Places to Dine near Telok Ayer (2024 Edition)

This is my third compilation on new places to dine near Telok Ayer. I can always find new restaurants and cafes that I have yet to try whenever I visit this area. I have came up with another list of recommended places to dine near Telok Ayer.

1. Sichuan Alley

Located in a side alley off Telok Ayer, Sichuan Alley is a little haven of gently coloured wood and bamboo furnishings.

The restaurant featured glass window paired with warm lighting that brighten the interior, creating a peaceful and inviting atmosphere.

The dishes that I wanted to try were all spicy dishes. We started off with Sichuan Sour Vegetable Fish ($29++) which was appetising. The sliced fish bursting with flavour, making each bite a delight. While the soup may seem tempting, sipping it brought a tingling spiciness that made me need to gulp down my drink.

The Hot & Sour Pork Dumpling ($6.50++) came in a bowl of spicy chilli oil. The spice level was manageable, complemented by a hint of tanginess. The dumpling was juicy, making for a satisfying bite.

The Fried Chicken ($16++) was a famous Sichuan specialty known for its distinctive ratio of crispy fried chicken to dried red chilli. Every bite of chicken delivered a tongue-tingling sensation that lingered in my throat.

The Sichuan dishes delivered an intense kick of heat, prompting me to reach for a drink to ease the spiciness. The Green Tea with Milk ($6.50++) was the perfect choice, offering a light tea fragrance that complemented its  mildly sweet flavour to balance the fiery heat of the meal.

We also tried their Speciality Ice Jelly ($5.50++) with brown sugar. It was packed with generous ingredients which includes red bean, almond flakes, hawthorn flakes and etc. Every bite was full of delicious ingredients, making it very worthwhile.

51A Telok Ayer St, #01-01, Singapore 048441

Operating hours: 10.30am to 10pm from Mon to Fri, 10.30am to 9pm on Sat and Sun

2. Kuan Zhai Alley

The Chinese Chive Pancakes were slightly crispy at the edge while the interior remained chewy and tender, making each bite an enjoyable experience.

Last but not least was Chong Qing Style Spicy Chicken ($26++). The level of spiciness was no joke, each bite was packed with heat and left a tingling burning effect on my tongue.

23 Church St, #01-02 to 08 Capital Square, Singapore 049481

Operating hours: 11am to 3pm and 5.30pm to 10.30pm daily

Places to Dine near Telok Ayer (2023 Edition)

This is my second compilation to share on new places to dine near Telok Ayer (2023 edition). Telok Ayer is a place that is packed full with a long stretch of restaurants and cafes, making it an ideal place to hang around for food and drinks. I have came up with a compilation for places to dine near Telok Ayer.

1. ASAP & Co

ASAP & Co is a Muslim-Owned Steakhouse that specialises in premium beef sourced from a network of trusted award-winning premium farms worldwide. 

It was a popular spot for dining and the other tables were occupied so we got a counter seats where we could inhale all the smoke coming from the barbeque stove.

The Smoked Queen Prawn Aglio Olio ($25++) was one of the best aglio olio I ever had. The linguine was cooked with garlic scrapes and soaked up with the aromatic flavours of the broth. The two smoked queen prawns were succulent, allowing me to taste the natural sweetness.

The Chicken Wings ($17++) looked like a work of art with the presentation. The wings were flavoured with the smoky and savoury sauce coated. It was a bit hard to separate the drumstick and wings, it will be better the parts were served separately.

The Pistachio Gelato ($8++) was a delight with pistachio nuts crowned on the smooth and creamy gelato. It enhanced the texture and gave a distinctive nutty flavour to the gelato.

70 Telok Ayer St, #01-01, Singapore 048458

Operating hours: 12pm to 3pm and 5pm to 11pm daily

Places to Dine near Telok Ayer (2022 Edition)

Telok Ayer is another area with lots of good food and located directly at MRT line. With many restaurants popping up along the areas, I don't need to travel far to try out different variety of food during lunch time. I have came up with a compilation for places to dine near Telok Ayer.

1. BOTAN Japanese Restaurant

BOTAN Japanese Restaurant is a traditional Japanese restaurant specialising in sushi, sashimi and Omakase. The restaurant has a cosy and quiet ambience, and offers a variety of lunch set that make a good spot for lunch.

