It has been a while since I sincerely gushed about a good cze cha meal. Honestly, these are the type of meals that many gastronomic nightmares and fantasies are made of. Nightmares, if you find rusty fish hooks in fish head curries (but it did say “fresh” in the menu) and fantasies like a tempura prawn in curry pumpkin sauce with fried curry leaves - you keep fantasizing for more once you’ve had the first bite.

The folks behind such eateries are very creative and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a fan of such meals. You’ll be bedazzled with striking offerings like a Peranakan inspired sambal petai prawns, sing with their guitar ducks, feel like royals ordering the Three King vegetables and even a local style German pork knuckles with sambal achar, sans the sauerkraut. All the better cze cha stalls have been at it for years and it keeps them coming back for more. For example, you never fail to see a plate of the Ming Choo Chuen, a crisp fried seafood and mushroom tofu pillow dunked in chilli and mayonnaise at Keng Eng Kee off Alexandra Road, on almost every table each evening. Nobody with any guts for adventure misses out on the steamed taucheo fish head at Sik Wai Sin in Geylang nor is there another main reason, other than for the sambal pomfret fish, why families trot over to Lai Huat at Tyrwhitt Road.

All, great memorable stuff and I’ve been there and done that very often, and will return for encores. But, beyond that, nothing really rises out of the blue, they keep offering you what they think is a better version of the best or engage in some controversial food wars with a competitor or another family member just to arouse your attention. Or so, I thought. Until I stumbled upon the very media shy folks at JB Ah Meng in the heart of Geylang. My chiropractor first suggested a meal there over a year ago and I reluctantly agreed (just so I can get her to fit in my last minute appointments in future). There was no turning back, no reason why I should not show and tell all about a meal there, even if the owners insists they don’t want to be quoted nor interviewed- secondary reasons for this review.

Snake beans topped with crispy lotus roots.

Their brand of Malaysian style street restaurant cuisine is truly in a league of their own. If you can bear with the noise and strange loud characters that ply this area, then I suggest you first reward yourself with a plate of their crispy fried fish skin with spicy achar – fish skin chips with crunchy spicy Nonya style achar, a combo I’ve never tried before and am now hooked on it. Then, dive into their stunning eggplant tempura cubes tossed in a thick savoury sauce with capsicums and potatoes – truly comforting and adorable and it is not uncommon to have seconds if you dine in a big group. Why? It’s the juiciness and crispiness of the simple eggplant tempura that will do you in. They also come up with one of my all time fave cze cha bites now – snake beans (like string beans except thicker) wok tossed with celery and salted fish and pork bits, lard and dried shrimps and, drum roll please, topped with crispy lotus root chips. Absolutely a joy to devour. Ok, if all that was not enough to make you forget you’re in the red light district, then breathe in their salted egg yolk prawns with fried battered corn kernels - sweet, salty, crunchy and crispy all at once. Before you go “alamak, everything deep fried and crispy”, beware of their chicken, mushroom and black woodear fungus stew on a bed of liang fen (mung bean noodle sheets), translucent and much like the skin of a Hakka style soon kueh. It is perfect with a bowl of rice.

The strangely flat sum lao beehoon.

Finish off with their all time favorite signature – the Sum Lao Beehoon (third floor beehoon). It is the plainest, most boring looking flat bed of breakfast style fried beehoon with vegetable, eggs and some minced meat tucked inside. This dish gets the gold award for the looks-totally-deceiving category. The story behind this Johor Bahru dish is that a master chef once threw this ugly looking dish made by his assistant off the third floor of their restaurant and it landed flat below (the way they serve it), not knowing how well it tasted.

Here’s food for thought for your reunion makan with family, friends or colleagues, the prices are ridiculously reasonable. Just order as much as you can from the makeshift menu written on mahjong paper at the stallfront.