Shop vouchers

Enjoy dining without burning a hole in your pocket, no membership required

Reviews

From the Burpple community

It has been quite a while since we had given a visit to those eateries that are situated in the second floor of Shenton House (this is with the exception of the recent visit to — 家乡 Taste of Home); this eateries are establishments that are perhaps unknown to those whom are not familiar with the Central Business District or even the building itself, though they are also well-patronised by office workers in the vicinity for some really wallet-friendly lunch fare as compared to the more fancy and modern eateries that one would find as they go further towards the Marina area. One such old-school dining establishment that can be found within the second level of Shenton House would be the coffeeshop with the signboard that says “一定好六十年代福建虾面汤 • 古早味老火汤 • 经济菜饭”. In fact, this coffeeshop occupies not just one, but two consecutive shop units in the building; the signboard that hangs above the entrance of the shop unit says “传统咖啡 Traditional Coffee 一定好海南鸡饭 Yi Ding Hao Hainanese Chicken Rice. The coffeeshop is set-up almost akin to a Tai Pai Tong, with its food stalls located right at the entrance facing out to the shopping aisles. We would have usually whizzed past the coffeeshop considering the crowds, though we did notice the noodle stall’s menu on one occasion that made us curious enough to drop by and give it a try. The noodle stall is unnamed at its stall, though the banners within the coffeeshop itself seems to have referred to it as 古早味 Traditional. Offering only six items on the menu, 古早味 Traditional serves up Chicken Cutlet Noodles, variations of Laksa, Lor Mee, Minced Meat Noodles and Fish Ball Noodles.

What made us so intrigued about 古早味 Traditional to have gotten us to make a trip down to Shenton House for lunch was the Laksa Chicken Cutlet Noodles — the dish sounding rather similar to the Chicken Cutlet Curry Noodles that is served at Cantonese Delights at Hong Lim Food Centre that would come with a Laksa-esque flavour profile when one adds the Laksa leaves into the dish. Ordering the dish however, we found out that the Laksa Chicken Cutlet Noodles from 古早味 Traditional was a little bit more conventional than what we had thought. The Laksa Chicken Cutlet Noodles from 古早味 Traditional is essentially a variant of the usual Laksa; served in a bowl, the default type of noodles used here is thick bee hoon. The entire bowl comes filled with Laksa gravy, whilst coming with beancurd puffs and beansprouts that accompanies the fried chicken cutlet; chili is optional here, while laksa leaves comes sprinkled atop once everything else has been plated into the bowl. The Laksa gravy here totally hits the spot — this is one Laksa that would suit those who prefer slightly more creamier Laksa that comes with a heavier touch of coconut milk; while the flavours of rempah spices here is prominent, the coconut milk helps to give it that richness that makes it oh-so-good. This also means that the Laksa here would work particularly well with the sambal chili that adds an umami note with its savouriness and moderate punch of spiciness. The fried chicken cutlet here is decent — perhaps something that might be an issue for those who do not like their fried food soaked in gravy, though we did find the panko-battered chicken cutlet to maintain a crispness and wasn’t particularly greasy if had as a priority over the other elements. We typically do not comment much about the thick rice noodles but we loved how they had gotten the consistency right here — these were absolutely qq with a slight chewiness; something which we had never experienced at other establishments. The added beansprouts provided a bit of a crunch, while the beancurd puffs absorbed that goodness of the gravy much like a sponge. At the price of $4.80 a bowl, this is definitely a bowl of comfort that we would be returning for — perhaps one of our favourite items that we have had thus far in the area!

ADVERTISE WITH US