Finally caught this(this is on rotation basis) after a few months
Rare to find hongshao pork belly at anywhere except restaurants, when it's such a common dish at home.
When I saw it I was actually afraid that I wouldn't be entranced and return for this over and over. The fats looked glorious. It really was v tender and the sauce was strong, but luckily the meat was a little bit stringy. Still a very solid bowl, and I esp like that it's just veg and meat, not filled w a lot of other stuff like their other bowls
Daily special
Generous portion of pig trotters, thankfully it's boneless. The slightly sweet herbal marinade wasn't my thing though. Their beehoon got some bite, it's not the soft wet kind. Prefer the kind where the pig trotter is cooked with the beehoon but can't complain about this
Daily special again
Comfort food but I have to say as much as I love them, the rice was slightly dry. Otherwise it's lovely, I particularly love the soft garlic cloves
Getting more and more impressed w this place. Evidently it's not the normal mapo tofu but it's still got some spice, esp the numbness. I didn't expect their nanru pork to be fried though, my gf does a braised version. The naming is abit misleading cos the pork is just a side, portion wise
Anyway this is one of their specials that's not on the usual menu, first time I see it
Comes w more youtiao usually, I asked for less.
Comfort food, the seasoning is quite on point, considering this place is in KR(sick ppl can enjoy it yet it's not bland). Really just comfort food, even tho the ingredients are quite unique.
PSA opening timings are changed
Hong shao rou only avail on Monday?
Very hearty bowl. Lu rou wasn't Taiwanese but still quite tasty and homely, the veg lacks crunch but had enough tang. The rest were average. Nonetheless with this portion, and being the closest comfort food outside of school, I'm sure to make a return :)
Big chunks of tender pork belly in a delicious soy sauce gravy. These had the perfect fat to meat ratio with a punch of flavour from the marinade. Their food doesn’t disappoint!
This was one loaded bowl of bee hoon! It’s neither dry nor oily, with a good punch of savouriness. It gets quite salty with the ikan bilis though, so you might want to have less of it.
Glazed in a delicious soy sauce, the chicken was well marinated and tender. The soy sauce makes the rice really tasty too! I had the impression that the rice will be crispy since it’s ‘claypot’, but this was just regular steamed rice. I suppose only the chicken was cooked in a claypot. This was delicious nonetheless!
Buddha jump over the wall ($12.80)
⭐️ 3.5/5 ⭐️
🍴#empressporridge has released a flavourful and comforting soup at a reasonable price (on top of their existing homecooked-style porridge, beehoon, and popiah. The soup was packed full with ingredients (chicken, mushroom, scallop, fish maw, vegetables) which made it thick and deliciously rich. Although termed #buddhajumpoverthewall, their version was a more homecooked hearty version than the decadent ones filled with sharks fin and abalone (their version did have 1 abalone!) served in expensive restaurants. However, we personally found the soup too salty although diluting it with hot water did the trick.
📍@empressporridge, 01-04, 1 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore
#cafehoppingonenorth
Insta: cafehoppingkids
Ordered from @empressporridge
With free delivery by lalamove with minimum S$50 order
Pork Trotter Braised Bee Hoon Set 焖猪脚炒米粉 (S$12.80)
Hainanese Curry Rice (S$10.80)
secret recipe curry made with homemade family rempah, layered with Five Spice Braised Pork, crispy Chicken Cutlet, Braised Cabbage, Poached Curry Sotong and fluffy white rice!
Famous Fried Porridge with Bacon and Chives 培根韭菜炒粥 (S$8.80)
famous fried porridge, full of smoky wok hei flavor! Served with crisp bacon, fried onions, and chives.
Interesting porridge with bacon in it.
Ginseng Chicken Soup 人参炖鸡汤 (S$12.80)
Mini Steam Egg Cup 小蒸蛋 (S$2.50)
Prawn Paste Chicken (S$2.50)
2pcs Empress Popiah 二 片博饼 (S$4.80)
Website 🌐 : https://order.empressporridge.com/
I got this from the branch at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The rice rolls are slightly springy and have a nice bounce when you bite into them. There was sufficient sweet sauce but not too much. There's self service spring onions and I sprinkled plenty on top of my bowl.
Conveniently located just outside of Kent Ridge MRT station, this small eatery serves authentic and healthy teochew porridge that contains many ingredients such as dried seafood, peanuts, youtiao(fried dough fritters), and uses a mix of brown and red(?) rice. Every table has bottles of soy sauce, fish sauce, and pepper for customers to further customise their porridge experience.
