Woong Kee is a new claypot rice purveyor in the former Salute coffeeshop that once housed all the hipster western cuisine hawkers. It lay fallow for years after all the stalls went bust or something, but the coffeeshop has experienced a new lease of life in the last month. A multitude of other new stalls besides Woong Kee have also started operations from the newly renovated coffeeshop, and I might just head back to try another stall.

Besides the regular claypot chicken rice, Woong Kee does a unique unagi claypot rice ($9.80). Sure, it’s just a couple of bok choy strands and a fillet of freshwater eel adorned with seaweed strips on a claypot of rice, but it’s pretty far from being a commonly found dish. While the rice could’ve done with more sweet soy sauce, the teriyaki glaze on the sizeable slab of unagi was spot on. The unagi was firm & flaky, with a delectable sweet & salty balance flavouring the fish. The rice was moderately moist & fluffy, with the best bits being the charred grains at the bottom of the claypot.⠀

It’s a simple dish (or claypot in this case), but it’s a welcome change from the usual hawker dishes one would expect.⠀