Western Barbeque (Old Airport Road)

"Xin Mei Xiang Lor Mee in the day, Western Barbecue in the night (and Nam Xing HKM whenever it is open)" used to be my mantra when it comes to meals at Old Airport Rd FC.

Pre-COVID, I would usually visit Old Airport Rd FC at least once a month but this was my first trip in a really long time. It was kinda late in the evening but my chicken chop from Western Barbecue was sadly disappointing. The chicken meat itself was a little tough and dry and the sweet garlic sauce was watery, bland and simply meh. Hopefully I just caught them at a bad time because this was really far from what used to be one of my favourite plates of chicken chop!

What makes this great is the marinade rub on the chicken.
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They serve a traditional cut of chicken chop, with bone-in, a rare sight these days. The chicken is thick, tender, and juicy with a light chew, carrying meaty savoury salty sweet smoky flavour.
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Completed with a fresh crunchy coleslaw with vegetal sweet notes, crisp crinkle potato chips with starchy salty sweet flavour, and a soft old-school cream bun with bready milky sweet notes.
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Chicken Chop
Western Barbeque
@ Old Airport Road Food Centre, 51 Old Airport Road #01-53
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/06/best-of-singapore-hawkers-chicken-chop.html

Since 1974, this stall has been reowned for their hearty Western fare, served with a house secret garlic sauce that is equal parts sweet savoury spicy in taste, with a piquant note. Makes everything addictive.
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The beef sirloin was done till medium, with a tender moist chew to texture, and natural meaty savoury salty flavour, picking up the gravy well.
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I like that the crunchy chilled coleslaw is light on mayonnaise, so you get the bright natural vegetal sweet flavour of the vegetables (cabbage, carrot). The thick English crinkle chips are fluffy with starchy salty flavour.
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The old-school cream bun is pillow soft, rather like a cake, with a thin layer of cream within. Has bready milky sweet flavour; works as a dessert.
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Beef Steak
Western Barbeque
@ Old Airport Road Food Centre, 51 Old Airport Road #01-53
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More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2022/03/best-of-singapore-hawkers-beef-steak.html

Very popular Old school western food, with their famous garlic sauce.

Very delicious and preparation time very fast. Auntie and uncle very friendly.

Chicken chop was soft and tender, garlic sauce was damn good and is a little sweet.

Have always been eyeing western barbeque (# 01-53) at old Airport hawker for the longest time. But everytime when I was there the queue was either too long and I needed a quick meal or I was having sore throat or have some important meeting or exam coming up and can’t afford to get a sore throat. Finally tried it today but it was a mega major letdown. Ordered the chicken chop ($6.50) and when the meal was served after a 30mins wait I was just very puzzled by the order. Where was the old school bun? Where is the coleslaw? How come got sausage one, I didn’t order that? How come the chicken chop doesn’t have any sauce on it unlike what I saw on Instagram photos. Isn’t it supposed to be served with either like garlic sauce or the typical brown sauce for chicken chop? How come the chicken chop got no grilled chaotah parts one? How come the fries so white one. lol so many queries in my mind that we went back to clarify on our order (because I was afraid we got served the wrong order when I didn't order any add on sausage) and was just told that “bun 没有liao”. Not sure if it was permanently off the menu or only for tonight when they are out of stock on supply. A quick glance at what others were getting, most plates also just had the meat + fries + sausage, with no bun and coleslaw. I mean if you run out of ingredients you could have the courtesy of telling customers when they order or when the item is served?!! Plus the chicken chop and fries both tasted undercooked?! It just seems to be that they are hurrying to get out the orders due to the many customers waiting. Lol and yea lots of angry customers waiting around this evening. This is IMO a below average chicken chop. even the no name western stalls serve better chicken chop imo. Not sure if it is just today’s standard because of the busy queue. But well, the next time I’m back at old airport I will just stick to the other western stall holy grill which always has a super long wait and always sell out by the time I reach at 7+pm typically so haven’t had much luck eating that.

Chop chop chicken chop. Western Barbecue at Old Airport Road FC attracts a loyal following for its signature chicken chop.

Unlike other stalls, they give you the chicken drumstick meat. They are not shy telling you this as each plate comes with a little knob of drumstick bone (which annoys me tbh).

Needless to say, the chicken is tender and juicy. Their chicken chop is good but it's their special garlic sauce that elevates the dish to the next level. You gotta ask for it because it is kinda an "off the menu" thing which everyone seems to know about!