Friday, May 21, 2010

New Lucky Claypot Rice in Clementi

Update: This place has moved to 44 Holland Drive, #02-19.

New Lucky Claypot is probably the most famous and popular claypot offering at Clementi. It's been around for 40 years. This is rice cooked from scratch in the claypot over charcoal fire, so there is a minimum 20-30 minute wait when you order (45 mins or more at peak hours). It's a good idea to call and pre-order if you are going for this.

This claypot above (S$20, meant for four persons) is the mixed set claypot. It gives you pretty much all the toppings - chicken, pork and liver sausages (lap cheong), Szechuan preserved vegetables and salted fish. Prices start from S$10 (for two) and go up to S$25 (for five persons).


Master mixer at work. Oh the anticipation!
A group of us (Hairyberry & XLB, Keropokman & Momo, TheHungryCow, Aromacookery and I) had been planning to come here for ages, and finally did after clearing work/study/exam commitments. Oh, the anticipation as you mix the piping hot rice and ingredients. We were a hungry crew! Too bad Ladyironchef double-booked himself and couldn't come.

The smoky aroma when the pot arrives at your table is wonderful. But for all the fond and nostalgic raves by the many fans of this place, we found it just passable on the whole, and we wondered if it had been better in the past. The rice needed more flavour, for one thing. And because there was so much rice, the toppings were a little short. The salted fish, for example, was only prominent in like one out of five bites. 

There were some good things about it, for sure. The rice grains were nicely separate and firm, not soggy or hard. The chicken pieces were tender and juicy, and the lap cheong seemed to be good quality stuff. Even the liver sausage (very thinly sliced) went down well with those of us who don't like liver.


Lashings of dark soy sauce and oil, to your heart's content
It was fun layering thick lashings of dark soy sauce and oil atop the claypot. They give you one large mug of each, so you can indulge as much as you like.


Mix it all up, ingredients and rice. Yes, it's a lot of rice.
And then, you mix it all up. As you can see, there's a lot of rice, and much of it looks really pale until you've added nearly half a cup of sauce. And along the sides and bottom of the claypot are burnt crispy bits of rice, which I love. These were a little overburnt though.


Oyster sauce vegetables with garlic
There are side dishes to go with your claypot. Some healthy blanched greens topped with oyster sauce and fried garlic.


They serve soups too. Pork rib with lotus, and pork rib with watercress here.
They also serve soups here, like pork rib with lotus, and pork rib with watercress. Both soups had a lot of oil on the surface. Ribs are boiled til tender, but the soup is still on the watery side.

I'm glad I got a chance to try this, but I think I've been spoiled by homecooked claypot - it's quite easy to do and you have much more control over flavour and ingredients.

We had fun nonetheless, chatting for more than three hours. In fact, we were tempted to order more food - there was a Myanmar stall at the same coffee shop that got us curious, but the dishes were not suitable for sharing.

Thank goodness it was a cool evening. Best kind of weather for claypot rice and conversation.



NEW LUCKY CLAYPOT RICE
328 Coffee House
Block 328 Clementi Avenue 2
Singapore 120328
Tel: +65 6778-7808
Open 12noon-1.30pm; 5pm-9pm
Closed Wednesdays

Blk 44 Holland Drive
#02-19
Singapore 270044
Tel: +65 6778-7808
Open Mon-Tue, Thu-Sun: 1100am - 145pm, 5pm - 830pm
(Closed on Wed)

You can click on photo to see signboard text/menu details.





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12 comments

  1. I used to smear my chicken rice with so much dark soy sauce that the rice grains were all brown, until I read that it was unhealthy when I was Primary 4. Lol...

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  2. I like how they allow you to control the amount of dark soy sauce and oil... so I guess a healthier version is possible. ;)

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  3. 7 of you had 1 claypot meant for 4???

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  4. Stargirl: that's the way I like it too, but unhealthy? Really?

    LFB: haha, I guess they are smart - if it doesn't taste as good, maybe it's our own bad mixing? :P

    Anonymous: LOL I liked that you counted us all, but no, we had two of the S$20 claypots and then added another smaller S$10 pot, just to catch the smoky aroma that we missed earlier.

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  5. SHIT! i missed out on claypot rice. eh you guys want to come back here again next week? LOL

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  6. Their claypot rice used to taste much better than now! Their portion is not as much as before, still the chicken is tender..

    Their braised chicken feet with mushrooms is a must order!! Very delicious if u love this!! Not always available though..

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  7. Yeah - I've been there too. Its good! = Pam

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  8. LIC: Hey Brad, let's try another claypot place lah!

    Cosyrocket: Ah so they were better in the past...Oh yes, I saw the chicken feet on the sbestfood webpage. Good huh? I love chicken feet!

    Pam: it's not too shabby, yeah. I just prefer more flavour for the rice.

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  9. I recommend the stall run by the two sisters at Chinatown Food Centre. I do not know the stall name but I do have their number (62272470). You have to call at least 30 mins before reaching as they cook from scratch upon order using charcoal, just like the Clementi stall. Thats the best claypot rice place for me.

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  10. Yummy! The food is very affordable too

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  11. Hehe. I last read this post almost a year ago, and just spotted it again in one of your Links Within squares. Still looks as good... and I still haven't had my claypot chicken rice after all these months! :P

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  12. The stall has shifted to Holland Drive Food Center.

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