Betel Box Bistro

We stopped here to eat dinner for the same reason as a previous reviewer did. The line at Long Phung was longer than my patience would have been. Betel Box was Plan B and we loved it. The place is very cool to browse after you have ordered. The gents bathroom has a fantastic mural on the wall and the library of books make interesting reading. Oh, and the food is great. Beef Rendang, spicy wing beans and a fruity pork dish whose name escapes us unfortunately.
Service was quick and friendly. In fact service, so often the downfall of SG restaurants was as good as it gets.
The food was washed down with some great cider from the UK and with some coffee to finish, we were on our way through the great night time people watching area of Joo Chiat. Would definitely come back.

Cute homey place! Lots of cool photos and drawings on the wall! In fact, the guy serving us (I forget his name. must go look for his name card) specifically told us to go look at the bathroom. He was very friendly indeed and apparently grew up around the Joo Chiat area.
We actually ended up here because the line at Long Phung (famous Vietnamese) was too long and I couldn’t be bothered to wait. figured this place had received some good reviews elsewhere and hardly have Peranakan food, so why not? :)
Uncle Ben is quite the wizard cook! Wish we could’ve tried more things but limited stomach capacity with just three of us. We had:
1. Kacang Botol ($ 6): Four angled beans tossed with our spicy sambal sauce. This was spicy yet sweet — I could actually taste the grains of sugar! Minus points for that. But my parents loved the dish overall. It was pretty good!
2. Ikan Sumbat ($ 22 onwards — this is kind of a dicey business, parents were convinced he charged us more cos we didn’t order drinks etc — it was $ 26 or something for ours). Anyway, this dish was awesome! Good thing I read the other review by Cheryl N. :) Stuffed fish with meat and prawns, coated in light batter and deep fried. It was basically like a otah coating on the outside (with bits of shrimp interpersed!) around a rather tough/​chewy fish. Not quite sure what fish it was, but it definitely was not the melt-​in-​your-​mouth type. The hefty texture went well with the sambal that was provided though! (which was pretty spicy, but shiok!!)
3. Oxtail buah keluak ($ 22) — quite interesting. I’m not a huge fan of oxtail per se, but it was fairly tender. Dad loved it! I don’t think I had had buah keluak anything before, but it had a somewhat strong taste — maybe because of the oxtail too. But it was pretty good sauce!
Good meal, nice atmosphere. Uncle Ben the cook came out to say hi! Very cool :) Recommended the pork chinchalok for next time, and something else that now escapes me, unfortunately.

For reviews and more pictures, visit my blog.
The cosy first floor of the shophouse houses the Bistro, which has been opened for 17 months. A little more about Betel Box– it started out as a backpackers hostel 10 years back, providing a good night’s rest and activities for their guests. What started as just dinner with backpackers, eventually became a 7 hour tour of the Joo Chiat; consuming over 30 dishes of food and learning of the Peranakan lifestyle and culture. Their tours got more popular and they are licensed as a travel agency, providing walks for tourists and Singaporeans alike. The restaurant venture is a natural progression of the mission to promote heritage and conservation of the area.
Kacang Botol ($ 6) is a Peranakan favorite: Four angled beans tossed with Betel Box Bistro’s spicy sambal sauce. Very refreshing cold salad with a light bitterness from the vegetables and acidity of the piquant chili.
My favorite fish dish was the Ikan Sumbat (market price). Our $ 20 stuffed red snapper fish with meat and prawns fed the entire table and left us craving for more. The meat was really dense and juicy. The stuffing has the fragrance of otah without the spice and is also lighter on the coconut milk.
Dry Beef Curry Ribs ($ 15 onwards) is Uncle Ben’s specialty. The braised beef ribs are seasoned in a dry curry sauce aka rendang. Our $ 35 9inch rib was absolutely tender and the meat fell apart with the tug of a fork. The rendang was a little mild, possibly due to the creamy coconut milk but it was still fantastic.