Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice

I think this is my first and last time for the popular clay pot rice. The waiting time of 1.5 hours definitely kill my appetite. The food did not meet my expectations. We order additional chicken but it looks just standard portion when they served. The chicken is tender, rice has some smoky fragrant but taste is not flavorful. I wish the rice texture is better because they are using charcoal to cook, it has the nice smoky fragrant but without the texture and taste is a missed. Their soup is good and not salty.

We came here to try the infamous claypot rice that was listed in the Lonely Planet (albeit a bit outdated), and we expected a long wait, as with most of these Michelin star places. Sadly, it was a huge disappointment in the end. The rice was flavourless, unless you drown it in sauce (a thick dark brown soy sauce of some kind). There was very little meat to eat because it was mostly bone! The lady taking orders was extremely unpleasant and rude. I understand that it gets busy, but if you can't hack it, do something else, like wait on tables or do the clean-up. On top of it all, the wait was indeed long (1 and half hour), so can confirm definitely not worth the money or the wait in the end. Do not recommend.

It was quite busy when I went to this hawker stand and I had a 1.5 hour wait for my chicken claypot rice and a side order of veg. Best to check and order in advance if you want to eat here to avoid having to wait around. Was it worth the wait? Yes and no. Everything was freshly cooked and arrived piping hot. As well as the chicken, there was bits of chinese sausage and dried fish mixed into the rice. The customary claypot crispy rice was also present where the rice is in contact with the surface of the pot as it's being cooked. The dish seemed to lack flavour and just needed a bit more seasoning, even with the addition of soy sauce and what I think was sesame oil, it still was a little tasteless. This is still a good option though if you're looking for clean, fresh, minimal, non-greasy meal. Loved the veg with the crispy toppings!

Definitely worth getting if you love crispy rice. Considering they are using charcoal to heat their clay pot at the end, only smal parts of the dish were burnt. The was deliciously crispy and full of flavor. We order the mix, so it had the sausage, chicken and salted fish. Definitely get this one. It is a very tasty and hardy meal.

Kitty and I were in Chinatown for some Chinese physician therapy, and we found ourselves near the hawker center where Lian He Ben Ji is located. I'd been there before, and I knew it was a popular spot for delicious claypot rice. The last time I was there, I waited for an hour, so we were prepared for a bit of a wait this time. Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice is a culinary institution, celebrated for its mastery of the classic Singaporean claypot rice. More than just a hawker stall, it offers a deeply satisfying culinary experience rooted in tradition and perfected through years of dedication...or so we thought. It's a small stall on the second level of a busy hawker center, and it's always packed. Be prepared to wait at least 30 minutes; it's definitely not the place to go if you're in a hurry. This time, we waited about 50 minutes for our claypot rice. We ordered the claypot rice for two, and we also tried the braised greens to round out our meal. Unfortunately, this time around, our experience was far from the rave reviews we'd heard. It was far from the delicious claypot rice I remembered from the first time I tried it. The claypot rice was a disappointment. It was very bland, lacking the depth of flavor we remember. The rice itself wasn't undercooked, but it lacked that signature "wok hei" flavor that makes claypot rice so delicious. We tried adding a lot of dark soy sauce, but it didn't quite make up for the lack of flavor. The soy sauce itself was very watery, which didn't help. We couldn't pinpoint exactly what was missing, but the salted fish seemed less flavorful, and the soy sauce might have been inferior. Anyone who's a true claypot rice lover will know exactly what I'm talking about. We're not sure what went wrong, but we suspect it might be due to a change in the chef preparing the clay pot. The braised greens were also disappointing, and even the chili sauce they provided was watery. Overall, we were left feeling that the quality had declined significantly. It's a shame because Lian He Ben Ji used to be a go-to for us. However, based on this recent experience, I can't recommend it anymore. It might be worth trying again in the future, but for now, we'll be searching for other claypot rice options. Rating: 2 out of 5 stars (as much as I'm reluctant to do so, but I have no choice but to give this establishment a 2 star for now).

Chicken tender, rice charred ok, oil and sauce provided for you to season to taste. Portions good for the 8SGD single person portion. Service kind - they pointed us to an empty table and provided us with two bowls as they noticed we planned to share.

