Chomp Chomp
“We ordered the char kway teow, fried carrot cake, oyster omelet and sambal stingray.”
“The carrot cake (Chai Tow Kway), a savory mix of fluffy pieces of fried radish cake, egg, sweet bits of Chinese sausage, and bean sprouts (pretty certain this was the vegetable), was great as well.”
“It had the lightest faintest taste of shrimp paste which doesn't overwhelm.”
Chomp Chomp
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Ok lah not bad.
Quite ex but whatever.
Sambal stingray is on point
How's my Singlish? can pass one right?
It's a much smaller restaurant than I imagined with a nice bar and open kitchen. The bartender made some nice cocktails. I read good reviews about Chomp Chomp so my expectation was high. The most noted dish Or Luak was disappointing as it did not contain the sweet potato starch element that you would get in Singapore. However, the egg part was cooked to a nice perfect crisp with lightly cooked oysters. The main flavors were there but just not the same. The shrimps with cereal coating was well executed and had a really good sauce. The fried carrot cake was ok but a really good one would have started with a softer carrot cake base, nice touch with the pickled crunchy chye bo. The char kway teow was better in flavors and two types of noodles. The kangkong was chopped in smaller bites and had a good sambal flavor. The bubur chacha was similar in consistency, it was a thick and sweet homecooked version. It was like what I used to have as a child. However I had grown to like the lighter fresher coconut flavor of a similar dish at a Lao place – it improved the dish I thought.
KenScale: 8.0/10
Sometimes, it takes a bit of tweaks to make things work for the better. I had visited chef Simpson Wong's eponymous restaurant, Wong, several years ago, and wasn't quite on board with its pan-Asian fusion dishes. My impression back then was that the restaurant was trying to play too cute without offering the rich diversity of flavor and texture that Asian cuisine can offer. Since then, chef Wong has changed the concept of restaurant and called it Chomp Chomp, focusing on Singaporean hawker food that you can see in various market stalls throughout the food-crazed city country. I had visited Singapore last spring and was very fond of the diversity of influences that go into Singaporean cuisine, from China to Malaysia to India. And such diversity combined to make something very special that you can often witness in one of the hawker centers. Chomp Chomp aims to deliver such hawker food tradition to the New York dining scene, and overall they were pretty successful on my recent visit for dinner.
Any meal at the restaurant needs to start with oh lauk, oyster omelet with garlic chives and chili vinegar sauce. I was deeply impressed with the balance of flavor and texture of this dish; it has the hearty feel yet wasn't overpowering. No wonder this dish made New York Times' top 10 dishes from last year. Murtabak (roti filled with minced beef to dip on vegetarian curry dip) wasn't too bad, either, but suffice to say it didn't make the lasting impression that oh lauk had made. Singaporean food has a lot of curry-based dishes. so it was only natural that we try a couple. Curry mee which had seafood, tofu puffs and egg noodles on light coconut broth was quite aromatic and was a perfect recipe for a cold winter night. Asam fish consisting of hake, okra and tomatoes cooked in tamarind coconut sauce was quite delicious as well. Overall, I found the broth from both dishes to be on the more moderate side without overpowering spicy kick. Sometimes, adding spice enriches a dish, but other times, moderation makes more sense, and in this instance, the kitchen clearly executed on the latter side with great effect. For dessert, definitely try goring pisang (banana fritters with vanilla ice cream), which was quite delightful without the banana being over-fried.
The restaurant doesn't take reservations so make an effort to show up early (although the turnover seems to be relatively quick). There are some Asian-inspired cocktails and pedestrian wine selections. The dining space has that trendy vibe of West Village that could make it a good place for dinner before night outs with friends or casual dates. I'm glad that Chomp Chomp has decided to evolve in a way where simplicity from the past has actually improved the quality of food coming out from the kitchen. Yes, that oyster omelet dish will linger for quite some time in my memory, too.
I thought this place was alright. The dishes were a bit hit-and-miss, but I liked that something unique and interesting was offered. I had the following:
-Curry Mee
-Hainanese Chicken Rice
-Lamb Rendang
-Goreng Pisang
The flavors are unique and if I were to go back, I'd try different items.
Pretty cozy yet filled up restaurant that has some unique touches to it. We had the char kway teow and murtabak, both of which were just alright. Since I had the murtabak on the streets of Singapore I wanted to try it out here, but it wasn't as good or fresh. Boo.
as part of the grieving process (after losing cafe asean on 10th street), i felt obligated to visit the chef's new restaurant chomp chomp. upon arrival, first noticed the beautiful space and the $5 sangria special (served with a fresh lychee). so far, so good. my group opted to try the soft shell crab special, hainanese chicken, lamb rendang, and asam fish with a side of jasmine rice. all dishes were good- my favorites probably being the lamb rendang and crab special. overall, my heart still belongs to cafe asean but a solid option when craving fusion asian in the area.
