Kok Sen Restaurant, the renowned zi char establishment celebrated for its authentic flavors and warm hospitality, which has received eight consecutive years of the prestigious Michelin Bib Gourmand award, is thrilled to announce the grand opening of its second outlet at City Square Mall on 11 January 2025. This expansion marks a significant milestone for the family-run restaurant, passed down through three generations, after 54 years of dedicated service.
Kok Sen Restaurant is a landmark restaurant that has earned its own spot in Singapore’s history, serving up homey, unpretentious zi char goodness along Keong Saik Road since the 1960s. Three generations later, it has not only endured a global pandemic, but also proudly garnered Bib Gourmand recognition for eight years – from 2016 to 2019 and 2021 to 2024.
Today, Kok Sen Restaurant continues to be run by the third generation of the family, the grandson of the founder who took over during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the many challenges that fell upon the entire F&B industry during the difficult time, the restaurant and its legacy endured, driven by the simple intention to continue serving good food at reasonable prices.
Classics and Novelties on The Menu
Look forward to exciting new dishes exclusively available at the City Square Mall outlet, alongside classic signature dishes that the public have come to know and love of Kok Sen Restaurant.
New and exclusive to the City Square Mall outlet only is the Crispy Smoked Tea Duck ($25 / $50), a dedicated duck dish that requires over 10 hours of meticulous preparation using the Wong family’s time-honoured star recipe, limited availability daily. It features a whole duck that is marinated for at least 8 hours with a secret sauce for tender meat fragranced to the bone before it is air-dried for 2-3 hours to remove moisture then smoked to light as air crispiness, and a final deep fry to yield a gloriously crispy skin and enhance the duck’s inherent flavors.
Another exclusive dish to savour is Kok Sen’s original Big Prawn Thick Beehoon White Soup ($19 / $38 / $57), cooked up with large prawns and thick rice vermicelli in a non-spicy superior prawn broth, this dish embodies the original Wong Family’s recipe enjoyed during festive occasions, birthdays, and family gatherings. While the spicy version has since gained widespread popularity, this classic remains a testament to the restaurant’s culinary heritage.
Classic mainstays include Deep Fried “Yu Gai” ($20 / $30 / $40), fleshy strips of deep-fried Toman fish meat served with a special Chef’s creation dip. Not amiss are the Roasted Pork with Black Sauce ($18 / $27 / $36), a delightful combination of texture and flavors featuring crispy freshly roasted pork stir-fried with caramelized onion and a rich black sauce; while Claypot Yong Tau Foo ($18 / $27 / $36) showcases the freshest fried beancurd, brinjal, capsicum and red chilli stuffed with squid and prawn paste coated with fragrant bean sauce.
Other signature dishes of Kok Sen Restaurant include the coveted Golden Dragon Chicken ($35), a unique creation featuring crispy fried chicken skin delicately layered with a flavorful prawn and squid paste, advance booking is recommended as it has limited availability daily. Another must-try is the Spring Onion Prawn ($22 / $33 / $44), showcasing succulent, pan-fried prawns infused with the fragrant aroma of spring onions and elevated by a delicate, premium light sauce.
Don’t miss out on the wok hei goodness of their stir-fried hor fun, noodles, and rice, including the iconic Big Prawn Hor Fun ($19 / $38 / $57), a symphony of flavours featuring premium big prawns, savory sauce rippling with egg, and a satisfying wok hei; as well as the Braised Fish Meat Bee Hoon ($20 / $30), where deep-fried fish meat is braised to perfection with bee hoon and fermented black beans. For those who crave a fiery kick, the Thai Fried Rice ($9 / $18 / $27) delivers a shiok spiciness that will leave you wanting more.
