White House Teochew Porridge Review: Popular Serangoon Eatery Open Since 1996

White House Teochew Porridge is a popular eatery since 1996

When talking about the best Teochew porridge places in Singapore, White House Teochew Porridge is a name that’ll inevitably come up. Currently located along Serangoon Road, this eatery has been serving up its homely fare since 1996, steadily building loyal patronage for itself over the years.

But as with any eatery that’s been around for a good while, it’s important to ask if they’ve stood the test of time. And so we recently visited White House to see how their fare holds up in 2024.

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Food at White House Teochew Porridge

As you’d expect, there’s an impressive range of dishes to choose from here, so we decided to ask the staff to recommend a few must-haves. We ended up with the spread you see in the picture above.

Let’s start with the smallest, yet arguably most important item here, the Hae Bee Hiam ($3+).

Packed with umami goodness and a hint of spiciness, this dish single-handedly gave the plain Porridge ($1.40+)—that plainness is intentional, mind you—plenty of flavour. We found ourselves always reaching for more to mix into the watery gruel, so we’d say this is an essential item to get.

Another dish we really enjoyed was the Braised Duck ($12+). Braised for over an hour in their signature sauce, each slice was rich in flavour and nicely tender. Dipping the slice of duck into the accompanying chilli sauce provided a refreshing tang.

The Chye Poh Omelette ($3+) had that savoury goodness that one expects from chye poh AKA preserved radish, but we felt the egg was fried till a little dry. Having it with the wet porridge alleviated this somewhat, though.

The thick slab of Otah ($7+) was a delight. We enjoyed its juicy texture, piquant flavour, and the hint of smokiness that rounded it off beautifully.

The most expensive item we got was, of course, the Steamed Fish ($20+). Served Teochew-style, with a light soy sauce-based broth, tomatoes, pickled vegetables and other ingredients adding flavour to the fish.

With such a clean-tasting set of ingredients, it was imperative that the fish had to be top-notch. Unfortunately, the freshness left much to be desired, and there was a noticeable fishiness that detracted from the experience. That said, many online reviews praise the quality of their fish, so perhaps we just caught them on an off day.

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Ambience at White House Teochew Porridge

White House Teochew Porridge operates out of a pretty spacious eatery, with ample tables and decent ventilation throughout the space. It’s not going to wow you with how it looks, but that’s certainly not the point—you’re going to be there for some Teochew porridge, after all.

We visited on a weekday for lunch and it was fairly crowded with a mix of residents from the area and office workers. The eatery is a nine-minute walk from Boon Keng MRT Station.

The verdict

If you’re looking for a homely meal, White House Teochew Porridge will impress with its traditional approach and comforting dishes. It’s worth noting that prices here are a bit higher than your typical Teochew porridge spot, so keep that in mind.

For a Teochew porridge stall that’s been around since before WWII, read our Choon Seng Teochew Porridge feature. For fish soup stalls to check out, read our best fish soup in Singapore guide.

Address: 1096 Serangoon Road, Singapore 328193
Opening hours: Daily 11am to 11pm
Website
White House Teochew Porridge is not a halal-certified eatery.

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Photos taken by Paula Formantes.
This was a media tasting at White House Teochew Porridge.