I had Tempura and Salmon with Mentaiko Sauce set. The tempura has crispy batter which pair well with the soy sauce, I like that the tempura was not too oily. Overall, it tasted pretty normal.

The set came with Green Tea and Chawanmushi, I added on for a scoop of Japanese Roasted Black Sesame Ice Cream. Now I'm in love with Black Sesame Ice Cream, it contained a strong nutty flavour that made it very addictive.

37 Pekin St, #01-01 Far East Square, Singapore 048767

Operating hours: 11.30am to 2.15pm and 5.45pm to 10pm on Mon to Fri, 11.30am to 2pm and 5.45pm to 9.30pm on Sat and Sun

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Tasting at Sarnies with The Entertainer Singapore App

I am someone who love to have a hearty meal and quality time spent with my friends or loved ones after work or over the weekend. We always keep a lookout for dining with good deals, to save on our expenditure and trying out different variety of food.

I have a good deal to share with all of you:

I was being introduced to The Entertainer App.

This app is awesome. The Entertainer offers Buy One Get One Free deals for restaurants, beauty salons, health & fitness, leisure activities and many more. To make these deals even better, the Buy One Get One Free offers are valid all year long (excluding public holidays).

The app retails at S$85, available on the App Store, Google Play and Samsung Apps.

If you are interested in enjoying the offers in the app, key in this promo code 'SGBLOG2016' to enjoy $10 off the retail price of the app.

Look what I found, Sarnies is one of the F&B merchants on the Entertainer App offering one-for-one main courses at its establishment. There is only 3 offers available per merchant, you can visit the merchant 3 times or use all at one shot.

The Entertainer Singapore App held a food tasting at Sarnies where we got to taste Sarnies' new dinner menu, taking the usual comfort cafe grub to a whole new level.

Sarnies is a lively Aussie-style cafe located in the heart of the Central Business District at Telok Ayer Street. The six year old pumpin' little cafe offers indoor and alfresco dining. With the dim lighting and breezy atmosphere, it was a nice place to laze around with friends over a good meal.

We started off with Grilled Haloumi Sliders with Onion Jam & Roasted Cherry Tomatoes ($13).

Each bun are lovingly kneaded and baked fresh in-house daily. With onion jam and cherry tomatoes in it, one could taste the sweet and sour combination in every bite. Perfect start for appetiser with the refreshing taste.

Second appetiser was Spicy Buffalo Wings ($14).

The spicy wings indeed spiced up my appetite and were juicy good. The buffalo wings were marinated with special spice that enhanced the flavour of the wings. The spiciness only kicked in after swallowing down the bite.

Tacos Pulled Pork Chilli, Coriander, Lime & Red Cabbage ($8).

Order trios at $22.

The taco was wrapped with generous fillings of pulled pork chilli. Despite containing so many ingredients, the taco still remained firm and not soggy. With every bite, I could taste the juiciness of pulled pork and crunchiness of the cabbage.

Recommended for sharing. 

Our main course started with Southern Indian Style Hand-Cut Pappardelle with Prawns, Coconut Milk & Curry Leaves ($19.50).

The pasta was made by hand, cooked al dente to order and coated in a light creamy curry sauce.

For those with adventurous taste buds, this is something you might want to give it a try. With the coconut milk and curry leaves added, it gave the pasta and prawns a very unique and creamy finish.

Texas style burger with overnight smoked brisket, white slaw, dijon, gherkins, BBQ sauce & hand cut wedges ($26.50).

In love with the wedges, we can't stopped eating that.

We ended our dinner on a sweet note by having Churros with Chocolate & Salted Caramel Dip ($10).

The churros were toppled with sugar mixture, dipped it with chocolate or salted caramel sauce for enhanced flavour. I preferred the salted caramel and get indulged by the sweetness, letting the sauce flowed into crispy dough and enjoyed the sweet crunch when you eat it.

Thanks Jas for the photo.

The ladies enjoyed our quality time spent and the dinner. Thanks Sarnies and The Entertainer App for your warm hospitality. The brand new dinner menu is now available at Sarnies, Monday to Friday, from 6pm onward.

