Seasonal Salad Bar, Toa Payoh

Children from the eighties and nineties might be able to recall American-style salad bar restaurants having a major presence in Singapore. The likes of Ponderosa, Denny's and later Sizzler all offered a similar premise: unlimited helpings at the salad bar, with or without a main course, for under $25 at most (about $35 in today's money). Oddly enough, despite its name, the salad bar offered more, hot pasta and even ice-cream being typical. This made it viable to go without the main course and still have a decent dinner for even less.

They're all gone now, though nobody knows why. Denny's beat a hasty retreat to Marina Square, where it made its last stand briefly as Checkers. Ponderosa had a happier ending, its chef going on to start Aston's, now a mainstay of eating out here. The most recent memory I had of the salad bar restaurants was a gathering I had at Sizzler in Suntec City, as late as 2010. Since then they appeared to have vanished without a trace.

... Until recently, when two things happened. Swensen's stepped in to fill the gap with Swensen's Earle, and Seasonal Salad Bar - earlier known as Chum's Steak House - took on the premises previously occupied by Sizzler in Toa Payoh, later expanding to a second location in Kent Ridge. On a whim, the family went to Toa Payoh for dinner last night, and so I get to relive my memories gorging myself on salad from my younger days.

The salad bar is now slightly more localised, with Singapore fried noodles appearing alongside pasta amongst other things, and there are several changes to the main courses on offer (Country Fried Steak might be of interest). Quality of food is largely the same, ie, not great, but you were not here for that as you were for the quantity. 

The premises were spacious and can seat large crowds, which might make this the ideal place for large groups with tenuous aspirations to go into competitive eating. Alternatively, this might just be the sort of place you would want to take your significant other on a date if you really want to relive the past, and want a break from the offerings from more contemporary eating places.

Verdict:

3/4 - that one oso can

Location:

190 Lorong 6,
Toa Payoh #02-516
Singapore 310190

Tian Yuan Chicken Rice, Tekka Centre

Tekka Centre owes much of its crowds to its hawker stalls, able to count amongst its best offerings food as diverse as roast goose rice, murtabak, the obscure chi kak kueh of Teochew culinary tradition and even the simple congee. The section for the hawker centre has plenty of room for stalls however, and just as there are good stalls, there are also those which have yet to make a name for themselves (I noticed while wandering around a stall trying to sell "Western breakfast", an unusual offering even in Tekka, which, for their sake, I hope catches on).

There were a couple of stalls which sell chicken rice, and Tian Yuan in particular caught my eye since it appeared to be twinned with the adjacent zhi cha stall. The approaches to preparing the food offered by both stalls are vastly different to one another, so it's slightly puzzling that the two stalls would be run by the same guy, if indeed they are. The stall did not appear to be getting much custom, but unfazed I decided to find out why.

The generous helping of rice was fluffy and flavourful, its richness cut through only by the sting that came with the chilli. Paired with a good chicken, this would have gone down very well. Sadly, despite avoiding getting breast meat, the chicken was still dry, perhaps from having been left hanging for too long, and left me looking slightly longingly at the guy at my table who got chicken rice from the other stall.

The food aside, it might be interesting to explore at a later point how the two are related to one another, and one came to share the name with the other, although the reason might be something as mundane as buying out a retiring owner.

Verdict: 2/4 - liddat lor

Location:
Tian Yuan Chicken Rice
#01-292, Tekka Centre,
665 Buffalo Road