Liao Fan Hawker Chan (Chinatown) — Restaurant in Singapore

Liao Fan Hawker Chan, often referred to as "Lao Fan," carries the weighty distinction of being a hawker stall recognized by the esteemed Michelin Guide. This accolade, however, serves less as a testament to consistent excellence and more as a point of perplexing contradiction on a recent visit. While the concept of accessible, Michelin-approved fare is undeniably intriguing, the reality encountered was a stark reminder that reputation does not always equate to quality.

The signature soya sauce chicken, the dish that propelled this establishment to global recognition, presented itself as a shadow of its celebrated image. The chicken, though adequately tender in parts, notably lacked the profound depth of flavour one anticipates from a dish perfected over decades. The lauded soya sauce, instead of a complex, aromatic embrace, offered a rather pedestrian sweetness, failing to penetrate the meat or leave a lasting impression on the palate. One is left to wonder if the meticulous preparation that once earned its star has been diluted in the pursuit of mass production, resulting in a product that feels more factory-line than handcrafted.

The accompanying rice, often an unsung hero in a well-executed chicken rice, was merely passable – plain and lacking the fragrant, oily sheen that elevates a simple grain to a true complement. The char siew and roasted pork, offered as additional combinations, fared no better, proving to be either excessively lean or devoid of the crispy, caramelized edges that define superior roasted meats.

Beyond the food, the dining experience itself is far from refined. The queues, while shorter than in its initial heyday, remain a testament to lingering curiosity rather than sustained delight. The atmosphere, a bustling hawker setting, is expected, but the overall efficiency often comes at the expense of any genuine interaction or attention to detail. Dishes are served with an almost mechanical precision, a functional exchange that underscores the commercialization of what was once a humble craft.

In essence, Liao Fan Hawker Chan, despite its historical commendation, delivers a surprisingly unremarkable experience. It stands as a stark example of how the pressures of fame can erode the very essence of what made a culinary venture exceptional. For discerning palates seeking a truly memorable rendition of soya sauce chicken or char siew, it would be prudent to explore other hawker stalls where the passion for perfection still shines brightly, rather than settling for a faded glimmer...

Overall, the food here is nice. However, I am so disappointed with your services provided. I don’t know is it because my family and I, we came quite late around 7:10pm.

We didn’t know your closing time is at 7:30pm, we only know when I go check it out after our dinner on Google.

So yall are packing up is reasonable but I just wanted to say since you alr allowed us to eat in at that timing, yall should still provide a good service. If not, what yall can do is just say “the restaurant is closing, we are sorry about it and we could’nt take in more for now as there may be not enough time for yall to eat.”

When we first entered the restaurant, I asked are there still food available and can we still eat in? The cashier replied: “Last order…” she didn’t said anything about the closing time and didn’t reject us to eat in.

Throughout the ordering process at the counter, my mum asked politely about the food available, but it seems that the staff wanted to close alr and kept rushing us, which is understandable but y'all can just say we dw to take more customers instead and agreed us to eat in but the attitude is not there. We didn’t force you to take us in.

Furthermore, when we were still eating, a staff went to off the aircon…. I wanted to say customers are still here, are we invisible?! Plus, is yall say we still can eat in, but now, we are still having our dinner and yall closed the aircon alr?!

And lastly, as my family and I knew that yall are in a rush to close the shop, we eat quite fast. As there is one piece of chicken left in the plate, I asked the staff to come and clean away the rest of the plates first (since they are standing there, LOOKING at us, which gave us the pressure)

BUT WHEN THE STAFF CAME, I politely helped to remove the chili plate and tried to place it in the rice bowl… but guess what happened? The staff said smt in a rude manner/ attitude like “JUST LEAVE IT THERE!”

I tried to help!! And if you think what I did is burdening you, you can said politely what, dn to be so angry right….

Just wanting to give feedback on this, so that yall can improve your services. It is very important in a food industry to have a good services… hope yall can do smt abt it. But ngl the food is...

I would have regretted it if I left Singapore without coming, but I definitely can't see myself recommending it to anyone with the hot long wait and mediocre food. Maybe I got very unlucky though

Food: I ordered the basic rice and chicken combo, added some roast pork and a flower tea for S$7.80 total.

Soy sauce chicken was more of a sweet style and lacked any real depth of soy sauce flavor or savoriness. You could tell than there were aromatics in the braising liquid like orange peel. The chicken was tender but almost to a gelatinous, slippery feel and the chicken flavor was masked significantly by the sweetness of the sauce. The hot sauce is also quite sweet and not really worth using.

Roast pork was cut into nice small pieces and had a fairly good ratio of lean meat, to juicy meat, to crackling did lack a bit of crispness- it was a bit more of a stale crunch, but still decent.

The sauce on the chicken isn't just regular soy but you can taste the seasonings from the braising process which is nice.

The tea has too much sugar and not enough flower- would not recommend.

Service/Experience: Staff is woefully unprepared which is why everything is so slow. The kitchen is actually very fast and all the food is ready to go but the actual point of sale system seems to be flawed and this is why the wait is so damn long. One cashier started taking my order but was abruptly stopped by someone else. One of the cashiers doubles to clean the dining room and let in the next batch of customers. I recommend coming back in a few months when hopefully the...