A tell-tale sign of authentic British-style fish & chips is the availability of malt vinegar. In Singapore, condiments like tartare sauce, ketchup and chilli sauce are normally served. But in Britain, they sprinkle salt and vinegar over their fish and chips.

This edition of Tried & Tested goes in search of the best-tasting Brit-style fish & chips in Singapore. Click here for the full article!

Chicken chop (S$5.50)

Most hawker center or coffee shop “western food” are pretty forgettable, but I’m impressed with Uno Beef House. Their signature dish is, naturally, the steak (choose from sirloin, ribeye, and tenderloin), which spectacularly arrives on a sizzingly hot plate and looks absolutely scrumptious.

I try to stay away from beef, so can’t comment on the steaks. But I’m impressed enough with the other offerings. Like the chicken chop (comes with fries or rice) which is a thick, juicy slab of boneless leg pan-fried till the edges turn crispy brown and then slathered in a tasty, brown gravy.

The accompanying coleslaw is nice and fresh, the fries are crispy and fluffy, and the baked beans, well, come from a can.

The garlic toast can be good or bad, depending on luck. It’s warm and crispy when freshly toasted, but hard and icky when cold.

Beef stew (S$7.00)

Besides beef steak, their beef stew is worth a try, too. It comes with rice, but I requested it to be substituted with toast. It doesn’t look very impressive, but is surprisingly homey-tasting with big chunks of tender beef, potato, and carrot in an appetising tomato-ey gravy.

Fish with fried rice (S$4.50)

I ended up enjoying the fish much more than the fried rice. The frozen vegetables in the rice was hard and tasteless, and overall, the rice was just not worth trying

But the fish was a revelation. It wasn’t coated in a batter or in crispy panko, but with very fine, light crumbs. The end result was a non-greasy, lightly crispy, soft and flaky fish fillet. Next time, I’ll skip the fried rice and go for the fish and chips combo instead.

This is apparently the branch of the very popular original in Toa Payoh, where waiting time can be as long as 45 mins. But here, though business is good, I usually wait no more than 10 minutes. Service is brisk but friendly. When I asked for his business card, the person-in-charge, Rico Lim, cheerfully invited me to call in advance to place orders so that I don’t have to wait when I arrive.

Uno Beef House (Dover branch)
Blk 19A Dover Crescent
#01-05
Jumbo Coffee Hub (facing Commonwealth Ave West)
Singapore 131019

Open from: 12 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily (closed on alternate Mondays)
Contact person: Rico Lim
Mobile no.: 9003 3832

Fish and chips, S$21.00

Ricky and I took my mom to The Dining Room for a relaxing Sunday dinner. We’ve always enjoyed the elegance here, especially the view of the waterfall through the tall ceiling-to-floor glass windows. Surprisingly, only a handful of tables were occupied.

The ala carte menu seems to be more limited than I remember. Mom had the fish and chips. We thought it was a dish that shouldn’t be that hard for a 5-star hotel to execute. While it looked great, the inside of the battered fish was soggy. Yes, soggy, not juicy. Not that it wasn’t fresh or uncooked, but it just wasn’t quite right.

The portions were huge, though. Mom couldn’t finish the piles of fries and fresh salad that came along with it. The fries were pretty good, too bad we were seated right under the air-conditioning so they turned cold and hard too quickly.

Beef burger, S$19.00

Another mountain of fries, and a super thick patty. The hubby was in a fix. “How to assemble and eat such a thick burger?” Yes, we have yet to master the knack of eating this kind of “gimme the works” burger. Seriously, how do you hold a plateful of food between two buns??

Strange touch of sliced avocados, but Ricky said the caramelized onions and pickles were lovely, especially the pickle that was crunchy and not too sour, good enough to enjoy on its own.

Nasi goreng, S$19.00

I’ve always liked hotel-style nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice) because of the luxurious sides that make it look like such a good deal. While the chicken satay was fragrant and tender, the rendang chicken was quite dry. The two huge prawns had huge heads. What little flesh they had was neither sweet nor succulent. Worse, one of them had mushy flesh! The achar was ok, the rice was unremarkable. Considering the cons outweigh the pros, the nasi goreng was a major letdown.

As usual, the service here was great, although once they forgot our request for water, and we had to remind them. Since we were stuffed by the American-sized portions, we skipped desserts. I remember the quality of food here used to be better. Or maybe now they place more attention on their buffets rather than ala carte (I know their buffets are quite popular). While it’s a pleasant place for an afternoon cuppa, I won’t be back for a main meal.

Total bill after service charges, taxes and credit card discounts was about S$60.

The Dining Room
Sheraton Towers Singapore
39 Scotts Road
Singapore 228230
URL: www.sheratonsingapore.com