Friends Wok & Bak Kut Teh 老朋友炒锅肉骨茶
Friends Wok & Bak Kut Teh (老朋友炒锅肉骨茶) is a part of First Gourmet group that owns the Prata Wala, Zaffron Kitchen, Friends & Wok Bak Kut Teh, Pavilion Banana Leaf, and Wimi Thai Ice Cream brands. Friends & Wok Bak Kut Teh currently has only one outlet located in 100 AM, a shopping mall adjacent to Amara Hotel in Tanjong Pagar.
The restaurant showcases two signature renditions of Bak Kut Teh – Herbal and Teochew style (peppery). The soup is slow-brewed with pork bones for two hours to extract the innate flavours of each ingredient – rendering a rich and flavoursome broth.
Its menu also offers unique takes on the traditional option with Lamb-Kut-Teh too. Other than local favourites like Braised Pork Leg, there are Zi Char favourties such as Thai-style Steamed Sea Bass, Prawn Paste Chicken and Salted Egg Prawn.
Friends Wok & Bak Kut Teh Menu
Below are its menu items and prices:
Bak Kut Teh 肉骨茶
- Teochew Bak Kut Teh 潮州肉骨茶 – $8.50
- Herbal Bak Kut Teh 药材肉骨茶 – $8.50
- Lamb-Kut-Teh 羊腿肉骨茶 – $18.00
- Puay Leng & Tau Kee Veg Soup 菠菜和豆皮汤 – $6.50
- Pig Stomach Soup 猪肚汤 – $7.50
Zi Char Favourites 煮炒招牌菜
- Braised Pork Leg 卤猪脚 – $8.00
- Prawn Paste Chicken 虾酱鸡 – $8.50
- Thai-Style Steamed Sea Bass 蒸鲈鱼 – $18.00
- Thai-Style Steamed Squid 蒸乌贼 – $15.00
- HK-Style Steamed Sea Bass 清蒸鲈鱼 – $18.00
- Steamed Clams 蒸拉拉 – $12.00
- Salted Egg Prawn 咸蛋虾 – $18.00
- Prawn Fuyong Egg 虾仁芙蓉蛋 – $8.00
- Minced Pork with Salted Fish 咸鱼蒸肉饼 – $8.50
- Assam Fish Head 亚叁鱼头 – $28.50
- Sweet Potato Leaf 番薯叶 – $8.50
- Bittergourd with Eggs 苦瓜炒蛋 – $9.00
- Sliced Fish with Spring Onion 姜葱鱼片 – $14.00
- Prawn Roll 虾枣 – $10.00
- San Lor Horfun 三捞河粉 – $8.50
- Yang Chow Fried Rice 杨州炒饭 – $8.50
- Salted Egg Soft Shell Crab 咸蛋软壳蟹 – $19.00
Side Dishes 小菜
- Poached Lettuce with Pork Floss 猪肉松生菜 – $9.00
- Braised Tau Pok 卤豆干 – $2.50
- Braised Egg 卤蛋 – $1.20
- Braised Peanut 卤花生 – $3.00
- Braised Salted Vegetable 咸菜 – $3.00
- Yu Char Kueh 油条 – $2.50
- Steamed Rice 白米饭 – $1.00
Snacks 零食
- Yu Char Kueh 油条 – $1.20
- Butterfly Bun 麻煎饼 – $1.20
- Ham Chim Peng (Sweet) 豆沙煎饼 – $1.30
- Ham Chim Peng (Savoury) 咸煎饼 – $1.20
- Spring Roll 春卷 – $1.50
Hot Drinks 热饮料
- Kopi O 咖啡O – $1.70
- Kopi 咖啡 – $1.90
- Kopi C 咖啡C – $2.00
- Teh O 茶O – $1.70
- Teh 茶 – $1.90
- Teh C 茶C – $2.00
- Barley 薏米水（热）- $2.50
- Barley with Red Date 薏米红枣水 – $3.50
- Hot Water 热水 – $0.50
Teapot 茶壶
- Premium Chrysanthemum Tea (Pot) 菊花茶一壶 – $10.00
- Pu Er Tea (Pot) 普洱茶一壶 – $10.00
- Red Robe Tea (Pot) 大红袍茶一壶 – $18.00
Beers 啤酒
- Tiger 虎牌 – $12.00
- Erdinger 埃丁格 – $16.00
Cold Drinks 冷饮料
- Iced Kopi 冰咖啡 – $2.70
- Iced Teh 冰奶茶 – $2.70
- Iced Barley 薏米水（冷）- $2.50
- Iced Lemon Tea 柠檬茶 – $3.20
- Iced Lime Juice 酸柑水 – $3.00
- Iced Plum Lime 梅子水 – $3.60
- Iced Barley with Red Date 薏米红
枣水 （冷）- $4.00
Canned Drinks 罐装饮料
- Coke 可乐 – $2.50
- Coke Light 健怡可乐 – $2.50
- Sprite 雪碧 – $2.50
- Green Tea 绿茶 – $2.50
- Bottled Water 矿泉水 – $2.50
Smoothies 冰沙
- Banana Smoothie 香蕉冰沙 – $4.80
- Strawberry Smoothie 草莓冰沙 – $4.80
- Passion Smoothie 百香果冰沙 – $4.80
- Peach Smoothie 桃冰沙 – $4.80
Friends Wok & Bak Kut Teh Review
