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Bus Stop: 42039, Opp Former The Blissville. Bus Service, 66, 67, 74, 77, 151, 157, 170, 171, 174, 852, 961, 920, 961C. Train Station: Botanic Gardens.
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Telephone
6468 3060
Introduction
Serving Peranakan cuisine since the late 1970s, Ivin's Peranakan restaurant relies on traditional family recipes to bring out the full flavours of its food.
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Opening Hours
Today
11:30 - 15:00
17:00 - 21:00
Mon - Wed
11:30 - 15:00
17:00 - 21:00
Thu
Closed
Fri - Sun
11:30 - 15:00
17:00 - 21:00
Above information is for reference only. Please check details with the restaurant.
Signature Dishes
Visit http://www.umakemehungry.com/2014/05/ivins-ivins.htmlOur initial plans was to try out some Peranakan Cuisine in Tanjong Pagar but we ended up here instead in Bukit Timah area as I was told Peranakan in Ivins will be of a pocket friendlier choice.Tucked away in the estate of Bukit Timah, Ivins was rather inaccessible for some, perhaps if the nearby MRT station has completed, things will not be the same anymore.When stepping into the restaurant, I thought I had switched the time machine into the 70s. The place was furnished with Peranakan flavours, dull colors and wooden furniture. While having high expectations, our first dish Nonya Chap Chye did not really meet up to the expectation. These stewed mixed vegetables were cooked in soy beans sauce, contained in an earthen claypot. Though the Chap Chye was braised and soften, they were insipid and the level of sweetness as well as taste could not match up to what we had previously from a Peranakan Restaurant.Ngo Hiang was pretty average. If not for the sambal chilli that paired the dish well, I would have skip them and save some stomach space for others. The presentation of curry fish head was perhaps the best out of all dishes due to its color combination with purple from the brinja, red from the chilli, greens from the coriander leaves and lady fingers with orange curry. The Red snapper fishhead was fresh and tasty, a perfect choice to match up with the bowls of rice we had. One of the signature dish in a Peranakan Cuisine, Ayam Buah Keluak. Came in claypot forms with few pieces of braised chicken in the thick spicy tamarind gravy with only 2 Buah Keluak nuts availabl. Given the small pot portion and the limited amount of Buah Keluak, it was a challenge to share among us.The meatball was soft but there were only 1 available while the rest is fishballs and sotong ball. However the main attraction of the dish is still on the Hee Peow ("aka fish maw") amongst the cabbage clear soup, such portion was just too little to divide among us.Hee Peow Soup - $5.80Lean pork stew in a rich brown gravy and was rather sweet. It was quite stunning to see desserts available at $1.20 per bowl, cheaper than the hawker centres until we saw its portion. Well, its smaller than the portion of a rice bowl. Their dessert has nothing special in particular and tasted the ordinary. By the time we ordered the desserts, some of the hot desserts like Burbut Terigu was already sold out.Tau Suan tasted ordinary with 4 cut fried fritters topped the little bowl.Having such a kid size bowl for desserts has its added advantage as it allowed diners to have more room for other desserts. Pulut Hitam or what we often called "Orh Juk" was ordinary , having black glutinous rice in coconut milk and was not too sweet to taste.Probably, this dessert may be something different from the usual hawker stores. I had my first try of banana desserts in coconut milk. It tasted sweet and again, luckily its portion is small and we are sharing, if not its really filling.Here comes the cold desserts but we have to skip the finely shaved snow ice here. A bowl of typical Buboh Cha Cha, lessing out the red and green tapioca flour which makes the bowl looks dull. Nonetheless, we still have the yellow and orange sweet potatoes in diluted coconut milk where little translucent sago were still found. This can be requested to be served in either hot or cold.Another cold dessert we were sharing after dinner was their chendol. This is known as their all time favourties in the menu, served with green jelly bits and red beans in coconut milk as well as brown sugar. Overall, I would say that their price was indeed cheaper than most Peranakan Restaurant however their service was still abit lacking as there were many times we raised our hands fanatically and no one came to check out on us. Though no service charge was rendered, still there are more room for improvement.Comparing one of its competitor selling Peranakan Cuisine in Beauty World, also in Bukit Timah District I will still prefer the other.
