[Tasting] Delectable Feast @ Sichuan Alley Capitol Singapore

Sichuan Alley is now at Capitol Singapore! Here's an older post on its Telok Ayer outlet. Favourites such as ox tongue, President Noodle using its Mianyang rice vermicelli, black plum tea, alcoholic beverages are still available and there are new items to try!

Thank you Kris for the invite, and Chef Eugene with Sichuan Alley Capitol team, for your hospitality.

Sichuan Alley Capitol

interior

I liked that the staff are actively engaging potential diners at the entrance of the shop. Curious onlookers would stop by and staff would be attentive to answer their queries.

Signature Small Plates 风味小菜

Chilled Cucumber 清爽黄瓜 @$3.90

Mala Black Fungus 麻辣黑木耳 @$5.50

The taste profiles for the small plates were pretty much on-point. Cucumber with its yummy garlicky refreshing light taste and the black fungus for its crunchy spiciness.

The next small plate, usually we get 口水鸡 (mouth watering chicken) but here, we are trying the King Prawn version. Aesthetically pleasing and lovely to eat.

Mouth Watering King Prawns 口水虾@$8.90

Yup, the sauce was appetizing and there's plenty of those Sichuan peppercorns.

My favourite small plates, is the Sichuan Pepper Ox Tongue. Thinly sliced ox tongue, neatly arranged with a good heap of chopped green chilies and some crispy shallots on top. Loved the texture of the tongue. So tender! The spice level of this dish is lower than the black fungus~ so no worries here.

Sichuan Pepper Ox Tongue @$11

closer view

Let's have some fried food! And, was happy to see they have fried spicy chicken 辣子鸡 on the menu. If you're having alcohol, this would be one of the top 3 favorites accompaniment to the drinks! Well, at least my top 3, hehe~

B-52 Fried Chicken 辣子鸡 @$16

Was surprised that the chicken was tender and needless to say, the rest of the spices in there were to our liking. Oh, and I dare say that I can finish one whole basket on my own. But I didn't lah, since this is to be shared amongst the group. Next time!

Sichuan Sour Vegetable Fish 老坛酸菜鱼@$19

The Sichuan Sour Vegetable Fish has strong flavours and goes well with a bowl of hot steaming rice. Not too sour but enough to whet the appetite. There was a hint of spice but not enough to work out a sweat.

soft silky fish fillet

In line of soft food, we tried the braised pig intestine with tofu, beautifully presented in a stone pot. I was wrong when I thought I wouldn't like the tofu. It was flavourful and delicious! Intestine was well braised and no funky-ness in them. Spice level in this dish is slightly higher but still manageable.

Braised Pig Intestine with Tofu @$17.30

Another dish with a stronger sour profile, is the Yu Xiang Shredded Pork.

Yu Xiang Shredded Pork 鱼香肉丝 @$7.90

I always gets amused when I see "水煮" something on the menu as literal translation means "water cooked" but it's far from being bland. This method of 'boiled beef' resulted in tender pieces of meat that's enveloped in strong spicy flavours to tease the tastebuds.

Sichuan Hot Red Beef 水煮牛肉@$19.30

food enjoyed, the communal way

Beverages

And yes, as evident from the photos above, some of the dishes were undeniably laden in chili oil. What to do? I like to wash it down with a good pot of hot jasmine tea.

Chengdu Jasmine Green Tea

lovely scent

 

cheers~

Flask of hot water is available at the table, so one could enjoy the tea continuously. Initially, the green tea was mild in flavours with a prominent Jasmine fragrance. Later on, when the tea was steeped for a while, the taste had an ending note of slight bitterness but still very floral.

Or, when the weather is hot, I'd get a Black Plum Tea as well.

Rice Noodles / Noodles

The President Rice Noodle have ingredients such as fried egg, vegetables, braised intestines, braised beef and braised pork ribs in a light meaty broth. We tried the less spicy version and the soup was rather mild.

