Food, Lifestyle, Travel & Photography: British Hainan

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

British Hainan

The cravings for Hainanese Food had brought us to this corner of a shophouse on Purvis Road. Though there are 3 outlets, Joo Chiat, Kallang and Purvis Road, the ladies prefer to visit the last location for they are more familiar with the surrounding.

British Hainan

Welcome to British Hainan

Dining Area

We ordered a jug of Lemon Grass Drink and share it among ourselves.

Lemon Grass Drink in Jug

As we walked into the restaurant, we were their first batch of customers on the day. The interior was decorated with some of the old school stuff that can be found in the era of my grandparents' time. The furnishing kind of depicts the olden traditional Chinese with the use of the round wooden table, some straw weaved food baskets, charcoal operated iron as well as some metal hotpot and Chinese pictures hanging on the wall. They do have some English decorations with the use of piano, and some old school English luggage.

Interior

Take a look at the decorations

The caramelised onion soup was drizzled with some cheese powder and served with a slice of garlic bread. The soup was tasty but it can be better with the use of real cheese that gives the "cheese pulling" effect.

Onion Soup 洋葱汤 - $8

Garlic Bread

The platter was served with 3 kinds of Sausage and some lettuce with pineapple, tomatoes and cucumber slices. The platter was not really to my liking as one of them has a strong gamey taste although a lot of herbs have been mixed within. On top of that, the sausage meat was too minced and do not have the kind of biting texture and was kind of mashy to me. As we feedback to the restaurant, we were told that their supplier might have changed the Sausage Recipe and they will also feedback to them.

English Pork Sausage and Bratwurst Platter 香肠拼盘 - $16

Sausages

This dish is da bomb! The portion can simply fit 2-3 pax as it is very stomach filling with 2 slices of bread and sauce. The meat was well braised till the point that the meat fell off from the bone easily. Its perhaps one of the best braised Lamb Shank I ever had. While every dish from British Hainan does not require the use of MSG, I would say that the taste was really up to the mark. The sweetness of the gravy was lip-smackingly good. Potatoes chunks, carrots and celery slices were part of the flavours too.

Braised Lamb Shank - $28.90

The Fish was lightly battered and dory fish was tender. However, the batter was quite plain and it can be improved with more seasonings. Nonetheless, overall this dish still score on average and was served with fresh greens and fries.

Fish and Chips 炸鱼 - $16.90

This is the classic dish that I will always order when it comes to Hainanese Food. Pork Chop was breaded and tender with a crispy exterior. Like any traditional Hainanese Recipe, the Pork Chop was served with the classic thickened tomato sauce with cut tomatoes and green peas. The dish is served along with french fries as a side. Glad that the sauce is not salty and makes a good pairing. Indeed their family recipe is based on their memory and tastebud.

Hainanese Pork Chop 海南猪扒 - $16.90

Pork Chop

While the ladies could not take their eyes always from this Ondeh Ondeh Cake in the Chiller, we decided to save some room for dessert. The cake was topped with coconut shavings and alternating sponge cake layers with some Gula Melaka Cream. Well, it was a bit dry and a letdown to the traditional Ondeh Ondeh Cake as it did not impress much.