Two Chefs Eating Place

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There are many humble cze char places across the island – lots of enterprising chefs brandishing their woks, selling the standard cze char items; hor fun, claypot beancurd, prawn paste chicken - all with varying standards and prices. One of my favourite cze char places(and there are many) is Two Chefs at Commonwealth Drive. The food is honest, portions are generous, and the staff make no pretensions about the hearty fare they are selling(cue: they drizzle mayonnaise happily out of a bottle all over your newly fried prawns right in front of you, even as you swallow your saliva).

Two Chefs is run by a pair of brothers, and the place made it once to the cover page of the Sunday Times. That might acocunt for half of its success; on any given weekend, you’ll find yourself at the end of a snaking queue, filled with hungry patrons looking like eager-eyed vultures, waiting to descend on any empty tables. The food is worth waiting for – it’s slightly more inventive than your average cze char place on the corner. Casting an eye on the tables though, what will surprise you is that most people inevitably order the same few things, so we will feature more of the common items the general populace seem to enjoy.

Butter pork ribs

This dish is sinfully rich, filled with melted butter and sugar, dusted all over the pork ribs. On my first few trips here, I used to swear that this was heaven – it was so tasty and sweet, and the meat rarely had bones such that one could simply eat this with a bowl of white rice and be satisfied(read: died and gone to heaven). However, on subsequent visits, I realised that there could be better control over the amount of sugar, for the butter was already cloyingly sweet. The pork ribs were very tender and tasty but the butter does take a little getting used to.

Cold cockles

One of the dishes people don’t seem to order very much(for fear of Hep B or for health reasons) is this cold dish of cockles, with the yummiest chopped garlic, chives and red chilli. I am a big fan of Cockles, so this dish was heaven for me. Using the toothpicks, I picked out each cockle from its shell – still cold from the ice, and dipped it into the sauce with a bit of chopped garlic. Ooh, yummmmmmmy.

Honey Chicken

As if one meat dish wasn’t enough, honey chicken is often found on every table- the honey chicken is drizzled with honey, and chopped almonds. What was less appetising about the dish is that the chicken very often has bones – so those with kids might want to order the butter pork ribs instead. I also reckon that the dusted melted butter of the Butter pork ribs would sit better with children.

Sambal Sweet potato leaves

KangKong is also known as morning glory- for some reason, I can never understand why it’s called that-  I think of the Oasis song when I hear the words Here, they use sweet potato leaves instead of kangkong, and the stems are thicker with leafy leaves, ripe for chewing. I love the taste of the sweet potato leaves- the vegetable is tasty and crunchy without being hard.

Tofu with mushrooms

No cze char is complete with tofu – the version here uses lots of different mushrooms, over silken fried tofu. I love the mushroom sauce and the tofu, but order a smaller portion as this tends to be quite big. This could be a little more spicy.

Cereal prawns

I love ma pin- the cereals prawns were extremely tasty- the prawns were huge with a lovely dusting of cereals all over. The prawns were not overdone, and were so fresh, sweet and delicious.

Two Chefs is great at serving up honest fare that is consistent, day after day, night after night – you’re guaranteed a satisfying lip smacking meal here. Places like these are so unpretentious, it’s like being able to have your grandmother’s comfort food, but with no effort and at decent prices.

Let me begin by saying I have eaten here more than 5 times, and that I like the food.

BUT I went there for dinner tonight (Saturday) with the family at 7pm, and the queue was extra long. Waited 20 minutes to get a table, which is (arguably) fine, but when the food came rather quickly, it was clear that a lot of the dishes were pre-prepared. 3 out of the 4 dishes were lukewarm / cold.

Needless to say, I am not happy.

Aye caramba!

Never knew such a dish existed. Its a simple dish, and yet .... SO TASTY. Defintely a must try. Its cold, savoury, slightly spicy and SO SI HUM-MY!

Another dish of theirs would be the freeze-dried butter pork ribs. Having that with Si Hum and rice, its a meal. But wait !!!

I had to order a 3 egg vegetable thingy as well. And I am not a healthy person, and presto! Good call. Very light on your tummy. Great for people who want to indulge in something not that feeling nor salty.

Love this place, love the SI HUM !!!!!

Finally made the journey west to Two Chefs Eating Place, after reading about it a couple of months back in the Straits Times. Housed in a small coffeeshop in a rather remote part of Commonwealth, the place is rather small and tables are limited. Apparently the crowd starts coming in at about 6pm so get there before 6 or be prepared to wait.

