The grass is always greener on the other side. I think this is very true as my food adventures totally reflect this. Even though I stay just 10 minutes away from Bukit Timah, I tend to go further in search of good food in Singapore. Come to think of it, I have never really explore the stretch of restaurants at Cheong Chin Nam road (directly opposite Beauty World).

As I was walking along there last week, I realized that there’s actually quite a few eateries that open till late night, and they are now officially my prime-targets for supper. The chicken rice craving gave us the choice between Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice and Boon Tong Kee since both of them are arguably famous chicken rice in Singapore.

There were mixed reactions on twitter when I asked which is the better chicken rice among the two, and we eventually went for Five Star since I had Boon Tong Kee chicken rice before.

Sinking your teeth into the Five Star Kampong chicken ($14 for half, and $28 for whole)… It was actually quite ordinary. But there’s this lingering after-taste which I found it hard to explain. As the teeth made contact with the chicken, it encountered first the roasted skin, then a layer of fat which disintegrated as your teeth moved on to the juicy chicken meat.

Was this the best chicken rice in Singapore? Probably not. Was it good enough? Yes.

DO NOT ORDER the Hainanese Pork Chops ($7)! You have been warned.

I LOVE Sweet and sour pork ($9). I can have it for dinner everyday and not get sick of it. After ordering half a chicken and the Hainanese pork chops, you would probably think that we won’t order any more meat. But I demanded to order the sweet and sour pork and it was surprisingly not too bad. Five Star Hainanese Chicken rice’s rendition of my favorite dish was definitely not the best, but it was actually much better than the usual ones that I had before. The meat retained the slightly crispy texture despite being drizzled with the sweet and sour sauce. Not too bad, not too bad at all.

We can probably also classify Boon Tong Kee and Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice under zi char stalls since both restaurants serve a good variety of Chinese food in the zi char style.

Have you tried both Boon Tong Kee and 5 Star Hainanese chicken rice before? Do share with us which one you preferred.

Restaurant Review
Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice
6/7 Cheong Chin Nam Road Singapore
Tel: +65 6466 3000

Pu Tien Restaurant has been quite impressive in the Singapore Food scene. They have expanded from their original branch at Kitchener road to five other outlets within a couple of years. The other Pu Tien restaurants are strategically located in popular shopping malls like Marina Square, Tampines Mall, VivoCity, Jurong Point, and there’s even a Pu Tien Buffet restaurant at City Square Mall.

I have been wanting to drop by Pu Tien restaurant for dinner ever since I heard that they are a very affordable place for a good Chinese dinner. When I eat out with my friends, we tend to stick with Western food, or check out other cuisines. like the usual Japanese, Italian or French food.

I’m not sure if it’s the same case for you, with the exception of Dim Sum, I usually only have Chinese food and zichar dinner with my family, but not my friends. All this is about to change with our dinner at Pu Tien Restaurant.

Why don’t we have the Deep Fried Duck with Yam ($15)? One of my friends suggested.

It was a good choice. Held within the shattering crisp of the yam, was the most incredibly moist and welcoming duck meat. It’s a brilliant idea to coat a layer of yam around the duck.

The Deep Fried Chicken with Garlic ($12 for half chix) was golden and crispy to the tooth, with the meat retaining the moisture and sweetness even though it was deep-fried. The portion was a little small though.

“Brad, you need to check out Pu Tien restaurant soon. They have one of the best sweet and sour pork in Singapore!”

Ever since then, I have been waiting from the start of forever to go Pu Tien restaurant just for their sweet & sour pork. I could hear the drum-roll when I stretched out to grab a piece of the pork. It smelt good, and there’s lychee too! Emotions took over as I ignored my friends and concentrated on what’s supposedly the ‘best sweet & sour pork’

I wasn’t sure if it’s because I had too much expectations of it, but Pu Tien’s Sweet & Sour Pork ($10 for S, $15 for M) wasn’t what I was looking for. It was not bad, slightly better than most of the sweet & sour pork that I’ve had before, but it was definitely not the best.

Half mee sua, half bee hoon, apparently Pu Tien restaurant’s Fried noodle mee sua ($6) had an identity crisis. We were left wondering about a few possibilities: a) we ordered bee hoon instead of mee sua, b) the waitress took down a wrong order and got us the bee hoon instead, and c) the mee sua was supposed to taste like bee hoon. Not that it mattered actually. We enjoyed the moist and wet mee sua that came with a good mixture of ingredients

Pu Tien restaurant is a good place for families. The prices are slightly higher than what you’d pay for zichar, but it is still very affordable for a meal in a restaurant. If you are looking for a Chinese restaurant for a simple family dinner, Pu Tien restaurant may be just the one.

Restaurant Review
Pu Tien Restaurant
1 Jurong West Central 2
#02-34 Jurong Point Shopping Centre
Tel: +65 6795 2338