One of the best food in Singapore is definitely Chicken Rice. For the uninitiated, chicken rice is basically steamed/roasted chicken and white rice, served with chilli sauce, ginger, and dark soy sauce.

Every time I have chicken rice, I wonder why I don’t eat it more often. Especially when there are so many good ones around. Everyone has their favourites, Singaporeans always like to debate on where is the best chicken rice in Singapore.

Of course, I have my own favourite chicken rice stalls, but I’m always on the lookout for new places to try. Chin Chin Eating House at Purvis Street has always been known for their chicken rice, so when I happened to be in the area, I suggested going there for lunch.

For some reason, I was craving for Hainanese Pork Chop, and as soon as I saw it on their menu, I ordered a portion.

I liked Chin Chin Chicken Rice well enough to go back again, although I don’t think they are the best chicken rice I’ve had. Don’t get me wrong, though. The chicken, the rice, the chilli, they are all good. But it just didn’t wow me. The Pork Chop too, was decent, but not life-changing.

If you are thinking of where to eat in the City Hall/Bugis area, Chin Chin Eating House at Purvis Street might just be the place to go.

Singapore Food Blog Review
Chin Chin Eating House
19 Purvis Street
Beach Road Conservation Area
Tel: +65 6337 4640
Daily: 7am – 9pm

I was craving for Thai food after blogging about my trip to Bangkok. Since folks kept telling me that Jai Thai serves cheap and good Thai food, I decided to make a trip there for lunch.

Jai Thai Restaurant has three outlets at East Coast Road, Clover Way, and the other at Purvis Street where we went to. The menu is broad in categories: appetisers, curry, tom yum, seafood, beef, chicken, vegetable, rice and noodle; and deep in choices, with plenty of dishes to choose from under each category. With the exception of steamed fish which cost slightly more, most of the items on the menu are priced between $5-8 for small portion.

It is my new favourite Thai Restaurant to go for a quick and inexpensive meal.

We knew what we wanted, which was a good thing because there are so many things on the menu. Between the two of us, we shared four dishes and two Thai milk tea. The food came quickly and we started with the Phad Thai, the dish that is synonymous with Thailand.

I really liked Jai Thai’s Phad Thai ($5 for small); the noodles had a nice wok-hei and the right level of moistness. With a squeeze of lime, it was textbook perfect.

The other dishes that we had were decent, nothing to write home about. Take for instance, the Green Curry Chicken ($5 for small). It was certainly satisfying, but nothing special to make me sit up and take notice.

Tom Yum Seafood Soup ($5 for small), while tasty – would be perfect if it was hotter. I know, I know. I’m asking for it. But for something like Tom Yum, it’s either all or nothing.

A simple and honest meal. Jai Thai serves very decent Thai Food at affordable prices. I’m adding it to my list of Best Thai Restaurants in Singapore, definitely going back soon.

Singapore Food Blog Review
Jai Thai Restaurant
27 Purvis Street
#01-01 An Chuan Building
Tel: +65 6336 6908
Daily: 11am – 3pm, 6pm – 10pm

7 Clover Way
Tel: +65 6258 0228
Mon to Sat: 11am – 3pm, 6pm – 9pm
Sun: 6pm – 9pm

205 East Coast Road
Tel: +65 6346 4940

For more recommendations, please read my list of Thai Restaurants in Singapore

While we are at the topic of finding cheap eats in Singapore, I would like to share with you a no-frills Thai restaurant that I went recently.

First Thai is a Thai Restaurant at Purvis Street. It has been around for some time, so it’s not surprising that the Thai eatery is always fully packed during meal times.

There was a long queue forming outside shortly after we got a table. For those who couldn’t wait, they probably went to Yet Con Hainanese Chicken Rice, or maybe Jai Thai, another Thai food place at Purvis Street.

After a quick glance at the menu, we ordered a few items to share. The Tom Yum Seafood ($7), a classic Thai dish, came first. Hot and spicy, it was the perfect dish to start off our Thai feast. Sawatdee Khrab!

I’m a scaredy cat when it comes to spicy food. So after the Tom Yum seafood soup, we had Olive rice ($8), Fried Prawn Cake ($3/pc), Basil Leaves Fried with Pork/Chicken ($8), and my favourite Phad Thai ($8).

I would have gone for the Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken Floss ($8), but misstamchiak suggested having the signature Olive Rice instead. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t understand the appeal of olive rice with nuts when you can have the extremely yummy Pineapple Fried Rice with the even yummier chicken floss. The other dishes were decent, and by the time everything was gone, we almost couldn’t move from our chairs.

As Thai food goes, they are not that spicy, and I like that.

First Thai Restaurant at Purvis Street is one of the more popular no-frills Thai Restaurants where you can get relatively cheap and good Thai food.

