Serving Singaporean hawker food since 1990s – Old Raffles Place

Raffles Place (68-70 Johnston Street, Collingwood) is another old time favourite places to eat while we were living in Collingwood/Brunswick. It looks a little old and rundown but strangely enough, it has an old skool Singaporean charm. The restaurant is divided into 2 parts, the kitchen & the dining area. The walls are painted pink and is lined with old colonial photos of Singapore and write ups from Elizabeth Chow. The furniture is old and colourful but it just gives this place a lot of its character. And of course, Alan the owner, he is quirky character himself. You can sometimes hear him talk politics with some of the regulars here. I feel totally at home and can rock up with burns & thongs when the weather is warmer. And once I hear spoken Singlish, it feels like I am back in Singapore!

Old Raffles Place

We started with the Lobak. I have to say this is one of the best Lobak in town and better than many back in Singapore. Lobak is made from tender chinese spiced pork slices wrapped in delicate beancurd skin and deep fried. It is one of my favourite Chinese entree or starters. I posted 2 photos of the Lobak as it was absolutely delicious. The skin had a light golden crispness and the chucky pork filling is subtly seasoned with five spice. The filling is moist &  tender that it needs little effort to bite through.

Lobak

A bite of the lobak

I love the caramelisation of thick black soya sauce. So I ordered the fried carrot cake or chai tau kueh. Fried carrot cake is not made from carrots but from finely shredded radish that is made into little cubes by mixing it with rice flour and seasonings. The fried carrot cake has good wok hei, thus giving this dish a deep caramelised flavour and smokey aroma. It is sweet & savory on a plate.

Fried carrot cake or Chai Tau Kueh

Mister ordered a plate of Hainanese chicken rice. This was a let down. First it was served with coconut rice instead of chicken stock-flavoured white rice. Plus the chicken was rather dry and quite bland. Hainanese chicken is known to have slippery skin and super moist and soft meat. It failed and we were disappointed. Hopefully it was just a bad “chicken” day.

Hainanese chicken rice

And how can we not order the teh tarik (pulled tea). The balance between condensed milk and tea must be right to give it the deep flavour that it is known for.  Uncle Alan mixed it in a plastic jug and poured it into 2 glass mugs at out table. It created a slight foamy top. It was a little thin on flavour but it is really an aquired skill. Keep it up Uncle Alan

Teh tarik

Old Raffles Place have been here for a long time and many regulars still come here to enjoy some of Singapore’s hawker favourites. It is one of the places that we will come back from time to time. I believe it is still an old hangout for many Singaporeans & Malaysians in Melbourne.