Pollo Western

Found ourselves not having any concrete plans for dinner during a long weekend and was pretty much scrolling on social media to find a spot to just wind up at and have something simple. Turned out that we came across Pollo Western that seems to be a new addition to the 7 Stars Coffeeshop located at Blk 323 Bukit Batok Street 32 — the same coffeeshop that used to house the now-defunct Gorilla Curry, as well as Changi Nasi Lemak which has since moved to their new digs at Longhaus in Upper Thomson. Being a western cuisine stall in a coffeeshop that takes on a similar style to modern western cuisine coffeeshop/hawker/food court stalls around the island, patrons can opt for their choice of meat here, then opt for a sauce before choosing two sides to compliment their choice of meats. Whilst pasta dishes are being illustrated on the menu, an “X” denoted the unavailability of pasta dishes (except for the Chicken Bolognese) during our visit — not sure if these are items which they intend to launch only at a later date, or if those would be not available on a permanent basis.

We visited Pollo Western after seeing the Cheese Pork Cutlet being shared online and that was essentially what we ordered — for the choice of our sides, we went with the Pandan Rice (just so we would not end up with French Fries; we already had a dish involving fries earlier in a cafe for lunch) and Potato Salad with Bacon Bits. Slicing the slab of the Cheese Pork Cutlet using a knife and one could see how the pork cutlet is being done here — rather than just simply drizzling a nacho cheese sauce atop the slab of pork cutlet, the folks at Pollo Western went with stuffing the pork with cheese before coating it with panko crumbs and deep-frying it; something pretty similar to Chicken Corden Bleu which we are a huge fan of. The result is this melted cheese that sits within the pork cutlet — oozy and stretchy as one slices through it that provides an additional dimension of savouriness; the pork cutlet itself is crisp on the outside, yet tender on the inside whilst also not being particularly greasy. The pork cutlet also did not carry any undesirable porky stench as well. Whilst the Potato Salad with Bacon Bits was pretty decent considering how it is served chilled and came with sizeable chunks of potato that is tossed in a creamy sauce and also speckled with bacon bits for a bit of crunch, the Pandan Rice was pretty subpar considering how it was served kinda stone cold. Could imagine how this would be if it was served warm — could definitely taste the garlicky notes going on in there while the rice was actually pretty fluffy; just a pity how it was served at a pretty awkward temperature that did not do it any justice.

Being just a stall specialising in western cuisine in the neighbourhood, Pollo Western’s menu may seem a little more limited as compared to other such stalls around — whilst they do have basic options such as their Signature Chicken Chop, Pork Chop, Chicken Cutlet, Fish & Chips etc., the lack of pasta options except for the Chicken Bolognese does limit the variety of items available to entice prospective patrons in some way. That being said, the Cheese Pork Cutlet was actually a pretty decent eat — there is probably some room for improvement especially where the Pandan Rice is of concern, though we would reckon switching it out for another side would make the dish work out pretty well. Not a spot I would say that I will make a special trip out there for, but I guess residents around the area might still find it decent to make a bit of a travel for this.