Two Chefs Eating Place is a popular Cze Char stall in the West, in Commonwealth to more specific. Every weekend, Two Chefs Eating Place is bounded to be packed with a long line of customers queuing up. Their signature dish, the Butter Ribs 牛油排骨 has been highly raved about on the internet.
I have been itching to try Two Chefs Eating Place for more than two years. The travelling journey was the main reason why I had been procrastinating for so long.
I was thrilled when I got to know that Two Chefs Eating Place had opened a second outlet at Sin Ming (that's near Upper Thompson / Bishan). In fact, it's just located next to Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery which is the largest Mahayana Temple in Singapore. It would be timely to visit and try out their dishes.
Revamped Two Chef's signboard showing their signature dishes.
I believed that
Two Chefs Eating Place either bought over or rented the entire coffee shop. The staff at the drink, roti prata and vegetarian stalls were all wearing Two Chef's uniform. The coffee shop was just half full during lunch time on a weekend. In fact, when we arrived at 1215pm, the place was literally empty except for another group of customers. There were many ceiling and wall fans that helped ventilate the place.
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Menu (a) |
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Menu (b) |
Two Chefs Eating Place's menu with over 79 dishes. If you are visiting for the first time, you might want to ask the staff to recommend their signature dishes. We ordered several of their signature items and did not have to wait long before the first dish was served to us.
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Drunken Cockles 醉蚶 $6 |
The Drunken Cockles 醉蚶 which has garnered lots of rave reviews online was the first dish to be served. The plate of half-shelled cockles was served cold. They were covered with light soya sauce covered with lots of garlic, spring onion and chilli padi. The cockles were fresh with no sand in it and had just a slight raw taste. I thought that this was just an average appetiser. Nothing great to shout about. And of course, your mouth will stink after eating this dish (due to the raw garlic). =P
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Vegetable with Egg, Salted Egg and Century Egg 三蛋时菜 $10 |
The Vegetable with Egg, Salted Egg and Century Egg 三蛋时菜 was another dish that Netizen raved about. It was another disappointment; badly executed. The spinach which was supposed to be soft, was firm and hard. The gavy which should have been so tasty due to the 3 eggs and spinach was tasteless. The chef failed to extract the flavours of the ingredients into the gravy. I had better ones elsewhere.
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Hot Plate Beancurd $10 |
The Hot Plate Beancurd arrived sizzling hot. Executed slightly different from most other Cze Char stalls, instead of slices of round shaped beancurd, the beancurds (tofu) were long, rectangular in shape and were soft. The gooey brown gravy was tasty with lots of minced meat and egg underneath. The gravy complemented the rice well and was not overly salty. An average dish.
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Honey Fried Chicken $12 |
The Honey Fried Chicken, a signature dish recommended by the staff was outstanding. It was easily the best dish in this meal. The chicken was well marinated as the inside was tender and flavourful. It was deep fried till the outside was crisp. The deep fried slices of fried garlic added on top further enhanced the taste up a notch or two.
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Butter Ribs 牛油排骨 $16 |
The Butter Ribs 牛油排骨 is the most popular dish at Two Chefs Eating Place. The Pork Ribs (I doubt that it was ribs, should be pork meat instead) were covered with milk powder and curry leaves. I had high expectations and was expecting to be blown away by this dish. Instead, I was left disappointed yet again. The meat was tough and distinct flavour of the curry leaves was not brought out. To be frank, there was no melt in the mouth sensation. In fact, we had difficulties finishing this dish. A member of our group who had been to Two Chefs Eating Place in Commonwealth and Sin Ming several times mentioned that somehow, their standard was way off their normal taste today. It seemed that its the norm for their standard to vary on different days. Anyway, I certainly did not know how to appreciate this dish and wonder why nearly everyone online had raved about this.
I know that there may be fans of Two Chefs Eating Place who may be reading this. But still I have got to say this; I left the place feeling extremely disappointed. I did not fancy any of the dishes I tried except for the Honey Fried Chicken. I do not understand the hype and thought that I had better Cze Char dishes else where. Overall, I was not satisfied with this lunch and found myself craving for more/better food (I was not the only one in the group who had this feeling).
Two Chefs Eating Place 双厨菜馆 (Sin Ming)
Blk 409 Sin Ming Ave
#02-01, Singapore 570409
Tel: 6451 3812 / 9435 4197
Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 1030pm
Two Chefs Eating Place 双厨菜馆 (Main Branch)
Blk 116 Commonwealth Crescent
#01-129, Singapore 140116
Tel: 6472 5361 / 9437 9712
Opening Hours: Mon 5pm to 1130pm
Tue to Sun 1130am to 230pm, 5pm to 1130pm
Closed on every last Mon of the month