This one-star review is unlikely to turn away the droves of Char devotees (really impressive, considering the eatery is only a few months old) waiting in line daily.
Some backstory is necessary: the owners of Char spent a year mastering how to replicate the roast meats at KL’s legendary Oversea Restaurant, which itself attracts heaps of food-obsessed, day-tripping Singaporean. And their char siew and roast crispy pork belly (each $15/300g; also available in smaller portions as a platter from $18) are indeed pretty damn tasty and quite different from the versions sold at most local roast meat stalls.
Despite that, we wouldn’t recommend dining here. Our weeknight meal here was a logistical nightmare: we had to point out vacant tables to the staff while waiting to be seated; dishes arrived in no logical order whatsoever; glasses of water were replenished willy-nilly (we even witnessed a patron waiting on other tables with a jug of water).
And other than the two signature pork items, the rest of the food was middling to poor. The roast duck (from $14 for a quarter duck) had little discernible character other than rubberiness. Zi char dishes like Szechuan chicken ($13) and stir-fried string beans ($10) was soggy. Even the fried rice ($5) was awful (said no one ever, until now).
The limited craft beer selection offered little salvation; those ales are on the blander side and can’t hold their own against rich porky flavors. Sorry, but we just don’t see what the fuss is about. Why dine here when you can walk over to the main Geylang strip and stuff yourself silly with good dim sum, frog porridge and you tiao?
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