For more recommendations, please read my list of Thai Restaurants in Singapore

Singapore Food Blog Review
First Thai Restaurant
23 Purvis Street
Tel: +65 6339 3123
Daily: 12-3pm, 6-10pm.

Tian Tian Hainaese chicken rice, Boon Tong Kee chicken rice, and Loy Kee chicken rice are arguably the biggest names for chicken rice in the local food scene. I’ve tried all three before, they are definitely among the best chicken rice in Singapore.

There’s nothing wrong with the three chicken rice stalls, but I do not like the fact that everyone thinks that they are the best chicken rice in Singapore. I am not one who likes to go to hyped-up places, and I think this is my problem.

Seah Street and Purvis Street have been known for housing many Hainanese Chicken rice stalls with Chin Chin Hainanese chicken rice, Yet Con chicken rice and Sin Swee Kee chicken rice along them. On this occasion, we decided to check out Sin Swee Kee at Seah Street.

We had (half a chicken) of the Roasted and the Hainanese steamed chicken. I couldn’t quite put a finger to it, but the chicken at Sin Swee Kee didn’t really make an impression. It was not bad, but it wasn’t something that would make me go gaga. All I can say is I definitely had better chicken rice elsewhere before.

I have no intention to stir up a fight between the supporters of Yet Con and Sin Swee Kee, but I think that the former does a better Hainanese Pork Chop. It may have something to do with the sweet sauce, or the fries, but anyway, I have a better impression of Yet Con’s Hainanese pork chop.

Don’t judge. I know you are probably thinking that we are idiots. But we actually (or rather my friend) stupidly ordered the Sweet & Sour Fish instead of the Sweet and Sour Pork. I was having a mad craving for Sweet & Sour Pork, and I insisted on ordering it even though we already had the Sweet & Sour Fish and the Hainanese Pork Chops (which was also in sweet & sour sauce).

Sweet & Sour Pork > Sweet & Sour Fish

But unfortunately, both the sweet and sour dishes were not the ones that I’m looking for. The sweet and sour pork wasn’t crunchy enough, and lacked the wow impact. I’m sorry if it seems that I can’t explain the wow factor for sweet & sour pork clearly. That sort of feeling is indescribable, and you probably will know it only when you have it. Oh well, the hunt for the best Sweet and sour pork continues!

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Obviously supporters of Sin Swee Kee Chicken rice restaurant will call this as the best chicken rice in Singapore, but I am not quite convinced. Having tried both Yet Con, and Sin Swee Kee, I will must check out Chin Chin Hainanese chicken rice next!

Anyway, I am not very familiar with the history behind Swee Kee Chicken rice. Can someone enlighten us about the story behind Sin Swee Kee and Old Swee Kee?

Hawker Food Review
Sin Swee Kee Chicken Rice Restaurant
35 Seah Street
Tel: +65 6337 7180

While fitting on the shirt at CYC, I asked RTB, “what’s for dinner”? And she thought for a moment and said, rojak and popiah, with a gleam in her eye. Where am I’m going to find nice rojak and popiah in the middle of town? So I started to go through my search engine thinking of a place which will satisfied her. And so I suggested we walked from City Hall to Bugis, there’s so many stretch of road which have good food starting from Seah street, Purvis street, to Liang Seah street. It’s a food heaven.

Since we couldn’t get rojak and popiah, the closest local food we could get – Hainanese chicken rice! And there’s Sin Swee Kee at Seah Street and Yet Con at Purvis street, but we were too lazy to walk back from Purvis street to Seah street.

It will be a joke if we come to Yet Con without ordering Hainanese chicken; the meat came across as dry, but then I realised it was actually a lot less oily than the typical ones. The chicken rice was very fragrant, and nearly tempted me in getting a second bowl.

You belong to the camp which like Hainanese (white) chicken because there’s minimal bones (for the lazybone in you), while I prefered roasted chicken anytime. Eating Hainanese chicken without the chicken rice, it’s like eating laksa without the gravey, or rojak without the youtiao! And having so much dark soy sauce (with no chilli), what can I say? You amazed me!

Both of us must have vegetables on the table for dinner, so it’s down to kailan and caixin, and we chose the latter. You can have the stalk while I take the leaves.

And the Hainanese pork chops would come down as one of those dish which make me go gaga! How did the Hainanese thought of combining the crispy pork chops with the sweet & sour sauce? Delicious. I dipped the chicken into the sauce, and poured the remaining onto my chicken rice.

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We wander in a journey call life, amazing things happen, wonderful people that you meet on the way. There are people who you can know for very long but you find out they aren’t who you think they were. And also some whom you just know but it feels like you know each other for very long. If you ever need me in the middle of the night, I will be there for you. There is only one chefy, and one button. Wishing you all the desserts and popiahs. Happy birthday!

