Restaurant Review: Lokkee is TungLok’s Hip New Chinese Take-Out Restaurant
PUBLISHED October 31st, 2015 04:00 pm | UPDATED February 6th, 2020 05:54 pm
Asian food, Chinese cuisine in particular, has always been ludicrously bastardised by take-out restaurants in Chinatowns across the globe. It goes without saying that overly-blanched noodles, fortune cookies, and oyster sauce are NOT the hallmarks of traditional Chinese food and will never be. Which is why TungLok’s latest Chinese take-out inspired concept, Lokkee, has raised a few eyelids.
Interior of Lokkee
Located on the third floor of Plaza Singapura, Lokkee’s walls are swathed in dashing shades of red and black, while its furnishings are a contemporary mishmash of modernistic Chinese fittings and Western popular culture icons such as Star War’s Boba Fett – a far cry from the run-of-the-mill ornamentation we’re used to seeing at conventional Chinese eateries.
Poké Salad at Lokkee
Our first glimpse of Lokkee’s ‘cosmopolitan’ version of Chinese cuisine arrived via the Poké Salad ($16). Pronounced as pokay, the portion was a tad measly for the price but the diced salmon and tuna sashimi went perfectly well with the tangy house sauce and crisp tortilla bowl. No other complains here.
Mongolian Beef at Lokkee
Cooked in front of us, any one else who caught a whiff of the tantalising aromas of the Mongolian Beef ($32) would definitely order it from the menu. Exceptionally juicy and moreish, slices of stir-fried Angus beef fillets are drowned in a river of creamy broth, and mixed lovingly in a Mongolian monk’s stone pot. The Firecracker Chicken Nest ($24) was also a savoury treat for the senses, though its deep-fried diced chicken was let down by the overwhelming bite of the chopped dried chillies. To be fair, though, the egg-shaped mango purée pieces were excellent palate cleansers.
Firecracker Chicken Nest at Lokkee
Heading back in a traditional Chinese culinary direction, Lokkee’s rendition of the Mapo Tofu ($16) – a dish from China’s Sichuan province – involved a delicious glob of silken tofu soaked with a numbing, spice-minced beef sauce. The Sichuan ‘Mala’ Grilled Fish ($58) sees a grilled fish engulfed in a spicy broth, and topped with cabbage, tofu skin, green peppers, peanuts, and dried chillies. Though the tofu skin was slightly too firm, the delicate ribbons of flavourful fish flesh and addictive gravy more than made up for any faults.
Mapo Tofu at Lokkee
What would a Chinese take-out restaurant be without the archetypal Chow Mein ($14)? Essentially fried noodles with shredded chicken, char siew, chopped carrots, and celery, the epitome of Westernised Chinese take-out made a good enough impression for our tastebuds. And we would order it again, especially if they were lighter-handed with the sugar. The X.O. Sauce Crab Meat Fried Rice ($20) made for a joyous end to our meal, as we happily devoured every last morsel of the stir-fried rice and crab meat mix.
Sichuan ‘Mala’ Grilled Fish at Lokkee
TungLok’s latest venture has certainly churned out a delightful blend of classic dishes and innovative fare. There are probably still teething problems on the kitchen front at Lokkee, but from what we’ve experienced, Chinese take-out cuisine might just carve out a spot in Singapore’s food scene, after all.
Lokkee is located at Plaza Singapura, #03-01, 68 Orchard Rd, Singapore 238839, p. +65 6884 4566. Open daily 11am – 3pm, 5.30pm – 10pm.
