Makan First: Treats across Singapore
Mariners’ Corner Restaurant
Founded in 1984, Mariner’s Corner Restaurant is a tavern-like restaurant located at Maritime House.
The restaurant serves dishes using original recipes from the former cook of the British chief pilot of the old Singapore Harbour Board that have been handed down for three generations.
Before independence, many Hainanese chefs headed the kitchens at hotels and coffee houses across the island and were known for their western-style dishes. Mariners’ Corner Restaurant carries on this tradition, offering steaks, stews, and grilled lobster and meat combinations.
Some signature dishes to try here include the oxtail stew and braised New Zealand lamb shank.
The former, in particular, is a favourite among regular diners.
The dish features large chunks of meat braised for six hours, accompanied by mashed potatoes and greens.
All dishes served at the restaurant are homemade recipes that have been perfected over the years.
Mariners’ Corner Restaurant
120 Cantonment Road, #01-02 Maritime House, Singapore 089760
Tel: 6224-9928
Chef Chik
Specialising in steamed Cantonese dishes like fish and seafood, double-boiled soups and claypot rice, Chef Chik is a humble hawker stall at Haig Road Market & Food Centre that offers a menu big on flavour.
The Steamed Threadfin is a delight — it is softly textured, not fishy and doused with a classic soy ginger sauce.
The Fish Head/ Belly in Black Bean Sauce is also a must-try for its bold and comforting flavours.
For something substantial, order the Claypot Rice topped with Chinese sausage, chicken and vegetables. Don’t forget to scrape the bottom of the bowl for the crispy crust of rice at the end of your meal.
Chef Chik’s soups are his signature dishes. The Cordyceps White Fungus Chicken Soup is well-balanced with its rich flavours melded into a savoury broth.
If you like Bitter Melon Pork Soup with just the right amount of bitterness, then the one at Chef Chik is the perfect choice for you!
Chef Chik
14 Haig Road, #01-36 Haig Road Market & Food Centre, Singapore 430014
For reservations, contact Joanne at 9011-8979
Caffe Zeppin
Nestled among furniture showrooms and car workshops in Sin Ming Lane is Caffe Zeppin.
This three-year-old eatery is run by a hospitable couple and offers wholesome lunches at wallet-friendly prices. It specialises in an extensive menu of authentic Taiwanese and Japanese cuisine.
Tuck into Taiwanese braised rice, Japanese rice bowls, ramen, salads and bento boxes here. Some recommendations include the popular Taiwanese braised minced pork rice or lu rou fan, served with a generous portion of cubed pork and seasoned ramen egg (ajitsuke tamago), and the pork belly don topped with succulent slices of pork belly, an onsen egg and greens.
Polish off your meal with freshly brewed coffee or a frappe for a satisfying midday break.
Caffe Zeppin
26 Sin Ming Lane, #01-116 Midview City, Singapore 573971
Tel: 6262-1367
Website: caffezeppin.oddle.me
Casuarina Curry
Whether dipped in curry, sprinkled with sugar or drizzled with condensed milk, roti prata is considered a comfort food for many Singaporeans.
Head over to Casuarina Curry Restaurant near Thomson Road for its signature prata.
A supper destination that has been around since the ‘90s, the casual restaurant offers more than 40 varieties of prata — from all-time favourites like plain and egg prata to more unique flavours like chicken floss prata and mushroom cheese prata.
The eatery also offers a selection of nasi biryani and South and North Indian-style curries.
Casuarina Curry Restaurant
136 Casuarina Road, Singapore 579524
Tel: 6455-9093
Website: www.casuarinacurry.com
Different Taste Cafe & Restaurant
If you yearn for hearty home-cooked meals but don’t have the time or energy to slog in the kitchen, then a possible dining option for your family is Different Taste Cafe & Restaurant.
A dining institution established in 1989, the family restaurant prides itself on delicious Chinese and Peranakan recipes, original cooking methods and fresh ingredients.
