Two Chefs: The new overlord of Commonwealth drive

June 10, 2009 | 21 Comments

There used to be a lord, who claimed his territory at the corner of one-one-seven; the people flocked to him, they worshipped and love all the food that were served, the place was basically packed with crowds every weekends. And as fate has it, the arrival of another overlord meant the decline of the former; the dethrone of the king at Commonwealth drive.

I, see it upon my sworn duties, that I’ll try out all the sweet & sour pork from all the places. And this often leads to disappointment when I couldn’t find one that’s equal to the best which I’ve before, in a deep corner of my memories.

The sambal kangkong was surely one of the weapons that the lord would have, to defend himself; red fiery hot and sizzling sambal were commonly associated with a plate of good sambal kangkong, but, I did not called for the fire brigade after having this: it wasn’t shiok enough.

The prawn roll, ngo hiang, or heh zhor; regardless of which name you called it by, was good. Fried till crispy golden brown, dipped into the sweet sauce, the first bite of it was so reminiscent of my childhood.

The butter pork was definitely one of the best, it was slightly sweet, coated with butter powder which had a uncanny resemblance to cheese; taking a bite of the boneless pork meat was a joy.

I love golden mushrooms, there wasn’t much inherited taste on its own; but I couldn’t stop myself from eating more of it. And similarly, there wasn’t anything fanciful about the golden mushrooms beancurd which came strongly recommended by their staff; it was plain tofu, with golden mushrooms in gravy, yet the result of something so simple was so good!

If sambal kangkong was the armour of the lord, then the prawn paste chicken, or Har Cheong Kai, would surely be his sword. But, it seems like a blunt one, the fried chicken lacked the oomph factor.

Note:

(1) The old overlord which I mentioned, was refering to the Hongkong Street zichar stall just at the other corner of block 117; in its heydays, they were full every night, but when I went that time, it was barely half filled. Talk about a reverse of fortune.

(2) If you want to eat at Two Chefs without waiting, you need to get there early, before six thirty. It’s crazy to see people actually queue up for zi-char when there’s other two zi-char stalls around the same area. The burst in popularity could be attributed to the article on the Sunday times which proclaimed Two Chefs as one of the best zi-char stall.

(3) Which brings me to the third point, I think that Two Chefs, is overhyped. The butter pork ribs were excellent, but the other dishes which I’ve tried, they wasn’t really worth the fifteen-minutes walk from Commonwealth mrt. And if you are thinking that’s because I did not order their other signatures, maybe, but they couldn’t give me a plate of good sambal kangkong, or sweet & sour pork.

(4) I do eat zichar and hawker food a lot, the lack of them at my blog was due to the simple reason that I couldn’t even finish blogging on the other posts, so how am i suppose to blog about the numerous hawker food that I tried. I grow up on hawker food too you know.

Two Chefs
Blk 116 Commonwealth Drive
#01-129
Tel: 6472 5361

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Comments

21 Responses to “Two Chefs: The new overlord of Commonwealth drive”

  1. Jasmin
    June 10th, 2009 @ 12:55 am

    Quickly buck up on your postings! TSK TSK TSK.

  2. Sugar Bean
    June 10th, 2009 @ 5:14 am

    The photos look nice, but the food not good enough? Love bean curd, personally think that they taste good no matter how it is cooked.

    Sugar Beans last blog post..Sally Lunn’s Restaurant

  3. Wendy
    June 10th, 2009 @ 5:29 am

    The food may not be great but your photos upgraded it!

  4. fatkuraprincess
    June 10th, 2009 @ 12:47 pm

    Now ur site become my daily dosage during lunch~ahaha..
    Eat my sad cai fan and look at ur site n imagine~~~~~
    The place i am working now only got 1 miserable canteen with 1 stall only. No coffeeshop is seen within my walking distance. Damn sad. ~~~

    fatkuraprincesss last blog post..No More A Slacker~

  5. peishan
    June 10th, 2009 @ 5:03 pm

    just wanted to say that the hongkong st zichar store currently at blk 117 is not the same one as the one that was so popular… i love the butter ribs from two chefs, and you should have tried the cold cockles! they’re totally delicious!
    anywya, i love reading your blog, even though it always makes me super hungry!

