Curry Times – Velocity @ Novena Square

Good curry in a nice retro setting is what Curry Times offers. The folks of Old Chang Kee who have curry puff kiosks everywhere have now started to serve curries and other local food in their Curry Times chain restaurants as well as the self-service sister chain Curry Times Tingkat. Curry Times serve curry rice, curry noodles and curry fish head.

The theme of the small restaurant is old style kopi tiam. Modern versions of traditional marble top tables and wooden kopi tiam chairs are used. Food and drinks are served on enamelware and old porcelain coffee cups. We like the staff uniform, especially the pajamas-inspired outfit for the ladies. It is a really nice touch – it would have been great if they complete the look with cha kiats!

I went there for lunch on a weekday. There was a queue of people waiting for tables. Curry times have big round tables for bigger groups as well as small tables meant for 2 to 4. Most of those in the queue were waiting for the big tables.

The menu offers quite an extensive list of items. Besides curries there are non spicy items like beef brisket noodles, hor fun as well as a variety of traditional local dishes such as ngo hiang, chye poh omelet, onion omelet, tofu with century eggs and sambal vegetables. They also have vegetarian dishes and roti pratas. The dessert section of the menu is also interesting with items like gingko barley in soya milk, bubur cha cha, chendol and pulut hitam.

They also have sets for breakfast, tea and lunch. You can have a drink and a piece of roti prata for breakfast or tea at $1.70. There are also sets for buns, toast and eggs, chee cheong fun and you tiao.

There are weekday set lunches for $8.90. I ordered the signature curry chicken set lunch which came with a side dish and a drink. There was a choice of rice, bread or roti prata to go with the curry. I opted for rice. The set included a drink and I had coffee.

A rather substantial portion of curry chicken was served. There were four sizeable pieces of chicken and potatoes. It could easily be shared by 2 persons. In, fact a saw a couple did just that. They ordered the curry chicken set and ordered two pieces of roti prata from the a la carte menu for $2.40. Thus, you could effectively have a good lunch for two at $11.30.

The curry chicken was good. The curry was robust and aromatic with the right level of mild spiciness. The side dish was rather disappointing. It was just a very small plate of plain vegetables. On the whole, the set lunch was like having a simple home-cooked meal. It was filling and quite enjoyable.

We like the Curry Times. We have been there a few times. The decor is interesting and the place is pleasant. We found the staff there to be generally nice and helpful. The menu offers quite a good range of local food at reasonable prices. We will be going there again when we like a simple home-cooked style meal.

Ratings:
Food : 3
Service : 3
Value : 4
Atmosphere : 4
Overall Rating : 4 TOPs

Curry Times
Novena Square (Velocity)
238 Thomson Road, #02-33/34
Singapore 307683

Tel: +65 6354 3206

Opening Hours: 9am – 10pm daily

Nearby Station : Novena

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Singapore Food Blog by Ordinary People looking for Places to Eat