[Tasting] Li Ji Chuan Chuan Xiang 李记串串香 @ 206 Jalan Besar

Was invited to a tasting session at Li Ji Chuan Chuan Xiang at its new outlet at 206 Jalan Besar. The brand originated from Chong Qing China with about 500 outlets and is renowned for its delicious skewers (串串) and hotpot. Li Ji Chuan Chuan Xiang flagship restaurant is in Chinatown Singapore since 2017.

For the uninitiated, its Jalan Besar outlet is just across the road of the famed pig's organ soup shop, and around the corner of the kopitiam with the well-known Amy Yip's buns.

interior

Was delighted to find out that one could enjoy private dining signature dishes by Chef Ng Sen Tio (黄胜潮) here. Now we can pair our comfort food with specialty Cantonese (粵) cuisine. Am liking this variety already!

If you prefer to dine in the comfort of a private room to celebrate special occasions, Li Ji Chuan Chuan Xiang at Jalan Besar has it.

hotpot with  soup bases setup

At Li Ji Chuan Chuan Xiang, one could do a single ($10), double ($13) or four flavours ($18) soup base. Looking at the price points, I'd say go for the four flavours soup base! 

Ahhh, but I need to tell you this first. My favourite is their 'Green Pepper Chilli Mala' (李记独特青一色锅底) soup base. Must order. However, need to top up $5, $3 and $2 respectively to the single, double and four flavours pricing to enjoy this.

For our hotpot's four flavours soup base, we had the following (arranged in the order of my preference~)

• 李记独特青一色锅底 Green Pepper Chilli Mala
• 三鲜鸡汤锅底 Chicken
• 番茄锅底 Tomato
• 麻辣锅底 （清油）Mala

Recommend to try the soup individually first before cooking and see which one you like the most. Let me know ya!

Let's take a look at the ingredients shall we? Starting with plates after plates of fresh looking produce.

梅花肉 Pork Collar @$8

玲玲卷 Ring Roll @$4

五花肉 Pork Belly @$8

油麥菜 Lettuce @$3

神仙牛肉 Signature Beef Slices @$8

肥牛片Fatty Beef Slices @$8

山药 Chinese Yam @$6

新鲜虾滑 Fresh Prawn Paste @$10

Of course, one can't leave without trying the skewers. Only 50cents per stick! Let's grab bunches of them!

香菜牛/猪肉 Beef/Pork with Coriander Skewer

土豆,海带,莲藕,冬瓜,西兰花 potato, seaweed, lotus root, winter melon, broccoli

秘制鸡肉 Special Recipe Chicken

Enough of the photo taking, and let's start cooking!

so hungry!

While waiting for the things to be cooked, let's fill our tummies with one of Chef Ng's Private Dining Dishes (私房菜) of Lobster Noodles. Impressive looking plate!

龙虾伊面 Lobster Noodle @$120 (1kg)

mine!

let's eat!

The friendly staff would enquire if you need any help with the sauces or if you prefer to concoct one on your own.

what would be your favourite hotpot dipping sauce?

For me, I asked for the shop's specialty and was presented with this bowl that seemed to have everything! I liked that the sauce wasn't too spicy.

shop's specialty dipping sauce @$2

I enjoyed in particularly the Signature Beef Slices (神仙牛肉) or should it be called heavenly beef instead? Haha! It is of a thicker cut, well marinated (spicy yes!) and gives a nice chew after cooking. Plenty of flavours. So good!

My favourite skewers would be the Corriander Skewer of Pork and Beef. Deceptively spicy too!

香菜猪肉 Pork with Coriander Skewer

香菜牛肉 Beef with Coriander Skewer

The best time to taste the Chicken (三鲜鸡汤锅底) and the Tomato (番茄锅底) soup again, was after all the cooking was done. Wahhhh... intense!

For dessert, we tried the 3 Treasures Dessert Platter which consists of a puff pastry, perched elegantly ontop a slice of watermelon and followed by a bowl of refreshing iced jelly topped with sweet hawthorn flakes.

三宝金典甜品 3 Treasures Dessert Platter @$8

delicious red bean and banana paste wrapped in pastry

Chef's recommendation is to have the pastry first, the fruit and lastly the iced bingfen jelly. 

iced jelly 冰粉 with hawthorn flakes

Overall, I enjoyed the variety and flavours offered at Li Ji Chuan Chuan Xiang plus there is now an option to order specialty Cantonese cuisine for celebrations and special occasions. Best of both worlds!

