It was an impromptu date to meet up for dinner at Kovan. My friends suggested meeting at Lola’s cafe, but I counter proposed Knuckles since I wanted to try somewhere new (whenever possible). Haha. And them being magnanimous, they were like “Anything”. Yeah!

We came on a weekday night at almost 9pm. Except for a few groups, the place was pretty quiet and chill with the dim lightings. And it’s a good thing that Knuckles only opens at night since they are non air-conditioned. Wouldn’t imagine how tough it will be to dine indoors with just the fans in Singapore’s really humid (and erratic) weather.

Knuckles is not exactly a café. They seem to lean towards being a pub. A café-inspired pub? The food offered seems it’s catered more to be accompanied with their really affordable drinks. Bottles of beers ranged from $6 to $13, while canned drinks (like coke) were priced at $2. Hot drinks (like latte, cappucino) were only $3!

And from the menu, we ordered:-

1) Nuggets, $3 (above) – Hot from the kitchen, these 6 pieces were comfort food. Pretty good, although one may question how much skill one needs to deep fry these babies. Well, let’s just say I had pretty bad nuggets elsewhere. So good deep frying skill cannot be taken for granted.

2) Truffle fries, $6 (above) – Average.

3) Crispy wings, $5 (above) – Chicken wings served as drumsticks and wings, separately. Skin was indeed crispy, but tasteless although meat was tender and juicy.

4) German pork knuckles, $10 (above) – This was not too bad for $10. They managed to achieve the crispy exterior although meat was not fork tender as how a good pork knuckle should be. More work is needed on the gravy as it failed to bring out the flavour. And it’s a personal preference that I preferred the knuckle to be served with its bone.

5) Bangers & mash, $8 (above) -The mashed potato was bad. It was neither creamy nor smooth. In fact, I was questioning my friend as to why would she even order a plate of chicken sausages and mashed potato.

6) Grilled chicken chop, $8 (above) – This was good. Skin was crispy. Meat was juicy. However, it was really oily. As in the amount of oil that was left behind on the plate.

So yes, I wouldn’t recommend coming to Knuckles for their food. Although it’s reasonable for the mains to priced between $8 to $10, I say save the money and head to Blk 209 Market and Food Centre. But! If one really wants to conquer this stretch of eateries along Hougang Street 21, I recommend heading to Nakhon Kitchen for dinner, followed by Hatter Street for desserts and finally to Knuckles to wind down with some beer and finger foods.

And oh, last order is at 10pm and Knuckles only accepts cash for payment!

Related posts:

Brunch @ Sunday Market Brunch @ Hatter Street Brunch @ Lola’s Cafe Dinner @ GastroSmiths Brunch @ Whisk & Paddle