As the saying goes, the best soul food is cooked at mum's kitchen. In my case, mum and dad, being a peranakan, I was fed by these stuff and somehow I could never find peranakan food at a restaurant that is quite as good as the ones in my kitchen.

Charlie's is quite close (for certain dishes), went for a mid-week dinner and the place was empty when we walked in, which got us worried for a while :)

We ordered:

Ayam Buah Keluak - Good one. It's not like the one that my dad makes but I suspect that they mix the meat in the buah keluak in the gravy because you can really taste the buah keluak flesh. The buah keluak was stuffed with minced pork, (not my preferred way of cooking, like it the original way) it's still good anyway.

Bakwan Kepiting - This one is not too bad, flavor is there, the meat balls is right where they should be, with just the right amount of bamboo shoots.

Beef Rendang - Probably one of the best I've tasted, reminds me just like home. The meat is cooked so well that it flaked off easily and the sauce is thick and hearty and just the way I like it!

Chap Chye - Hmm. Tad disappointing here, it has all the ingredients that a Chap Chye should have but somehow the flavor is not quite there. Perhaps, it was not stewed long enough.

We shared a Pulut Hitam for dessert, it's rather sweet, and dried longans were added. This is the first time I've had dried longans in my Pulut Hitam. At least it's not sugary sweet. :)

Good Peranakan food which is reasonable in price.
Ask if they have any specials and try the chendol

Went there on mother's day. Loved the fact that they took my reservation and didn't make us choose between one of the 'two sittings' like some other restaurants.

Ordered the fried fish (very good), the babi ponteh (gravy was the best of the night's offerings), ayam buah keluah (served in their nut shells meaty and fragrant), chap chye (large portion, tasty), fish otah (spicy and shiok) sambal sotong was large in portion (too much sotong for us to finish really)and we had the itek tim (Duck soup) that was as good as i had remembered from an earlier takeaway experience. The ngor hiang was interesting, not the normal hokkien type, but I really dug it cos it had such hearty fillings. Not too good for the complexion though since it was deep fried till crispy.

We had chendol at the end of it all too (how can one not at a peranakan restaurant)? My dad enjoyed the place so much i think he cleaned out their name card deck so he could recommend the place to his friends. :)

Although they don't take credit cards nor nets, the fact that they don't charge GST nor service charge and the dishes were already reasonably priced more than makes up for it.

I'm surprised I have not stepped in here sooner. You can easily miss this place, but to find it, all you have to do is walk a fews doors from the very crowded Five Star chicken rice eatery on East Coast Rd.
The ayam buah keluah is one of the best I have tried. The pickle is refreshingly different, not too sour or spicy. Sambal Kangkong : lovely. Service is quick and polite. Rice : fluffy and fragrant. Very simple restaurant with home-style cooking. I'm, however, not too impressed the fish maw soup which by the way comes only in one big portion (we did ask if they could make a small one since there were only 2 of us, but the answer was "no"). The meatball has a very strong smell of pork and I couldn't taste any crab that's supposed to be stuffed with it. And too much black fungus in it too, I thought. (But those who enjoy black fungus may like it!) Soup wise, good flavour.
Overall a good experience. But be warned - cash terms only!

Charlie's is tucked away in a row of shophouses on east coast road, and from outside, doesn't exactly entice you in. The restaurant is furnished very simply in plain white walls, lit by plain white lamps, and with plain (no, not white) sturdy chairs and tables. So, not your Saturday night romantic hideout. The menu is a simple type-written A4 sheet, so those with pretensions of snobbery need not apply here.
The simple layout gives you portends of the food to come, which is all in the 'peranakan' style. Portions are moderate, simply served, and rice (unlimited portions?) is dished out at the table. Basically, it's like dropping round to your mums / grandmums' / (or grandfathers, let's not be sexist) place for dinner!
We had the babi hong (pork belly, stewed until just tender but not disintegrating, lovely integration of flavours, tiny bit salty). Ayam buah keluak was nice, again with the chicken cooked until just tender. Sambal kang kong - well, how exciting can that ever be? - and my companions swore the sambal sotong was fresh and perky. Most disappointing was the ngor hiang, which was surprisingly chunky with large bits of prawns and coarsely chopped pork, though crispy and freshly fried. Hmm. This was definately NOT like mother used to make. The acar side dish was a little strange - very salty with an unusual taste, and not pickled enough for my tastes.
Highlight of the evening was the chendol - red beans and cendol topped with a mountain of shaved ice, with real (yes, real, when did you last taste that?) gula melaka, drenched with oodles of thick creamy santan. OK, if you were really critical, the ice shavings weren't light and fluffy enough (blame global warming), and the santan was far too thick for you weight-watchers out there, but really, we were far too busy scraping that last spoonful to worry about these things.
The two girls serving were busy but polite, and service was efficient. Finally, the bill proudly proclaims - No GST, No Service Charge.
(Beats washing up at mums place...).