Update on 25th August 2020
The wait is finally over! No longer do I have make up a legitimate reason to go to IMPACT Muang Thong Thani before I can have my favourite soup food in Thailand.
When owner Peter sent me a message on Sunday night, I was wondering what he wanted to tell me, but his news was completely out of expectation.
So now, let me announce that Chuan Kitchen is officially open at CentralWorld, 6th Floor beside MK Live!
Only 8 Singaporean/Malaysian favourites are available at the moment, but the plan is to have closer to 80 dishes (mix of SG/MY favourites, dim sum, tze char) once the place is up to speed.
So now, let me announce that Chuan Kitchen is officially open at CentralWorld, 6th Floor beside MK Live!
Only 8 Singaporean/Malaysian favourites are available at the moment, but the plan is to have closer to 80 dishes (mix of SG/MY favourites, dim sum, tze char) once the place is up to speed.
I rushed down to try the food yesterday (3rd day of soft-opening), and the Hokkien Mee and Char Kway Teow were absolutely perfect.
So, I hereby complete my 5th, baddest and bestest update on Chuan Kitchen, which continues to be the place that made me work the hardest as a foodie/blogger since I started this journey.
Enjoy!
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So much has happened since I first featured Chuan Kitchen in May last year (just scroll down and have a look for yourself). However, this might be the best update I will ever have to do for them.
What if I told you Chuan Kitchen has now moved to a brand new, bigger, better place in the vicinity of its old location, but with ample parking space, a pond that will soon be full of koi, cool alfresco dining areas and some really good coffee?
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| The parking space regulars have been craving for |
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| New bright, spacious and modern dining area |
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| Filled with customers since its opening on the 15th of December 2016 |
All said and done, regardless of the improvements that have been made, all I want to see is that the food remains the same.
After tasting all my favourites during my first visit to the all-new Chuan Kitchen, I can safely promise you that the food is still the same, but with better presentation. So this just means one thing.
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| Wah Lau Eh! |
Good job Peter, for taking Chuan Kitchen to another level. You have done a lot in a short time and I hope all my future updates will be on new branches opening all over Bangkok (including one nearer to me!).
PS. Chuan Kitchen will be offering a 20% discount from now until 31st March 2017. What are you waiting for?
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Update on 19th February 2016:
I am glad to announce that Chuan Kitchen has been officially back in business since 2nd February 2016.
The founders of Chuan Kitchen have found a suitable buyer for the restaurant and are extremely confident they can keep the Chuan Kitchen spirit flying and push it to greater heights in the near future.
At the moment, they are still operating at the same location at Bond Street Road until further notice, so readers, my favourite Bak Kut Teh and Laksa in Bangkok are available again!
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Update on 2nd December 2015:
With a heavy heart, I made my 1.5 hour journey across Bangkok this morning to Chuan Kitchen.
I still remember when I received an email from HQ a while ago inviting me to give her Singaporean food, otherwise unknown to me, a try right across the city. While the robust broth of Chuan Kitchen's Bak Kut Teh gave me a glow in my eyes and the Laksa reminded me of my foodie conquests in Singapore, there were other aspects of the establishment that worried me. With regards to food, their Hokkien Mee, by far my favourite Singaporean dish, left no impression, and can this young lady keep their standard consistent? I have to admit, I only decided to write them a review after eating at Chuan Kitchen thrice to confirm their consistency, which also convinced me that such a great Laksa and Bak Kut Teh should no longer be ignored despite its odd location.
Over the next year or so, I saw a positive transformation of Chuan Kitchen. Through the sheer hard work of HQ, every subsequent visit of mine was met with a bigger crowd of customers, always a good thing, and even the food improved. Their Hokkien Mee has become infinitely more 'shiok' now.
But with this upward curve came a shocking revelation that HQ had to go home, and that Chuan Kitchen had to close their doors after nearly 10 years in business, when they are almost ready to take their next step. Whatever I wanted to convey to HQ, I already did, the closing date of 14th December remains unchanged nonetheless.
