also find the mobile kiosk which the folks of Hou Lah had previously used to run their pop-up business out of tucked towards the end of the shop space as well. Hou Lah has been an establishment which is well noted for their thick toast offerings during their days as a pop-up stall; with them now being a permanent establishment, they have also introduced a new menu line-up that includes more items such as noodles, crepes and finger food. For desserts, Hou Lah does offer a range of Snow Ice (i.e. Taiwanese-style shaved ice), while beverages available at Hou Lah includes tea (with or without milk), as well as other commercially-made beverages.

We actually tried a number of dishes during our visit to Hou Lah but eventually found that the highlight at Hou Lah was indeed their Crumble Spread Thick Toast that made them so known as it is before they had decided to open up this permanent space here. For context, Hou Lah does actually serve up quite a decent variety of Crumble Spread Thick Toast, which includes items such as the Classic Puff Pastry Thick Toast, the Cheese Thick Toast and a Taiwan Peanut Butter Thick Toast — just to name a few. The Earl Grey Creme Thick Toast that we chose to go for the we one that really had gotten our attention just for the sheer fact of it coming with Earl Grey — we do enjoy most items that comes with a tea fusion anyway. One thing interesting about Hou Lah’s Crumble Spread Thick Toast offerings is how it doesn’t come simply with a layer of spread atop the thick toast itself: rather the spread appears to have been either toasted or baked for a slightly crumbly texture while it worked reveal the spread as one digs their cutlery into it.

Case in point, the Earl Grey Creme Thick Toast comes with a layer of Earl Grey crumble spread atop the toast; we note that the texture on the surface is a little crusty, though we wouldn’t really call it crunchy or crisp by any means. We did note that the crusted layer did carry a hint of flavours similar to almond frangipane that is usually an element found in almond croissants; the light nuttiness coming before that distinct note or earl grey tea comes through from the smooth spread. The thick toast is light and fluffy; quite easy to have. Other items that we had tried which we felt was pretty decent was the Fish Floss Taiwan Crepe — the floss being nothing short of umami flavour with a crepe that is crisp and chewy with a sunny side-up that comes with a fully-cooked yolk within. The Seafood Guo Shao Yi Mian was interesting, being an item which came with clams and a prawn as well as a fully-cooked sunny side-up, the Yi Mian was actually fried and served in a soup — an item that would prove comforting for some, though a wasn’t quite our cup of tea since we aren’t folks whom quite appreciate soup noodles anyway. Quality and standards of food aside, Hou Lah is most certainly an establishment that is still trying to sort out its operations especially considering how they are still on Day One of its operations when we made our visit — there is certainly some waiting time involved with the food, along with quite a crowd whom have visited due to its official opening and the opening promotion that they were doing; we do think they some time would be required for them to sort out the teething issues on its operations. Still, somewhere that those whom are into toasts should visit to see what their Crumble Spread Thick Toast is all about!