Joo Siah Bak Koot Teh

Joo Siah Bak Koot Teh is a bak kut teh stall in Kai Xiang Food Centre, a coffee shop under an HDB block at 349 Jurong East Avenue 1. It cooks pork rib soup in the Teochew style, where pepper is the main flavour rather than dark herbs.

The stall holds a Bib Gourmand in the MICHELIN Guide Singapore 2026, an award for good food at moderate prices. Eatbook's 2020 review says the business has more than 30 years of history. At the time, it was run by a second-generation owner who learned the trade from his brother-in-law, the man behind Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh in Sin Ming.

What to order

Start with the pork ribs soup, the house bak kut teh. The Michelin Guide singles out this peppery soup. It also suggests dipping the soft rib meat in chilli soy sauce. The stall's own menu says it uses only fresh pork.

The soup menu goes beyond ribs. You can order pork tenderloin soup, or separate soups of pig's kidney, liver or intestine with lettuce. A mixed pig's organ soup brings all three together in one bowl.

For something richer, try the braised dishes. There is braised pork belly (lor bak) and braised pork leg, and both go well with a bowl of plain rice.

Sides to share

• You tiao: fried dough sticks to dip into the soup.
• Mei cai: preserved vegetables, a classic partner for bak kut teh.
• Peanuts and beancurd skin: two more common side dishes.
• Rice or mee sua: plain white rice, or thin wheat noodles.

Good to know before you go

• Cash only: the Michelin Guide lists the stall as cash only.
• Ordering for a group: the online menu has bundle meals for three, four or six people, with mains, sides and rice.
• Coffee shop seating: you sit in the shared coffee shop, which Eatbook found roomier than most.
• New to this kind of meal? Our guides on what a kopitiam is and how to order at hawker stalls explain the basics.

Getting there

The coffee shop is on the ground floor of Block 349 in Jurong East, a housing estate in the west of Singapore. Eatbook puts it about a four-minute walk from Chinese Garden MRT station on the East-West Line.

Nearby

Chinese Garden station is also the stop for Jurong Lake Gardens, so a bowl of soup and a lakeside walk make an easy half day. Families can add the Singapore Discovery Centre, further west.

For more food in the west, try Zai Shun Curry Fish Head or Na Oh. You can also browse all restaurants in Jurong, our hawker favourites and our Chinese restaurants.