Yet Con Hainanese Chicken Rice
25 Purvis Street
Tel: 6337 6819

This, was suppose to be done in July, somehow it was dragged till August, but it’s better to be late than never. And like everytime, I had lots of fun chatting with everybody, it’s very interesting to finally meet all the folks who have been quietly reading my blog for the longest time. From online to offline, now I can put a picture to your nick.

And I believe there is a common misunderstanding: everybody who attend the food outing does not know everybody. In fact there’s a lot of first-timers at each outing, who in turn become my regulars. Only I know everybody, so please don’t be afraid to come for my outing, I won’t bite. Thank you for those who made it to Limon, and I hope to see the rest of you at my next outing, which will be very soon (finger cross).

I won’t say anything about the food, my outings are never just about the food; it’s about the fun, it’s the company and friends that you make over food. In any case if you want to know more about what we had, you can read the detailed write-up of our menu.

My previous food outings:
Epicurious, Dallas, Persimmon, Obolo, Tetsu, Ochacha

In life we have dreams; they are our goals to work towards to, one step by one step, and approached it. I’ve always wanted to visit Spain; the country, with its rich culture and vibrant cities appeal to me, and of course, Spanish food.

I simply love the idea of Tapas; the option of having more variety of food in smaller bite sizes, seduces me. Why have two dishes when we can have four? And so our Spanish adventure started with the Plamuk tod ($12), tempura style calamari rings. Limon did a thinner version using less batter which allowed the taste of the squid. But the amazing thing was the strawberry yoghurt dip which came along with the calamari!

Tartar sauce? That’s so last season. Mayonnaise? That’s so passe. Try strawberry yoghurt dip!

Tapas has many similarities with our Chinese Dim sum; it’s the communal way of sharing food. Both encouraged people to try out more varieties, and at the same time shared the food with others. The Patatas bravas ($10) was essentially Spanish fried potatoes.

A little bit of this, plus a little bit of that

No I’m not talking about our saliva! We get to share food and try a bit of everything without getting full, isn’t that a brillient idea? There’s no beef in the Moo curry ($12), instead there was pork & potato cubes pan-fried, with the red curry sauce being a tad strong.

How come the sausage tasted like brinjar?

It was hilarious when we mistook the eggplant for sausages at first bite, I’m never a fan of the purple plant. The fusion aspect was on display by preparing the Spanish Bibao (sausages) with Thai green curry sauce. Chorizo con curry verde ($14)

Honey, they shrunk the prawns!

I was sceptical when the “king prawns” that they’d mentioned was so tiny, but for what was lacking in size, the prawns more than made up in taste. The “tiny” creature was so prawny and crunchy! With ingredients like olive oil, lemongrass, black pepper, garlic, nameko mushroom; it was a mixture of flavours.

The Gazpacho con vino blanco ($12) was a traditional Spanish cold soup, with the novelty level upped by serving it in a baby coconut husk. The white wine flavour was subtle, but the experience of drinking soup was redefined into drinking coconut!

Tom-kha Guy ($10)

Besides the “coconut soup”, Limon has a few other soup available for selection, and you know I never like such soups, so use your own imagination how it would taste like.

Pumpkin fusion soup with strips of Serrano ham ($13)

Tomato, Orange and lemon soup ($10)

Paella. This was THE dish besides churros that I was looking forward to. And I had problem pronouncing it the whole night, so I came up with a simple way of remembering it, paella (my own pronunciation: Pie-ya). It was done with a Thai twist; incorporating tom-yum with the Spanish paella, there was plentiful of mixed seafood. It was delicious, every grain of rice tasted so good. Since I did not have paella before, there was no way I could make comparison, but it was good enough for me. And the tom-yum flavour wasn’t even strong (at least to me). Paella de tom yum ($20 for main size)

You like fish?

You will definitely love the Bacalao ($36)! The blue cod fillet was so fresh that it seemed alive on my plate, but I would prefer it to be slightly more pan-fried on the surface. Every piece of flesh was so delicate when our utensils touch it, oh baby, I’m gonna eat you up!

The lomo de cordero ($35) was a perfect sight to behold. There’s something about the Rack of lamb, which always make it so sexy! But somehow the ingredients like rosemary, oregano, mint, white wine, lemongrass sauce did not manage to cover the gamey taste.

Lobster, I love lobster! And I’m not going to share with you. No, get your hands off, it’s mine, it’s all mine! I was freaking excited when the Live lobster krapow ($38) arrived on our table. Every bite of the oven-baked lobster was so good, but there wasn’t enough meat for me! Taking a fork, I tilted the lobster head upside down, and dug at the shell beneath it, and yes, there was more lobster meat there!

