Like some people, I am a big fan of rice. I need to have rice whenever I have my meals. One of the things that I like about Mandarin Cafe is that they have a stall that serve good economy rice. For some of you who might not be aware of Mandarin Cafe, it's located at Island Glades just behind the Delima coffee shop. It was used to be occupy by Chok Dee Thai Restaurant which has now moved to Burma Road.
A front view of Mandarin Cafe next to the 4-D shop.
The economy rice stall is operated by the same owner of N & Q which is located some distance away next.. The owner of N & Q also used to operate the famous Sar Chew restaurant located along Cantoment Road. It was well known for the economy rice and cendol until she decided to sell off that business. As for the stall at Mandarin cafe, almost every dish is tasty. I particularly like the fried egg, chicken and fish curry, steamed minced pork, sweet and sour fish and stir fried cauliflower with bean curd. Prices are slightly higher than elsewhere but it's worth paying.
A good selection of dishes. All of them are cooked at N & Q and brought over to the stall at Mandarin Cafe.
Is this tempting or what?
Besides the economy rice, what's worth trying at Mandarin Cafe is the wantan mee. This is the famous wantan mee stall from the Genting coffee shop on the other side of Island Glades. She has now moved her stall over to Mandarin Cafe. It's extremely popular and sometimes you have to wait for 20-30 minutes before you get you plate of noodles. She normally closes every Thursday for a break.
The pasembur here is also quite famous. This is the same stall as the one at Brown Garden. Personally, I still prefer the pasembur stall in front of the Delima coffee shop. Like the wantan mee stall, it's not open on Thursday.
The claypot rice isn't too bad too.
In total, there are about 20 food stalls in Mandarin Cafe. I have tasted most of them (except the yong tau fu) and would recommend only what I mentioned above. Feel free to venture out from this list as after all, taste is quite subjective. You probably might take a liking to the other stalls too. Lastly, Mandarin Cafe is open daily from 6.30am to 10pm.