Pretty interesting space on a block that's chockablock with packed joints nearly every night. Given the Singaporean "hawker" situation, they do make an attempt to fold in a number of different cuisines, with a heavy Malaysian bent. The question is, are they making Malaysian food as good as your general Malaysian place, your Thai stuff as good as a regular Thai joint, etc? GEE LET'S FIND OUT.
The cocktails were ok interpretations of kinda classic 1970s "asian" cocktails, with higher grade ingredients. The problem is, their Singapore "Fling" is nowhere nearly as strong or joyful in a kitschy way as a normal Singapore Sling that you can still find in some Thai and Chinese places that don't do "upscale." And the Long Shore had like 5 ingredients…none of which I could taste. I switched to beer, and that's probably the best move for this place.
Oh Luak – somewhat bland, but saved by outstanding and plentiful oysters. Which brings to mind a strong weakness this place has – they don't give you enough sauce for any single dish. They either need to season their dishes more, or provide more DIP. SEASON OR DIP, CHOMP CHOMP, YOU CHOOSE. But…..choose wisely….
Murtabek – This was a pretty decent rendition of the Malaysian version of scallion pancakes, filled with minced beef and large quantities of egg. Required more spices. This is like, a "kinda sorta" order, and it really should be a "get 3 orders for the table." Again, barely enough sauce for 4 pieces. Barely enough sauce for 2.
Hokkein Mee – This was the strongest dish here, both in flavor and in composition. I enormously enjoyed the two types of noodles, which is something I can't say I've seen often. The seafood was utterly tender, with bits of crab and calamari sprinkled through. Given the price, I think more shrimp are warranted (there were two involved).
Hainanese Chicken Rice – This was probably the biggest disappointment of the joint. Arguably the national dish, and it is nothing even close to resembling traditional Chicken Rice. No dark soy, no broth, only the chili sambal. And the chicken was roasted, not steamed or poached. I get that this place isn't a one item chicken rice joint like Eim Khao Mun Kai, but it actually might have been easier to go the traditional route here, especially in a city with few Singaporean places.
BBQ Stingray – Not sure why the menu changed from skate to stingray. Or why it's called BBQ. But this was probably the only dish that was properly seasoned, with a nice smoky sambal that complemented the fish.
This kinda sounds like a 3 star review, I know. But given the location, proximity to the subway station, the more relaxed vibe compared to other places on the block, and the casual and well-priced options, as well as the lack of any similar joints in the area, I'd definitely consider coming back. I just may avoid the dishes that I would consider standard (murtabek, chicken rice), and range a little farther afield.
Give it a C -!! , My wife interested me in trying this little restaurant, lost on Cornelia street, in the Village."Chomp Chomp" a Singaporean hawker food place" Well after a check for $100. in noodles , appetizers and a couple of glasses of wine. It was pretty steep, considering that the food was OK to average. I lived in the old chinese section and in Arab street and other parts of S'pore and worked a few years there in the 80's when the place was becoming an international bustling city state. So I had million of opportunities to try hawker's food in south east Asia. Well the verdict is that Chomp Chomp was disappointing. You can find better food in china town and Manhattan if you know where to look for. Yes, the atmosphere is very convivial, and the place inviting, mind you, kind of cramped with tables, we ate at the kitchen counter. We decided to start with their special of the day, pork belly crispy! well it was fried ! Not the kind, Hokkien people enjoy in Malaysia or S'pore. It is supposed to be roasted crispy, but that takes time. Imagine Pig's belly fat, fried in cooking oil.Then we tried Pasembur the salad was tasty, but they do not give you real Sambal, I guessed a lot of customers would be put off by the strong fishy taste of the shrimp paste that goes everywhere in Nonya and hokkien and malay Bumiputra cooking. Lobak was done right and tasty. But when came my favorite fried hokkien mee, it was a far cry from street hawker food one would experienced in S'pore, like the one, found at NEWTON CIRCUS the popular night food market in S'pore, where most tourists go. Their hokkien mee was watery from too much use of chinese broccoli, it was also a lot of noodles some cuttle fish, 2 large shrimps!, (the real deal is made of small shrimps not large), some fried eggs ( a few), I had to ask for some peanut sauce and mixed it up with sambal,so it would have some flavor. We had nasi Lemak, with was not bad, the krupuk was small, and the lamb rendang dry with a large piece of curry chicken, again asked for extra curry sauce. Missing on the desert menu was Ice Kacang a classic in S'pore.
Overall the service was very good and friendly, nice decor, rustic and warm, but the food a distant cry from real Hawker fare, And between $55. for the food and 30 for the drink, it was $$$ for hawking food. In spore back then it would set you back $4-5. Yes it is more welcoming than neon lights in downtown Chinatown malay, chinese restaurants, however in these small dives the price is right for what you eat. But I am sorry to say Chomp food cuisine is not up to par to Real S'pore hawking and very expensive for the quality of its dishes.
I did not try the oyster omelet Oh luak. So I would have to come back and try Char Kway Teow as well.
HAWKER'S FOOD MEANS HAWKER'S PRICE not restaurant price!. It is a misnomer in this case. However if you plan to fly to S'pore , wait till you get there it will be the real taste and be way cheaper.!