For more information, please visit www.sarniescafe.com

Sarnies

136 Telok Ayer Street 

Singapore 068601

Opening Hours: 

Monday & Tuesday - 7.30am to 10.30pm 

Wednesday to Friday - 7.30am to midnight 

Weekends - 8.30am to 4pm

Cha Thai - True Taste of Thai at Telok Ayer

Situated at a prominent location in Telok Ayer Street is Cha Thai that serves quality Thai food.

Cha Thai can be found just right across the street when you come out from Telok Ayer MRT station exit.

Cha Thai has a simple and comfortable setting that makes people at ease, a place where we can enjoy chatting with friends over a delicious meal. 

Cha Thai uses premium quality ingredients, along with traditional recipes cooked with modern techniques, while preserving the traditional taste of Thai cuisine, bringing out another dimension in the taste of Thai. Therefore, their prices might not come across as street price like many.

For drinks, I went for my all-time favourite - Ice Milk Tea ($2.90).

The sweetness of the milk tea was to my liking and their milk tea was made from scratch.

We began our food tasting with Crispy Prawn Cake ($15).

Beneath the crispy skin was a meaty interior made using tiger prawns. It was accompanied by their homemade plum sauce that enhanced the flavour of the prawn cake when dipped. I love this classic dish so much and one piece is not enough for me.

Creamy Crab Roll ($15) was super addictive.

Dip the fried roll into the cream crab gravy for savoury flavours. The gravy was creamy and full of flavours with hinge of spiciness.

Lemongrass Prawn Salad ($28)

Indulge ourselves in the generous servings of tiger prawns. Little did you know, Cha Thai uses tiger prawns on all their prawn dishes. The prawns are sourced from Thailand. 

Saute Kai Lan with Roasted Pork ($16), some vegetables to go with during our tasting. The garlic has added fragrance to the kai lan and roasted pork. The roasted pork has a well proporation of lean meat and fats.

Let's try the Signature Tiger Prawn ‘Panang’ Curry ($28).

The curry was really creamy and flavoursome. The tiger prawns were coated with the curry gravy, making the prawns tasted spicy good. Lychees were added inside the curry to reduce the spiciness of the curry, striking a balance between sweet and spicy.

Boat Noodles ($18) for the pork lover.

Garlic Pork with Bird's Chilli ($18)

The garlic pork delivered an aromatic taste with a mild spiciness. If you are someone who prefer a more spicy taste, eat the garlic pork together with the green chilli. The meat is sous vide to achieve tenderness.

Pineapple Red Curry with Pork Loin ($18)

This dish may look like the Signature Tiger Prawn ‘Panang’ Curry, same same but different. They are 2 different dishes.

They used the same curry gravy but ingredients in it were different. The tiger prawns and lychees were replaced with pork loin and pineapple. It tasted delicious but my favourite was still garlic pork.

Pad Thai ($22)

You might be wondering why a plate of pad Thai cost $22 right?

That's because of tiger prawn was added to the dish. Peanut was placed aside for people who wish to mix it. The noodles were well tossed and every strand tasted delicious.

Tiger Prawns Claypot Glass Noodles ($55 for 4 pax)

You can also opt for Premium Giant Tiger Prawns Claypot Glass Noodles at $159.  The giant tiger prawn is about 35-40cm.

At Cha Thai, the portions served are large so it is recommended to come with a group of friends or with family. It is in the Thai’s tradition and culture to gather. Food always tastes the best in good company.

I really love the tiger prawns, so fresh and succulent.

Despite feeling full, there's always room for dessert. First up was Red Ruby ($8).

The red ruby in coconut milk tasted refreshing, I like the crunchy water chestnut.

Sweet Corn Herbal Jelly ($8), Summer Potato ($8) and Emerald Jade ($8).

The herbal jelly was awesome, I love the grass jelly.

The summer potato was made using sweet potato while the emerald jade resembled the red ruby.

Good things are saved at the last, Tropical Paradise ($12).

Initially I thought this was just normal coconut ice-cream, but as I started digging underneath, I noted a hard texture and it turned out to be mango sticky rice. This was a creative invention allowing me to have 2 of my favourite Thai dessert all in one go. Every mouthful was bursting into flavours.

Thanks Cha Thai for the delicious food tasting and GF for bringing me to feast. I want to come back again and have the tropical paradise soon. I'm missing it.

Cha Thai

80 Telok Ayer Street 

#01-01 Singapore 048466

Operating hour: 11am to 10pm daily