Does Golden Ox Noodles strike gold?

In Chinese astrology, a golden ox signifies diligence, perseverance, wealth and strength. It’s a bold stance, and from my initial visits, owners Angela and Hendra Tan are off to a good start.

Golden Ox Noodles officially opened August 1st, and by that point I’d already been for a second visit.

As someone who enjoys a series of small bites for the diversity of flavours, I began with a number of appetizers.

The fusion crunch salad was little more than coleslaw with both red and white cabbage and julienned carrot. It was meant to come with a soy and sesame dressing but there was no evidence of that. Instead, there were drizzles of a sweeter mayonnaise type dressing.

The cabbage had been too irregularly chopped and needed thinner shavings to become tender and more palatable. 

The Kalasan wings had been marinated in coconut water and then seasoned. The menu indicates four pieces and they turned out to be whole so at an average wing restaurant, this would constitute eight pieces.

The wings were fresh and perfectly fried but they lacked salt and a bigger flavour profile. Of the many South East Asian cuisines, Indonesian dishes will often feel milder to those accustomed to Thai, Vietnamese or Indian cuisines. Even taking that into consideration, these wings did lack salt.

On a second visit, I enjoyed Hendra’s Silken Delight. A warm egg custard topped with Kadoya brand sesame oil. 

It was a bowl of comfort redolent of Japanese chawanmushi albeit less refined in texture and minus the seafood. A good dish that will see an uptick in popularity as the weather turns cooler.

Risoles (a word with Portuguese origins) are a pastry roll filled with savoury meats and vegetables, breaded and deep fried. In the past, I’ve had these filled with shredded beef in a creamy sauce and at Golden Ox they come with minced beef and an assortment of veggies.

It was a well-constructed roll, perfectly crisp with a tasty filling but if I had tasted it blind, I would have been convinced I was eating a British meat pie. Other than the appearance, there was nothing South East Asian to the profile.

As a chef Hendra demonstrates a deft touch with the fryer, and it’s with his shrimp wontons that his technique and exact timing was on full display. 

The gossamer wrappers had puffed up nicely, cradling impossibly tender seasoned shrimp. My enthusiasm almost got the better of me, and I had to slow my pace. These things were hot and threatened steam burn. As I scroll through the memory bank, I’m having a hard time recalling when I’ve had a nicer shrimp wonton. 

Another thing I noted about Hendra’s kitchen is that he uses superior quality noodles in his recipes, such as his Twist & Sizzle noodles.

I had ordered this dish with egg noodles but it appeared I’d been served udon noodles. Hendra explained that these were actually egg noodles in udon thickness. 

They were al dente and appealingly chewy and seasoned with a mild, somewhat sweet soy. It was a tasty enough straightforward stir-fried dish with mixed fresh veg, egg and shredded chicken.

What looked like fries were Indonesian shrimp crackers and they made for a tasty and nice contrast to the noodles. The side of pickled cucumber and carrot was mild and delicious.

Then it was on to that Indonesian classic: Laksa. 

This hearty coconut broth-based noodle soup has a variety of iterations depending on where in the Indonesian archipelago the dish is made. 

While advertised as a spicy coconut broth, it was in fact on the milder side. Luckily Hendra had some of his own hot sauce on hand, a blend of bird chili chopped with fresh tomato for a little lift. I added a half teaspoon and that gave it the necessary kick.

At Golden Ox you have the option of ordering this with chicken or beef but I stuck with the classic seafood. It had bits of young calamari, fish cake, fish balls, puffed tofu and prawns all nicely cooked, tender and topped off with Thai basil for a bit of perfume.

Laksa will often come with thinner vermicelli rice noodles but again a thicker rice noodle was used adding that playful chewiness.

The Tans are on the right path. Hendra has experience as his technique shows and it’s only his recipes that need a more confident hand in seasoning.

While Hendra is of Chinese descent, his partner in life and business Angela, is originally from Laos. Her contribution to the menu is something called Rice Ribbon Rhapsody. This is her family’s chicken soup recipe to which she adds her house-made rice noodles. I’m looking forward to that.