Laifabar is a noodle house that specialises in traditional wanton noodle, dumplings and roast meats. Chef-owner Royce Lee inherited the recipes by his grandmother, who used to be a hawker selling homemade taupok and wanton noodle back in the 1970s.

Known for its “Bu Jian Tian” Fatty char siew and wanton noodle, Laifabar first started and made a name for itself as a wine bar turned noodle house at Scarlet hotel in Ann Siang Hill. Then it moved to Lucky Plaza B1 Lucky Food Centre in December 2020 for a brief period before shifting to the current location at an industrial building in Bukit Batok in April 2021.

With the move to a bigger space, Laifabar has expanded their menu to include rice options to pair with their roast meats.

On Laifabar’s menu, there are four types of roast meat—char siew, roast pork, roast duck and Soya Sauce Chicken.

There is a top-up of S$2 to upgrade the Char Siew to their signature Bu Jian Tian Char Siew for mains.

Out of the three roast meats that we’ve had, the signature Bu Jian Tian Fatty Char Siew was the clear winner. It had the right proportion of fats to meat ratio and it was truly outstanding.

The difference between the Bu Jian Tian Fatty Char Siew and the leaner Char Siew is the texture of the meat. Bu Jian Tian Char Siew is fattier and a lot more tender than the normal Char Siew. Unless you are not a fan of fatty Char Siew, we definitely recommend upgrading it from the normal Char Siew to the Bu Jian Tian Char Siew.

The Roast Duck was also excellent and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

We didn’t quite like the Roast Pork as it was too fatty (not in a good way) and not as crispy we would like it to be.

Laifabar’s new outlet at Prestige Centre in Bukit Batok isn’t the most accessible location, but their excellent roast meats are worth travelling for. Otherwise, they offer islandwide delivery on Grab and you can still get their roast meats without going all the way to the west of Singapore.

Laifabar
Prestige Centre at 71 Bukit Batok Crescent
Tel: 9181 6383

Bok’s Kitchen is a homey cafe situated along Boon Lay Avenue and it is a new F&B project from the same team behind The Hidden Chefs which specialises in private dining arrangements.

Featuring a progressive menu comprising dishes that are unlike the standard cafe fare, Bok’s Kitchen delights taste buds with primarily local flavours with a mixture of other Asian and Western influences

Diners can expect a variety of mains such as filling rice bowls, breakfast items and sides, as well as a small selection of desserts and drinks. The casual atmosphere at Bok’s Kitchen makes it a great destination for westies to pop by for an affordable fuss-free meal with their family and friends.

Nestled within an HDB block, Bok’s Kitchen is an 11-minute bus ride away from Lakeside MRT Station. As the estate is rather new, those who are looking to have a meal in a quiet environment away from the hustle and bustle of the city will enjoy dining at this humble cafe.

We were pleasantly surprised that the Char Siew Rice Bowl (S$9++) at Bok’s Kitchen fared better than most of the rice bowls that we’ve had in Singapore.

The generous pieces of tender char siew came in a glorious shade of red, with charred edges that gave the meat some textural variety. Alongside Papa Bok’s Legendary Char Siew were runny sous vide egg, fragrant Italian spiced rice and some sliced pickles that helped to elevate the natural flavours of the char siew.

Another star dish at Bok’s Kitchen is the Beef Rice Bowl (S$12++) While we love the intense beef flavours of the juicy steak, we felt that it would be better if diners are able to choose their preferred doneness to enhance the entire experience. Similar to other rice bowls, the beef flank steak was accompanied with Italian spiced rice and sous vide egg cooked at precisely 63 degrees Celsius.

Bok’s Kitchen by Hidden Chefs
Blk 216 Boon Lay Avenue, #01-01
Singapore 640216
Tue to Fri: 11am – 2.30pm, 5.30pm – 9pm
Sat & Sun: 9am – 9pm
Mon: Closed
Nearest Station: Lakeside