The Place I was really excited to finally get the chance to visit Violet Oon’s Kitchen, our very own celebrity chef. Located not far away from 6th Avenue, Violet Oon’s Kitchen serves authentic Paranakan food which I feel is fast disappearing from the culinary scene in Singapore.

The restaurant has a very simple, chic design which makes me feel at home the moment I stepped into it. The mosaic tiles also give a tinge of Peranakan flavour to the place.  As there are limited seatings, it is advisable to make reservations as Violet Oon’s Kitchen is highly popular, at least when I visited it on a Sunday evening. It was fully packed after 7pm and I saw that some walk-in customers had to be turned away.

The Food It is no surprise that Peranakan food is the highlight at Violet Oon’s Kitchen, which was precisely the reason I was here. I devoted most of my attention to the dishes under the Nyonya Favourites, such as the Buah Keluak Ayam and Chicken Curry with Roti Jala.

Here is a peek at Violet Oon’s menu:
My drink, the Honey Calamansi ($6) is a very refreshing drink, highly recommended.
The other alternative drink is the Passionfruit, mango and orange soda ($7) which is equally refreshing as well.

For starters, I could not resist but to order the Crispy Ayam Goreng ($15). I love how well marinated the chicken wings are, topped with the crispy coconut flavoured flakes. This dish is perfect to share with 2-3 people. For mains, we first had the Dry Laksa ($19) which happened to be the one of the specials for the day. I have tried many different versions of Laksa but this is the first time trying a dry version. The Dry Laksa is not exactly dry as I imagined, but moist enough to make this a very tasty dish. Be sure to try the Dry Laksa if you happen to be in luck as the dish is not available everyday.    The Buah Keluak Ayam ($22) is a real Peranakan classic dish. The chicken (ayam) is very tender and I do not find it spicy at all even though the description says so. I am personally neutral towards the Buah Keluak, which is a black nut from the Buah Keluak tree. It is still an acquired taste to me which I have yet to acquire.  
A closer peek at the Buah Keluak.Next up is Vio’s Chicken Curry with Roti Jala ($21). Roti literally means bread while Jala is net, where we are supposed to dip it into the curry. I love the curry chicken. The curry is not very spicy but rich in its taste and compliments the Roti Jala well. As for the chicken, it is tender and delicious, well within my expectations for this dish. I could not resist pouring the curry over some rice as well. The end result is an empty bowl, which is evident of how much we adore the chicken curry.Desserts wise, we decided to try an authentic Peranakan dessert, which leads us to order the Pulut Hitam with Vanilla Ice Cream ($9). Pulut Hitam is literally black glutinous rice and I must profess that I am not a fan of it. However, the delectable taste left a strong impression on me as the black glutinous rice blended well with the vanilla ice cream. It is served slightly warm and hence it kind of melts gradually when mixed with the ice cream.
Rants Prices are slightly on the high end for the home made dishes, but it is well made up for in the high quality of the food.

Will I return again? There are still many dishes which I have yet to try such as the Dry Mee Siam and the highly raved Vio’s Shepherd’s Pie. I am expecting to make my second visit to Violet Oon’s Kitchen very soon again. The best deal is that the restaurant is also part of the revamped restaurant list of the Palate Dining Card,where diners can enjoy up to a maximum of 50% discount off their bills. If you are lucky, you can also catch a glimpse of the friendly Violet Oon around.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 4/5
Ambience: 3.5/5

Violet Oon’s Kitchen
881 Bukit Timah Road
Tel: +65 6468 5430                         

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