Tuckshop

I was racking my brains for a place near river valley/chinatown/tanjong pagar area for a birthday lunch and i narrowed down to Persimmon (dang the 1-for-1 deal does not equal 4-for-4 so need 4 DBS credit cards for 8 people so in the end cannot go!!) and Tuckshop so for the above mentioned reason we ventured into the land of cbd and halfhourlydollar parking to check out Tuckshop...

the parking isn't that hard and i ended up parking at duxton hill though there is parallel parking along tanjong pagar road itself, though not right in front of the shop...after jaying the very busy road we arrived into this very cosy small place and thank goodness for the reservation cos the lunchcrowd of many ladies and a few couples sauntered in soon after to fill the place..

Calamari Rings, $6.50

i must comment all the fried food here was very good, and the starter of calamari rings were no exception..the rings were huge! it was fresh out of the deep fryer so it was extremely crisp. and the squid was extremely chewy i ate the whole ring at one go.

Crumb coated chicken, $10,50

Super crunchy marinated chicken thigh served with fries and coleslaw

My friend who had this dish actually had the dish returned to the kitchen because the chicken had a metallic-bitter taste and it tasted stale- which he attributed to the oil...but he was more than pleased with the replacement and indeed i concurred as well when i tried some of the chicken, extremely tender on the inside and a tasty crunchy batter! better than your usual McSpicy for sure (though he had massive cravings for this cos he was still hungry)

Steak Foccacia Sandwich, $13,50

Chilled steak, Caramelised onions, Portabello Mushroom

I must say after the rave reviews from ieatishootipost i had huge expectations from this sandwich (and having to brave the rains and gantrys and parallel parking) and personally it really fell flat. The steak itself was too tough and chewy and i couldnt really cut through even with the knife (yeah i tried to be civilised with the sandwich and not use my hands).. the portabello mushroom was puny to say the least oh i miss the mushroom swiss so. bread was lathered with mayonaise and again i do miss the cheese and veggies that never seem to be present in gourmet burgers (other than relish's wild rocket burger with plenty of arugula leaves)

i guess steak sandwiches doesn't equal burger - the steak itself is totally not like a patty..in the end i ate it de-constructed. but for $13.50, i expect a decent portion of CHILLED (euphenism for frozen? many of my friends thought it'd be really served chilled and hence dared not ordered it!) meat. imho i think the steak sandwich at 211 rooftop terrace at holland village is much much better, im not biased against steak sandwiches at all, cos i think the roof terrace does a mean steak sandwich. but i still think of burgers at epicurious (i knew i should have persisted on epicurious' sister restaurant, persimmon! makes me all the more sore cos m went to try in my place) or brewerkz! oh and i so do wanna try the lamb burger at the cellar door very soon! AND the hotshots burger at laupasat!

Fish and Chips, $9.50

Dory in a tasty ale batter with fries and coleslaw

Having read in many reviews that the fish and chips was highly recommended, half my table had this dish and all gave a thumbs up! i had quite some fish to try too -cos the girls took pity on me and my puny sandwich yup i was the only one who ordered that so being the ever sweet girls they donated some fish over=P- and ooh the fish meat was extremely tender, and fresh. Nicely crispy too, all it was missing was the vinegar...i miss the fish and chips shop at New Malden alot!

I must say that although the place is SERIOUSLY understaffed (it was a one man show serving all the tables) he did an extremely good job, attending to our needs and handled the matter of the fried chicken without fuss. And cos one of my friends knew the waiter incidentally from previous work, he actually kindly gave us a 10 percent discount (hence waiving the service charge) and we didnt even realise this until we left the restaurant. oh we really do need such gems in our service industry!

i heard that this place does live music on certain nights...and they do serve drinks as well...I'd come back here for the fried food (its a notch above hooters) but i'd give the steak sandwiches a pass. tanjong pagar is such a haven of food! i must explore this area more once im not so intimidated by the gantries and parking!

Finally...happy birthday kmr! i hope you had a good time and cheers to many years of food and laughter ahead!

Tuckshop

21 Tanjong Pagar Road, 01-05

Tel: 65349287

Opening hours:

Mon-Thurs 1130-230 pm, 530pm- midnight

Fri 1130-230pm, 530pm- 3am

Sat 530am-4am