A must-try at this quiet and cosy joint is the Signature Fish Head Curry, which is simmered in a homemade tangy sauce of 15 different spices and served with brinjal and lady’s fingers.
Other local delights to savour include the flavourful fish maw crab meat soup, crispy and aromatic prawn paste chicken, and Special Nasi Lemak that comes with a generous helping of fragrant coconut milk rice, crispy ikan bilis, fried chicken wings and homemade sambal.
Different Taste Cafe & Restaurant
111 Frankel Avenue, Singapore 458229
Tel: 6241-6518/ 6449-3324
E-mail: differenttastes@hotmail.com
Kei Kaisendon
If you are a chirashi don fan, you will be happy to know that there are four ways to enjoy raw seafood bowls at Kei Kaisendon: original with the homemade Kei sauce that blends perfectly well with raw sashimi, mixed with chilli powder and mayonnaise, with soup poured into the bowl or wrapped in nori.
Order the signature Kei Signature Kaisen Don and enjoy it the way you like it or all four ways.
The restaurant chain is one of the few places in Singapore that offers four ways of enjoying the Japanese dish.
For a complete meal, order a bowl of soup boiled with assorted mushrooms, carrots and salmon to complement your chirashi bowl.
The popular Japanese restaurant chain, which has been satisfying food lovers with fresh sashimi for two years, is known for its sashimi bowls that are topped with fresh ingredients like salmon, unagi and scallop.
For the ultimate flavour bomb, order the Mentaiyaki Kaisendon, a raw cubed seafood rice bowl covered in a generous drizzle of mentaiko sauce and blow-torched to give the dish a mouthwatering smoky aroma.
The bowls are garnished with salmon roe, wakame seaweed, flying fish roe and sesame.
Kei Kaisendon
6 Raffles Boulevard, #02-226A/B Marina Square, Singapore 039594
Tel: 6252-8311
10 Sinaran Drive, #02-95 Novena Square 2, Singapore 307506
Tel: 6264-8155
1 Raffles Place, #04-30 One Raffles Place, Singapore 048616
Tel: 6781-6887
60 Paya Lebar Road, #01-86 Paya Lebar Square, Singapore 409051
Tel: 6844-9915
3 Temasek Boulevard, #02-372 Suntec City Mall, Singapore 038983
Tel: 6251-9170
Website: www.keikaisendon.com
KL Damansara Chilli Ban Mee
Kuala Lumpur-style ban mee is a tasty combination of handmade wheat flour noodles, minced meat, fish balls and generous heaps of fiery dry chilli flakes.
KL Traditional Ban Mee is a chain known for its signature red chilli, which comes in five levels of spice.
Not only does the condiment pack a punch with its tongue-numbing heat, but it also has a hint of sweetness that enhances the texture of the springy noodles.
The restaurant has launched an offshoot called KL Damansara Chilli Ban Mee to cater to Muslim diners.
With four halal-certified outlets located in the eastern and north-eastern parts of the island, more diners can enjoy dishes like Abalone Combo Chilli Ban Mee comprising handmade noodles served with fresh Pacific clams, abalone, scallops and eggs, topped off with copious amounts of fried shallots, ikan bilis and, of course, the signature dry chilli.
KL Damansara Chilli Ban Mee
2 Tampines Central 5, #03-19 Century Square, Singapore 529509
681 Oasis Punggol Drive, #04-01 Punggol Oasis Terrace, Singapore 820681
78 Airport Boulevard, #B2-238 Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore 819666
314 Bedok Road, Bedok Market Place, Singapore 469478
Le Xiao Chu
Supper spots are a dime a dozen in Singapore, but how many of them serve piping hot bowls of seafood porridge?
Open daily from 11am to 5am, seafood restaurant Le Xiao Chu along Balestier Road is one of the few places in Singapore that serves claypot seafood porridge cooked from scratch with fresh seafood.
