Savour old-school dishes from traditional Chinese dialect restaurants in Singapore

1. Hokkien: Beng Thin Hoon Kee Restaurant

Beng Thin Hoon Kee Restaurant/Facebook

1/5

This established Chinese restaurant at 65 Chulia Street (#05-02 OCBC Centre) was founded by Lim Yew Hoon, a migrant from China. For more than 70 years, Beng Thin has been serving a variety of authentic Fujian cuisine to Singaporean diners.

The menu features slurp-worthy Fujian fried noodles, braised pork belly stuffed in fluffy steamed buns (kong bak bao), prawn ball ngoh hiang, and crispy prawn omelette. The latter, a recipe from 1949, has been expertly prepared in the same style as the popular hawker favourite oyster omelette. Beng Thin’s version is made with eggs mixed with tapioca starch alongside small juicy prawns, and fried till golden and crispy around the edges.

A photogenic dish that’s great for celebrations is the signature Beng Thin Duck Salad comprising slivers of roast duck and jellyfish flaked by julienned rock melon and cucumber. This cold appetiser is tossed with the tangy house dressing.

For a belly warming option, try the garoupa fish head simmered in a claypot along with yam and herbs. The result is a rich broth layered with complex flavours. If you’re there for a birthday celebration, order the soft and fluffy steamed Longevity Peach Buns filled with lotus seed paste buns.

Find out more: Beng Thin Hoon Kee Restaurant

2. Hakka: Plum Village

Amy Van

2/5

Plum Village, located in a row of shophouses on 16 Jln Leban (off Upper Thomson Road), is the oldest and only authentic Hakka restaurant that remain in Singapore. This restaurant’s nostalgic ambience has not changed since the 1980s.

Owner Lai Fak Nian independently runs this business which he inherited from his father. As there’s no successor taking over the restaurant, Lai plans to retire and close Plum Village for good in the next couple of years. 

For now, you can still get to enjoy humble Hakka dishes painstakingly prepared from scratch. Specialities include pork belly with preserved vegetables, salt baked chicken, and Hakka yong tau fu stuffed with minced pork.

The specialty of suan pan zi or abacus seeds made with yam and topped with minced pork and mushrooms is a must-try. There’s also the uncommon Hakka noodles tossed with minced meat and a scattering of diced lard – a very simple yet satisfying dish.

Tel: 6458 9005

Related: (Antoinette chef Pang Kok Keong puts a spin on traditional Hakka kueh)

3. Cantonese: Lai Wah Restaurant

Lai Wah Restaurant/Facebook

3/5

Founded in 1963, this is one of the oldest Cantonese restaurants in Singapore. In the 1970s, it moved to a row of shophouses at 44 Bendemeer Rd (#01-1436), and has been there since.

Opened by the late Wong Kok Lum, and two of Singapore’s Four Heavenly Kings – Tham Yui Kai and Lau Yoke Pui – this stalwart is still going strong. Today it is run by Wong’s eldest son, Kah Onn.

Lai Wah is a pioneer of local favourites like the spicy chilli crabs and deep-fried yam basket brimming with prawns and cashew nuts. The extensive menu includes fried cereal prawns, Mandarin stewed whole chicken and many other items. There’s also the addictive deep-fried with bread and minced squid and prawns. Lai Wah is famous for their festive specials such as the original yu sheng platter and Eight Treasure Celestial Duck stuffed with lotus seeds, water lily and mushrooms.

Find out more: Lai Wah Restaurant

4. Teochew: Cheng Hoo Thian

Amy Van

4/5

This low-key restaurant at Block 34 Whampoa West (#01-27) serves some of the most traditional Teochew dishes in Singapore. Owner Jimmy Koh still rustles up creations from his father’s recipes and even makes his own tangerine peels for desserts.

His father Koh Cheng Hoo started a small zi char stall near Clarke Quay in 1930. After WWII, he moved to New Market Road (now Havelock Road), and subsequently opened an outlet at Tessensohn Road in 1970, and a second one along Hokkien Street in 1974. Due to high rentals, both places closed a couple of years later, and Cheng Hoo decided to do private dining for regular customers only.

In 2018, Jimmy was invited to reopen the restaurant at the current location, and actively manages the place by himself today. The menu offers a host of traditional Teochew style delicacies such as roasted goose, steamed Teochew croaker fish, pork trotters, sucking pig and liver rolls. There are also excellent specialities like Teochew pumpkin pancake and fried kway teow laden with eggs and crunchy chai por. Plus the Teochew-style oyster omelette – you can’t get more authentic than that.

Find out more: Cheng Hoo Tian

5. Hainanese: Chin Chin Eating House

Chin Chin Eating House

5/5

Many Hainanese restaurants have closed down in recent years. But Chin Chin Eating House at 19 Purvis Street is still going strong. This family-run business opened in 1934 as a Hainanese kopitiam serving Nanyang coffee and kaya toast. They started serving Hainanese chicken rice in 1959, which is one of their signatures that many tourists go for.

The extensive menu also includes the classic Hainanese pork chop laced with a rich tomato sauce, claypot mutton, prawn roll and fish maw with mixed vegetables and koo chye (chives) with cuttlefish. Prices are still reasonable at this popular eatery. So head there for early lunch or dinner if you want to score a table.

Find out more: Chin Chin Eating House

Related: (What is Hainanese larp and How Is The Heritage Snack Made?)