Lee Lai Jiak

Newly Opened at Tiong bahru plaza. Lee Lai Jiak is a restaurant that serves Taiwanese food.

The interior was well renovated and had a very welcoming vibe.

Decided to have the Railway Bento. There was a 15-20 minutes waiting time as they fry the pork cutlet upon ordering. The honey glaze was still sizzling on my plate when presented to me. The prok cutlet was huge. The meat was tender and tasted very good. The honey glaze sweetness was just right.

The railway Bento consist of:
- huge pork cutlet(honey glazed)
- salted vege
- pickled cucumbers
- braised egg
- 1xmini sausage
- sliced tofu
- 🍚 rice

Very filling indeed.

Appetisers were going at a minimum of $6.80. Pretty steep though for the 6 mini sausages I received.

Get a free drink when u complete your meal with an appetiser. The Milk Tea was rather good.

Was being informed that there is an opening of a new Taiwanese establishment at Tiong Bahru Plaza — the establishment turns out to be Lee Lai Jiak 李来甲. The eatery does seem to share a relationship with Lee’s Taiwanese which operates an outlet at Faber Drive now (it used to have outlets at The Star Vista and The Rail Mall) — the logo does seem a tad familiar and pretty reminiscent of that of the latter. Situated at the second level of Tiong Bahru Plaza, Lee Lai Jiak takes over the former premises of the now-defunct outlet of the Old Street Bak Kut Teh that was in the mall. The entire space is being decked rather simply — most of its furniture and fittings sports wooden accents and are more function over form; the establishment being decked out with colourful sky lanterns on the ceiling that is representative of Taiwanese culture, as well as fairy lights to give the space a little more vibe than an average eatery. The menu at Lee Lai Jiak features dishes spread across various categories ranging from appetisers, rice, noodles, ala-carte and handmade dumplings — patrons can also opt for their mains to be made into a meal by going for any of the rice or noodle dishes, and then picking any appetiser that costs $6.80 on the menu and choosing the drink that costs $3.80 and below. The list of beverages include hot and cold Taiwanese beverages such as Milk Tea, Roselle, Hot Organic Soy Milk and Wintermelon, as well as canned drinks, bottled water and juices.

For those who are unaware, the Taiwan Railway Bento actually refers to a bento set that primarily includes a pork chop, rice and a couple of side dishes which are sold in some train stations and in train cars in Taiwan — the side dishes in the Railway Bento at Lee Lai Jiak consists of mini Taiwanese sausages, sliced braised beancurd, pickled vegetables (which includes Mei Cai and pickled cucumbers), and braised egg. The Railway Bento at Lee Lai Jiak does require a short waiting time of around 15 to 20mins as they fry the pork chop fresh upon order — this is pretty evident as one digs into the pork chop that is being served on the plate here. The pork chop comes in a pretty generous portion here — despite it being served in a way where a somewhat sweet sauce is being drenched over it, the fried batter of the pork chop does come with a soft crispness; not having completely been soggy from soaking all of the sauce when it was first served to the table. The slab of pork is also nicely tenderised; coming with bone-in, it is considerably easy to chew the meat here as well. The sauce from the pork chop flavours the pearly, short-grain rice beneath as well. Meanwhile, the other elements ensured that the Railway Bento was a wholesome experience — there wasn’t much to shout about the braised egg, while the braised beancurd provided a firm but smooth bite; both of the braised items did not feel particularly salty and are just savoury to the right degree. The mini Taiwanese sausages provided a firm chew and a sweetness that typically comes with Taiwanese sausages — nothing too unfamiliar, while the pickled cucumbers provided a good, tangy crunch that refreshes the tastebuds from the savoury elements here; the Mei Cai giving yet another contrast being another pickled element though comes with some bits of chili that tingles the tastebuds which would do fine even for those with lower tolerance of spiciness in general.

It has been several years since we have tried Lee’s Taiwanese — we had visited the establishment probably a decade ago where they had first opened their doors at The Star Vista; it would be difficult to draw a comparison between our experience at Lee’s Taiwanese against what we have had at Lee Lai Jiak considering how both establishments does seem to share a relationship with one another. Having opted for the Railway Bento Set and opted for other items such as the Century Egg Tofu and Wintermelon Tea to go along with the Railway Bento, we did find their food to be pretty decent — one which we would be fairly happy with if we are fairly undecided on what to have within the mall. Some of its service staff do seem to be pretty new considering how they have just opened their doors; thus do expect some teething issues — the manager was pretty helpful and friendly though, having helped us resolve the double order situation which we encountered whilst using their online ordering platform, whilst also helping some elderly customers to make their order manually as they were also unfamiliar with how to make the orders through scanning the QR code on their phone. Prices of the rice and noodle dishes at Lee Lai Jiak are also fairly reasonable — ranging from $8.80 to $16.80, most of the main dishes are priced within the band of $10.80 to $12.80; a rate rather expected from a casual eatery in the mall. Whilst Lee Lai Jiak is not exactly one of those spots we would be hurriedly planning to make return visits to give their other items a go, it does make for an interesting dining option within Tiong Bahru Plaza for those residing around the neighbourhood — definitely a spot which we would consider visiting if in the mall again.