SINGAPORE'S VINTAGE EATING PLACES: COMMONWEALTH CORNER IV: BLOCK 117 WEST (SIN KEE HEONG COFFEESHOP)

We've come to the fourth and final corner of Commonwealth Crescent, which is also the least frequented of our eating places. That's the west end of Block 117, also occupied by Hong Kong Street Chun Kee Restaurant at its east end. It's the only coffee shop (Sin Kee Heong, #01-711) which does not have its own zichar restaurant. The premises is occupied by a number of stalls, including one of Singapore's most celebrated fried chicken wing seller. 

The fried chicken wing stall is closed,
which explains why its near deserted.

The smokers' corner looks busy.

Due to the lie of the land, this corner is raised off the level of the road, and one can sit and watch the world and traffic go by below! It's a Sunday morning, and the coffee shop is almost deserted. Years ago, this coffee shop (which looks unchanged over the decades) was packed, and waiting for noodles could take the best part of an hour. The only section with people is the "smokers' corner", tucked behind and away from healthy people.

The present noodle stall is Lai Chi Mian, which does a good bak chor mee (noodles with minced / sliced pork) and laksa, which is what we had and enjoyed every bit of it. Business is rather slow, but it's not lunchtime yet. 

The look of mee pok just makes me hungry.

Taoist altar and neighbourhood provision store.

LAI CHI MIAN &

SIN KEE HEONG COFFEE SHOP

Block 117 Commonwealth Crescent #01-771

Singapore 140116

END OF AN ERA / SINGAPORE'S VINTAGE EATING PLACES: PRINCE COFFEE HOUSE on BEACH ROAD

It has been out in the news for a while: Prince Coffee House will be closing in mid-July. This well-known and loved Hainanese Western restaurant first opened its doors in the 1970s in the now-demolished Shaw Tower on Beach Road, the building where Jade and Prince Theatres were located. It got its name from the cinema run by the Shaw Brothers film distributors. I remembered having a meal there as a teenager. It later moved to Coronation Plaza before returning to the Beach Road area, near the entry to Arab Street.

You cannot call the establishment retro, simply because it looked much like what it was some 50 years ago, unchanged and unmoved by the tide of time. Old photographs and posters line its walls, and the age becomes apparent; this is an establishment from the days of disco and flared pants.

The food is typically Hainanese Western, a reminder of when Hainanese cooks served meals to British colonial masters in their black and white bungalows. Pork chops and ox-tail stew is de rigeuer, and the tenderloin steak in brown sauce is the top-priced item on its menu. The servers have long collected their CPF, and its founder "Uncle" Jimmy Lim - the friendly face of Prince - had gone home before we arrived.

Grilled pork chops

Classic stewed ox-tail 

Tenderloin steak on hot-plate

The French onion soup was 
disappointingly watered down
but the yam cake was excellent.

When its lease runs out in mid-July, Prince will close its doors for the last time. I am philosophical about its closure. Prince had its day, when fine-dining Western food was exorbitant (still is) and beyond the reach of locals, and Hainanese Western was a valid and tasty alternative. It had a good run, and it is time to say good-bye. Its tradition will be carried on by a new generation of chefs with new ideas and menus, which will surprise and delight us. Thank you for the memories.    

PRINCE COFFEE HOUSE

249 Beach Road #01-01

Singapore 189757

Tel: 6468-2088

Prince Coffee House to close in mid-2026 | The Straits Times

SINGAPORE'S VINTAGE EATING PLACES: COMMONWEALTH CORNERS III: BLOCK 118

We've come to the third of four corners at Commonwealth Crescent. That's Block 118 (think of Brahms' Sechs Klavierstucke) or "hard luck corner". There has always been a restaurant / coffee shop here but the turnover is so rapid one can scarcely remember what restaurant occupies this spot. 

The latest occupant is Chuan Ye Seafood Zichar, and before that was Yat Yat Fat (118) which had a short-lived Moo Moo Mookata, and before that was Seafood Village (or Seafood Palace I cannot remember), where we had dim sum meals under $10. D'Life vegetarian restaurant was here a couple of years, and before that it was a bunch of hawker stalls which had been a good place for breakfast. And that was more than ten years ago.

This corner also has the only caifan (economy rice) stall in the four corners of Commonwealth Crescent, which does brisk business before closing at dusk. Although Chuan Ye does decent meals, I think its days are numbered, judging by the low traffic. Its footfall comes from old people having caifan meals, beer drinkers and the occasional horse-racing punters. Even the bookie uncle does not visit often, and the tattooed loner is no longer employed to do cleaning up. 

This restaurant has the neatest kitchen area,
which means it doesn't do much cooking.

Only memories, seafood white beehoon and har cheong kai (prawn paste fried chicken) bring us back, which may be paid with CDC vouchers. The F&B competition in these parts is awfully stiff, and to think its neighbours are the well-established Hong Kong Street Old Chun Kee and Two Chefs Eating Place. It's sad to see this one go, and its back to "here we go again", wondering what the next restaurant will be all about. 

Empty chairs at empty tables,
so says a Les Miserables song,
 are a worrying sign.

Update: As sure as night follows day, the restaurant has again changed hands. The restaurant space of Block 118 is now occupied by Lucky Star Kitchen 118. (28 March 2026) Good luck! 

The latest restaurant in Blk 118.

We've tried the new restaurant Lucky Star Kitchen 118, and the verdict is: rather nice! The menu is still the old one, and we tried some new dishes, and we enjoyed the taste and the helpings were generous considering these was "small". (1 April 2026)

Fried Hokkien yellow noodles,
very soupy but delicious,
thanks to the pork lard!

King Pork Ribs (Pai gu wang)

A meal for two at $18,
payable by CDC vouchers.
We'll be back!

Update: There has yet been another change of management. This new corner restaurant is now known as Huo Hai Xian (Fresh Seafood). Let's see how this one fares (1 May 2026).

SINGAPORE'S VINTAGE EATING PLACES: COMMONWEALTH CRESCENT CORNERS II: TWO CHEFS EATING PLACE

We're back at the corner eating places of Commonwealth Crescent. There are four corners, and we're at the opposite corner from the last one. This is occupied by the very popular Two Chefs Eating Place, which has another outlet in the Sin Ming Avenue area. There used to be long queues waiting for the limited tables before the pandemic, but it still does brisk business. It is usually patronised by diners who come from a long way rather than Queenstown residents. And for good reason too.

Its most famous speciality is the chilled cockles in a light garlic-laden seasoning. This is a special favourite of Janet's, who cannot resist hum-ful dishes. Given that cockles are farmed these days, rather than allowed to grow near sewers before harvest, the risk of severe gastroenteritis and viral hepatitis is much less now. My trick is to order the wok-fried hor fun and pretend I'm having char kway teow with cockles. Hey, it works too!

The vegetable soup (zhicai tang) here is very savoury and filling (since it also has meat) as well, so it's quite easy to get well-filled here. All under $20, which could be paid with those handy CDC vouchers. A brilliant way to use government (actually taxpayers') money to patronise local food outlets and keep the stomach from starving. 

The photographic evidence that
everything was delicious.

TWO CHEFS EATING PLACE

Blk 116 Commonwealth Crescent

#01-129, Singapore 140116

Tel: 6472-5361