First Blog of 2013: New Lucky Claypot Rice

My apologies for the long leave of absence from updating my blog. As much as I had planned to do regular updates and even revamp my blog (as you can see, all that really changed is my photo watermark), I was so caught up with my job hunt/reservists/Christmas & New Year plans/travels that none of these plans actually materialized.

As for 2013, I am two weeks into my job and have pretty much acclimatize to the working schedule. First two weeks was purely getting used to waking up before daybreak, so it was pretty much wake-work-sleep (and the sequence continue). Finally, I'm more or less used to the routine (OH I HATE ROUTINES!!!) so I can now spend more effort on continuing my blog.

So for the rest of the year, you can expect more consistent blogging (now that I also have the finances to back up my foodie adventures) and probably a revamped blog too. *Fingers Crossed* So stay tuned! 2013 will be an exciting year!

Oh! I also agreed to write for The Smart Local - a Singapore-based review site initiated by our very own locals. I feel its a great way for us to not only support (and discover) local highlights but also to support our local entrepreneurs. Feel free to visit the site for the next best place for fun, food and adventure.

Now back to business...

New Lucky Claypot Rice

The day started off with Dawn having a hankering for Claypot Rice, so I decided to go online and hunt for recommendations from our local bloggers & review sites. The search led me to the gem that is in Holland Drive - New Lucky Claypot Rice. Featured on ieatishootipost and the CEO's 2012 hawker choice for best Claypot Rice, I knew I just had to try this stall to see how good it actually is.

The Food

The most basic criteria for a decent (not even fantastic) Claypot Rice is that the rice has to be cooked INSIDE the claypot from scratch. Many places try to circumvent this "requirement" (for ease and quickness in cooking), pre-cooking the rice and merely heating it up (with the ingredients) inside the pot. What you get is just rice with dishes (just think Mixed Fried Rice) without all the flavors from the pot. Thankfully, New Lucky Claypot still cooks it in the traditional way.

To me, the defining factors for a good Claypot Rice are 1) the texture of the rice, 2) the various non-rice ingredients (chicken & lup cheong [sausages] are must-haves, the rest is varied according to the stall owner) and 3) the overall flavor when the rice, sauce and other ingredients are put together.

For New Lucky Claypot, the texture of the rice was perfect. It was firm, well separated and had just enough moisture to balance it all. The rice was also nicely burnt at the bottom which means the timing was done perfectly by the chef.

As for the second factor, New Lucky Claypot gives a decent portion of lup cheong, chicken and salted fish. The lup cheong (as I agree with ieatishootipost) was the best thing in the pot. The fragrance of the meat with its lovely texture gave the entire dish an extra punch. The chicken was perfectly cooked - nice and tender. As for the salted fish, I would have preferred more of those inside the pot but I guess that is down to personal preference.

Lastly, the overall blend of the flavor from everything. We were given the Black Soya Sauce (as stated on the SoShiok reivew that it is a special Black Sauce selected by the owner) and Spring Onion Oil to add to the pot. After adding sauces and mixing the pot, the flavor came together nicely, bringing this simple rice dish to the next level. Really good stuff!

The Price

The Chicken Claypot Rice here is considerably cheap. Its $10 for two-persons pot and $25 for a five-persons pot. Add $5 for extra chicken.

The other dishes are pretty decent as well. We paid a total of $18 for a two-persons pot, watercress soup & oyster sauce vegetables. Oh and they gave free Ang Pows.

Totally worth it!

Definitely one of the best Claypot Chicken that I have eat here, New Lucky Claypot is a must-try for all (Claypot lover or not). It is located on Holland Drive (facing the Holland Drive Road) and it open everyday except Wednesday. A word of advice: Because the rice is cooked from scratch, it will take at least twenty - thirty minutes to cook the dish (thus waiting time will be around there or longer). So to avoid the long wait, call beforehand to reserve your order.

New Lucky Claypot
44 Holland Drive Food Center #02-19
Tel : 6778 7808
11 am - 1.30pm, 5.30 pm - 10.30 pm 
Open all days except Wednesday