Their signature dish, Seafood Claypot Porridge (from $68 for a two- to three-person serving), is a delectable dish of thick, silky-smooth porridge filled with prawns, crab and la la (clams).
The crayfish white bee hoon, which is a combination of sticky egg sauce, springy thin bee hoon and plump crayfish, expertly wok-fried with noodles, is worth a mention.
The restaurant also whips an addictive Cai Po Bean Curd featuring homemade bean curd topped generously with fried, preserved radish.
Be sure to try the French Beans covered in Deep-Fried Shrimp and Signature Pork Knuckle, which is delightfully crispy on the outside and fork-tender on the inside.
Le Xiao Chu
457 Balestier Road, Singapore 329833
Tel: 6265-3863
18 Boon Lay Way, #01-98 Tradehub 21, Singapore 609966
Website: www.lexiaochu.sg
Nipong Naepong
As Singapore’s first and only jjamppong specialty restaurant, it is not surprising that Nipong Naepong has become a favourite haunt of Korean food fans.
Jjamppong is a Korean noodle dish served in a spicy seafood or pork-based soup.
The restaurant specialises in 12 variations of the dish, offering a diverse range of soup bases and flavours. Some newer renditions include Jjajangmyeon, or black bean noodles, and Mala Ppong, noodles cooked with spicy mala paste.
The restaurant recently expanded its menu to offer iron-plate rice dishes inspired by hansang, a Korean term that means “a table with a full meal”.
Some highlights include the Chuncheon Dakgalbi Iron-Plate Rice featuring spicy stir-fried chicken chunks that can be dipped in melted mozzarella cheese and the Seoul Bulgogi Iron-Plate Rice topped with sweet and savoury bulgogi-marinated beef surrounded by a soft-set egg omelette.
Nipong Naepong
313 Orchard Road, #B3-03 313 @ Somerset, Singapore 238895
Tel: 6509-8364
50 Jurong Gateway Road, #01-16 Jem, Singapore 608549
Tel: 6816-8061
Soi Thai Kitchen
Satisfy your craving for Thai food at Soi Thai Kitchen, a casual eatery bringing authentic Thai flavours to the heartlands.
Since it opened its first outlet in 2012, the restaurant has been dishing out authentic homemade recipes to appeal to well-travelled Singaporean diners.
A must-try is the Yellow Curry Seafood, an original recipe of Thai curry seasoning, succulent seafood and crunchy onions, bathed in a silky egg sauce that goes perfectly with fragrant Thai jasmine rice.
Soi Thai Kitchen
824 Tampines Street 81, #01-28, Singapore 520824
Tel: 6784-2421
58 Serangoon Garden Way, Singapore 555954
Tel: 6282-3788
502 Jurong West Avenue 1, #01-811, Singapore 640502
Tel: 6266-1811
2 Jurong East Central 1, #04-12 JCube, Singapore 609731
Tel: 6262-2669
Sora Boru
Named after the way the Japanese pronounce “bowl”, Sora Boru is a halal-certified self-service eatery that sells a variety of Japanese-style rice, curry and sashimi bowls in a bright and cheerful space at 313 @ Somerset.
The eatery’s two signature dishes are the Volcano Beef Don and the Snow Beef Don. Available in two sizes — mini ($7.50) and regular ($13.50) — the rice bowls feature a base of steamed rice, choice of stewed cabbage or seasoned beansprouts and flame-grilled beef slices.
The Volcano Beef Don is finished with a spicy “lava” sauce, while the Snow Beef Don is dressed with grated parmesan cheese and a house-made sweet-and-savoury cream-based sauce.
Another highlight at Sora Boru are the customisable chirashi bowls where diners can choose their serving size, base, raw seafood, toppings, dressing and garnish.
Sora Boru
313 Orchard Road, #B3-19/20 313 @ Somerset, Singapore 238895
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