Those whom had been following us for a while might recall an establishment that we had previously visited named Kim’s Curry Hainan — these folks had disappeared from the local F&B scene for a while after having shuttered their coffeeshop stall at Toa Payoh for a while. With that being said, the stall had recently made its comeback — this time round being situated at the ground floor of Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre. Still sticking to what they had previously been serving up, Kim’s Curry Hainan serves up Hainanese-style curry rice — there is a choice to opt between traditional Hainanese-style curry and a Mala Curry which they had also previously offered during their time at Toa Payoh. Their Hainanese-style curry dishes are being served in pre-determined sets with fixed elements, though patrons can also pick and choose the elements in which they desire to have on the plate much like at most other stalls serving up Hainanese-style curry rice.

Their Braised Pork Rice Set does only come with Hainanese-style curry by default — we did request for our order to come with the Mala Curry instead. It also can be observed from our order that the Braised Pork Rice Set does come with elements such as braised pork belly, braised cabbage and long beans; all of which are being drenched with braised sauce as well a curry sauce infused with Mala elements. Just by looking at the plate, the Braised Pork Rice Set with Mala Curry does evoke some Nasi Kandar vibes considering the splashing of multiple sauces and especially the dark hue of the braised sauce as well. Digging into the braised pork, the braised pork belly here comes with a good contrast of both leaner and fattier parts and having absorbed quite the flavours of the braising liquid for a deep earthy and savoury note. Considering so, the braising liquid also gives much depth to the Hainanese-style curry that is rich and thick without being particularly starchy, while the Mala element does add a hint of fragrance of Sichuan-style peppers without giving a numbing note that overwhelms the flavour of everything else on the plate. The accompanying vegetables do provide a soft bite and a crunch and also helps to give the entire dish a more wholesome vibe.