Radish Soup - We started off with the radish soup, which wasn't on the menu. Light and mildly sweet, noticeably from the use of monosodium glutamate (MSG). Nice but excessive drinking is certainly not encouraged.

Butter Ribs - The butter ribs were a misnomer really. Ribs should come with bones, shouldn't they? But I'm definitely not complaining. The meat was tender without being fibrous or soft. What was interesting was the fact that the meat was coated with a concoction of cheese flakes, a dash of sugar and a sprinkling of curry leaves - Nice and sweet with a mild hint of spiciness, belying a smooth cheesy sensation with that tinge of curry aftertaste.


Stir Fried Broccoli with Garlic - This was your regular stir fried broccoli fried with tons of chopped garlic. Decent but a wee bit too soft and overcooked for my liking.

Beancurd with Golden Mushroom - I didn't think too highly of this dish though the tofu was smooth but rather bland and lacked silkiness. The sauce had lots of golden mushroom and minced meat but was weirdly sweet instead of savoury.

Hor Fun - The lowlight (as opposed to highlight. Ha Ha Ha. Corny I know) of the entire meal, the hor fun appeared rather slip shod. They were all clumped together and lacked any discernible wok hei taste. The pork and shrimp didn't taste fresh either. On a healthier note, there were lots of vegetables though.

At 50 cents shy of $34 for 3 pax, I wouldn't say it was expensive. However, only the butter ribs were good while the other dishes hovered around the average mark or faded into obscurity. Throw in the queues and I doubt I'll return, especially since the place is halfway across the island for me. But if I do, it will only be for the butter ribs.

See all my pictures here.

Went to makan at this place (highly recommended by friends).

Had their Si Hum. Aiyoh. No Hepatitis jab also must try. But lucky for me, I had mine done many years ago. The sauce accompanying this dish is super lah. Order a bowl of rice, pour the sauce in it and start digging in. Super shiok.

Their butter pork ribs also can try. But it was a little too sweet for my liking. But my friends like it.

Their 3 egg veggie. Wow wee woo. I found heaven. If they could add in more salted egg .... it would the Heavens of heaven.

date of visit- 18/09/09

hgw has attained such a cult status in me that it is now officially my eat-out bible, and wise it is, for it has found me this gem in this mature and forgotten estate of commonwealth.



it was a full house when we arrived for dinner. thanks to their quick hand quick leg service, we found a table in less than five minutes.


butter ribs- SGD8

this is the star of the night. boneless and cheesy, it retired my love for sweet and sour pork. alright, maybe for this stall only. and for only $8, we get six huge chunks of boneless meat and lots of cheese! and those cheese melt in the warmth of your mouth, it was a really wonderful treat.


fried prawns served w/ mayonnaise- SGD15

this was also good. fried prawns were not oily and mayo was of the right sweetness.


hong kong kai lan- SGD8

this was the only dish that we didn't like. vegetables carried a hint of bitterness and it was bland. perhaps the elder people will appreciate this dish more.


golden mushroom beancurd- SGD8

another generous serving of food for $8. the gravy was excellent, it wasn't too salty when paired with rice and the beancurd was of the right texture, neither too soft nor tough. overall this was also good.




value:
ultra great value. generous portions, low price. excellent taste too may i add.

service:
a kopitiam at heart, nothing fanciful or out of the way for its diners. well, i can take a little rudeness for no service charge and gst.

conclusion:
im impressed with the prompt serving of food, the competitive price and great taste. i'll be back for other dishes.

Went on a Sunday evening in a family of 7 to have a family dinner. Reached at 7.30pm. Already long queue in front of the stall. Interesting enough, even though this is a coffeeshop, the customers were actually queuing for the Zi Char stall assistants to lead them to a table.

7.55pm - Seated at last.
8.05pm - took orders
8.15pm - cold cockles in chilli and garlic arrived.
8.35pm - rest of dishes arrived.

Before the dishes arrived, we order the kambing soup $2.50 and tulang tendon soup $3 from the Indian stall.

These are what we ordered:
1. Enoki Mushroom beancurd(tofu) $12. Average standard. But generous amount of Enoki mushroom and minced pork.
2. 3-egg vegetable $10. Also average standard. The 3 types of eggs are century egg, salted egg and fresh egg.
3. Chilli garlic cold cockles. $6. Above average. I thought it was quite good, but my bro said this is something that we can prepare at home too.
4. Butter ribs. $16. Above average. The ribs are tender and the whole dish is nice.
5. Fish heard curry $18. Above average. It's nice. This fish head does not have excessive small bones which made it easy to eat.
6. Prawn paste chicken $8. Average. Uses chicken midwing and drumlets for this dish. Though freshly fried, the chicken tasted bitter probably the fire is too strong.
7. Spring onion sauteed beef $16. Above average. Generous amount of meat. Tasty enough.
8. Hor fun. $3. Fantastic. Value for money.

