'It looks a bit anaemic': Man tries chicken rice, other Singapore food for the first time in UK, gives honest feedback

Laksa, chilli crab and kaya toast are familiar food that one would think you could only enjoy in Singapore. 

But over the years, food and beverage establishments selling these dishes have popped up all around the world, including in the UK. 

Curious to know what Singapore food tastes like without having to travel all the way here, the content creator behind YouTube channel Cheat Day Around The World visited some eateries there that were selling some of our favourite local food. 

And he gave a brutally honest review about them. 

Anaemic-looking chicken rice?

The man's first stop was Mei Mei, which is situated in London's Borough Market and founded by Singapore-born chef Elizabeth Haigh. 

There, he ordered kaya toast and a bowl of Hainanese chicken rice. 

The man shared that he had been told that kaya is caramel. 

"[But] don't quote me on that," he disclaimed. 

Upon first bite, he let out a satisfied: "Mmmm." 

"Oh that's lovely! It does give you a little bit of a caramel taste but it's not overly sweet like caramel. It's a lot more subtle, which makes it very nice," he commented. 

He enjoyed it so much that he even wanted to buy some home to eat again. 

However, he did not have as much of a good first impression of the Hainanese chicken rice. 

"The chicken is quite pale, and I think it's because of how it's cooked," he said bluntly, adding that "it looks a bit anaemic". 

While the dish came with a side soup and several sauces, the man decided to try the chicken rice on its own first to see how it tasted. 

"The rice, it looks like plain white rice but actually isn't. It's flavourful," he shared. 

But when it came to the protein, he was a little more sceptical. 

"I'm a little bit scared to try the chicken, I'm not going to lie. Because look at it, it's very, very pink." 

These concerns soon dissipated after he took his first bite and the YouTuber was pleased to find that it was "the softest piece of chicken [he] has ever had in [his] life". 

However, it was not as flavourful as he had hoped it would be. 

"I'm not going to lie to you, the chicken doesn't really have that much flavour to it. I think that's the whole point, I think that's what the soya sauce and chilli sauce is there." 

So, he poured chill sauce, dark sauce and some soup into his chicken rice to amp up the flavours.

And it did make the food significantly better.

"It really needed the extra kick from that chilli sauce, adds a bit of a different flavour to it because everything is just chicken, chicken, chicken flavour," he concluded before polishing off the whole bowl. 

Tasteless laksa? 

Next up, he visited Old Chang Kee's London branch for some laksa and curry puffs. 

"I'm really excited, I've never had a Singaporean curry puff. The only puffs I've had before is puff puff, which is Nigerian," he said enthusiastically. 

He tried the laksa first and upon first sniff, he was overwhelmed by the smell of coconut. 

This didn't change after he took a bite. 

"If I'm being completely honest, it doesn't have a lot of flavour. It's just coconut, that's it," he said bluntly. 

To try and salvage the dish, he added some of the provided sambal. 

This did help the dish a little, but the man still felt that something was missing. 

Apart from that, he pointed out that rice noodles did not absorb the broth either, which didn't make the laksa very enjoyable. 

"It's a bit disappointing, I'm not going to lie," he concluded. 

Thankfully, the curry puffs he was so eager to try made up for that. 

"That's very nice," he said upon first bite. 

"The pastry is nice. And then the curry sauce inside is very good as well," he remarked, adding that the chicken and vegetables in the filling were very tender. 

He was also amused by how the curry puff contained half an egg, which he felt was a little redundant. 

"I don't understand the need for the egg in there," he confessed.

He also tried a curry puff without an egg in it and was surprised that it was much spicier than the first one. 

"Is my mind playing tricks on me? Because I thought [this curry puff] would be the same thing," he said. 

Chilli crab 

To end off his food adventures, the YouTuber headed to Rasa Sayang, a restaurant opened by Singapore-born Ellen Chew specialising in Malaysian and Singaporean food. 

There, he ordered a luxurious plate of chilli crab, which came with a side of fried mantous. 

Upon being served his dish, the man found himself a little lost. 

"I don't know where to start with this. How do I even eat this?" he said in a puzzled voice. 

He started by using a fork to scoop up some of the viscous gravy. 

"It's very fishy. I thought it would be bits of the crab but it's not," he commented. 

Despite this, he found the flavours "quite nice" and said it was like a "seafood sweet and sour sauce". 

Next up, he tried the sauce with a fried mantou and really enjoyed it.  

"Ooh, this one is good. With the bun, this [sauce] is lovely. I feel like I've got to get more of these buns," he said. 

And finally, he ate some crab. 

"Good crab! The flavour really gets into the crab," he said, adding that while it wasn't super spicy, it had a good kick to it. 

While he did think it was a troublesome dish to eat, he enjoyed it overall. 

"The nice sweetness from the crab, a bit of spiciness from the sauce. It's a good combo," he said while blowing a kiss. 

ALSO READ: This YouTuber bought $50 worth of Singapore hawker food in London and gave his honest review

melissateo@asiaone.com