Sponsored Review
I was invited to a food tasting by FoodNews at Charly T's at 112 Katong last night along with Sandra. It was my first time dining there after hearing many good reviews on that restaurant, so I was looking forward to a lovely evening with good food and fun company. :)
The owner of the restaurant is Charly T's, who's travelled extensively and brought back recipes from all over the world to put together the menu for the restaurant. Before I talk about their food, let me take you on a brief tour around the restaurant. The interior of the restaurant is cosy in warm colours.
Customers walk in from the entrance and can place their orders and make payment right away at the cashier before taking a seat. Orders are served to them at their tables. Because customers need to order at the cashier themselves, this restaurant does not charge service charge.
As we walked around the restaurant, I was immediately attracted to this piece of wall in the restaurant, which was covered with colouring sheets done by different children who's dined there before. As a family-friendly restaurant, Charly T's provides colouring sheets and colouring pencils to keep the children entertained while waiting for the dishes to be served. That's always a nice touch.
In a semi-casual restaurant like this, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there is a private dining room for a group of six. No minimum spending is required, and it's on a first-come-first-serve basis. Quite nice for a small family gathering, methinks.
The restaurant also opens out to an alfresco dining porch that's really lovely for hanging out with friends especially in the evenings when it's cool and windy.
The food preparation is in full view of the customers. It's nice to watch the chefs at work too while waiting for your food to be served.
We were served one of the Charly T's Odysseys - Red Tang, which consisted of strawberry, cranberry & lychee. Very refreshing drink with a slight tanginess. Love it.
Charly T's specialty dish has got to be their Famous Rotisserie Chicken. It's available in 4 different flavours - Original, Kampong Chicken, Kansas City BBQ and Black Pepper. For the tasting session, we were served the Original and Kansas City BBQ. Both tasted good, but I especially enjoyed the Original chicken! The meat was tender, juicy and very well-marinated. Our host explained to us that all the rotisserie chicken at Charly T's are marinated for 13 hours before they are cooked. It was no wonder every bite was bursting with flavours of herbs! Too yummy!
When you order the Rotisserie Chicken, they come served with sides. Quarter chicken comes with 2 sides, half chicken with 3 and a whole chicken gets served with 4 sides. There are 4 sides available at Charly T's:
Fresh Vegetables (prepared ala carte upon ordering)
Macaroni & Cheese (Less cheese and made with fresh cauliflower and bell peppers to make it lighter and more nutritious. What a great way to get your kids to eat their veg!)
Butter Garlic Rice (inspired by a recipe by Charly T's mother!)
German Potato Salad (created by their culinary advisor, Chef Otto Weibel)
Order a whole chicken and you get all four sides! =D
To enhance your dining experience at Charly T's, you will be served their special sauces as well including Chermoula Sauce - a Moroccan sauce of cilantro, garlic and cayenne pepper sauce, Roasted Sesame Sauce, Kansas City BBQ Sauce and Charly T’s Original Spicy Sauce. My personal favourite was the spicy sauce, but thought the chermoula sauce was quite unique too. :)
The next dish served was Kalua Pork, which was a spin-off from a famous dish that originated from Honolulu. The pork is super tender and succulent as it had been braised for a very long time. The meat was so thoroughly cooked that you can tear it apart with a soft tug. And did I mention it was very, very juicy??!
I love it that the restaurant places a huge focus on providing healthy meals. Many of their mains are served with fresh vegetables like this, making the whole meal less oily and more nutritious for sure.
This next dish is the Jumbo Schnitzel Burger. The chicken patty was thin, fried to perfection and not oily at all. The crispy bacon strips definitely added an edge to this dish.
See the stack of nacho chips served as sides? They were toasted with paprika to give it an extra omph! =D
The final main served was the CT's Beef Burger. The burger looked like any other ordinary burgers, but as I took a bite into the beef patty, I was amazed at how juicy and flavourful it was! You've got to try it to know it!
Thick fries is love, as always. =)
And finally, we ended the meal with a super awesome dessert - Kaiserschmarrn! This is a dish of warm and fluffy caramelized pancakes sprinkled with powdered sugar, raisins and served with a generous scoop of French Vanilla ice cream. I cannot even begin to tell you how yummy this dessert was. I couldn't stop stuffing myself even though I was already so bloated!
Seriously one of the best pancakes I've eaten. Oh the fluffiness.
Besides all the great dishes we tried at dinner, Charly T's also serves up Lunch Specials from Mondays to Fridays, that ranges from $7.50 to $9.50, including a drink. On weekends, you can enjoy their breakfast specials that include Spanish Omelette, Yoghurt & Fruits and waffles etc. Kids can also choose from a selection of delicious and nutritious kids' meals throughout the day. Bottomline, there is something for everyone at Charly T's, and the next time you drop by 112 Katong, be sure to visit them at the third level.
I'm definitely going back for their rotisserie chicken and fluffy pancakes again. =)
