According to Wikipedia, a speakeasy is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. In layman terms historically, it used to mean restaurants or drinking establishments which can only be visited with a secret code or password. In modern days, many establishment has named them as speakeasy bar or speakeasy restaurant to try to bring forth an exclusive and specials experience to their customers
I chanced upon the Dragon Chamber when reading about some of the most interesting places for dinner and decided to head down to try out the food. Located along Circular road facing the main road, it is quite easy to miss the restaurant as there is no big signboard
At first glance, it looks like a modernised coffee shop with a very discreet sign at the top to confirm that they are The Dragon Chamber. I had to do a 2nd take on the place to make sure we got the right place since it has been some time since reading about the restaurant and I totally forgot why I wanted to visit it
There was only 1 service staff at the front of house and they only take in reservations. At closer look, I finally remembered that the main restaurant is actually hidden behind the fridge
Just then a group seated outside waiting for their table to be ready was called to enter the premises and the magic fridge opened up to reveal a secret entrance
Every time this happens, the attention of everyone waiting will automatically be drawn towards the fridge door as you see the customers disappear into the magical unknown
Past the secret door, you are led into this colorful and eclectic looking tunnel decorated with with both elements of the 70s and Shanghai China high society lanterns
Pass the tunnel, you are welcomed into this spacious area which is somewhat like a Chinese restaurant with an underground vibe due to the raw cement floors and ceiling complete with raw piping. You can see the incorporated Chinese styled paintings and wall decorations at both the bar counter and the main kitchen service window area
As i sit down, I realised that the door we came through has this small peep hole which the servers within the restaurant used to kind of communicate with the server outside. They also use the peep hole to monitor when the next batch of customers is coming through. I guess many people are probably lost in the tunnel taking photos
There is conscious effort from the team to ensure the Chinese dragon theme is carried out through their restaurant environment as well as the menu and the plates, bowls and chopsticks. In fact, this blue and white porcelain China is used almost in every Chinese family back in the 80s
In terms of menu, I would describe their cuisine as Chinese modern fusion with some familiar dishes as well as some American fusion dishes like mala fries. One of their main specialty is the dragon claw which is basically crocodile feet braised in herbal sauce but unfortunately, non of our group was a fan of crocodiles so we skipped ordering that. Instead, we went with more familiar dishes like this stir fry duck with wrap.
Taste wise, the duck is slightly on the salty side but was balanced out when paired with the thin crepe, fresh vegetables and the chili provided
We also ordered the pan fried beancurd with foie gras which was quite a delight with the crispy golden brown tofu topped with a well seared piece of foie gras. The dish had a light savoury sauce which did not over power the natural creamy flavour of the foie gras but the price of this dish was also on the higher side
Most of the dishes like the firecracker chicken or fish were all sold out so we fell back on the server’s recommendation and they included this popular choy suey which is a fried medley of bok choy, kale, black & white fungus, enoki mushrooms, lotus root chips and kai lan. The vegetables were still crunchy and the savoury gravy made this dish perfect with a bowl of rice. However, on it’s own, I found it on the salty side
Lastly for carbs, we had the XO crab fried rice which was quite perfectly done with each grain of rice glistening with the XO sauce and no visible clumps of rice which is a big fail for fried rice. The Xo sauce gave the fried rice a nice umami flavour as well as a small kick with the specs of chili evenly tossed in the rice
I really liked the tea pot which was used to serve our Chinese tea as it brought back many childhood memories of having tea at my grand parents’ house
Overall, for novelty sake, I think really fun visiting the Dragon Chambers and the servers are professional and friendly. In terms of the food, the quality is ok but the food is overall on the slightly salty side for me and the price point is also higher than I would like for some of these dishes. For these 4 dishes and a 30 plus bottle of sake, our bill was SGD 185. However, for some of their exclusive dishes like the Dragon’s claw or even the “p” soup which has a certain organ of the crocodile, you might need to visit Dragon Chamber to savour them
Address: 2 Circular Rd, Singapore 049358
Operating hours: 11 am to 9 pm
Bear Travels . Bear Eats . Bear Cooks 