the canteen - but hardly canteen prices

I've always wanted to check out The Canteen. The crab mee pok always looks so inviting whenever I pass it. Today we finally made the effort to go down.

This canteen is anything but school canteen standard. They sell simple "canteen" food at very not canteen prices. Toast is a whopping $8.50.

You can tell it is upmarket just from the place itself. The decor is chic, clean and very tasteful. I particularly like this shot.

Even the ladles are lacquered beautifully. Their cutlery is top-quality, heavy and thick. Their spoons and their chopsticks are according to Sharon, "for giants". So this is Les Amis' canteens' standards, for those with "giant" wallets to match as well.Their serviettes are the thickest I've come across. It's like a napkin! It's even the size of a proper napkin. I almost wanted to ask them for the napkin dish to put the serviette on it. Yes, that IS paper. Atas is like that la. The kiamsiap gui in me wanted to bring some home.

XO sauce lao shu fen aka mee tai mak. I HATE mee tai mak. I have never ever ever liked it. But I decided to try it for the XO sauce.

It turned out really well. The mee tai mak is extremely smooth and not the inferior powdery type I used to eat in pre-primary. It literally glides down your throat. The texture was fabulous. Prepared to perfection I say.

The sauce was great. I thought that this dish was very unique. Extremely savoury and packed with a full-bodied punch. It was very satiating, the meat sauce was very fragrant, and the chilli was gratifying. The only thing is that towards the end, it got very oily and that took away from the pleasure of eating it, but as Sharon said, "without the oil how to make it pang?"

The crab mee pok. I was quite disappointed when it came because it looked so average.
It tasted average too, I actually think I prefer my $2.50 bak-chor-mee. Somehow crab doesn't do it for me when it comes to meepok. Only meat can. The soft-shell crab was aight. It was freshly-fried so when we bit into it, the oil spurted into our mouths. That was good. But other than that, aiiighhtttt..

I thought that the noodles were a bit soggy (but Sharon insists that it is because we let it sit for too long cos we were busy taking pictures). Aye, but whatever the case, it's really no big deal. Without the bak chor, the mee pok just doesn't hit home, it's just not shiok enough. Crab is just too... genteel for this.

I must add however, that as we got to the end of the meal, the mee pok started to grow on us. There was a lot more crab at the bottom and more sauce too. (But I sompa we mixed in the sauce evenly. We are both very particular about proper mixing when it comes to noodles.) Does it mean that they should be more generous with the sauce and the crab?

The meal came up to about $40 for 2 small mains (guys should not eat here). The most expensive "hawker" food I have had. I don't think I will be coming back here anytime soon, unless I 'zhong' 4d or something.

The Canteen by Les Amis

Shaw Centre

1 Scotts Rd

#02-10

Singapore 228208