A place that deserves its reputation. Real intense seeing how they cook over the charcoal, when you get close for a photo it's so hot! Amazing service, amazing food, so unique and so tasty. The rice cooking onto the clay hotpot = wow! If in Singapore, this is a must!

Among so many claypot rice I've had in Singapore, this is the most disappointing one. There are 3 types — Mixed, Sausage rice & Chicken rice. Indicated at the stall, the price tag were $8, $10, $12, 15, $20. With boiled soups going for $2.50-$3.00 While placing your order, you'll need to let them know what table number you're seat. Afterwhich, make payment and wait for your food. Average waiting time was around 25-30mins. Where you'll need to help yourself to the chilli. After your food has arrived, highly recommended to pour in the dark sauce-sesame oil mixture while it's hot. Give it a good mix, and put in the scallions/ spring onions. It's disappointing because, first time in my life, I had bones in my claypot rice. We're not talking about big pieces of bones. The bones present, were so small you could hardly see them. Usually in claypot rice, (at least for the ones I had), then Chicken should be boneless thigh. Or at the list, Chicken Breast. Salted fish had bones too. Here at Lian He Ben Ji, NO. You get wings and boney parts of the chicken. Not really suitable for children. Turn off experience. Rice wasn't well cooked too, the rice tasted undercooked. Chilli wasn't awesome too. Lacked the oomph. Albeit taste is subjective, Someone please help me to understand why the long queue.

This clay pot rice hawker stall was on my list of must visit during my visit to Singapore. Wait time can be really long especially if you come during dinner hours, which is why we came around 3:50 PM to avoid the dinner rush. Our wait time was still 40 minutes, but I think it was totally worth the wait. We just spent some time walking around the hawker center and getting other food. We ordered the chinese sausage clay pot rice and a plate of veggies on the side. The rice was sooo good! They use charcoal and you can really taste the fire in the rice. The crispy rice was also perfectly burnt and portion was very generous. The staff working were so nice too. While we were waiting, we started a conversation with one of the men working and we learned that it was a family business. They also recommended us some other food to try in the area. However, I don't think this place is worth if wait time is over 1.5 hours. I heard you can call ahead of time though. I'm really glad to have ended my Singapore trip with some delicious clay pot rice.

First time here, visited both Sat and Sun, wait times were 1h both times so we decided to just order on our second try, we got the $12 Taste 1/1* Tasted pretty good, nothing crazy amazing to justify the wait Value 0/1* Good value for the amount of food, bad for the amount of time spend waiting Service 1/1* Fast and friendly Cleanliness 1/1* It's a hawker center Overall/Revisit 0/1* Would rather spend our time else where if we were to wait for 1h for food Paying for ambience/reputation? 0/-1* NO Above and beyond? 0/+1* NO Note: very honorable business, served me the 8 instead of 12, but refunded me 4 half way through eating

Very good clay pot. So worth the wait. A must try when coming to Singapore. It's not exceedingly cheap but since it's made to order over fire omg the crispy rice is to die for. Too bad Singapore is always so hot or else it would be such an amazing meal on a freezing cold day.

Was told this is the best claypot rice in Singapore but not to me. Bought a $25 version although they stated $20 as the biggest one. Chicken not so tender and much less chicken compared to East Village @ Novena's. A lot of rice though. Chilli also so so only. For a 1 hour 15 min wait, I feel it is not worth it. Call them in advance and go collect is a better option.

Don't bother if you can't wait cos each order takes at least 40mins to serve. Quality of the food is ok, not as great as I remember back in the days. Not quite sure what changed but it's not as fragrant nor tasty as before. Not that it's terrible but it's doesn't give you the impetus to want to come back and the waiting time is not exactly worthy the while. Clay pot rice can also be quite heaty so please order some cooling drinks along with the meal to balance it out.

After hearing all the rave about this place, my friend and I decided to wait the 2 hours to get this dish. We shared one clay pot and spent less than $10 each and there was so much food, we couldn't finish it. While the chicken is incredibly tender, the dish is mostly rice. Most of the rice became a little too burnt to eat from the pot. In hindsight, I wouldn't go out of my way to try this dish, but if I just happened to be in the area and was looking for an extremely filling rice dish, I would come here. However, this hawker centre also has so many other amazing places to eat at so if you're not willing to wait for 2 hours, then you're not short of options to eat from.

