Sin Tong Kee
+ EBISU, TOKYO

Although I haven’t had a chance to spend time in Singapore, I have been to Malaysia which I’ve heard has similar cuisine. As far as Singaporean food goes in Tokyo, it’s slim pickins here. There are several “Asian” restaurants around the Tokyo area that serve up their own variation of chicken rice, but until now, the only one getting it right(well, the one with the best flavor and quality) was Hainan Jeefan Shokudo in Azabu Juban. As much as I love those guys, they really only serve one dish, and from time to time a curry dish. There’s a new contender in town though, Sin Tong Kee of Ebisu.This is one of those restaurants you find through a friend of a friend of a friend of your neighbor. If no one ever told me about this place, I would never have found it. Even funnier is that it’s possibly the easiest restaurant to find! Just follow the train tracks from Ebisu Station’s Atre exit. I’ll get to the directions later though. This is one spot not to miss. They serve lunch and dinner, with an extensive menu of Singaporean specialities and drinks. Having just finished lunch there, I felt inclined to finally write about it, especially considering the phenomenal chicken rice “Lunch Set B” I was served.For the uninitiated, chicken rice, in appearance, is a simple dish consisting of steamed chicken and a mound of rice, served with three condiments, a sweet, sticky soy sauce, a ginger sauce, and a chili paste. Depending on the restaurant, these sauces will vary in sweetness, spiciness, and saltiness. It only looks like a simple dish though. There are so many complexities behind it that I wouldn’t even know where to begin to start describing it’s creation. Just order it, sit back, and enjoy the most flavorful chicken dish you’ll find anywhere in Tokyo. By flavorful, I mean an explosion of so many levels of chickeny goodness when all those sauces are combined with Sin Tong Kee’s perfectly prepared chicken.Lunch Set B, obviously one of an entire menu of reasons to visit Sin Tong Kee, is worth your lunch break. I’ve also enjoyed dinner here and was impressed by the variety of dishes and spices used which I’ve never experienced in Tokyo before. They really don’t hold back with their ingredients, like many other Tokyo establishments do by watering down their dishes. These are the real thing, served hot when marked as hot on the menu. Otah Otah was no laughing matter, we tried a round of their spicy shrimp paste dish and were treated to runny eyes and sweaty foreheads quickly after. Absolutely delicious. Their Char Kway Teow was equally satisfying with sliced specially imported sweet Asian sausages, vegetables and tasty flat noodles. Then there’s the Laksa. There are a few dishes which I could easily eat every day, this is one of them.Dishes run between 800 yen to 1,800 yen, with a few specialities being a little more. Wash it all down with a Tiger Beer(680 yen) or a glass of their homemade lime juice(450 yen, 100% juice!). Worth every yen in my opinion. Getting there is a snap. Exit JR Ebisu Station on the lower level of Atre that leads to the Hibiya line entrance(outside). Walk left around the station and up the hill along the tracks. Keep walking up the steep hill and you’ll see it eventually on your left, upstairs.Sin Tong Kee URL(English with English map): http://www.sintongkee.jp Staff speak English Map: http://www.sintongkee.jp/map/map.html

(4 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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