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New Lucky Claypot Rice @ Holland Drive ๐Ÿ” Worth the Famous One Hour Wait?

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New Lucky Claypot Rice really needs no introduction - the stall at Holland Drive Market & Food Centre enjoy lots of media coverage and is in the Singapore Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand list.

Stall name: New Lucky Claypot Rice


Address: 44 Holland Drive, stall #02-19, Holland Drive Market & Food Center, 270044


Tel: +65 6778 7808 (this number is important)


Hours: 11:00am - 1:00pm | 5:00pm - 8:00pm (Weds off)



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After a day of eating and shopping, Jen asked what's for dinner. Running through my to-eat list quickly in my mind, I suggested the famous New Lucky Claypot Rice which I haven't tasted before.

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It was a busy Sunday evening. Arriving at around 6pm, the staff primed us that the wait is about one hour.

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Serving a full house, cooking rice from scratch (not par boiled) over flaming charcoal stoves the traditional way, it is a reasonable wait actually.

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After ordering at the stall front, I was given this number and returned to my table to wait. One hour passed pleasantly with lovely company. Would be even better if there were something to munch or nibble but other than the drinks stall, New Lucky Claypot Rice is the only stall that open at night here.

(Pro-tip: Calling in earlier to get a queue number might save you some time ☎ +65 6778 7808. )

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Our claypot chicken rice arrived slightly past one hour, piping hot off the charcoal fire.

We had the four person serving ($25) and added another $5 worth of chicken. It's boiled rice topped with chicken, Cantonese liver sausage and pork sausage slices, salted fish, that's all.

The colour looked a little anaemic so we reflexively drizzled in the aromatic oil and dark soy sauce like everyone does.

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Gave the contents a vigorous stir from top to bottom to top to mix everything thoroughly.

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The coveted rice crust we were looking forward to came out burnt and had to be discarded. Ideally, we would mix the well browned crust with the tender rice to give the mix an interesting tender-crisp, chewy, crunchy bite.

Hopefully we will have better luck at New Lucky next time.

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The rice was of average quality - some whole, some broken. Flavour infusion from chicken, sausage (lup cheong), and salted fish was slight, so we had to dribble in the aromatic oil and dark soy sauce liberally.

The chicken pieces were tender, juicy and sweet, so it was a good decision to add more chicken. The pork and liver sausage taste good too - they were savoury but not overly salty. Next time, I shall add more sausage as well (at $5 extra). The salted fish added another nice layer of savoury-salty flavour.

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We had the obligatory peanut & chicken feet soup and watercress & pork rib soup but skipped the oyster sauce vegetable. The soups were okay i.e. neither memorable nor noteworthy but good value at $4 a serving.

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The dining frenzy passed quickly and everything quietened down around 8pm when the wave of customers finished their dinner. Holland Drive food centre returned to its evening slumber as suddenly as the whirlwind of New Lucky customers came and went.


Written by Tony Boey on 18 Mar 2021

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