Super Cheesy Western Claypot Pasta Review: SG’s First Claypot Pasta In Sengkang

Super Cheesy Western Claypot Pasta is a hawker stall in Sengkang

Despite being an old-school way of cooking rice, stews, and meats, hawkers are bringing claypot cooking back to life through modern renditions such as charcoal claypot hotpot. And if you thought they couldn’t get any more creative with it, Super Cheesy Western Claypot Pasta introduces Singapore’s very first claypot pasta! 

The humble stall, situated at Lepak One Corner @ Sengkang, went viral for their ultra-cheesy pastas cooked in claypots. Although this unconventional cooking method might trigger some Italians, it piqued the interest of many adventurous Singaporeans, myself included.

Food at Super Cheesy Western Claypot Pasta

As someone who loves both pasta and cheese, I was pretty stoked to see what Super Cheesy Western Claypot Pasta offers. On their menu, you will find that they do both claypot pasta, as well as claypot rice, depending on your preferred choice of carb. 

For a good variety, we decided to go for one pasta and one rice dish. We then got to choose from their wide variety of sauces: Black Pepper ($6.50), Tomato Pomodoro ($6.50), Truffle Cream ($8), Creamy Mentaiko ($8), Thai Tom Yum ($7), and Golden Salted Egg ($7). From there, you can go for protein options such as chicken ($2), prawn ($3), duck ($3), and crab ($4).

We settled on their best-selling Thai Tom Yum Cheesy Claypot Pasta and signature Black Pepper Cheesy Claypot Rice. For the former, we got it with chicken, while for the latter, we opted for smoked duck. 

We tried the rice dish first. We were expecting a sauce similar to the umami-packed black pepper sauce that usually accompanies the chicken chop dishes you’ll find at Western hawker stalls. But what we got instead was a bland sauce that barely clung onto each grain. 

The level of cheesiness that we were looking for was also pretty minimal, to our disappointment. The only saving grace for this dish seemed to be the bits of crispy charred rice that we scraped and polished off from the bottom and sides of the claypot. 

The smoked duck was also nothing to shout about; it somehow lacked the smoky taste that would have given this dish a much-needed leg up. 

We still kept our hopes up for the claypot pasta, as we thought less could go wrong since it was what the stall was most known for. As soon as we took our first bite, we noticed that the flavours here were more prominent. The tom yum sauce was aromatic and packed a bit of heat, which we appreciated.

We had also, to our pleasant surprise, noticed fibres of lemongrass buried within the pasta noodles. This suggested that they went out of their way to prepare the sauce from scratch, instead of using some super-processed, store-bought paste. 

The decision to use linguine—long and broad pasta noodles—was a smart one, as the wide surface area of each strand allowed the sauce to cling to the noodles. The pasta was also al dente—a major plus point in my books! 

Unfortunately, we were let down again by the small amount of cheese; this dish was not what one would expect when eating something called ‘cheesy claypot pasta’. Although a generous ladle of cheese sauce was poured over the pasta, the cheese pull was almost non-existent and flavour was rather lacklustre. 

We also topped up an additional $5.90 for their Set Meal, which consisted of a soup and a side of either calamari rings, chicken karaage, or mozzarella sticks. The mushroom soup seemed to have come out of a can as it was overly clumpy and salty. 

As for the side, we picked the mozzarella sticks. Although it lacked the expected cheese pull, it was still generally enjoyable to munch on. 

Ambience at Super Cheesy Western Claypot Pasta

Super Cheesy Western Claypot Pasta is located in a Sengkang food court that’s a seven-minute walk from Farmway MRT Station. While the space is enclosed, you get plenty of ventilation from the surrounding windows and fans. They also have plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. 

The verdict

In my opinion, Super Cheesy Western Claypot Pasta is worth a try only if you’re in the area. Sadly, I don’t think it lives up to the hype. I felt that the main factors that were supposed to make this dish what it was were distinctively absent. One, it was not cheesy enough; two, the claypot did not do much to enhance the flavours. 

However, it might have also been a one-off consistency issue since some online reviews have said good things about the food here. So be your judge and try it out for yourself! 

For another affordable spot to satiate your pasta cravings, check out Style Palate at Woodleigh Village Hawker Centre feature. Else, check out our Sengkang food guide for other good bites in the area.

Address: 326 Anchorvale Road, Lepak One Corner @ Sengkang, Singapore 540326
Opening hours: Daily 11am to 10pm
Website
Super Cheesy Western Claypot Pasta is a Muslim-owned eatery.

Photos taken by Marcus Neo.
This was an independent visit by Eatbook.sg.