This restaurant is located on the second floor of 100 AM, near to Watson’s and Guardian. Surrounded by Japanese restaurants in this Japan-themed mall, it is one of the few restaurants that serve non-Japanese cuisine.
On the day of our first visit in July 2021, there were not many people in the queue nor in the restaurant. We didn’t have to wait long before being ushered in by the manager. The restaurant staffs were generally friendly and courteous.
We ordered their signature Bak Kut Tehs, both the teochew and herbal renditions, as well as a couple other Zi Char dishes. We highly recommend both their savory Bak Kut Tehs, which were served hot and with fresh pork ribs. From our vast experiences with Bak Kut Tehs, we would rank them higher than the famous Song Fa Ba Kut Teh.
For the Zi Char dishes, we recommend their Thai-styled Steamed Sea Bass as well Prawn Paste Chicken. The sea bass was addictive and close to the authentic Thai taste you would get in Thailand. We like the prawn paste chicken as it was served in small chicken chunks instead of chicken wings, which allows the marinate to cover each bite and also made its easy to consume without dirtying our hands. However, we wouldn’t recommend the Prawn Fuyong Egg as the prawns used are frozen prawns, and its taste was rather bland.
In all, we give this restaurant a 4/5 for its service, value-for-money and quality and highly recommend anyone to try them.
We made a second visit December 2021 after learning about its rebranding exercise from Friends Bak Kut Teh to Friends Wok & Bak Kut Teh as well as adjustments made to its menu. For this visit, we again made our reservation for a late lunch on a Sunday via Eatigo with a 50% discount. Upon reaching the restaurant on time, we were requested to show our vaccination status as well as Eatigo booking by the manager at the entrance. The female manager on duty this time was less courteous and friendly than the uncle on our first visit.
Upon verifying our booking and vaccination statuses, we were ushered to our table. We were then handed their new menus. After going through the new menu for a couple of minutes, we found that it generally contains the same items as the previous menu but many less popular items like Soya milk, beancurd and some snacks were removed. Fortunately for us, the signature dishes that we liked were still available. Also, we noticed a price increase of around 10-20% for most items.
We ordered a Herbal Bak Kut Teh ($8.50), a Teochew Bak Ku Teh ($8.50), a Braised Pork Leg ($8.00), a Thai-Style Steamed Sea Bass ($18.00) and 3 Steamed Rice (3 x $1.00). The dishes were served pretty quickly in about 10 to 15 minutes. The taste of the Bak Kut Tehs and Thai-Style Steamed Sea Bass were consistent with our previous experience. The only difference we noticed was with the Teochew Bak Kut Teh, which has become more peppery. The Braised Pork Leg (though served warm instead of pipping hot) was flavourful and its gravy complemented the Steamed Rice well.
In all, we enjoyed our lunch and maintain our 4/5 rating and recommendation for this restaurant. And especially with Eatigo’s 50% off, it made this meal very worthwhile as it costed the three of us only $27.70, including a 10% service charge and a 7% GST.
