Swirled (Market Street Hawker Centre)

new stall at market street hawker centre!!
the chicken was crispy and i think the skin has some salty seasoning to it. pasta portion was just nice since there was the chicken as an accompaniment.

i think for 10.90 it’s definitely on the steeper end for a lunch option as compared to the many other affordable stalls within the same area.

There does seem to be a lot that is happening within the food scene around the Central Business District recently, especially with the various openings of F&B concepts around the Raffles Place area of the late. Market Street Food Centre at CapitaSpring has not seen much changes in the F&B tenants that are operating from the food centre ever since its opening, so it is quite a surprise to see a new tenant named Swirled that had just opened its doors there. Swirled takes over the former premises of the now-defunct outlet of 51 Noodle House at Market Street Food Centre — they still operate at their locations in Yishun Park Hawker Centre as well as The Venue Shoppes at Potong Pasir. Swirled’s concept is actually pretty befitting to that of the office workers in the Central Business District that it is situated in; the stall serves up a variety of pastas that is predominantly designed for takeaways. There is a mix of more inventive pasta dishes that are being served up at Swirled amidst the conventional pasta dishes that they have to offer — the more inventive pasta dishes being items like their Laksa Pasta with Tiger Prawn and the Tonkotsu Pasta with Pork Belly, while the selection of more conventional pasta dishes would be items like the Braised Duck Aglio Olio and Beef Bolognese. Swirled also does serve up some communal dishes that are great to share around the table — these largely comprises of various flavours of Fries featuring different toppings which are listed on the “Basically Potato” section of the menu.

Skimming through the menu to decide on which item to go for during our visit to Swirled on a weekday afternoon, we found ourselves eventually going for the Carbonara with Crispy Chicken. Patrons get to choose between two types of pasta for all the items listed in the Basically Pasta section of the menu here — one can either opt for their pasta to come with Linguine, or one can opt for the Fusilli; we opted for the latter with our order of the Carbonara with Crispy Chicken. Pasta dishes are actually churned out rather quickly at Swirled — therefore, it doesn’t require a lot of waiting time and patrons generally would be able to collect their flood within a few minutes once the order is being made at the counter. On first look, we liked how the Carbonara with Crispy Chicken was presented; this is one Carbonara that does not come with the pasta swimming in a thick and overly rich cream sauce — there is also bits of bacon as well as onions within the cream sauce, while the fried chicken comes topped above the pasta. Going straight for the crispy chicken here, the crispy chicken delivers on what its namesake has promised; not only was the golden brown fried batter crisp, but the chicken was also juicy and tender — comes seasoned with a little bit of pepper and some herb powder for an additional contrast of flavours. With some sauce being at the bottom of the disposable bowl, we thought that the Carbonara with Crispy Chicken would work better with Linguine rather than the Fusilli that we had opted for. That being said, the sauce was slightly creamy and milky without anywhere near being jelat; the cheese powder adding a contrast of saltish-ness which compliments that of the savoury bits of bacon included — the onions providing a crunch for an added texture.

Despite only having tried only one item from Swirled, Swirled does seem like a promising spot to dine at — the Carbonara with Crispy Chicken that we had opted for seems to be able to deliver in all aspects where the pasta isn’t served with an onslaught of cream sauce, whilst the fried chicken that came along with it was also very much on-point as well. Run by a group of hawkerpreneurs, the operation does seem pretty down-to-earth and humble — much like what one would expect from a usual hawker stall. That being said, they do seem to be capable of serving up some really innovative pasta dishes that would capture the attention of office workers in the Central Business District where it is located in; all whilst being able to attract those who are more into having more familiar flavours — the ordering process also being really fuss-free without the need to pick-and-choose ingredients like some other establishments in the area. Prices of the pasta at Swirled ranges between $5.90 and $13.90; the lowest-priced items would be the Aglio Olio and the Arrabiata, while the highest-priced item is the Swirled’s Seafood Pasta — most dishes are priced at $8.90 and $9.90, which is a rather competitive price to alternatives in the area. Given how well the Carbonara with Crispy Chicken went, we are definitely intrigued to give their other items such as the Pink Sauce with Pork Belly and the Laksa Pasta with Tiger Prawn a go the next time we return; another dining option that we would add to our list to rotate around for lunch!