Affordable Peranakan Lunch @ Candlenut Kitchen

21st January 2011. Written by Xin Li.
I had the chance to meet up with Glenn for lunch a few weeks ago and thinking that he might not get to eat Peranakan food once fly off to Perth, I decided to choose Candlenut Kitchen for lunch.

Recommended by Chubby Hubby sometime ago, the Candlenut Kitchen, located along Neil Road was opened by Chef Malcolm Lee who opened the restaurant after his graduation from At-Sunrice Global Academy. Instead of taking the fanciful way on the culinary path, Chef Malcolm opted to serve authentic Peranakan cuisine, partly to celebrate the food that his mum and grandmother cooked for him all his life as well as an effort to preserve their tradition and heritage. It all began with family.

Candlenut Kitchen also has an affordable lunch set menu for 10.00+ SGD that changes once in a while. It included a serving of steamed white rice, vegetables, starter and a choice of main (out of two). For the sweet tooth, you can add another 3.00 SGD for a dessert of the day and drink (soft drink or homemade barley).

The meal began with some prawn crackers and a sour and spicy dip.

Both Glenn and I had the set lunch with the ayam tempra as our main (the other choice was babi pongteh). We had a serving of chincalok omelette and chap chye.

Personally, I find it to be quite decent. I enjoyed the Ayam Tempra the most which is chicken in a sweet and sour sauce. The chicken was rather tender although Glenn commented that he expects it to be tenderer as it was a braised dish. It was the light, savory sauce with lime undertones of the ayam tempra that stole the show. It was unique and strangely addictive.

The chincalok omelette was quite salty and the chap chye was okay.

For dessert, I had the Chendol Cream (4.50+ SGD), an item from the ala-carte menu. Despite its appearance like something from a Hallowean party, I actually enjoyed this dessert. The texture of the coconut custard is like a smooth bean curd and while it may taste a little too sweet at the start, the dessert got tastier as I dig deeper into the custard.

Glenn had the D24 Durian Soup (7.00+ SGD)

Overall, I am rather satisfied with the food and I felt that the lunch set was enough and rather affordable. However, I believe the food from the lunch set is not the best of what Candlenut Kitchen is capable of, if I do visit the place again I want to try their signature Yeye’s Curry or Kueh Pie Tee.

Service wise, there is some polishing to be done, while the attitude was positive and friendly they seemed to have problems coping with the lunch crowd. It took quite a while to get their attention for orders.

Candlenut Kitchen

Address:
25 Neil Road Singapore

Tel: +65 6226 2506

Opening Hours
Mon–Sat: 11.30am–2.30pm, 6pm–10pm