Char Casual Dining @ Jalan Besar

When you go looking for their signboard, don't go looking for Char. Look for CH叉R instead. Lesson learnt. The restaurant is actually at the same building as Singapore Lee Clan General Association (新加坡李氏总会). The restaurant is opposite across the road from the bright yellow Lavender Food Hub coffeeshop.

shop front

Visited on a Friday evening and about half the restaurant was occupied. Mostly in groups of about 4 to 6 pax. Service staff are relatively young and the shop has both upstairs and downstairs seatings. If you are coming with your family, best to make reservation for the round tables (downstairs).

dining area at Level 2

We were seated at Level 2 and I'd rate the noise level a 4 out of 5. The sound gets trapped and basically just ping'ed around in the dining space. Not all tables are occupied but intimate conversations are impossible. The furniture are all heavy duty type and when the staff tries to rearrange the chairs, wahh...it grates the ears.

menu

We came for the char siew, so got ourselves 400grams of those. Added side orders of stir-fried french beans, salted egg pork ribs and prawn paste chicken. Food was prepared relatively fast and served out within 10 minutes.

For drinks, one could choose from beers, ciders, wine, coffee, tea and juices. Happy hour till 7pm on weekdays. Got myself a Hobgoblin Gold (on tap) to go with the meats.

Hobgoblin Gold (half pint) @$8++ (HH $6++)

Soon, our 400 grams of dark glossy fatty goodness arrived. There is a minimum order of 300gms for the char siew. Initially, it sounded a tad intimidating to have 400 gms but it meant each of us got 100 grams each. Yay!

Special Char Siew @$24++ (400gms)

sambal chili and belachan sauces

The fatty ratio of the meat was good and all, but...why does it taste more like braised meat rather than a good charred char siew? Can't say am not dissappointed after all the hype and expectations.

Spicy 4 Seasons Beans @$10++

Prawn Paste Chicken Wings @$12++

The Four Seasons beans is definitely recommended. So yummy with the white rice. Don't worry about the 'spicy' part. It wasn't at all. The prawn paste chicken wings were lacking the prawn paste taste. Just treat it like regular fried chicken will do.

Salted Egg Pork @$14++

I like the salted egg pork. Thought it was going to be pork ribs but it turned out to be popcorn bite-sized pork. Don't expect too much of the salted egg yolk sauce as it was suffering the same fate as the prawn paste. Would be better if the taste was stronger. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed this dish alongside with the beans. So yummy! Ah, and the pork had soft bones in it so don't bite too hard unless your teeth are very strong!

head on downstairs to make payment but take note of your table number

Expect to spend about $21 per pax. The above fed four ladies during dinner time.