Jing Yi Vegetarian - Bukit Gombak

As far as reputation goes, Jing Yi is probably one of the most well known vegetarian stalls in the West of Singapore.  I have been inundated with countless requests to review this stall.  The main reason for the feverish excitement, is that it is known for having tremendous wok hei (smoke flavour) in the dishes.  Admittedly, Chinese food is not the cuisine I enjoy the most.  Nevertheless, I have an obsession with wok hei cooking, and the delicious aroma that it gives the food.  This stall is located at Meng Soon Huat coffee shop 錦憶素食, at block 359, just a 3-5 minute walk from Bukit Gombak MRT.  Appartantly in the evenings (especially on weekends) there are huge queues, where customers can wait up to one hour for their food.  I myself arrived at the odd timing of around 3pm on a weekday - I was the only customer.




Jing Yi Vegetarian
Location: Block 359, Bukit Batok West Avenue 5
Contact: Unknown
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 2pm-9pm.  Closed Monday.

Drum roll please, here it is, their nobel peace prize winning Fried Hor Fun.  Before I get into the wok hei taste, let me just say this - The texture of the kway teow was absolutely perfect.  Firm, bouncy and a delight to consume.  In terms of wok hei, however, I found there was a good amount...But honestly not as high as I was expecting.  Moreover, the kway teow were quite pale and anemic looking.  Let me tread very carefully here, as I know Jing Yi has a dedicated fanbase.  Clearly this is a high quality hor fun, with considerable wok hei - But, I do still find Lin Lin is much higher.  Definitely you could see the noticeable char marks on the kway teow, but wok hei is not about 'burning' or 'charring' the ingredients.  Wok hei is the art of knowing exactly when and when not to toss the ingredients in the wok, which requires incredible knowledge that many experienced chefs still fail to master.

Price: $3.50.     8/10

Conclusion - Everyone knows that the stall I idolize the most (in terms of wok hei) is Lin Lin Vegetarian, and I must say, in my opinion Lin Lin is still the place to go, if you want extremely strong wok hei flavour.  Certainly Jing Yi has a good amount of wok hei, and the texture of the kway teow was superb, and I can see why it has become so popular in the West of Singapore.  If I lived in the West, no doubt I would frequent this stall on a regular basis.

Overall Rating
Food - 8/10
Ambiance- 7/10
Service - 8/10
Value - 8/10