President Rice Noodle 总统米粉 @$24.50

with rice noodles

Dry Noodles

Sichuan Alley Dan Dan Noodle 川港炸酱担担面 @$13.50

Scallion Oil Noodles

Rice

Sichuan Soy Sauce Fried Rice 四川酱油炒饭 @$8.90

Chicken Cutlet Egg Fried Rice 鸡扒蛋炒饭 @$14

For the dry noodles, one would enjoy the al-dente texture of the noodles. The version that we got was non-spicy. For fried rice, I enjoyed the egg fried rice more due to its egg fragrance. As for the soy sauce fried rice, it was a miss as  the seasoning seemed a tad too mild for me.

Desserts

Unique desserts such as Sweet Fermented Rice and Speciality Ice Jelly. Out of these two, I preferred the jelly dessert as the fermented rice dessert was interesting but more of an acquired taste.

Speciality Ice Jelly 雪山红糖冰粉 @ $5.50

Sweet Fermented Rice @$4.50

Once again, thank you Eugene, Serene and team Sichuan Alley for the delicious food. Will be back again for some drinks and small plates.

Lunch with Kris, Ivan, Hence, Alvin, Tiara and CK.

Sichuan Alley 川港 @ Capitol

Address:  13 Stamford Rd, B1-29, #B1-30, Singapore 178905

Website: https://www.facebook.com/sichuanalley

Contact: +6591555244

Business Hours:

Daily: 10:30 AM–9:30 PM

[Tasting] Sichuan Alley 川巷 @ 51 Telok Ayer

If you're around the vicinity, and has cravings for some noodles or, a cocktail or two with small plates, Sichuan Alley may have just the thing that you're looking for. Fuss free and straight forward. Let's have a look at their menu. This was an invited tasting.

Sichuan Alley

If you're thinking that the location looks familiar, you're right. This was formerly occupied by Basdban.

Sichuan Alley caters for a variety of diners. There's plenty of small plates between $5 to $14 to enjoy along the oriental cocktails. Or come for their daily Happy Hour between 2pm to 9pm, and enjoy a pint of beer (selected) for only $8++.

For noodles lovers, we tried a few and it was tasty, plus generous portion!

food and beverages menu

food menu

I was curious about their cocktails which had very Oriental sounding names, like Bamboo Breeze? Hehe, it turned out to be a cute looking panda soaking in a bamboo container. Cute.

Bamboo Breeze (bamboo green tea gin, pineapple, peach, jasmine) @$16++

Bamboo Breeze was light and refreshing. Tasted predominantly of green tea and jasmine. I think this might be the Oriental version of 'Long Island Tea'? The panda, is made of chocolate but it was a tad too hard for my teeth. Only managed to bite off a bit of the ear.

Mister Kiwi (vodka base) @$18++

Chengdu Fizz (gin, kumquat, chia seed, sparkling water)

Had mistaken Mister Kiwi and Chengdu Fizz to be mocktails as it was sweet and seemingly looked like a cooler/thirst quenchers. But, we checked with the bar, and indeed, it has alcohol! So, probably not a good idea to gulp it down too fast.

With drinks on hand, let's have some food. Small plates first.

"Zhangfei" Beef Slice @$11++

Mala Black Fungus @$5.50++

The beef was smoked and thinly sliced. Tasted natural and light flavours of the meat. The spices added a touch of flavours but non-spicy. The black fungus dish hits the spot with a punch of flavours. Garlicky, crunchy and spicy. Am biased towards black fungus. One of my favourite.

My first time having smoked liver and I can say, am not a fan. There's nothing funky about it though, but the texture was something that I didn't find it appealing. 

Smoked Pork Liver @$7.50++

egg yolk in the center

Been wanting to try the fried intestines and finally managed to have it here. It was nicely deep fried, and the addition of leek is a good idea as the leek provided some natural sweetness to the dish. Doesn't feel greasy but has a good mouthfeel. Lovely with alcohol. Will order again.

