Cat Eats in Singapore: Geylang Claypot Rice Lor 33

Hweecat meow.

Just a disclaimer before I begin: This is Cat's recommendation and he rarely recommends food that cost more than $10. Nevertheless, our taste buds will still make the final judgement when reviewing the food.

I have a love-hate relationship with claypot rice. I love how the claypot keeps the food warm and I enjoy eating the slightly burnt rice and the lup cheong (腊肠 or Chinese pork sausages), but it's frustrating when the person mixing the rice with the sauce can't mix the rice effectively and ends up with a significant amount of charred carbonized rice. Oh, and the chicken pieces with more bone than meat makes eating claypot chicken rice such a chore. :O

I was fairly sceptical when Cat suggested that I should give Geylang Claypot Rice at Geylang Lorong 33 a try, as Cat shares the same dislike of eating meat with bones as I do. He also cautioned about the long waiting time and estimated food cost ("definitely more than $10 per person if you include the zi char items"), but assured that the food quality and quantity would justify the slight premium in cost and long wait.

Indeed, I observed that the claypots served on the tables are relatively larger than those served at other claypot rice stalls. There was a lady who was eating claypot rice alone and the claypot she was served looked as if it could satisfy two persons!

Geylang Claypot Rice for two - probably more!

We ordered claypot rice (estimated S$8 per person) for two persons, as well as their long-time speciality Lotus Duck. What we got was more than enough for two - the serving size could probably feed three or even four persons! The chicken pieces taste nicely marinated - not too plain yet not too salty. The lup cheong and lun cheong (肝肠 or duck liver sausages) taste superior and take on a slight sweetness - probably the best waxed sausages I have ever tasted. The bits of crispy salted fish provide the delightful crunch and saltiness in the claypot rice. :D My only grouse is that it is still fairly troublesome to de-bone the chicken pieces, though I doubt the chefs would have the luxury of time to do so given the high volume of orders. The special claypot rice sauce is, thankfully, not terribly salty - actually we control how much sauce we want in our claypot rice and one of the lady servers is kind enough to help us mix the rice and sauce. (:

Lotus Duck

I really love the slightly thick sauce for the Lotus Duck (estimated S$14)! It goes so well with rice - I would recommend ordering Lotus Duck if you don't like dry food and need sauce to go with claypot rice. The duck meat tastes so tender that it could be mistaken for chicken. However, there could have been more lotus pieces - the lotus pieces are so tender but sorely lacking in quantity!

Very apt disclaimer

Waiting time is long as their claypot rice needs at least 25 minutes to prepare from scratch. At least they have kindly included ordering instructions and a disclaimer for their customers.

Overall, the claypot rice at Geylang Lor 33 is arguably the best claypot rice in Singapore in terms of quality and quantity, and is worth the 30-minute wait. It would have been more ideal if the Lotus Duck has more lotus pieces to go with the claypot rice. If you don't like the idea of waiting for 30 minutes for claypot rice, you can call them to pre-order! ;)