  6. ladyironchef
    June 10th, 2009 @ 5:25 pm

    Jasmin: I take that as an encouragement? heh

    Sugar bean: haha it’s not bad la, but i won’t go all the way there just to eat. yeah bean curd doesn’t have any inherited taste, it goes well with everything

    wendy: upgrade, LOL! thanks for the compliment :)

    fatkuraprincess: oh dear, hope the pictures help to make your lunch nicer then. haha

    peishan: Hello there! thanks for leaving your comment. Ah i didn’t know it’s not the same hongkong st, nowdays there are too many hongkong street zichar around already. I did noticed that the signboard was diff, so i tot they changed signboards or what. lol

  7. zay
    June 10th, 2009 @ 10:32 pm

    aiyo why fifteen minutes walk? i don’t recall it’s so far away leh. hahs. but anyway i love the butter ribs! and that’s prolly the only thing to rave abt. & i agree, the others are just so-so. not lousy, but not that fantastic either. =)

  8. KennyC
    June 10th, 2009 @ 11:07 pm

    Try the cold drunken cockles and herbal chicken (weekends only).

  9. ladyironchef
    June 11th, 2009 @ 12:26 am

    zay: it took us about fifteen minute? the next time u go u time see take how long! haha yeah not lousy, but not that wow too.

    KennyC: thanks for the tip, will try that if i ever go back again :)

  10. Evan
    June 11th, 2009 @ 4:21 am

    i’ve never heard of butter powder and it sounds real molecular.

  11. ladyironchef
    June 11th, 2009 @ 8:17 am

    evan: LOL! there’s nothing “molecular” at all, i think they mix butter with some other stuff to create the powder, but the taste very nice

  12. Evan
    June 11th, 2009 @ 9:42 am

    i think they use maltodextrin. its used to create powder/soil/sand for culinary uses.

  13. WyLeen
    June 12th, 2009 @ 8:59 am

    I been there before!
    During dinner, the queue is super duper long!
    But I love the butter ribs! =D

    WyLeens last blog post..Done with exams!

  14. Big Boys Oven
    June 12th, 2009 @ 1:19 pm

    wow If I get there, it will be three chefs! :)

    Big Boys Ovens last blog post..EMINENT FROG PORRIDGE AT LRG 19 – Singapore Geylang Unique Gourmet

  15. ladyironchef
    June 12th, 2009 @ 6:06 pm

    evan: really got such thing as maltodextrin? wa seh!

    wyleen: haha yea very long, i went there early so no need to wait, but after 630pm it was like full house with so many ppl waiting.

    Big boys oven: haha cheers to three chefs! :)

  16. XiaoJunxian
    June 13th, 2009 @ 2:10 am

    I just went there a week ago, it is not that fantastic and the food is a bit expensive too. I guess there are better zi char out there that is much more worthwhile. Nice Pictures anyway!

  17. ladyironchef
    June 14th, 2009 @ 12:02 am

    JX: haha icic yeah slightly more than the normal zichar. any good ones to introduce?

  18. ladyhomechef
    June 17th, 2009 @ 12:26 am

    I totally agree with you – other than the butter pork ribs, there rest are just OK. Good job here, i enjoy reading your blog – hope to see more Zi Char stall reviews here soon cos i am running out of zi char stalls trying over my non-cooking days ;)

    ladyhomechefs last blog post..Ayam Sioh (Chicken with Tamarind & Coriander Seeds)

  19. ladyironchef
    June 17th, 2009 @ 1:48 pm

    ladyhomechef: Hello my fellow identical-name-twin! heh. yeah the others were pretty normal, but then again, I didn’t try their others so it probably won’t be entirely fair to judge them based on these few dishes. Yeah no problem, will try to blog more zi char stall if time allows. haha

  20. mike
    January 23rd, 2010 @ 4:46 pm

    just tried this place. indeed a good place.. definitely needs a return trip :)

  21. ladyironchef
    January 23rd, 2010 @ 10:16 pm

    mike: yeah the butter ribs are good aren’t they? now that the place becomes popular, the long queue kind of put me off

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