Fried Pig Intestines @$7.50++

Eat, drink (responsibly) and be merry!

Ume Plum Wine @$18++

cheers!

Ume plum wine was deceptively easy to drink as well. Like a dessert wine. 

And when you have more drinks, then there's got to be more food. Bite sized dumplings that's familiar in taste with ample meaty flavours. The sauce looked fiery but actually, pretty mild. Not to worry if you're not too good with spices. This one is only at level 0.5 in terms of heat. Yes, looks can be deceptive. The mala fungus was probably more spicy than these two.

Crispy Pork Dumplings @$6++

Hot & Sour Pork Dumplings @$6++

Braised Ox Tongue @$11++

Other unique finds would be the Braised Ox Tongue. On-point texture and pretty tasty with all the sauce and condiments. Thank you Chef Eugene for the never ending line of food on our table!

Braised Beef with Bamboo Shoots @$9++

Braised Beef with Bamboo Shoots managed to win me over with the superbly tender beef. There's some smokiness in the bamboo shoots. Will order this again.

Lalalala Fried Chicken @$22

The Lalalala Fried Chicken is still available and still as tasty as the previous time. Portion size and the price has been reduced slightly. No, we didn't have it with rice this time round to save some tummy space for the noodles.

Let's slurp up some noodles at this point in time. Noodles are main course portion sized.

President Noodle (Red) @$24.50++

President Noodles would be what I deemed as "all-in" version. It has a big bowl of noodles soup, fried egg, some shanghai greens and side dishes of braised beef cheeks, intestines, crispy chickpeas and pork ribs.

At first, I thought the side dishes of the meats looked a tad dry but it was tender and easy to chew. Good. Was this spicy? Actually, not quite.

If you prefer the earthy mushroom-my flavours, then go for the Mushrooms with Chicken Broth Noodles. Wholesome flavours for a cooler evening.

Mushrooms with Chicken Broth Noodles @$11.50++

While I was wowed by the variety of sides that came along with President Noodle, the best tasting noodles for me that night, was the Fresh Chilies Minced Beef Noodles.

Fresh Chilies Minced Beef Noodles @$13.50++

give it a good mix

enjoy!

For me, this has the strongest and tastiest flavour profile of all the noodles that I've tasted that night. Thoroughly enjoyed this noodle dish.

No.3 Lady @$18++

No.3 Dry Gin, Lychee Liquer, White Wine, Pink Grapefruit, Rose

Tried a bit of the Black Plum Iced Tea (non-alcoholic) and it was good as a thirst quencher plus, it helps to cut through the fullness of all the food we inhaled. And, it's a sweet drink. Not sure why but initially it didn't occur to me that this drink will be sweet so I was surprised when I first drunk it. Haha!

Black Plum Ice Tea @$8++

Mini Hotpot @$14++

One thing about the noodles, is that it absorbs the soup pretty good so after a bout of drinking, usually I'd like to have some warm soup. The Mini Hotpot is perfect for this. Spicy 'malatang' with tiger prawns, tofu, homemade liang fen and mushrooms. Careful as the pot will continue to bubble for a little while after it was served. The warmth in the tummy was comforting.

It's a vibe here at Sichuan Alley and No. 51 Telok Ayer has a chic, vibrant nightlife feel, while next door at 51A Telok Ayer has a more casual feel to it. Both spaces share the same menu.

Thank you Kris for the invite, and special thanks to Chef Eugene and Sichuan Alley for hosting the dinner.

Sichuan Alley 川巷

Address: 51 Telok Ayer St, #01-01, Singapore 048441

Website: https://www.facebook.com/sichuanalley

Contact: 9755 1058

Business Hours: 

Mon-Fri: 10:30 am–10 pm

Sat-Sun: 10:30 am–9 pm