Char Casual Dining - The Best Char Siew in Singapore? @ 393 Guillemard Road [Geylang Singapore]

Knowing my deep affection for Char Siew, the Great Kon recently shared with me two establishments said to serve better fork roasts than Kay Lee; one of which was Char Restaurant.

Dinner operating hours started from 6pm and although we were there only 15 minutes past 6, the entire restaurant was already filled with hungry diners! Reservation would be strongly encouraged!

We promised to leave before 7pm and a reserved table was released for the three of us. Many thanks to the accommodating waitress! As you could see from the above photo, the decor departed from the usual Chinese style and in my opinion, more aligned to the feel of a western cafe! 

Without further ado, let's start with food. I am anxious to start given the excitement that this could be another well-deserving place for me to gain some weight for the sake of yummy char siew rumoured to melt in your mouth! 

Triple Roast

There was a minimum order of at least 300 grams for their signature roasts (roast pork and char siew) and we figured the triple roast (150 grams each) would be a better use of our hard earned salary. 

Roast Duck

Except for the tender meat, this didn't leave any memorable impression. I would be better off with the nearby Sia Kee Braised Duck; speaking of the latter, i really miss their unbeatable braised duck rice! 

Roast Pork

Rich in flavour with a soft texture that spoke lengths of the perfectly timed roasting! I kind of like this even though i would prefer a thicker layer of crust. 

Char Siew

Higher expectation often comes with greater disappointment; the char siew tasted like kong ba (braised pork) / dong po rou smothered by a lusciously sticky black sauce. The sauce was overwhelming savoury without the increased sweetness associated with typical char siew.

I am a lover of fatty char siew but this was way too fattening for my liking! For kong ba, this might be a mean competitor; for char siew, just give me Kay Lee /  You Kee! 

Butter Chicken

Honestly, this was the best of the lot and to think i was about to disagree with Kon's suggestion as we had way too much food that day (think No Signboard, Maple & Market and Brawns and Brains within three hours)! 

Anyway, the use of chicken thighs resulted in a supple, well received texture. However, the coating consisting of evaporated milk, curry leaves, chilli, butter bore some similarity to salted egg yolk batter and without a question, we devoured the pieces of butter chicken in record time! 

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Location

393 Guillemard Road

Map

As Above

Reservation

Call +6568427759

Operating Hours

Lunch: 11.30am to 2.30pm

Dinner: 6pm to 10pm

[Closed on Mondays]

Website (with Menu)

http://char.com.sg/

Prices

Triple Roast - S$25.00

Butter Chicken - S$14.00

White Rice - S$1.50

[Subject to GST and Service Charge]