looks Good

And now for 厨皇’s signature bird, the concubine chicken. No, I’m not referring to a king’s kept woman in a disparaging way, I’m talking about this Hong Kong style poached poultry right here. The main difference between this concubine chicken (aka Gui Fei Chicken, christened after Yang Guifei who was one of the four beauties of ancient China) and Hainanese chicken is rather simple.⠀
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While Hainanese chicken is simmered in water with some herbs, concubine chicken is poached in an exotic elixir of rose wine and lots of herbs. Thus, you get a touch more flavour with every bite of bird, even though those additional flavours are pretty mild. In fact, a good deal of its satisfying umami-ness is derived from the herbal soy sauce sparingly poured over it, while the herbal notes are more than content to be wingmen to the whole event.⠀
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The flavours are delightfully nuanced, but the incredible textures of the chicken aren’t afraid to hog the limelight. The meat is stunningly supple & majestically moist thanks to the perfect cook on the chicken. Meanwhile, that porcelain & slightly yellowish skin is essentially deliciously fatty & felicitous jell-o. Ladies, eat that skin, because it’s full of collagen and other stuff that’ll keep your skin flawless.⠀
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Normally, spreading legs this amazing costs at least five hundred bucks, but at 厨皇, getting stuck into these legs only costs nine dollars (per leg). You’re god damn right I’ll be back to patronise these leggy beauties, and you best believe it.

Tis’ been a long, long while since I’ve had some Peranakan food, and Old Bibik’s was on hand to very conveniently rectify that. They’ve got solo operators well covered with their weekday lunch specials, which comprise of the main, a dessert & a drink.⠀
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Mutton rendang is a pretty rare sight, so when I saw that on the menu, I ordered it with little hesitation. I gotta say, I wish more people did mutton rendang as good as Old Bibik, because this was absolutely ambrosial. The redolent rendang paste is scintillatingly spicy & chock full of herbs & spices, and the strong heady aroma is quite the scent to behold.⠀
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Flavour wise, it’s deeply savoury, with a heavy handed undertone of lemongrass duking it out with the other spices for prominence in the dish. It’s indecently inundated with a potpourri of spices, and they all come together to mask any gaminess the mutton possess. Speaking of the mutton, the meat was acceptably tender and each bite was fully flavoured by the sapid, spicy rendang curry/sauce.⠀
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The achar on the side is surprisingly spicy & awesomely acidic. The pickled vegetables slice right through the salty, spicy rendang to provide a respite from the spicy, savoury onslaught, and is a great palate cleanser. The rice & egg were nice, but were doubtlessly & obviously second strings to the juggernaut that is the rendang.⠀
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For $12.90 a set nett, it’s a delicious deal that should definitely be sampled a couple of times. For science, of course.

Sotong (aka squid) is a Peranakan staple, but instead of ordering something traditionally Peranakan like Sotong Hitam, I couldn’t resist the allure of the BBQ Sambal Sotong ($13.80++ for a small serving). Barbecue sambal sotong is a dime a dozen in Singapore, but Chili Paid have absolutely knocked this one outta the park.⠀
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Squid that’s been slathered in Chili Padi’s sambal chili is grilled and ready to wow any tastebuds. The squid is so unbelievably fresh that you’d need to harpoon the squid yourself if you wanted it any fresher. The firm, perfectly textured squid adopts the feisty, fiery flavours of the sambal effortlessly. Chili Padi’s sambal skews toward the salty side, so there is a huge hit of savouriness and spiciness that is supported by undertones of sourness & sweetness from the sambal.⠀
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What makes Chili Padi’s squid exquisite is the smokiness from the grilling. The char acquired from the grilling deepens the sapidity of the sambal, and injects a sensual smokiness that heightens all of the flavour attributes there. All you need is a heaping big plate of rice with a full dish of this sambal sotong, and you’re good to go. Absolutely scintillating sambal sotong, and if you like it, put these sotong rings on it.