Ling Maison

Dinner was from Ling Maison - Western Food.
My mental ranking of what I’ve tried:
1) chicken chop (so beautifully marinated & charred)
2) pork chop ( so tender)
3) chicken cutlet (if you are a hungry hippo pick this-portion is huge, twice the size in the picture. I thought they gave me someone else’s dinner too!

Pity they ran out of sides. Would have loved to try the potato salad & coleslaw. Pity stomach not big enough 🤣🤣, would’ve loved to try the hawaiin chicken & bangers too. Till next time! 😍

LING MAISON, inside Jackson square canteen at Lor 3.

Been a big lover of Chicken Corden Bleu and Chicken Kiev so I was pretty excited when had managed to find Ling Maison’s social media pages and noticed that they have a Crispy Cheesy Chicken that didn’t looked like it featured nacho cheese sauce — had to make it a point to drop by and check them out when the time allows. Being a coffeeshop stall that serves up western cuisine, Ling Maison is a fairly recent opening at Jackson Square in Toa Payoh; Ling Maison occupies the stall just next to Chef Kang’s Noodle House — the latter being an offshoot of 1 Michelin Star restaurant Chef Kang’s at MacKenzie Road. Apart from the Crispy Cheesy Chicken, Ling Maison also serves up familiar western fare such as Fish & Chips, Chicken Chop and Sirloin Steak — other uncommon dishes on the menu at Ling Maison includes a Salmon Hollandaise, Chicken Ragout and Bangers & Mash with Edamame.

Whilst looking like a Chicken Corden Bleu on first look, the Crispy Cheesy Chicken at Ling Maison is more of a spin-off on the aforementioned dish — served with garden salad and shoestring fried on the side, the Crispy Cheesy Chicken does seem like a slab of rolled chicken breast that has been fried in a golden-brown batter on the outside and then sliced into half; the cheese and ham being placed over the top, with the former being melted using a blowtorch. Nonetheless, the entire ordeal was actually pretty satisfying; no doubt the dish lacks that oozy cheese coming from within the rolled up chicken breast considering how it is being made, but the batter is crisp without being too thick — the white meat within was also tender. That layer of cheese on top was melted to a stretchy texture which blankets over the meat; provides a savoury note that is further enhanced by the inclusion of ham for good flavour. The fries they accompany the Crispy Cheesy Chicken were nothing short of being crisp without being overly seasoned in salt, while the garden greens come dressed in a Japanese sesame salad dressing that made it especially refreshing and umami.

We were not expecting much out of the Crispy Cheesy Chicken here initially — having tried quite a number of renditions from coffeeshop stalls serving western cuisine all around, we never really bore much high hopes given how such a dish does require some skill in its execution. That being said, we were more than impressed by the Crispy Cheesy Chicken at Ling Maison despite it being more of its own take of Chicken Corden Bleu than an actual Chicken Corden Bleu itself. Not only was the dish worth the wait of 15mins to 20mins that is required for the preparation, we found it to be especially value-for-money at its price of $9.90 even in terms of portion; not forgetting that it is actually pretty well-executed. A spot that puts in effort in the food served and showcases passion in the craft; Ling Maison is definitely one of those coffeeshop stalls serving western cuisine that is worth making a travel to — pretty curious on their other items such as the Salmon Hollandaise which we are likely to go for if we ever revisit Ling Maison again!