So for us, dear readers, it's probably not the time to ask "why?", but a time to celebrate Chuan Kitchen. I did. Even if my brand new "Wah Lau Eh!" Stamp of Approval sticker will only be gracing their entrance for 12 days, I figured credit must go where credit's due, and I made Chuan Kitchen the 1st ever restaurant to receive my actual "Stamp".
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| HQ and I on a job well done |
So dear readers, remember the date. 14th December, no more, and less the Thursdays in between.
HQ asked me to help her thank all her customers reading this, for your kind support and effort driving all the way down to the 'village' for her food.
Perhaps there's one more drive to the 'village' in us, no?
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More and more big Singaporean names are jumping on the Thailand bandwagon. Take Breadtalk for example, you can now see them in every other corner of Bangkok, very much like in Singapore. Other well-known franchises like Yakun Kaya Toast, Crystal Jade and Paradise Dynasty have set up shop here too, but what do you think of when you miss food in Singapore?
Airy bread, foie gras soupy buns, or grilled thinly-sliced bread with egg custard? Nah, not for me. Chilli crab? Ok, getting there, but I believe most who know Singapore really well will agree that the soul of signature Singaporean tastes lie in hawker centres. When I miss Singaporean food (not as much as I should, honestly, otherwise I wouldn't be only blogging about this after 5 years), I think of dishes like chicken rice, laksa, fried hokkien mee, bak chor mee, bak kut teh, popiah etc.
You might be surprised, given the HUGE diversity of cuisines in Bangkok (you can even find Ethiopian, Cuban and Peruvian restaurants here), but authentic Singaporean food is as rare as it can be. Though some have tried with reasonable commercial success, I will gladly tell you that if you see a supposedly Singaporean restaurant named after some famous shopping street in Singapore and wish for authentic flavours, it's better to stay as far away from it as you can.
That brings me to my new mini series, Singapore Food in Bangkok, where I do my best to unearth proper Singapore tastes for you, whether you are locals craving to reminisce your culinary enjoyments in Singapore, or Singaporeans/Malaysians living here, like me, who badly crave for some hometown comfort food now and then.
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| Chuan Kitchen from the outside |
Chuan Kitchen is open and run by true-blue Singaporeans trying to introduce authentic "my-mother's-recipe" Singaporean dishes to folks in and around Bangkok. They have recently introduced an attractive new menu to freshen up their image, but really, it's their food that does the talking.
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| Katong Laksa style with rice noodles cut into shorter strips, and people who love spicy will love this! |
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| Small portion of chicken rice for Noah, only roasted chicken is available here, but there's the Singapore chilli sauce, impossible to find that in Thailand. |
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| Char Kway Teow, very shiok! To the sweet side, like a very very delicious Kway Teow from your favourite breakfast economic beehoon auntie in Singapore, just with more liao |
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| Dry Bak Kut Teh. Those who are familiar with it in Malaysia will be shocked to find it here, those who haven't tried it, it's like no other stew pork dish you have ever tried before. |
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| Easily the star of the show, KL-style Herbal Bak Kut Teh. When you come here, order this first then decide on the rest. |
On top of the usual traditional suspects, Chuan Kitchen has a full range of Dim Sum as well as some creative dishes like salted egg fries and laksa fried rice to keep you interested if you come frequently. This is by no means a place where you will be content walking in and chomping down a laksa before speeding off to your next errand.
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| Look at the hustle and bustle during lunchtime |
All's not perfect though, as Chuan Kitchen is located along Bond Street Road, a short drive beyond IMPACT Muang Thong Thani, which is incidentally the furthest drive-able place from my office which I will not consider a business trip/short vacation. For those who live around that area, please patronize them frequently so that they will consider opening some branches nearer to my place, for those who don't, an idea will be to visit them when you are going to IMPACT for any exhibitions (or at the Chaeng Wattana Immigrations for your visa applications), since you are already in the vicinity.
If you are lucky, you might find a young Singaporean lady zipping around in the semi-open kitchen making sure you get your dishes quickly. Speak to her and you will know that she is the brains behind this endeavour. She speaks perfect Singaporean English at such a pace that you will struggle to catch up, but it also means that she has all the right credentials to push Chuan Kitchen to greater heights.
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