Makan Arcadia

This is a place where you can sit and eat in relative peace and quiet, no dress code required

Just off Adam Road, nestled between trees and two large condos, lies Hillcrest Arcadia Restaurant (now you know which two condos). Despite its high priced surroundings, this little cze char outfit serves an array of Szechuan and local Chinese dishes at very affordable prices.

My "gien chiat" (greedy) friends and I ordered our favorite dishes for review. The review "panel" included three regulars, one newbie and a 4-year old novice.

First up was the Szechuan soup. Sour and spicy and full of ingredients, though you'd have to like sourish stuff. The soup base was not too thick nor was it too watery. Bamboo shoots, slivers of white tofu, mushrooms and a robust soup stock earned this dish a thumbs- up all round.

After being served bowls of steaming white rice, we dug into the pork rib with brown sauce (aka pai kwat wong). The dish turned out to be more like pork chops soaked in sauce. It had definitely too much sauce but at least the meat was well cooked without being tough. We've tasted better on other occasions at this restaurant.

Then came the French beans with minced meat. Served unadorned, the pile of beans was not much to look at, all wrinkled and sprinkled with hae bee hiam (sambal dried shrimps). Skeptical eyebrows were raised as the plate was unceremoniously plonked in front of us. But when we chowed it down with a dollop of white rice, there was a collective "mmmmmm" followed by a long silence as we busily grabbed a few more helpings. Really yummy! We voted it the best dish of our evening.

The crispy chicken, not fried sort ala KFC, but roasted just so that the skin was crispy and the meat stayed succulent. The first bite would always be the best, when the dish was served straight out of the wok. The browned skin barely stayed on the chicken pieces and the flesh was juicy and firm. To enhance the taste, just add a squeeze of lime and dipped into the salt crystals.

The last dish we could possibly consume was the hot plate tofu. I noticed that every table in the restaurant ordered this dish and we knew why after tasting it. Two large blocks of tofu, brown and crisp on the outside, sat on a sizzling hot plate surrounded by minced pork. When the tofu was sliced, and you would find it white on the inside, and not yellow, like most places that served this dish. The slightly spicy sauce and minced meat provided a stark contrast to the tofu. Again, eat it while hot and you'll never see bland white tofu the same way again.

We would have loved to order more, like the foo yong egg served with lettuce, or the beef with spring onions, or the…..but…..*burp*…….

Why we really like this place is because it has been consistent in the quality of food it serves-year in, year out. The restaurant still serves chin chow and lime juice and you can sit and eat in relative peace and quiet, no dress code required. You'll need a car to get there but hey!…. that has never stopped a true-blue eataholic in search of the next good meal…..

Text by Grace Teo
Photos by Kevin Christopher Ou