MM and his cronies seem to know all the go-to spots around the city where you can find quick, cheap and tasty lunch time meals and they constantly badger me to try them out for the purposes of the HOT or NOT readership, as well as to satisfy my own love affair with food. Little Singapore has been mentioned several times, namely for its quick service and great price tag, so I rallied some troops together for a mid-week, midday feed recently – unfortunately we weren’t too impressed.
Little Singapore was bustling upon our arrival and we were lucky that JPC had arrived a little earlier to jag a table. First impressions were pretty good really; there was a mix of clientele with some large, rowdy tables of 6 or more making it an occasion, down to tables for two on a quick mission.
The large, laminated menu had so many good looking options and what I liked about it was they didn’t really give a description of what the dish was – it had an authentic name and a photo of the end result; so we had to go with gut instincts which gave it an element of danger yet excitement (scary for someone like me who is notoriously bad with menu choices).
The three of us made our selections and I joined the queue at the counter to order. A few minutes later I was back at the table, waiting with bated breath for our meals to arrive. We were surrounded by tables with large portions of steaming noodle and curry dishes – with nothing over $14 on the menu it was clear this is a value for money experience. However, as we waited 10, 15, 20 and finally 30 minutes for our meals (watching people who ordered after us cleaning their plates with their Roti) our first impressions had fizzled.
We had to ask several times for our meals and it was clear they had forgotten our order, yet none of the Little Singapore wait staff bothered to acknowledge this and were quite abrupt with us when we requested they check with the kitchen. When the meals finally arrived (not together, but 5 minutes apart) our hungers had somewhat diminished and it was almost time to get back to the office.
We quickly scoffed our meals and to their credit the dishes were very tasty. Princess’ black bean beef ($10.50) was flavoursome, packed full of meet (a tad on the fatty side) and vegies as well.
JPC’s char kway teow ($11.50) was a delicious, smoky dish of chicken with fat egg noodles in a soy based sauce.
I chose the BBQ pork and roast duck with rice ($13.90); the pork was a little on the dry side but the flavour was spot on and the duck was mouth-wateringly fatty and roasted in a delicious (what seemed like) plum based sauce.
We all shared a roti planta plate ($9.50) of sweet flat bread with dahl and mixed vegies which was perfect for mopping up any left overs.
Needless to say, the food and price are both winners at Little Singapore so I’ll no doubt be returning to give them a second chance. I suspect that on this visit we were unlucky; but the overall experience on this occasion definitely warranted the NOT Little Singapore has been given.
- Little Singapore – 42 Charlotte St, Brisbane, +61 7 3211 1177
I’ve been to Little Singapore quite a number of times and it is an even 50/50 split on how good/bad it is.
Some times, the food is just average, service is quite poor and we never get half the stuff we order. Other times, the food is fantastic, service is good etc.
Helen´s last blog ..Elections and Memories
Next time, order salty fish fried rice & mi goreng….
I’ve been to Little Singapore a number of times, but always in Sunnybank. I’d say their service leaves something to be desired most of the time (but they are polite, just rushed and not super attentive).
The food however, is always amazingly yum and super super quick. I don’t think I’ve ever waited more then 15 minutes from the time I’ve ordered (and that was with a group of 6!)
Don’t think I’ll be going to the city one
I was actually really disappointed with them as well. Having come from Singapore, I was missing my nasi lemak and char kway teow a lot.
The authenticity of the nasi lemak left so much to be desired x.x And most of the other dishes were just so so to me. Definitely needs more improvement.