On first look, I thought it was panna cotta, the Italian dessert. But it wasn’t. The dessert in picture was a Lemon caramel egg custard flan ($10). The texture was very similar to panna cotta, but I couldn’t quite figure out what was the difference.

And yes, I know chocolate cake has nothing to do with Spanish or Thai, but apparently the pastry chef at Limon does such a good chocolate cake that they decided to put it in the menu. And boy, it was true. The Homemade Chocolate cake ($9) paired with vanilla ice cream was a delight! If you could look at the plain chocolate cake up there, there’s the lava-flowing chocolate on top of the moist chocolate cake. Even though it was a pity there wasn’t any vanilla bean ice cream, but a scoop of cold icy one was enough to bring out the best of the chocolate cake.

I love to share food. But somehow the evil twin in me took over when we had the Crema Catalana con frescas ($10). There are times where you eat something that was so good, yet you couldn’t tell what it was, so you just ate, and ate, and ate. This was what I did, I took a spoonful of the egg based cream, put it in my mouth, and I couldn’t taste what it was. And the second bite became even better. So I simply took up the whole glass, dug, and dug further into, until the whole dessert was finished.

* * *

It was a medley of flavours when the Spaniards and the Thais come and play together. This was my first time trying Paella, and I’m glad I tried it! My appreciation to Towie, the owner of Limon, and Nicole for hosting us for the food tasting session.

And now for the good/great/terrific/fantastic news, I’ll be doing a food outing event (yes finally), at Limon on the 10th August for dinner. It would be a public holiday so I hope to see all of you there. The details of the outing will be in my next post.

Limon restaurant
7 Purvis street #01-01
Tel: 6333 9004

Twenty four of us descended to Gunther’s in a foodgraphy-frenzy. Hells hath no fury like a flogger hunger. The long discussion of food, followed by the occasional exclaims of ‘ooh‘, and ‘ah‘. Welcome to the world of the food lovers.

Japanese tomato

It was smooth, and silky, strands of it sticking out; yet in the dim light setting against the white background, it looked angelic, yes, this must be it: Cold Angel-hair pasta. I enjoyed every slurp, and I’ll gladly have it again.

This, is the In-thing for this season, like the latest fashion trends for each year; rejoiced people, it is this time of the year for the sacred white asaparagus, not green, not red, but white. And then, I spotted the yellowish sauce over the the Poached white asparagus with Bouchot mussels.

I stopped, and slowly took a bit of it with my spoon; “it couldn’t be, Oh yes it is!” I dipped everything on the plate with the hollandaise sauce, and made sure not a single drop of it was left.

“Have you had white asaparagus before?”

“No, I don’t see whats the craze over them..”

A surprise always had the biggest impact when you least expected it, and it came pleasantly of course.

There was pata negra, and salted baked seabass for the folks who couldn’t have beef; and damn, the roasted black pig from spain sounded so good, I should have claimed to have allergies against cows!

My piece was very well balanced in the portions of the fats and meat (read: too much fats). I took a bite of the meat, and chewed down some fats. And it’s not that the Grilled Cote de Boeuf wasn’t good. In fact it was more than excellent; the slightly tinge of pink fully captured my imagination.

My eyes tweaked to see what was coming. It was supposed to be desserts next, but they were serving us, pizzas. You know, the elongated slice of thin-crust bread with toppings all over. Ah no, I was clearly mistaken, this was no pizza, it’s the Fine apple tart a la dragees, with rum & raisin ice-cream.

Once we had our desserts, once we paid off the bill, it would be bye-bye until a year later. Or at least that’s what the script wrote. A year, is far too long a time for us to meet up. We should meet up regularly my friends, and hunt down all the good food around our island.

I’ll like to thank my fellow floggers for attending the food bloggers’ luncheon, Gunther’s for hosting the event, our various sponsors and not to forget my lovely partner Yixiao for flooding my mailbox and phone constantly during the preparation stages.

Gunther’s
36 Purvis street
#01-03 Talib centre
Tel: 6338 8955

Meet my fellow food bloggers:

Yixiao @ hautestaff
Catherine @ Camemberu
Nic @ Black tie white lie
Fen & Yuan @ sgdessert
Dave @ Importance of salt
Cheryl @ thebakerwhocooks
June @ joonelovesfood
Mia @ skinny-epicurean
Jiaxin @ foodiesqueen
Jeremy @ eggtoast
Antonio @ foodieah
Phil & serene @ keropokman
Karen @ superfinefeline
Leroy @ thehungrycow
Elaine @ divine essentials
Kelvin @ timelessfacade
Maureen @ jaime-la-nourriture
Ryan @ caramelcorn
Evan @ bossacafez
Ivan @ food.recentrunes
Claudine @ claudzratznblabz