Keystone Restaurant @ Stanley Street


A few weeks ago, one of our readers suggested to us about trying out this relatively new restaurant called Keystone. We have actually passed by this place a few times, but never went in before. So here is our maiden visit.

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Located within the Amoy Street district, this nice little new restaurant is housed below a shophouse. We are the only diner there at 7:30pm on a weekday evening. Very quiet. However as the night progress, a few more diners started to arrive, but still relatively quiet.

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The restaurant was dimly lit, so good for diners who want an intimate dinner. But bad for food bloggers like us.

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After ordering, we were first served the Amuse bouche

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It was followed by the Focaccia with charcoal and rosemary. The bread was warm and tasty, and the presentation was very unique. When was the last time you saw a spherical bread?

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Les Landes Foei Gras (S$34). It was done two ways : pan fried in consommé and the creative serving of shaved foei gras with various types of seaweed from Tsukiji and yuzu concentrate

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We like the Jerusalem artichoke velouté (S$33) with Nordic scampi and truffle. Pity that the small lobster doesn't has much meat inside.

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For the mains, we shared the Snake River Farm pork belly (S$58), cooked sous vide for 24hrs then kakuni style in mirin. Dressed in blood orange & chili jus & karashi. Served with yukon chips

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It's dessert time. A unique dessert from Keystone is the Acquerello pudding (S$21). Warm rice pudding with corn and black sesame syrup. The curly meringues are tarragon flavored.

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The service staff also recommended us their signature Nutella bar (S$20) with cinnamon espuma and berries. Creamy and chocolatey.


Keystone Restaurant 
11 Stanley Street

Ah Tai Chicken Rice

In case you missed out the article in the Straits Times, the disgruntled former chef of Tian Tian Chicken Rice has started his own business- just a few stalls away from the former. I shall not comment on the ethics of this move, but I'm sure that office workers in the area will be pleased about the shorter queue for a good plate of chicken rice at Maxwell Food Centre.

To me, the most important component of chicken rice is the rice, and Ah Tai dishes up a stellar rendition. The toothsome rice grains packed a punch in flavor without being overly oily.
ah tai chicken rice (small)
Like Tian Tian, Ah Tai uses premium large chickens which are valued for their tasty meat. While the chicken breast was quite tender, it could have been more succulent. The chicken liver that I requested for was decently executed as well.

As it has been a long time since I last had Tian Tian's chicken rice, I am unable to compare it against Ah Tai's. But my memory clearly remembers the former's calamansi-spiked chilli to be far better than its competitor's, which also too spicy for my liking.

Has anyone tried both Ah Tai's and Tian Tian's chicken rice recently? How do they compare against each other?

 Price: $3 for a small portion

Ah Tai Chicken Rice
Stall 7, Maxwell Food Centre
Singapore 069184
Open daily: 10.45am to 8pm (or till the chicken rice is sold out)