(Closed) Truly Curry Rice @ Telok Blangah Drive – After 2 years, the young hawkers are still loving it!

Located at Telok Blangah Drive Food Centre, Truly Curry Rice serves an amalgamation of hainanese curry rice, mixed with many home styled dishes. Deniece and Joel took over Deniece’s dad’s hawker stall at Telok Blangah Drive when the latter reached retirement. They are now joined at the stall by Joshua, Joel’s younger brother. Adapting to grandma’s recipe, the duo gave up their bank job and spent their time cooking in a hawker stall. It may sound like a crazy idea, but hey, after two years, Truly Curry Rice is still going strong and their passion to preserve the hawker heritage is still very remarkable.

Their day starts at 1am (yes 1am) as they prepare for breakfast to start at 6am. With the belief that food can be good and cheap, the trio tries to keep the prices low while serving good tasting dishes. We tried their new breakfast item – stewed pork bee hoon ($1) which is a considerable plate of vermicelli braised till softness. Joel said, he felt good when they see aunties buying $1 bee hoon with a smile.

When asked what is the most difficult dish to prepare? I was surprised to hear that rice was the toughest. The grains that arrived were sometimes too old or too young, and this affects the cooking time, hence it’s hard to maintain the consistency. After many months of trial and error, the team finally got it right.

The curry is served in excess, drenching your entire plate in more-ish curry flavours. Made from scratch daily, the rice is filled with chicken and assam curry. The curry is how it should be – thick and sticky but not overpowering in taste with a spiciness level that is suited for all. The gravies are packed full of flavour that leaves you wanting for more.

You know that a stall serves great curry rice when you don’t need unique dishes to pair with it. Just a plate of pork chop and chap chye is good enough. The pork chop here is deep fried in light batter leaving it moist on the inside and crispy on the outside. It’s decent, but I think I am used to the black pork chop or tomato based Hainanese pork chop.

I like their egg plant and sotong. Each pieces of egg plant was well coated with fragrant hae bee hiam (spicy dried shrimp). It retains the bite and brings a kick at the end. The fresh squid are cooked in flavourful curry which pairs well with rice. The chap chye was also well executed which features a natural sweetness of the cabbage. However, the braised pork belly needs to braise longer to absorb the flavours fully.

They have been around for 2 years, so how do they feel about being in the hawker business for two years? Joel said,”We still get a high level of satisfaction because we know that we are preserving the hawker heritage.” Such an inspiration!

Thank you for bringing the true flavours of curry rice, and keeping the true spirit of hawkers alive. We love our hawker food but we all know that hawkers are tough job. The long hours, plus hot environment is not a job that many youngsters like us would take on. The young team of Truly Curry Rice are definitely great role models as they sacrifice their time and effort in a small stall, only wanting to serve great curry rice and preserving a dying trade. All the best guys!

Truly Curry Rice 真咖喱饭

Address: Telok Blangah Drive Food Centre, 79 Telok Blangah Drive, #01-29, Singapore 100079
Opening Hours: 6:30am to 3pm daily

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