This stall is definitely busy so expect to wait an hour when it is not too busy. Last weekend (one week before CNY), the wait was over two hours. We didn't wait. This time we called ahead and booked a claypot. My wife loved it because she grew up on claypot rice. I thought the rice was not that flavorful and the rice burnt black. I prefer my rice to be crispy at the bottom but not burnt black. I wonder if it was because the rice was done a little earlier than our reservation time and it sat on the fire for too long. So for me it was just OK. My wife loved it.

There's nothing that warms the belly more than a steaming hot bowl of rice. That's probably why I've learnt to associate claypot rice with nighttime fare. Try consuming it in the afternoon in our climate without disintegrating into a puddle of sweat... confirm heatstroke lor. The reason why Lian He Ben Ji's claypot rice is a cut above its competitors is precisely because it doesn't compromise on cooking time and ingredient quality. Each pot of rice is steamed for 5 minutes, after which ingredients are added and the pot left to sit over a blazing charcoal flame for the next 20 minutes. That guarantees you a minimum 25-minute wait per order, which can stretch to a waiting time of 45 minutes during peak dining periods. To get around the wait, regular diners know to call to place their orders in advance. Unfortunately we weren't as savvy. Was the wait worth it? Abso friggin' lutely. Mixed claypot rice, $10 for a portion that feeds two - After drizzling some sweet soya sauce over the rice and mixing everything together, the first spoonful of rice I had can only be described as a flavour explosion. The pieces of chicken were succulent, the lup cheong (Chinese sausages) and waxed meat firm and juicy, but the rice - the rice was in a realm of its own. You just have to taste it to know that charcoal makes one hell of a difference in cooking this dish. The rice in the claypot was smoky yet fluffy, and when drenched in sweet sauce was just... wow. We kept mumbling "so good, this is so good" in between mouthfuls of rice. It got even better when our spoons hit the bottom of the pot, where burnt rice, or what we call guo ba (锅巴), was clinging to the sides, just waiting to be scraped off. And the chilli! The chilli here is the bomb okay. It was spicy, sour and caused beads of sweat to form on my temples, but I kept going back for more. To be fair, the slivers of salted fish in the rice could have been less mushy. Plus the soup (lotus root with pork ribs) and stir-fried veggies we ordered were very average. But who really cares? It's a hawker centre, and there're about 50 other stalls if you must have your sides to complement this... claypot of perfection. Now into its second generation of owners, Lian He Ben Ji is an established business that started off as a roadside stall in the same area back in 1979. The founder of the stall handed the reins over to his daughter-in-law, which I think is a really heartwarming tidbit of news in a society that unfortunately still tends toward the patriarchal. The daughter-in-law now runs the stall with her two younger sisters, which is why this place is also known fondly as "3 sisters' claypot rice". Lian He Ben Ji gets my seal of approval for their dedication to their craft. I'll definitely be recommending this place to everyone I know.

Make sure to call ahead or else you'll end up waiting at least two hours. We ordered the $12 portion for two and it was more than plenty. The clay pot rice is def the best I've had in SG with plenty of chicken, Chinese sausages, and salted fish.

We ended up here as the other claypot rice in the same hawker centre is closed. As this is one of those places where they cook your rice upon ordering and the rice is really cooked in the claypot instead of being scooped in for just the final touches, you have to be prepared to wait. There were 5 of us and they recommended 2 claypots instead of one. Wrong choice, each claypot is big enough for two servings each and we ended up leaving the second pot hardly touched. So don't make our same mistake. Taste-wise, it is definitely not the best I've had. I also feel that there is not enough ingredients in each pot and you feel that tit are mostly eating rice. I think there are better places for claypot rice in Singapore.

Cheap and freshly made every time, but you gotta fight for a table before you order and then wait for 30 minutes - 1 hour. Remember, get a table for your party 1st, note the table number, come up to the queue, give your table number, and tell them what you want, pay. An order is more than enough for 2 people. After that, just go around and enjoy other foods around until your order is brought to your table - just think of the wait as a chance to explore this humongous food court. When the claypot arrives, take out the veggies, pour as much soy sauce as you like, mix the rice, and put the veggies back on top.