Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice (Chinatown Complex)

The claypot rice here is traditionally prepared from scratch where rice is boiled over a stove for 5mins before being placed over charcoal fire to cook. I would recommend calling in and placing your order in advance to avoid the long waiting time. Our order was ready to be served when we arrived.

Portion and price vary from $5 to $20. We ordered the $12 portion for 2 pax that came with generous chunks of chicken, lup cheong, salted fish, vegetables and smoky rice. The portion was huge which I felt that it can even feed up to 3 pax. I like the chicken meat that was succulent and the rice was moist and fluffy with smoky flavours 》$12

Long wait time for this popular clay pot after Chinatown Complex, but shiok to have on a “wintery” night.

Pots and pots of clay pot prepared over a charcoal fire, it’s a sight to behold. Filled with chunks of juicy chicken, pork belly, lap cheong (Chinese sausage) and salted fish, drizzle dark soya sauce over before mix it well.

I like to leave my rice a bit longer so it gets more charred and crisp. How do you like yours?

Called beforehand to make a preorder and only had to wait 5-10 mins on a Friday night!!

However perhaps it wasn't a good day for them but the rice was tasteless, the proportion of rice to meat was really off (~80% rice) and while the portion was generous for $12 and could feed 2 very comfortably the food was disappointing!

Pardon this crap photo. It’s a screenshot from a video I took.

Patronised this stall before the circuit breaker started in April. It’s no wonder they are rated the best claypot rice in Singapore. Every bit of rice is crispy (depending on your scooping skill) and well flavoured with generous portion of chicken chunks. Confirm plus chop returning customer. Do call in advance to order or risk being hangry. Their business is crazily good.

Saw Veronica’s story on them and was so enticed to get a bowl for myself but boy was it tough trying to call through to them to place an order. Finally managed to get hold of them after about a dozen calls (nope, no exaggerating ‘cause even when I was there to collect, their phone was ringing non stop)⁣
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Super stoked to try it because throughout the train ride home, all I could smell was the claypot fragrance which really worked up my appetite. Unlike other stalls, their rice is prepared together with the charcoal fire rather than being pre-steamed (which explains the long waiting time), and the ingredients are place on top once the rice is done.⁣
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For takeaways, the rice is scooped out and given a good stir with a mix of black soya sauce and oil by the staff, before placing it into the takeaway box with the rest of the ingredients. I love every bit of the slightly charred and well seasoned rice, and were I dining there, would have scraped up every last bits stuck on the pot. The tender chicken chunks and tasty lupcheong had soaked up the aroma of the entire dish, a testament to its long cooking duration.⁣
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For anyone interested, you can call them at 6227 2470 to pre-order before picking it up! Mind you, I called the moment they are opened at 430pm, but was told to collect it 2 hours later! So, do call in early to prevent disappointment!

One of the more popular claypot rice in Singapore with its Michelin Bib Gourmand, finally got around to trying it and it didn’t quite live up to my expectations 😕😕 Don’t get me wrong - it’s still a pretty solid bowl of claypot rice, with a really nicely charred sheet of rice at the bottom and they definitely do not scrimp on the ingredients (chicken, duck liver sausages, lup cheong, salted fish) - but the ingredients didn’t come together quite as nicely as I had hoped, and the wokhei-ness just didn’t quite infuse into the rice like some of the other claypot rice around. Especially liked their chicken, which was tender and flavourful and very un-dry even after being cooked for such a long time, but didn’t like that it was not de-boned which made it difficult to eat. Main draw would still be the generous serving at a very affordable price ($12 portion can easily feed 3 pax, or 2 hungry people), and the commitment to cooking to every order (which also results in a long wait, so definitely call ahead to order!) 👍🏻👍🏻