Known for its Cantonese roast meats, Char Restaurant is a casual bistro restaurant in Jalan Besar that was recognized with a Michelin Plate from 2016 to 2018, and was also listed under Fine Cantonese Food from 2018 to 2019 in the Michelin Guide. This year, they’re celebrating their 9th anniversary with a refreshed menu offering interesting yet delectable food items!
Char Restaurant New Menu
New on the menu is the Mala Char Siew ($20/portion) which is a take on the brand’s one-of-a-kind Signature Char Siew (from $27/300g). The mala char siew might look fiery and unapproachable at first glance, but it was surprisingly not too spicy, and very well balanced out. The dish uses 13 different spices which give it a nice fragrant aroma, and the texture of the meat simply melts in your mouth.
You can also get their signatures such as the Double Roast ($38) which has 200g each of the Signature Char Siew and Crispy Roast Pork.
If you’re a fan of pig stomach soup, Char’s rendition is sure to hit all the right boxes. Their Pig’s Stomach with Anxin Chicken Soup ($32/4pax) is filled with slices of pig’s stomach that are not smelly, along with an entire free-range chicken leg. It’s peppery, savoury and reminds us of a comforting bowl of home-cooked soup.
Taking the usual zichar-style beancurd dish to the next level is their Hometown Beancurd with Minced Meat ($16.80). The dish features a silky egg beancurd that’s handmade daily, steamed, deep-fried and then tossed in a premium soya sauce with minced meat and garlic.
One of the features of the new menu at Char Restaurant is the Okra Banana Delight ($15.50), which sees a unique combination of okra with sweet, torched slices of bananas. The combination of sweet, savoury and spicy flavours in this dish will make non-okra lovers go back for more.
There’s also the Tornado Butter Egg Prawns ($22) where shelled tiger prawns are tossed with curry leaves and chilli padi before being enveloped by a buttery egg floss whose texture is reminiscent of candy floss.
The meats section has a Spicy Sichuan Chicken with Ice Cream ($18.80), which is basically their take on the classic La Zi Ji. Simply pair the deep-fried chicken chunks with the cool, vanilla ice cream which helps to relieve the heat from the combination of peppercorns and dried red chillies. Fair warning, this was quite spicy, but we loved the salty and sweet combination!
The Crabmeat Fried Rice ($19.80) was a hearty treat, with chunks of Sri Lankan crab meat, shiitake mushrooms and spoonfuls of tobiko in it. You can also choose from other staples such as Longevity Noodles ($15.80) and Seafood Ee-Mian ($19.80).
Drinks & More
The restaurant now also has a range of premium teas from China, such as Sparrow’s Tongue Jasmine Tea, Anxi Tie Guan Yin, Shifeng Dragon Well Green Tea and Yunnan Pu’Er Tea.
They also have an extensive range of ales, ciders and fine wines, with more interesting items like the 1925 Liangteh Chrysanthemum Lager and Wych Wood Hobgoblin Dark Ale.
Char Restaurant
363 Jalan Besar, Singapore 208994
Tues-Sun, 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-9:30pm
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