The Place Another new exciting new dining addition to Beach Road, Choon Hoy Parlor took over the space of what used to be The Masses (which has relocated to Capitol) and is by Chef Dylan Ong. Chef Dylan is also the chef-owner of The Masses, and Choon Hoy Parlor is named after his beloved mother.

In collaboration with chefs Benji Chew and Renee Tang, the interior of the restaurant is a colour-filled retro-chic atmosphere of a Chinese salon of the 60s. There are both indoor and outdoor seats. 

The Food Choon Hoy Parlor serves Singapore Soul Food, in essence, a celebration of our local heritage through flavours that touch the soul. It consists of recipes from the families of Dylan and his chefs, so you can expect heirloom and hawker dishes done in a contemporary way. 

For a start, I had the CHP Signature Salad: Ulam (S$15.90) which comes with seasonal vegetables, sambal belacan and ginger flower emulsion. This is a traditional Malaysian dish normally served cold on crushed ice, a refreshing start to the meal.  

I then snacked on the Mini Fried Pomfret (S$8.90/5pcs) where the whole fried fish can be eaten and is deliciously paired with a plum taucheong dip!

A marriage of local Chinese hawker dish with Indian influence, the Fu Zhou Oyster Cake Stuffed In Pani Puri (S$9.90/3pcs) is a combination I never see coming. You get oysters, rempah sponge, peanuts, minced pork and anchovies in a pani puri shell.  

Another local hawker inspired dish is the CHP Signature Our Rojak, Our Own Way (S$8.90), which comes with seasonal vegetables, Rojak ice cream, youtiao, century eggs and peanuts.  

Love prata? Definitely get the Coin Prata with Lamb Masala! The lamb here is simmered for 3 hours in masala sauce, mixed with mint yoghurt which helps to cut through the richness.  

Good for 3-4 pax, the CHP Signature White Pepper Pig Stomach Collagen Soup (S$25.90) is a comforting bowl of soup made with housemade collagen stock from chicken feet, chicken meat and pork. It is quite nourishing as there are also ingredients like wintermelon, goji berries, pig stomach, and taukee.  

The chicken dishe are awesome here, like this CHP Signature Hainanese Kampong Chicken (S$15.90/Half; S$28.90/Full) I had. Very good value for even a whole chicken, the Kampong chicken is expectedly tender even for the chicken breast. Served with spring onion and chopped ginger. 

The best thing to go with the Hainanese Kampong Chicken has to be A Lil Lard, A Lil Soy, A Lil Love Rice (Triple L) (S$3). Who needs normal rice when you can have larded rice? Rich in flavour, the short grain white rice is mixed with pork lard and soy sauce and is umami-good. 

The other chicken dish I really enjoyed is the Ayam Goreng Berempah (S$15.90/6 pcs) where the fried spice marinated chicken is topped with serunding, which is quite the best part for me. I guess I just love everything fried.

For a carb dish, you can’t go very wrong with the CHP x Jelebu Signature Dry Laksa V2.0 (S$18.90). This dish is named v2.0 as this is Chef Renee’s upgraded version of her signature dish, where this version uses two kinds of beehoon along with Renee’s secret rempah sauce, taugey, fresh cockles, fishcake, taupok.

Overall, a delicious dry laksa good for 3 pax to share.  

Other meat dishes on the menu include the likes of the Roasted Pork (S$18.90) where the roasted pork belly is accompanied with plum lemon sauce; CHP Signature 16Hrs Bone-in Coffee Angus Short Rib (S$69/700g-800g) where the beef short ribs are marinated in a spicy Vietnamese sauce in a coffee umami glaze. 

For greens, go for the Wok-fried Hispi Cabbage (S$14.90) with hae bee hiam (spicy dried shrimps), dried chilli, confit garlic and soy sauce. 

For desserts, expect locally inspired classis sweets such as Yuzu Citron Cheng Tng (S$10.90). The version here comes with red dates, goji berry, longan, white fungus, sea coconut, and you get that tinge of citrus from the addition of Korean yuzu citron. 

Durain lovers will love the CHP Signature Durian Chendol (S$13.90) which is uniquely topped with corn espuma, along with coconut ice cream. A gula melaka sponge cake base is topped with a pandan jelly, kidney beans, durian ice cream and a D24 durian puree. 

Alternatively, there is also the Tri-Layered Nian Gao sandwiched between yam and purple sweet potato, served with a scoop of Osmanthus Oolong ice cream. 

Rants The dining and table space can be a little tight for some.

Will I Return Again? It is nice to see Singaporean food being elevated in a casual dining setting, what’s more a restaurant named after the chef’s mum. Most dishes evoke familiarity for me, coupled with the hit BGM of Canto and Mandarin pop tracks, Choon Hoy Parlor is a restaurant I see myself returning, especially when the prices are kept accessible in today’s inflation climate. We need more heritage restaurants like this.

This was an invited tasting, though all opinions expressed are our own.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 3/5
Ambience: 3.5/5
Overall Experience: 4/5

Choon Hoy Parlor
85 Beach Road, #01-02 
Singapore 189694 
Tel: +65 6266 0061

Opening Hours 
Monday to Saturday: 12 pm to 3 pm; 5.30pm to 9.30 pm (Last order) 
Sunday: 12 pm to 3 pm; 5.30pm to 9pm (Last order) 

Ranted by The Ranter