Hey Hive!
Even though there are still people getting covid, it's basically being treated like a cold these days so thankfully almost everything is back to normal now! There are no more restrictions on dining these days and you don't even have to wear a mask anymore if you don't want to! It's a huge relief and this allows us to try different food places again!
We still try to keep our distance and avoid crowded places as always though just on principle and to avoid people. The other day I was feeling like a burger and thought we'd try the new Western stall that just popped up in our neighbourhood!
We have a very convenient hawker center just downstairs from our apartment block that has stalls specialising in different types of cuisines but there was always one stall that seemed to be rotating quite often.
Ironically it's the stall the front, the first thing you see when you want to go to the hawker center that has been changing every 6 months or so since we moved in here. The first time it was a Western stall, the second time it changed to Mala (Southwest China cuisine) and now it's a Western stall again. Seems like this particular space is cursed or something. But we didn't get to try the first Western stall so we thought we'd give it a shot this time since I didn't want to go out too far for burgers.
The stall is called Hotbox and they had quite a few different Western dishes from classic grilled chicken chop, lamb chop, fish and chips alongside coleslaw and bun or fried rice. But they also had a few types of burgers, pasta and even some Roti Johns and Prata Samyang for some reason.
Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the full menu and can't find it online but you get the gist. We placed our order to-go so we could eat it in the comfort of our home since it was nearby and waited for our order to be ready. About 10 minutes later, it was ready! I guess there wasn't much of a queue at the time. It smelled really good and I couldn't wait to dig in!
I chose the crispy chicken burger and was temped to get a spicy version that they had but I was also scared of how spicy it would be so I went with the regular one instead.
The burger came with some french fries which were nicely salted and crisp. It wasn't as crispy as I would've liked but it was pretty close to perfect nonetheless and way better than McDonalds' fries anyway.
The burger itself had a fried chicken patty sandwiched between two slices of cheese, lettuce and a fried egg. It looked pretty good! I think this cost about 8 bucks too which is pretty affordable.
I thought it'd be dry but the chicken was nicely seasoned and fried and the egg was a good addition too. I think I unknowingly added on cheese though so that might've cost extra but it was worth it since it did taste yummy with the added cheese!
Sean ordered the Black Pepper Chicken Chop with Carbonara which comes with a bun on the side.
It looked just like the chicken chops you'll get at any standard hawker center Western stall and smelled pretty delicious! The carbonara was more like just plain creamy pasta though. The chicken chop came with black pepper sauce of course so Sean drizzled it onto the chicken.
It looked pretty wet after that with both the sauce and the cream from the pasta but since the pasta was a little plain the black pepper did add extra flavour to it. The chicken was nice and juicy on the inside and crisp on the top.
I'm glad I got the burger though since mine was more dry compared to Sean's dish so they complemented each other nicely when we traded. Overall, it was a pretty good meal! I think they've since moved yet again so unfortunately we won't be able to have it again or try their other dishes. But maybe the next Western stall that moves in will have more luck? Only time will tell I guess.
Thanks so much for reading!
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