Hainan Lao Ba

Recently visited Hainan Lao Ba Buffet, and I must say, it was just okay. The major downside was their super slow service, from attending to customers to clearing up tables; they seemed very short-handed. The waiting time was real, at least 30 to 45 minutes for your food to arrive.

Although we didn't go during peak hours, they still managed to mess up people's order. Seriously? Besides that, the food was just average. Not everything was wonderful; some dishes fell short.

I'd recommend avoiding their chicken cutlet and chicken chop - one was overly hard, and the other lacked taste. For me, the standout dishes were the tomato omelette, nuggets, standard dim sum items, coconut chicken soup and hainanese chicken.

To add to the disappointment, they ran out of prawns, so all prawn-related dishes were unavailable. I mean, seriously, why run a buffet and run out of a staple item like prawns? Needless to say, I was hangry.

Overall, I'd say it's a place to try once and decide if you'd want to return. As for me, I don't think I'll be going back.

Weekday - $24.90+
Weekend - $34.90+
Minimum two pax.
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🚩Hainan Lao Ba 海南老爸茶, 8 Grange Rd, 02-18/19/20/21/22/23 Cathay Cineleisure Orchard, Singapore 239695
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We also tried the Hainan Beef Brisket Hor Fun Soup ($13.80). The broth is very clean tasting and this is abit like a Hainan style beef pho - I thought it could be more flavourful.

The Tomato Omelette ($10.50) is surprisingly smooth and I like the eggs are not overcooked. This is not the ketchupy kind of tomato omelette (which I like as well) and the taste is on the milder side.

The Eggplant with Salted Fish ($13.80) is very fragrant and full of wok hei - this is great with rice.

The Hainan Special Salt Baked Chicken (Half $24.50) is tender, savoury and tasty - goes really well with the chilli and ginger sauce!

It seems that there is quite a big revamp going on at Cineleisure of the late — apart from Ah Chew Desserts which had released news of its opening within the mall, the mall has also seen several new F&B establishments commencing renovations within some shop units in the basement and ground levels. Apart from Ah Chew Desserts that had already started operations at its newly-relocated shop unit at Cineleisure from its previous space at Goldhill Plaza, one of the new F&B tenants at Cineleisure includes that of Hainan Lao Ba 老爸茶 that is located at level two of the mall. Taking over the former space that used to house the now-defunct outlet of Pastamania, Hainan Lao Ba is positioned to be a Hainan Restaurant & Bistro that serves up a menu that contains no pork and no lard. The interior of the establishment feels a little closer to that of Chinese casual dining establishments rather than that of one with Hainanese roots — the wide usage of red and oriental elements as well as lanterns amidst modern dining furniture just simply exudes the said vibes. The menu at Hainan Lao Ba is pretty varied — it features sections dedicated to Appetisers, Dim-Sum, Rice, Noodles, Hainan Specialty, Vegetables, Eggs and Snacks; there is also another section dedicated to Hainanese-inspired western fare, while the beverages available includes Chinese Tea, Homemade Iced Red Tea as well as other canned drinks, just to name a few.

One thing which Hainan Lao Ba seems to take pride in would be their various types of chicken that is being served up in the Hainan Specialty menu; something which has been featured in some of their marketing collateral. We had enquired the staff on the various styles of chicken which they do serve up; the Hainan Special Sand Ginger Chicken would be their signature offering here being the standard poached chicken that one would be able to find at stalls / establishments serving up Hainanese Chicken Rice around, though the difference at Hainan Lao Ba would be how the Hainan Special Sand Ginger Chicken comes with their special sand ginger which is unique to themselves. All their chicken dishes come 1 pax (i.e. individual portions), quarter, half or whole portion sizes — the chicken also comes ala-carte, irregardless of portion size; this means that any order of rice or noodles to go along would be a separate order from the Rice or Noodles section of the menu. As the Hainan Special Sand Ginger Chicken arrived the table, we found out that the different between the usual poached chicken served up with Hainanese Chicken Rice and the Hainan Special Sand Ginger Chicken from Hainan Lao Ba would be the ginger paste that is being served on the side. Rather than being a simple mix of ginger and garlic, the Sand Ginger features finely minced ginger alongside what seems to be pepper and salt that gives it a slightly more umami punch — works especially well for those who are less tolerable to the punchy, numbing notes of ginger. Otherwise, the poached chicken here does feel pretty pedestrian — no doubt coming with a smooth and slippery skin, though the parts provided to us were relatively bony; the meat also being just reasonably tender and moist, though nothing much to shout about. The Oil Rice that we had opted for as an additional order was a bit more towards the drier side; did not carry much of a flavour that one would associate with the rice typically found with Hainanese Chicken Rice — the addition of the piquant and tangy chili sauce that came along the side did help things a little.

Having tried only two of the dishes listed in the Hainan Specialty section of the menu, we did feel that both the Hainan Special Sand Ginger Chicken and the Hainan Special Salt Baked Chicken are rather pedestrian here. Opting for the individually-sized portion of the chicken for both items, the portions served to us were rather bony; there was also nothing too much to shout about when it came to the chicken itself — the main selling point here when it came to their signature Hainan Special Sand Ginger Chicken was more of the sand ginger itself; a unique take on the ginger paste that we found to be rather interesting. Otherwise, we did feel that the chicken and the other items such as the braised egg served on the side to be mostly average. In retrospect, there was also a lot of room for improvement where the Oil Rice is of concern — perhaps opting for a portion of the Fried Rice with Shrimp & Egg or going for the Hainan Special Noodle would have been a more sound choice since the Oil Rice is an item that has to be separately ordered any way. That being said, perhaps Hainan Lao Ba might have been better with their other offerings; other items that caught our attention whilst skimming through the menu includes the Deluxe Siew Mai with Prawn Topping and Mini Bunny that are both listed in the Dim-Sum section of the menu, as well as some of the more tzechar-style dishes found in the Vegetables and Eggs section of the menu. Overall, Hainan Lao Ba isn’t quite the spot that we will find ourselves rushing back to give a return visit to; it is without a doubt that the food comes at a relatively affordable price point — the prices of the individually-portioned chicken in the Hainan Specialty menu ranges between $6.90 to $8.90 with the Oil Rice being priced at $1.80, though we would think that there are many other more affordable and slightly more well-executed chicken rice to be had in Orchard if one decides to take a little walk down from Cineleisure.