Hong Chang Frog Porridge and BBQ Fish

I always have cravings for BBQ fish so when I asked my colleague for a recommendation, we decided to visit Hong Chang as it is a hotspot for Frog porridge and BBQ fish

Located along Braddell Road, Hong Chang is extremely popular with the dinner crowd. We arrived close to 7pm and most seats were taken up. Due to the size of the coffee shop, most of the tables were set up outside the shop on the pavement next to the carpark which I found quite dark. We were lucky to get a table nearer to the shop so we had sufficient light to see what we were eating

The menu was extensive with the basic zi char dishes, including stir-fried items from meat, vegetables, seafood, and soup. They also have speciality barbeque items like BBQ stingrays, squid, clams, and mussels. They also had clay pot frog legs porridge to cover most people’s preferences

One of the main reasons we visited Hong Chang was to satisfy my craving for barbeque sambal stingray which was priced according to the size of the fish. I liked that the fish was cooked well with a nice smokey flavour and the generous spread of sambal on top of the fish. The fish meat was tender and the sambal provided a nice spice kick to the palate. It was not overly spicy so I could take in a lot of the savoury sambal

We ordered the stir-fry spicy clams and each clam was pretty fat and juicy. This dish was slightly spicier for my tolerance but it has a nice fragrance from the spring onions and chilli which all my friends loved as they could take more spice. I was picking out pieces which were least spicy as they were really quite delicious

I was glad that the sambal kangkong was very well done here with sufficient belachan and a strong prawn paste flavour. It was just a tad salty which is fine when paired with white rice. The vegetable was still crunchy with a good texture even though each leaf was well coated with the belachan sauce

The prawn paste chicken wings were fried till golden brown with a nice crispy skin and tender and juicy inside. The meat was well marinated and had a strong shrimp paste flavour which made the chicken wings quite addictive to eat without rice. The saltiness of the wings were well balanced and can be eaten on its own

We also had pan-fried prawns which were quite huge in size. The prawns were juicy fleshy and fresh. The simple way of cooking it kept the natural sweetness of the prawns which was the best way to enjoy them

Last but not least was the clay pot frog porridge and we ordered a mildly spicy version. The porridge was smooth and thick and perfect with the gong bao sauce from the frog legs. The frogs were not very meaty but the sauce was savoury and spicy. The frog’s leg porridge was decent but I do prefer another store for frog leg porridge

Overall, the dishes at Hong Chang were not too bad and most dishes were on point with the flavours. The total price for all the dishes was about SGD 120 and there were 4 of us having dinner. I find the price tag quite reasonable compared to other Zi Char stores since we have quite a number of seafood dishes

Address: 2 Braddell Rd, Singapore 359895

Opening: 3 pm to 2 am