The Rice Bowl – Golden Dishes that Wok the Talk!

Most people visit Sim Lim Square for its wide variety of electronic goods and services. Well, here’s another reason for you to pop by. There’s a stall called The Rice Bowl Gold on the 2nd floor that offers rows and rows of dazzling cai fan dishes! If you work or study in the area and are looking for a quick bite at Sim Lim Square, pop by Rice Bowl Gold!

While I was there on a Wednesday afternoon, I had the privilege of meeting all 3 of the restaurant’s co-owners — Allan, Royal, and Fenny. They are young adults who have taken on the challenging task of marketing and rebranding this traditional F&B business just last September 2018. While Fenny and Allan manage the accounts and operational aspect of the business, Royal handles finance and sales.

The Rice Bowl faces heavy competition from a neighbouring stall which specializes in Salted Egg dishes. Hence, the owners continually encourage their chefs to innovate and experiment with new ingredients in order to create new dishes. Next time, instead of joining the queue for cai fan, maybe consider heading straight to the counter to order one of their mini woks!

First and foremost, I present to you, their Signature Salted Egg Chicken ($5.50)! Keeping things simple, without compromising on the quality of their dishes, The Rice Bowl minimizes the use of seasonings and marinates all their ingredients from scratch. This means that they process and prepare real salted eggs instead of ordering wholesale from a supplier.

I have yet to try their competitor’s Salted Egg Chicken but some have mentioned that this is the better Salted Egg Chicken Rice at Sim Lim Square. This is definitely one of the best salted egg dishes for me.

My first impression upon receiving the Salted Egg Chicken was that they were really generous with the meat. The skin of the meat was crispy and was coated with an even and glistening layer of smooth, flavourful, and robust salted egg sauce. The meat was also thick and I felt that the overall flavour was enhanced by the mild spiciness that the chilli padi lent. I didn’t even have to order a drink as I found the spiciness very tolerable. Moreover, I felt that the amount of sauce was just right, as too much sauce may cause the entire dish to get jelak after a while.

Instead of riding the trend, Royal explained to me that The Rice Bowl aims to create products along the lines of the Salted Egg flavour. Thus, the Butter Milk Chicken ($5.50) was born! The Butter Milk Chicken tastes similar to the Salted Egg except that it is less dense and does not contain salted eggs.

It is also notable that a premium grade curry spice from England is added to the Butter Milk’s creamy base in order to enhance the sauce’s overall flavour! Moreover, as you can tell, the eggs served at The Rice Bowl are crispy at the edges, with a glorious and golden runny core. I absolutely love the taste of rice soaked in egg yolk.

The third dish I had was their Cereal Chicken ($5.50)! What really captivated me was the cereal. The flakes are crispier and less greasy than the normal flakes you find with cereal chicken at other cai fan stalls. I couldn’t stop myself from indulging in the sweet crispy cereal flakes. Fenny divulged that the cereal flakes are made using mainly eggs and that the cooking process for this dish is extremely tedious. Temperature control is one of the most important aspects — if the wok is not hot enough or too hot at any given time, the taste and texture of the entire dish could be ruined.

Lastly, I tried their Chicken Cutlet with Lemon Sauce ($5.50). For those who enjoy something crispy and refreshing, this is the dish for you! As with all the other mini woks I tried, this dish didn’t have too much sauce. The amount of sauce was just right for each mouthful of meat, rice, and egg to go well together.

Located on the 2nd floor of Sim Lim Square, The Rice Bowl Gold is the first stall in a chain of air-conditioned eateries you won’t miss. If Sim Lim Square is out of the way for you, The Rice Bowl Gold will be opening a new outlet in Marsling soon. Stay tuned to their FaceBook page for updates!

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

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