Crav-Pot: Industrial kopitiam stall with lemon butter pasta & over 15 claypot dishes
I recently heard from a colleague about Kimly Coffeeshop at Tradehub 21, which reopened in Nov after renovations. That’s how I found out about Crav-Pot, one of the resident claypot stalls with some unique flavours.
Tradehub 21 is a short bus ride away from my area, I realised. Why not pay it a visit?
Now, I don’t frequent the Jurong Industrial area. But I’ve passed by countless times en route to other places, so it’s about time I did a little proper exploring!
The first thing I noticed about the Crav-Pot was how their menu was neatly set up on a bulletin board at the stall front. The characterised columns made the selection easier but did not include pictures due to the small size.
Amazingly enough, there were over 15 different claypot dishes as well as a decent variety of other items from rice to stir-fried noodles and Thai cuisine to pasta.
“Does the pasta come in a claypot as well?” I wondered.
The lady manning the stall was rather friendly. She even informed me that extra rice cost S$0.80 – something I was grateful for; many hawkers fail to mention the add-on charges. I politely declined since we already planned to try the rice and pasta dishes.
What I tried at Crav-Pot
I hadn’t had breakfast, so I was eagerly readying myself for the first dish, Claypot Rice (S$6.80).
The rice was dark, with black soy sauce coating each grain. It tasted faintly gingery – I found a small ginger chunk or two used as an aromatic. My brother, whom I had dragged along with me, said it had a good balance between savoury and sweet. I found it leaning towards savoury but without any unnecessary saltiness.
Perhaps the sweetness came from the other ingredients. Thinly sliced lap cheong was mixed into the rice, adding a subtle sweetness and firm chew. There were pieces of shiitake mushroom as well, which were earthy and somewhat meaty, adding to the overall umami.
The best part of a claypot rice dish is always the crispy charred rice layer lining the pot, for sure. This one didn’t feel nearly as satisfying when it didn’t come off in a big piece, flaking into my spoon instead. While I didn’t get as much as I had hoped for, I still enjoyed the bits I managed to scrape off the sides.
Crav-Pot gave a very generous amount of chicken with the rice. The highlight of the dish for sure – thick chunks of tender chicken thigh meat. Even though they did not contain a lot of fat, they were perfectly juicy and not dry at all.
One of the recommended dishes that I saw while referencing the stall’s Instagram page before visiting was the Cashew Chicken (S$6.50). Similar to the chicken rice, it was cooked in a clay pot.
To an extent, it reminded me of gu lao rou – sweet and sour pork – due to the taste profile and the choice of ingredients.
For cashew chicken, there weren’t enough cashews – I only found about 3 or 4 in the dish! They were nutty, buttery and sweet, and did not lose their crunch despite having been cooked.
The chilli sauce was not spicy; rather, it was sweet and tangy. It still came as a surprise to me despite it being obvious for Thai chilli sauce; the deep red threw me off a little. Sliced capsicums, onions and chilli seeds – the only visible vegetables dotted the concoction.
It would be a good pairing for plain white rice, in my opinion.
I noticed that the chicken was quite obviously deep-fried prior. The fried flour crust, now soggy, had remained on the chunks and taken on the Thai chilli flavour. The meat was as excellent as the portion we had with the claypot rice.
The Lemon Butter Pasta (S$7) was, sadly, served on a plate, and not a claypot as I had hoped. It would’ve been interesting if they did put an Asian claypot twist on the dish, in my opinion.
The sauce was creamy but also quite thin, much like milk. Like the name, it was extremely lemony and we could taste that they added a lot of butter.
It was my companion’s favourite part of the dish for sure; he kept dipping in his spoon to savour the butteriness. “It’s just the right amount of lemon,” he commented.
The sauce made the pasta rather slippery, so we struggled to scoop and twirl it with our forks. It made up for it in texture, though, as it was perfectly al-dente and chewy. A decent portion of pan-fried prawns topped the dish, and we savoured them with the zestiness of the gravy.
Final Thoughts
One thing I loved about Crav-Pot was their chicken. The good quality was consistent throughout the dishes— tender, moist meat that accompanied the seasonings wonderfully. It made sense that the stall’s logo was a chicken sitting in a clay pot— they delivered and left no crumbs! We quite literally scraped the plates and pots clean.
Truthfully, I would give this place a higher rating, if not for the Cashew Chicken. While undeniably palatable, the tiny amount of cashews was a bit of a letdown.
I wouldn’t mind giving this place a second chance, though, as their fare was of good quality and quite promising overall. It’s incredible how one small stall can serve such a wide variety of dishes – mainly Chinese, but also Thai and some Italian.
Till next time, Crav-Pot!
Expected damage: S$6.50 – S$7 per pax
Order Delivery: foodpanda Deliveroo
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