All in all. We were expecting the dishes to be better after reading so many excellent reviews. We think it's popular because of noslagia due to its location in Commonwealth Drive - a very very old estate where generations have grown up there and the general outlook is preserved.

There used to be a lord, who claimed his territory at the corner of one-one-seven; the people flocked to him, they worshipped and love all the food that were served, the place was basically packed with crowds every weekends. And as fate has it, the arrival of another overlord meant the decline of the former; the dethrone of the king at Commonwealth drive.

I, see it upon my sworn duties, that I’ll try out all the sweet & sour pork from all the places. And this often leads to disappointment when I couldn’t find one that’s equal to the best which I’ve before, in a deep corner of my memories.

The sambal kangkong was surely one of the weapons that the lord would have, to defend himself; red fiery hot and sizzling sambal were commonly associated with a plate of good sambal kangkong, but, I did not called for the fire brigade after having this: it wasn’t shiok enough.

The prawn roll, ngo hiang, or heh zhor; regardless of which name you called it by, was good. Fried till crispy golden brown, dipped into the sweet sauce, the first bite of it was so reminiscent of my childhood.

The butter pork was definitely one of the best, it was slightly sweet, coated with butter powder which had a uncanny resemblance to cheese; taking a bite of the boneless pork meat was a joy.

I love golden mushrooms, there wasn’t much inherited taste on its own; but I couldn’t stop myself from eating more of it. And similarly, there wasn’t anything fanciful about the golden mushrooms beancurd which came strongly recommended by their staff; it was plain tofu, with golden mushrooms in gravy, yet the result of something so simple was so good!

If sambal kangkong was the armour of the lord, then the prawn paste chicken, or Har Cheong Kai, would surely be his sword. But, it seems like a blunt one, the fried chicken lacked the oomph factor.

Note:

(1) The old overlord which I mentioned, was refering to the Hongkong Street zichar stall just at the other corner of block 117; in its heydays, they were full every night, but when I went that time, it was barely half filled. Talk about a reverse of fortune.

(2) If you want to eat at Two Chefs without waiting, you need to get there early, before six thirty. It’s crazy to see people actually queue up for zi-char when there’s other two zi-char stalls around the same area. The burst in popularity could be attributed to the article on the Sunday times which proclaimed Two Chefs as one of the best zi-char stall.

(3) Which brings me to the third point, I think that Two Chefs, is over hyped. The butter pork ribs were excellent, but the other dishes which I’ve tried, they wasn’t really worth the fifteen-minutes walk from Commonwealth mrt. And if you are thinking that’s because I did not order their other signatures, maybe, but they couldn’t give me a plate of good sambal kangkong, or sweet & sour pork.

You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!

been here a couple of times and their food and service have never failed me. despite the crowd, our dishes are always served in less than 15 minutes, and the prices are simply awesome.

butter ribs: must try.. i'm addicted to the crumbs!

golden mushroom with beancurd: another great dish with delicious gravy

stir fried yam: a personal favourite for my bf and me. simple yet tasty dish.

cockles: i am not a cockle-lover (in fact i ask for no hum when ordering char kway teow and laksa) but i can't help indulging in this cold dish with plenty of garlic and spring onions. another must-try!

curry fish head: first time trying this at Two Chefs. the gravy was done with the right amount of thickness but i would have preferred it with more lady fingers.

crab bee hoon: this was recommended by the lady who took our order. crabs were big, first bowl of beehoon tasted so-so, but my subsequent bowl was really tasty (maybe because the gravy/flavouring was at the bottom of the plate?)

sambal kangkong: nicely done.


there is a mutton soup stall in the same coffeeshop. worth a try. the soup is thick and comes with decent amount of mutton.

Have been here 3 times in 2 weeks after having "discovered" it.

Some of their dishes are truly outstanding, namely:
a. cockle cold dish - never had it anywhere else before, and whilst it's probably not difficult to make it yourself, it's an amazing and highly addictive starter to whet your appetite

b. butter ribs - as the other reviews indicate, it's probably not so much butter but more condensed milk. All the same, it's not too sweet, and even if you are not keen on the condensed milk, just brush the coating off, and you get nice tasty tender boneless meat

The other dishes are ok / nice, but nothing to rave about.

BTW, there is a satay stall in the same coffeeshop, which is pretty good too.