Chef Chik (Haig Road Market)

Chef Chik is such an elusive place to eat at, as it only opens from Wednesday to Saturdays only, and only around 4 hours for each of those days.

Unless u work nearby, efforts have to be made to get here to Chef Chik

Finally the chance arrived for me to finally eat here, and I had to go for the best dish, which was the Steamed Threadfish Belly.

Firstly, the fish was so damn fresh, some of the slices were with jellylicious meats, and some were with soft tender meat. So damn fresh. Just watch out for the bones.

And the sauce was so damn good, it was garlicky, it was spicy, it was flavourful.

Truly 5 🌟 for this dish.

The other menu items also look damn good, till next time.

Steamed Threadfin Belly (about $22) comes with tender slices of fish belly with texture like sashimi but cooked 💯 the dark sauce gravy goes so well with the fresh fish and we licked off every bit together with rice 🍚👅

I heard about this chef from Wan Hao and wanted to try his food. Note, this is a very Cantonese/steamed menu and prices can be steep. This was really enjoyable. Salty, not even the very salty salted fish, but good.

I heard about this chef from Wan Hao and wanted to try his food. Note, this is a very Cantonese/steamed menu and prices can be steep. With the budget in mind, this signature dish was still superb. Fish belly is already prime. Throw in the full works of soy sauce, spring onion, garlic, chilli, ginger etc. The fish was tender and gelatinous. And the serving meant there's almost no bones. Heavenly experience.

The steamed threadfin belly is a homely and traditional Cantonese dish steamed to perfection with light soya sauce, garlic, spring onion and coriander. It was fresh, succulent and robust with flavours. The sauce was well balanced and had a depth of savoury flavours in subtle layers and made perfect with a bowl of white rice. The minced garlic also gave a good burst of garlicky flavour to the dish. This is seasonally priced and threadfin usually costs more than the average fish but this did not deter us from ordering it.

The salted fish meat patty was equally good. It has a soft and firm bite with the saltiness of salted fish. I just had to mix it for a more balanced flavour and it is perfect to go with rice to neutralise the saltiness.

With the first two dishes ‘heavier’ on flavours, the oyster sauce vegetables was a little bland but crunchy. It is still good to add some greens for a healthy balanced diet.

This is not a typical lunch budget but it is definitely worth the restaurant quality and delicious food served in a hawker centre. Do expect a long queue and wait as this is a two man operation where Chef Chik does the preparation and cooking while his wife takes the order and serve to customers. It will be worth the wait when the food is served.

Steamed Threadfin Belly (Seasonal Price)
Salted Fish Meat Patty 》$4
Oyster Sauce Vegetables 》$4

The one dish you must try from Chef Chik (stall #01-36) at Haig Road Market Food Centre is this “Steamed Prawns in Garlic Sauce”. Perfectly-cooked crustaceans aside, it is the bed of #cheecheongfun arranged beneath that got my jaw meeting the floor. What a simple but smart idea - it adds so much to the dish because those silky-soft steamed rice rolls end up absorbing the sweet prawn juices and insanely fragrant garlic sauce. I couldn’t stop eating them once I got started. It’s pretty much a one-dish meal when you think about it.

Do note this stall has unusual operating days and hours. They are only open from Wednesdays to Saturdays and while lunch is served from 11.30am to 2.30pm, dinner is a brief and rather awkward window of 4pm to 5.30pm.