It has been a long while since my last siblings’ dinner out. My younger brother suggested heading to Traditional Sembawang Claypot Rice (TSCP) because he recently chanced upon the place and enjoyed the food at TSCP much. So yes! If it’s approved by my brother, I am sure it’s good.

And boy was my brother right.

The thing about zi char… It’s always better to come in a big group. So when my siblings and I went, we could only order 4 dishes. And because I enjoyed the food so much, I popped by 5 days later with a colleague for late dinner. Keke.

Reservation is a definite must if one is coming during peak hours or in big groups. My sibling assisted with the reservation and shared that the restaurant took down his contact number only. Hmm. Not of his name too?

But of course, the con about the location was parking. If one intends to park at the lots within the private house estate, please make sure to put parking coupon! When colleague and I arrived on the second occasion at 9pm, he decided to take the risk of not putting since free parking starts at 10pm. Bad move. We joked that the parking attendant must be staying in one of the landed properties because my colleague’s ticket was timed 9.12pm. Gasp.

And from the menu (pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), we ordered:-

1) Crispy salted egg sotong, $12.80 (above)

2) Hakka crispy pork, $12.80 (above)

3) Garlic fried chicken, $12.80 (above)

4) Qing long cai, $12.80 (above)

5) San lao bee hoon, $8.80 (large) (above) – Let’s be real… I think san lao beehoon is almost synonymous with J.B Ah Meng. So although it wasn’t fair to compare the two since they are cooked with different style, comparing was still inevitable. And the difference between the two was TSCR’s was paler in colour and the burnt surface was not as charred. But the (real) distinct difference was TSCR’s was cooked with prawn, pork, egg and vegetables and was wet with (some) gravy at the bottom. TSCR’s was still enjoyable, but not my favourite rendition of san lao beehoon.

6) La la bee hoon, $4.80 (small) (above)

  

7) Claypot seafood da lu mian, $8.80 (small) (above) – Saw some patrons eating this dish during my first visit and it looked so good. So yes, one can say I came back specially for this dish. And it didn’t disappoint. But if one intends to share this, get the bigger portion. We really enjoyed the chewy noodles which was too little for 2 to have enough of since TSCP was more generous with the ingredients.

8) Traditional claypot rice, $13.80 (medium) (above)

I second my brother’s recommendation. I truly enjoyed the food at Traditional Sembawang Claypot Rice. If one is in Sembawang and is unsure of where to head to for a meal, do check them out! One must really get the claypot noodle. When I told my youngest brother that I went back for the claypot noodle, he said he too noticed that dish and would return for it. Keke. Great minds stomachs think alike.