The Peranakan @ Claymore: Free flow and DIY Popiah and Mee Siam

Okay I know DIY-ing a popiah sounds hard and initially, I was too lazy to make my own popiah but it was actually super fun! Whenever I eat popiah, I would always have something to say about the popiah like there is too much turnips and too little sweet sauce. However, with this DIY concept, I could make it the way I wanted to! The only hard part was wrapping and then eating it without falling apart.

Also, they had all the toppings I loved except ground peanuts which was a little disappointing BUT they do have free flow prawns!

Besides that, you can also have a DIY Mee Siam with free flow noodles, soup and ingredients. Though the mee siam was a little to spicy for me, it was recommended to add a touch of lime to balance the flavours out.

Every paying senior citizen will also get a free Chendol Dessert! This ended off the meal so well with the sweet coconut flavours and shaved ice.

Price (Popiah & Mee Siam Buffet):
$28++/ pax

A well-known side dish, the Ngoh Hiang was packed with a generous amount of minced pork, water chestnut and prawns, then wrapped with a thin layer of skin. Paired with sweet sauce, what could go wrong?
Price: $15
Taste: 3.5/5
Heat: 0/5
Some ala carte dishes you can give a go to is their signature Ayam Buah Kelak – a traditional Peranakan dish that uses a very strong flavoured nut (called Buah Kelak) to give flavour to this dish. This, however, is either a hit and miss for you, kinda like how truffle words. Definitely a hit for me though! The chicken was still so tender and the savoury flavours were so unique.

Price: $22/ 4pcs
Taste: 4/5
Heat: 0/5

Some other dished you might wanna try is the Nasi Ulam Istimewa (left) and Curry Ayam Istimewa (right). The rice is a recommended dish as I don’t think you can get anything like this elsewhere. It was so fragrant with herbs and had minced fish and salted fish inside, which gave this rice dish a very unique taste.
For the curry chicken, I was not a fan of it as it was spicy but some might argue that it was pretty good. The chicken, I have to say, was as tender as the Ayam Buah Kelak’s dish.

Price: $17 (left); $17 (right)
Taste: 4/5 (left); 3/5 (right)
Heat: 0/5 (left); 3/5 (right)

If you’re looking for a pork this, you can give another signature dish a try – the Kaki Babi Pong Teh is actually slow cooked for 6 hours with onions and fermented beans. The flavours of this dish were more subtle and the portion of pork leg they gave was huge too. I’m so glad I got to try so many traditional Peranakan dishes!
Price: $19
Taste: 3.5/5
Heat: 0/5

Fish head lovers, this is a definite must-try for you! The Assam Pedas Fish Head was fried and then drenched in chilli tamarind gravy for a sweet and sour flavour. Although the sauce was really spicy, I ate the parts of the fish that wasn’t covered with sauce and the meat was so fragrant and I dived for the parts that were fried till crisp.

Price: $19
Taste: 4/5
Heat: 3/5