Long long time ago, I made a list of eating places I had bad experience with and vowed to boycott them. Truth be told, I had been going back to one of them, Curry Times at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 recently for lunch.
Oops.
I still have the same grouses regarding the faux-old-school metal bowl; I just didn’t order the Chicken Cutlet Rice (or any item) served in that bowl.
Luckily for me, I had other reasons for returning when I returned to Curry Times.
I found myself quite in love with its Dried Laksa.
The serving came with a rather generous portion of prawns and fish cakes. Most importantly, I liked the rich gravy that was infused with the laksa itself, making every bite an unglam one as the gravy built up on the lips.
Licking that layer of gravy off my lips was itself another gratifying experience.
The only other Dried Laksa that I endorsed was from The Peranakan at Claymore Connect (in Orchard Road). Both scored well in the sense that the chef allowed the thick vermicelli to soak in the laksa gravy.
In Curry Times’ rendition of Dried Laksa, not only did they have whole prawns (we all know how local hawkers like to bluff customers with their half-sliced prawns pretending to be whole pranws), Fish Cakes, as well as Chicken Char Siew. The protein-to-carb ratio in this dish is higher than our regular Laksa, which should be a good choice for health conscious folks to have on their cheat days lol
Sometimes, I’d order Ngor Hiang (Spiced Minced Meat Wrapped in Beancurd Skin) or Vegetarian Beancurd Roll (similar to Ngor Hiang, except it has beancurd bits as filling instead of meat).
I prefer the former waaay more than the latter. The Vegetarian Ngor Hiang was an oily mess and every bite felt so empty because the roll was not stuffed full with fillings.
I mean, just look at how undernourished the item came.
In contrast, the Ngor Hiang was full at every bite. The meat was well marinated with the spices, so I felt happy for the chicken that died for the Ngor Hiang at every bite.
One of my favourite home cooked food was Onion Omelette – it has to be cooked the Chinese way, not the Western style. They offer it at Curry Times, so I ordered it during one of my lunches.
Based on the outcome, I don’t think the chef was a Chinese. He failed to stir-fry the onions to caramelise the starch in it, before adding the eggs. Most likely he got the sequence the other way around, such that the onions tasted raw and lacked that sweetness Chinese style Onion Omelettes should have. i.e. he cooked it the Western style. It was a waste…
To round off the meal, you can have the usual Chin Chao (Grass Jelly Drink) or Chendol Coffee. The latter is regular milk coffee topped with chendol (green pandan jelly), red beans and atap chee. Well, I prefer my Chendol with Gula Melaka (mainly because I don’t like coffee with milk kopitiam style).
Other items that I tried, but didn’t feature here, was the Chicken Meatball Mushroom Noodles Soup, which I had when I didn’t feel well that day. The soup was clear and the piping hot soup helped soothe my irritated throat and muddy mood that day 🙂
I can’t vouch for the other outlets how good their food is, but if you are in the airport, go down to B2 at T3 to get your fix of cheap, comfort food at Curry Times.
It made me eat my food and my words, so it was worth it.
If you enjoyed my entry, please like and share my article! Subscribe to my blog for more foodporn in the future! If you can’t wait, you can also read about my other food hunt reviews, like Singapore’s Michelin star restaurant, Hawker Chan, roast meat with old traditions from Kay Lee, or just good old Hai Kee Brothers that serves good food and low prices in Chinatown Point.
Till then, eat happy!
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