First opened in 1971, Chatterbox is most well-known for its chicken rice but with its reopening at Hilton Orchard, the 50+-year-old dining establishment proved that they are more than just their chicken rice, offering delightful Asian delicacies suitable for anyone – from local Singaporeans to visiting tourists.
A Brand-New Look at Hilton Orchard
Located on the fifth floor of the newly minted Hilton Orchard Singapore, Chatterbox is now decked in an elegant and sophisticated interior. With a total of 120+ seats, diners can pick a spot from the main dining area which consists of banquette seatings, to a more casual high bar chair area.
Our favourite spot in Chatterbox was the verandah area, which lets in lots of natural light during the day. It does get a little warm during lunchtime, but the spot is perfect near sunset.
There is also a bar area where diners can have a go at their signature cocktails such as the Chatterbox Punch, a chilli-spiked gin & tonic concoction. The gin used is infused with banana, lemon, and vanilla elements for 21 days which gave the drink a light umami note. Very easy to drink and went well with the dishes we tried.
Food at Chatterbox Singapore
When it comes to Chatterbox, it’s impossible to not talk about their Signature Mandarin Chicken Rice. Previously, it was available only as an Individual Set ($25), but now, you can get it in bigger portions such as a Half Chicken ($38) or Whole Chicken ($72) to share with your family.
The chickens used weigh around 2kg each and are specially reared and cooked in aromatic stock, slowly steamed till tender. The highlight for us was the fluffy and fragrant chicken rice, cooked using aged Jasmine rice, chicken fat, shallots and pandan leaves – resulting in rice that wasn’t too oily and had a perfect texture.
One of the best dishes we had, when we visited Chatterbox, was the Sea Perch with Burnt Green Chilli ($35). The pan-fried sea perch was crispy on the outside, and almost had a cod-like texture that paired amazingly with their house-made charred green chilli paste.
If you’re someone who loves sambal-based dishes, go for the Wok-fried Sambal Wing Beans ($8) which consists of crunchy wing beans tossed in rempah. You can also opt for kang kong for this dish!
Not to be missed is the Mackerel & Crab Otah Otah ($15), made using fresh mackerel fish paste and snow crab claw meat. Grilled over an open charcoal fire, we loved how substantial each bite was, and the fragrant spice that came with it.
Instead of salted egg or cereal, Chatterbox has a Lemon Butter Tiger Prawns ($28) dish on their menu. Double-fried with curry leaves, we enjoyed the plump prawns with the sweet, savoury, and sour lemon butter sauce.
Another iconic dish at Chatterbox is the Lobster Laksa ($34), which contained a whole Boston lobster claw along with the usual laksa ingredients like tau pok, fish cake slices, bean sprouts and quail eggs. We loved how rich the gravy was and would recommend sharing this dish.
The dish usually comes with vermicelli noodles, but you can request yellow noodles or a mix of both, depending on how you like your Laksa.
A local delight, Chatterbox’s Seafood Hokkien Mee ($28) came topped with prawns, scallops and pork belly. Thanks to their homemade seafood broth, this was an umami treat!
End the meal with their Signature Coconut Ice Cream ($15), which comes with two scoops of coconut ice cream that’s mixed with chocolate, finished with walnuts and tropical fruits. This particular dessert gave us old-school vibes and was a delicious end to our meal at Chatterbox.
Chatterbox at Hilton Orchard Singapore
While the chicken rice was undoubtedly delicious, we felt that the newly revamped Chatterbox was more than that. The other dishes were delicious, such as the Mackerel and Crab Otah Otah and Sea Perch with Burnt Green Chilli.
Chatterbox
333 Orchard Road, #05-03, Singapore 238867
Mon-Sun, 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-10:30pm
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*This was a media tasting by Chatterbox. However, this is not a paid review, and all opinions are ours.