Lam’s Garden – Former Hotel Chef Opens Zi Char Stall

Moved from Golden Mile Food Center to City Gate, Chef Lam offers tasty zi char at wallet-friendly prices. Chef Lam has over 20 years of experience working as a hotel chef, and has decided that he wanted to run his own kitchen. Lam Loon Tuck, also known as Chef Lam, was originally from Ipoh. His birthplace is the source of inspiration for many of his dishes.

Chef Lam told us that he could have, but didn’t, open a restaurant because he wanted to test the water first. He also revealed that his signature dish is actually the fish steamboat, but we weren’t aware so we missed out on ordering it. Nonetheless, we ordered a number of interesting dishes such as his twin tower sheng mian which is not commonly seen. Chef Lam also shared that all the dishes on his menu are his own creations, which he believes will please the palates of his customers.

To fill our growling stomachs, we went for the Seafood Crispy Noodle (twin), Crispy Baby Squid, Ginger Honey Glazed Chicken, Wok Fried French Beans with Silver Fish and Salted Egg Crispy Fish Skin. The majority of the items are seafood dishes, and Chef Lam is seriously strict when it comes to selecting only the best and freshest seafood available.

I think this might be one of the better French beans that I’ve had in a while. Dive into crisp French beans that’s accompanied with fragrant silver fish, onions and garlic. Every bite produced a clearly audible crunch. Overall, the dish was very well executed, with little to not like. Although it is simple and common, the dish showcased Chef Lam’s skills and techniques.

The crispy baby squids were no slouch either. The crisp baby squids were slathered in a thick, sweet and mildly spicy sauce. The crunch and the deep rich flavors were really addictive. I don’t generally like seafood but this is one seafood dish that I’ll come back for.

I need to have meat in all my meals, so I was really looking forward to the ginger and honey glazed chicken. The aroma of ginger was distinct and strong, but not overwhelming. Expect cubes of diced chicken, and ginger cubes coated in a mouthwatering sticky sauce. The flavors are complex and hard to describe, but the dish offered a good balance of sweet and savoury notes. It almost looked like sweet and sour pork, but the flavors were really quite different. The ginger balanced out the sweetness of the sauce, while adding a touch of extra flavor. I wished that the chicken cubes were crispier on the outside, but I enjoyed the dish nonetheless.

The highlight of our meal was the seafood crispy noodle (twin). Aptly named, the dish sees 2 towers of sheng mian standing in a sea of starchy gravy and pieces of choice seafood such as prawn, fish and lala. Mixing the noodles with the gravy was a messy affair since the serving plate was a tad small. The soft and chewy noodles, which had been thoroughly mixed with the eggy gravy, were very enjoyable.

The food here is priced reasonably — most of the dishes cost about $10 or less. Since the kitchen is rather small, the food does take a while to reach you. Say hi to the chef when you drop by!

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

Let’s build a food community that helps to update the food news in Singapore! Simply comment below if there’s any changes or additional info to Chirashi King Kong. We will verify and update from our side. Thanks in advance!