Pictured is the value set ($8.50) which includes the signature Empress Porridge, Prawn Paste Chicken (there are other options for sides), and an Iced Kopi. Taste wise, the coffee was lacklustre but the rest were savoury and up to standard.
The small premises mean that it is hard to get a seat during peak hours, so consider ordering take-out if you are heading there around weekday lunch hours. NUS/NUH students/staff can present their pass for a discount.
First time trying this dish. I was initially impressed that Empress Porridge uses brown rice by default, but I quickly realised that this supposed claypot chicken rice was more like sesame chicken over rice. The rice isn’t stewed in enough sauce, and I doubt it’s actually cooked in a claypot. Maybe the chicken is, but everything else probably isn’t.
I did enjoy the vegetables because they were well seasoned and crisp, but they were a tad too oily. Overall I wouldn’t order this again, as I’d rather go for their signature porridge or the pork trotter bee hoon.
Actually pretty expensive side dish for the portion as well as for the location as a near-campus eatery. Nonetheless, I still order this from time to time because it’s tasty! Not such a fan of the chilli they provide here, so we added our own sambal from the pantry.
Empress Porridge is very generous with the amount of chye poh toppings. It seems like each component is fried separately - the carrot cake, the eggs and the chye poh as they aren’t mixed together but end up in layers. The star of this dish is the fried egg, which is just salty enough, with a little bit of sweetness while retaining its fluffiness. The chye poh does tend to be salty on its own, so it goes very well with the slightly bland carrot cake. Well actually I think I order this primarily for the egg, the chye poh is just a bonus. If they had a pure fried egg omelette dish, that would be heavenly. Till then, I’m still satisfied with the carrot cake although the price point could be lowered for affordability!
Laksa (S$6.50)
Wednesday special at @empressporridge
Packed with chunks of chicken, prawns, slices of fish cake, bean curd puff, and hard boiled egg.
Very filling.
I loved this porridge! Every spoonful was filled with ingredients which gave the porridge so much more flavour. Definitely not ‘bland and sick people food’! The texture of the porridge was also to my liking as the rice grains still had a bite. One more plus point is that they use brown rice! This gave the porridge a more earthy flavour. It’s a bit pricey ($5 with staff discount for a regular portion) but it’s a once-in-awhile lunch treat ;)
The first of two porridge places I would buy from around Kent Ridge - I’ve always loved Empress Porridge but sadly today’s porridge at lunch time was dismal. I bought this at 1pm, when there was quite a long lunch queue. It’s very affordable for staff and students, as there’s a $0.80 discount, making the small bowl only $4. You can even top up for a bigger bowl, or for a set with sides, drinks and dessert.
I probably visited at the wrong time - they might’ve just put fresh rice into the porridge as the grains were still in whole pieces, and hadn’t softened into the thick, congee-like consistency that I love from Empress Porridge. Doesn’t mean I’ll stop buying from them, but I probably have to time my lunch pick up better.
This Claypot Chicken was SO SO GOOD!!! And very affordable 👍🏻 the sauce that they used was very delicious and they were not stingy with it so the white rice tasted very good. I love that they have a generous amount of vegetables as well ☺️ highly recommend eating if you’re around the area!
I used to despise eating porridge as a kid. It was tasteless, mushy, textureless, and basically just sick person food. I always doused my porridge in soy sauce in an attempt to make it more palatable to my younger self.
Now I know better, and have learnt to enjoy porridge for what it is. I don’t see it as sick people food any longer, and I do crave it from time to time. It’s a real treat especially on cold rainy days.
I had heard about Empress Porridge from one of my colleagues a few months ago but never got around to trying it. I think it took over the herbal tea shop at One@Kent Ridge. Finally decided to dapao it one day to try and I am so glad I did. Empress porridge serves their signature porridge stewed with dried compoy, cuttlefish, pork, peanuts, anchovies, and so much ho liao which makes for an amazingly flavourful and delicious porridge. The texture is more like congee, it’s thick and creamy, and just full of mouthfeel in every bite. It’s savoury enough that you don’t need to add in any extra soy sauce. There’s also fried dough fritters/you tiao topped on the porridge for an extra crunch which I always appreciate. Though the you tiao here are less fluffy and more solid/firm, they serve their purpose well and don’t become soggy that quickly even after being in contact with the porridge for more than 20 minutes.
I’m super happy that I’ve found a great porridge place, and even happier that it’s within walking distance from my office! Best part is that NUS/NUH staff and students get a discount, so be sure to show your staff/student card :)