Thank you Jennifer of Jennifer Yeo Consultancy for the invite and Li Ji Chuan Chuan Xiang for hosting the dinner. Special thanks to William and Chef Ng for the delicious meal.

Li Ji Chuan Chuan Xiang 李记串串香

Flagship restaurant： 295 South Bridge Road Singapore 058838 

Operation Hours: 12pm to 12am 

For reservations, call 6221 9629. 

NEW Outlet： 206 Jalan Besar Singapore 208892 

Operation Hours: 12pm to 12am 

For reservations, call 6291 2289.

Exploring Jalan Besar, Little India - 3 Days 2 Nights Staycation @ One Farrer Hotel

How did we end up at this hotel? I think we were bored and was just browsing anyhow to find a suitable area for the next staycay. Prerequisites? Plenty of good food nearby. We did Chinatown during our previous hotel staycation, read more about the experience here. So this time round, let's explore Little India area!

Took advantage of Citibank promo with Agoda where one gets 20% off. From time to time, Agoda does have certain promo with major credit cards ranging from discounts of 7% to a max of 20% for local hotel staycation. Paid $361.45 for 2 nights after the discount for the Urban Den room type with breakfast and free parking. Alas, I have no car to park though.

hotel entrance

landmark

Day 1 - Check-In, Have Brunch(es), Tea Break with Donki and Dinner at Jalan Besar

Reached the hotel in the morning and tried to check-in early but room wasn't going to be ready till after 2pm. Foodie buddies were already there and Ivan, actually stayed a day earlier. Hence, lompang the barang barang in his room first.

He was staying at the Skyline room, hence was on a higher floor. Had a chance to see the Skyline Studio and was impressed by the room size!

Skyline Studio (Room size: 49 m²/527 ft²)

large bathroom area

Since it was still early, we went to check-out the pool.

at the pool

therapeutic

Then, it was time for us to have brunch. Hence, we literally walked to Brunches Cafe. It's been quite a while since our cafe hopping days. 

we were there

After having our fill of coffee, dessert and savoury mushrooms, we walked around the area for abit. Here's some photos:

heading towards our next place

nice mural - Daily Delivery by Jaba

Then, we had another round of breakfast or was it tea break already at Azmi Restaurant ? Famed for their chapati and I think that was the first time I ate a chapati. But I was most excited to discover that they have apom! Wah... you don't know how long has it been since I had apom, which is so much easier to get in Malaysia. Finally, found one in Singapore, so it was a hurrah moment! Plus, tasted good. Thumbs up!

After that, we headed back towards the hotel to get the room keycards as the hotel had notified Tracy that her room is ready.

Turns out, mine was ready as well and I got a room at the 14th floor.

heading towards the Urban Hotel area

where's my room?

Urban Den (or now known as Mint Den)

The most striking thing when entering the room, is that it has a separate relaxation area that has a TV and a sofa, and after which, there's the bedroom with another TV.

Loved the bay windows too. Nice weather, nice mood.

Urban Den

Work desk with Herman Miller chair

lovely hotel

lovely day

ooh, illy coffee I likey

The room is equipped with a coffee machine, using illy pods. Hmmm, I think I don't know how to use it. No matter how I position the pod, the coffee that came out was just a tiny trickle. Not quite sure if that was what supposed to happen...

low yield, or user problem?

maybe should just drink tea instead

I had a funny incident, upon arriving at the room actually. I was searching for the bedroom slippers and the first place that came to mind, was the relaxation area which one would be at upon entering the room. So, after which, there's the bathroom. Not in there neither. Then left with the bedroom. But for the life of me, couldn't seem to find the drawer that contain that thing that I was trying to locate.

Hmm, I called the receptionist. 

"How may I help you ma'am?" she asked. 

"Hmm, I was wondering if the hotel provides bedroom slippers? I asked.

"Yes, we do." she answered.

"Hmm, may I know where is it?" starting to feel a tad funny.

"It should be in the bedroom cupboard, ma'am." she said.

I turned around wildly, and yes, am in the bedroom and searched every nook and corner but where's those slippers!

"Hmm, where exactly in the bedroom?" I asked and feeling the funnies seeping in.

She hesitated for a while and said, "I don't exactly know the room layout but it should be right beside the bed...

