[Media Invite] Wah! Kungfu 蛙功夫

What comes to mind, when you hear the name "Wah! Kungfu"? Probably thought it's either an exclamation about martial art or manga? In Chinese, its meaning is a tad more apparent as the word '蛙' in 蛙功夫 means kungfu frog? Well, its mascot is literally that!

Located right at the exit of Chinatown MRT, this place was easy to find. Just look out for that brightly lit bullfrog signboard peeking out of a window.

signboard

Wah! Kungfu is a contemporary Chinese restaurant that serves up flavourful mouthwatering spicy Hunan-style specialty grill, BBQ and stir-fries, and its interior is pretty much bar-like (夜店风) with neon lights, manga-style graffiti'ed wall-panels and its mascot of butt-kicking kungfu frog. Kitschy? Very. Fun, nonetheless.

guess you know my name

We were invited for a tasting session and got a chance to meet up with the owner of Wah! Kungfu. Young entrepreneur (probably in his late twenties or early thirties) and currently, he has three shops that serves Hunan-specialty food but with different concept and themes.

We were ushered to Level 2 where the lights are a bit more manageable. Service staff wears cutesy frog-ears and they are earnest in their work.

level 2

Its menu is single page and double-sided. We pretty much gotten their signature dishes that night and am happy to report that it was good.

The spice level for its pot/grill items is less spicy, medium spicy and very spicy. However, the very spicy version was still manageable as long as you have a jug of that kumquat lime juice nearby to quench some of those fire.

toy frog on every table

menu

For food, we had the bullfrog with soup, bullfrog on flat grill, BBQ chicken wings, BBQ lamb, BBQ fish, fresh crabs and shrimps in a pot, and some add-ons of stewed intestines and QQ shrimps.

平锅牛蛙 - 怪辣味 （flatgrill bullfrog - special pepper) @$39.80

The Special Pepper flavour bullfrog plate looked fearsome with all those red chilies piled ontop of it. Truth be told, it has a rating of 3 chilies on the menu which is the spiciest level. The meat has been deep fried and then recooked with the spices and hence, more flavourful. Indeed, it was tasty and its spicy level, was manageable. However, it is also more oily as compared to the pot with soup.

泡锅牛蛙 (香辣味) Bullfrog with soup (spicy flavour) @$39.80

My favourite bullfrog dish that night was the spicy flavour in the round pot with soup. Alhough, it similarly had a 3 chilies rating on the menu, it didn't come across as fiery as perhaps the soup helped to balance out the spicy flavours. Also, I liked it as one could taste more of the sweetness from the meat when it was cooked in this manner. Very yummy and goes well with rice.

drinks (left to right) kiwi fruit juice, plum huice, kumquat lime juice and pomegranate juice

外婆酸菜味 (pickled mustard) @$39.80

If you prefer something that is medium spicy and more of a appetising sourish tangy taste, can opt for the pickled mustard flavour. However, this version was not as sourish as we'd prefer and the soup came across as a tad too salty for my liking. This was the least spicy amongst all the pots that we've tasted.

There are side-dishes that one could add-on to the frog pots. For example, the stewed intestine, or the QQ shrimps. For us, we were happy to munch on these on its own as it was already very flavourful as it is.

stewed intestines @$9.80

QQ shrimp @$11.80

Items from the BBQ/grill section were also good. Particularly, I enjoyed the BBQ wings and the lamb skewers. So good! The wings were dry-rubbed with peppercorn salt and it has a bit of that ma-la (麻辣) numbing factor after a while. These are salty so get ready a drink before tucking into these moist and juicy wings.

BBQ mid-wings ( 考鸡翅）@$2.20 per skewer

The lamb skewer were tender and reminiscent of those 新疆烤羊肉串.

lamb skewer @$1.20 per stick

What happens if you don't take bullfrog? No worries, as there's still fish and crabs to choose from.

招牌烤鱼 (barbeque fish) @$35.80

The spicy hot grill fish has a fairly large fish on the plate. Probably 800gms to 1kg of seabass. The fish was fried and then cooked in the spicy broth. The flame will keep it bubbling for a while. Best enjoyed with a friend or two and with a bowl of rice.

fleshy

Another favourite of mine, was the Crab and shrimps pot. The crab was fresh and the spices actually accentuated the sweetness of the seafood. Very good. Unfortunately, the shrimps were overcooked in this one.

虾蟹一锅 (fresh crab and shrimps in one pot) @$38.80

We have seen two petite ladies sharing a pot, so it is possible to enjoy the food here even though in a smaller group. Just take your time to chat and savour the food slowly. After all, the night is still young.

Food portions at Wah! Kungfu is generous, and expect strong flavours throughout. Recommend the kumquat lime juice to quench thirst (and fire), the spicy flavour (round pot) for bullfrog, the fresh crab pot, the BBQ wings and lamb skewers.

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Thank you to HGW for the invite and Wah! Kungfu for hosting the dinner.

Wah! Kungfu 蛙功夫

Location: 74 Pagoda St, Singapore 059233
Website: http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/wah-kungfu-chinatown/
Contact:  +65 62255981 
Business Hours:
Daily: 11:30 - 23:30