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Authentic Peranakan food, very reasonable prices. Fried 'Nor Hiang', honey pork, beef randang and 'Itik Tim' (salted vegetable, and duck soup) served in a sizzling hot clay pot is a must during our every visit. Excellent value for money dessert for under S$2 per bowl. On the side note, please be patient if you drive as parking lots, though free are very limited.
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See http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com for more food reviewsIvins @ Binjai Park caters really to its immediate hinterland. Because I cannot see how it'd attract foodies to travel from all over the island. The parking is awful (the summons auntie are d*** xiao onz here!) and the food sub-par. But for the proximity to my current home, I wouldn't travel all the way here to eat Peranakan food. I don't understand why this Binjai Park one is still standing when the Upper Thomson Road one was closed down. The food at the latter was steps up from the mediocre fare at Binjai Park. Granted, it's dirt cheap. But we still found the lack of value hard to swallow. We don't think we'll be back. Unless they get the chef from the defunct Upper Thomson branch over. We had:1) Egg Fuyong ($4.20): It was rubbery and tasted like the different components were cooked separately then put together in a small bowl and overturned on a plate before serving. Nothing gelled2) Fried Ngo Hiang ($3.80) had little texture - it was pulverised to a smooth mash. For the record, I like the textured dice and ground in my ngo hiang. Thank goodness for that sweet sambal. It (barely) saved this very average appetizer3) Nonya Chap Chye ($4.60): The gravy was too lightly coloured. It was so obvious that not enough taucheo was used in this. It was insipid, weak and bland when it should have been rich and sweet.4) Babi Pongteh ($5.40) was one of the worst we've tried, the meat was dry and tough and chewy because they apparently don't use pork belly here. Are the people around the area such health fanatics that this outlet choses to serve only lean meat? Gimme the fatty laden artery-clogging triple layered fatty pork anyday!5) Penang Char Kway Teow ($4.20) was definitely the de facto hit dish. It was well fried, moist yet with a smoky charring that made it so delectable. The squid and prawn couples were swimmingly fresh and cooked perfectly6) Chicken Macaroni ($3.50): although ordinary, evoked childhood memories of after-school lunches. It was simple homecooked standard stuff but for some inexplicable reason, we liked it. The soup base was comfortingly familiar, delicate and light, but the chicken morsels were rank with artificial tenderiser
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Situated in sleepy Jalan Leban, just off Sembawang Hills Road, Ivins' main outlet is at Binjai Park in the Bukit Timah area. I didn't know what to make of the decor except that it had hints of peranakan influences, as per what I had observed from my lunch trips to the Joo Chiat area. And for a restaurant located in such a secluded area, it was impressively packed with people even at 8pm on a weekday night.
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I have no idea how we ended up at Ivins, especially for someone like me whose tolerance level for spiciness is severely inadequate. Which of course made my exposure to Peranakan food pretty limited. Anyway I digress.Situated in sleepy Jalan Leban, just off Sembawang Hills Road, Ivins' main outlet is at Binjai Park in the Bukit Timah area. I didn't know what to make of the decor except that it had hints of peranakan influences, as per what I had observed from my lunch trips to the Joo Chiat area. And for a restaurant located in such a secluded area, it was impressively packed with people even at 8pm on a weekday night.Ayam Buah Keluak - As spicy as it looked, it was actually a stroll in the woods, even for me. The chicken pieces were chunky but I did think that the meat seemed a little dry while the gravy had a tad too much water. Still, nice when eaten with rice.Bakwan Kepeting - This crab and meatball soup was reminiscent of a light yet flavourful Teochew styled soup with tong cai that I personally like. The meatballs were huge but had a little too much bounce in them whereas the soup suffered from an overdose of oil. Barring which, made for a very decent soup.Nyonya Chap Chye - I've never had a good impression of chap chye (mixed vegetables) simply because most of the time, they turn out soft and all mashed up. This one was no exception. Well except it wasn't as mashed up as I expected it to be. And yes, the prawns added colour (not much taste though).Honey Pork - Thinly sliced, the honey pork was as the name suggests, pork coated with a thick layer of not too sweet honey. Palatable but nothing too fancy in my humble opinion.I wasn't too stuffed after dinner and I certainly didn't expect to be, considering we paid about $36 for 3 pax. Food quality hovers around a decent cze char stall's standard and prices are similar. Service was a little lacking but no complaints though as there is no service charge or GST levied.
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