I stared at the bed and noticed a huge piece of mirror. Went over and slid it to the left and voila, the hidden cupboard. I thanked her for her help and hung up feeling pretty stupid. Probably the only guest who had trouble locating their bedroom slipper...

slide the mirror and find the slippers

bathroom

shower

lovely shower stuffs

soft wipes

toothbrush, mouthwash, lotions etc

Then, it was time for tea-break and what did we have? Food dabao'ed from Donki! (again? Yes, again!) Is this our staycation staple?

Japanese food from Donki

sashimi platter

pinching some sake from Ivan

So that night, we went for dinner at an old school restaurant along Jalan Besar, recommended by Hence and Tracy. Quan Xin Yuan Restaurant to try Hokkien food. It was raining but that didn't deter us. Turns out pretty good.

night view

Day 2 - Jalan-jalan, Dim Sum Breakfast, Lunch with LittleTinySun at Xin Tekka, Tea Break at ABC Nasi Kandar and Dinner at Socieaty

rise and shine

shops

Working Class Hero by Zero

colourful

Breakfast was at Dim Sum Haus but don't do like how we did it. Make a reservation first! We had every intention not to eat too much, but still... we wanted to try this and that.. and ended up, feeling quite full. Hahaa!

Next, our friend came back home after being away for a year and so, we met up at Xin Tekka. We had lunch, like about an hour after we finished breakfast? Keke, fierce. Now, pass me that digestion pill....

Then, on our way back to the hotel after the short reunion with Shermaine, we passed by this nasi kandar shop....

ABC Nasi Kandar

We made a mental note to come back later that day. And, we did. For tea-break at about 4pm. Our tea-break was most unusual this time round. We had nasi kandar, tandoori platter and naan. That's actually quite a lot of stuff!

menu decided by the boys

ayam masak kechap manis, pulao (rice), chicken curry and mutton curry

mix of everything

I liked the pulao and the gravy from all the sauces and curries were a symphony of flavours. The meat texture was rather tough for the chicken masak kechap dish. 

Tandoori Platter

naans and palak paneer

The tandoori platter was served on a hot plate and it came sizzling. The green chicken (no, that was not a broccoli) was rather fascinating for the fact that it looked pretty alienish! Tasted pretty good and the texture of the meat was firm but not tough.

green chicken

ABC Nasi Kandar

Address: 67 Desker Rd, Singapore 209590

Contact:  6732 4786

Business Hours:

Daily - 24 hours

After our 'tea-break', everyone was rather stuffed and all of us decided to rest till 8pm. Made a reservation at Socieaty before we went up to take a nap. Noticed that the place would be bustling by dinner time, so better to make a reservation. Staff are friendly and helpful!

Read more about the experience at Socieaty here.

Day 3 - Breakfast at the Hotel, Check-Out and Ate too much dumplings at Hand in Hand Jalan Besar

breakfast served at the white building area - Garden Pavillion

like banquet dining

breakfast menu

Requested not to have the full "Breakfast Welcome Set" as I wasn't that hungry. Requested for just the croissant and fruits. For drinks, opted for juice and coffee. Pro-tip: Do order your breakfast at one go. From observation, the team manning the breakfast area is a lean team. Hence, if you want to re-order, it will likely take a longer time to arrive. 

croissant and cranberry juice

coffee was decent

fruits cup of just watermelon and pineapple

American Breakfast with 2 eggs - omelette style

do you prefer scrambled?

My buddies tried the other things on the menu such as dim sum, prata and French toast. The mee siam was quite nice, although we had better one at Xin Tekka. I liked the banana french toast.

Mee Siam

Banana French Toast

prata set

All in all, I enjoyed the hotel stay at One Farrer. Conveniently located next to Farrer Park MRT and there's a 7-eleven nearby as well. Snack runs? No problem. Plus, the concierge team and the front-office staff are friendly and nice. Loved that they greet the guests every time we came back from our outside excursions. Though the hotel did not supply face mask in the room, one could request it from the concierge if need any.

The chambermaid team actually consist of 2 guys and they seemed to be always punctual and will knock on the door at 9am for the 2 days that I've stayed there.

Check-out process was a breeze and off we went to have our lunch at Hand in Hand.

Thank you to my makan and travel kakis; Hence, Tracy and Ivan!

One Farrer Hotel

Address: 1 Farrer Park Station Rd, Singapore 217562

Website: https://www.onefarrer.com/

Contact: 6363 0101