Friday, April 30, 2010

Claypot Kings: Uncle Sam's

Postcards from Germany is interrupted for two posts on meals eaten in Singapore>

I used to frequent the Uncle Sam's outlet at Robinson Road. My office was just around the corner, and with the colleagues there, we even worked out a timing when we could get to the restaurant, not experience any queues, eat and get out within about 40 mins. This was classic Shenton Way office lunch hour eating...in, out, fast, hopefully a delicious, nutritious meal.




When I saw a new outlet at the new City Square, I told Kin, we just have to eat there. And imagine...no queues, no crowd. And yes, even a lunch special! Maincourse - any of the claypots, plus drink, plus dessert for $7.50. Great value.

Kin had the noodle claypot:



This was Kin's favourite in Uncle Sam's...she always ordered the same. The claypot intensified the flavours of the rich broth. And the noodles, and ingredients were very nice.

I had the Thai Tom Yam claypot chicken



The version served here was a bit on the wet side, with a generous helping of the sauce. The balance of saltiness and slight sweetness was just nice. The chicken was cubed, and I think cooked together with the sauce and rice. It was supremely tender, and also with the smokey flavour. Very nice. In my opinion, one of the better claypot rice around.



The rice was cooked in the claypot...leaving a thick crust of burnt rice, giving the rice its characteristic smokey flavour. I just love eating the burnt crusty rice at the bottom.

Dessert was also typical. Kin had her usual cheng thng, and I had my usual chendol



The cheng thng was rather nice, with plenty of ingredients.

And I found the chendol to be quite good too...especially after the disappointment in the Penang Teochew Chendol recently.



The ice shavings were very fine. And there was sufficient ingredients. The chendol noodle itself could have been a bit more springy, but I found it to be acceptable. The coconut milk and gula melaka was quite generous, and provided the richness, creaminess and the smooth texture and mouthfeel. Nice.

Overall, I felt quite satisfied with the meal, both in terms of taste but also interms of its relative ease on the pocket and value for money.


Uncle Sam's Claypots
180 Kitchener Road
#04-26/29 City Square Mall
Tel: +65 6509 6080
Daily 11am – 10pm

2 comments:

Unknown said...

bypass this place many times. Now I have made up my mind to visit soon.

Candice said...

Im not sure why, when I visited the shop, I found it quite disappointing. Claypot rice with not even a whiff of claypot fragrance, rice that is though brown but tasteless and dry, vegetables that are too saltish and the service was the worst. Not a single waitress in sight when I wanted a cup of water. I totally made up my mind not to waste money and time on this restaurant ever again.

I am puzzled by the differences in our experience but just had to tell people to avoid disappointments. You can try people, just don't get your hopes too high.

When I arrived at the restaurant, it was relly empty with only one table occupied and it was only around 8pm.