The Old Raffles Place

Best prawn, luksa.
Med pricing but well worth it -
Prawns are large, and the flavour is authentic. Could do with a little more tofu, but that will be different for all. Food is yummmmm.

I nearly forgot about my experience here but had to chime in to voice my opinion to balance out a review I read that did not reflect my meal here.

I have a feeling the people who come here have been away from singapore for very long, and maybe over time I might lower my standard. But unlikely. Maybe I’m too fresh from sg but I don’t think I would go to old raffles place again. Just like I seldom go to raffles place in Singapore.

The food is alright (3/5 in my opinion - passable but not going back again willingly). And the service by some of the young folks working there is appalling. However, the ambience is on point - nice old school decor, very nostalgic - I’ll give them 4/5 for effort.

Food wise - we tried a lot of things. The best surprisingly was the sweet and sour pork ribs, but do get the plain rice or chicken rice to go with it. The carrot cake in the sweet black sauce was not bad. The CKT at old raffles place was just sweet and not spicy and no wok hei. The Jalan Kayu roti prata is just a piece of frozen prata from the supermarket cut into 4 pieces - for $8? !? ! The hokkien mee was at the very least Singaporean style, but way too soupy and no wok hei. The flavor is not bad though. We didn’t get to try chicken rice cos it’s sold out.

Tiger beer is good for nostalgia, but our teh tarik took almost half the meal (20 to 30 mins) before it came. Taste not bad but the waiter alr gave us attitude for checking on it after 15 mins - “the kitchen is busy, it will come when it will come”. Mm. Also same waiter (young boy why you so angry) told us not to bother to get more food cos it will take more than an hour and we might as well leave and allow more people to come in (what? !? !).

In conclusion, bring cash, come with friends who are out of town or just for the first time. I wish the young folks will learn some manners. The level of service is just as bad as HK Cha Chaan Teng and food is not as good.

Generous and large potion. Tastes so so, more likely on the sweet side. Hokkien mee is better than the CKT. Sambal is quite yum but too little

Delicious authentic and reasonably priced. This joint is great if you want a nice home cooked meal. I loved the char kuay teow. Will be coming back

4.3/5
We had toa pa yoh radish cake and penang char kuay teow and boy it reminded me of home? The wok hei, the texture, the saltiness were just perfect. The chilli fish fillet was a let down, wasn’t as good as I thought. Definitely coming back to try the race course char kuay teow and hokkien mee! And for the service, it was pretty ok considering it’s a chinese (ish) restaurant.

Hands down best Hor Fun I've had
Came with my sg friend who said the Hor Fun is even better than most of the ones in Singapore.
Definitely worth the travel from Sydney to eat

Hokkien mee is also the real deal

Well this is the second time I have come to this fine establishment, humble on approach huge on flavour my friends you will not leave without your palate being completely satisfied. So it was a lazy Saturday afternoon we were on our way to see some local music and this hidden gem was just around the corner so we stopped for a quick bite to eat.

We had the Lobak pork (bean curd wrapped pork and fried) soo much flavour the spice mix or the sauce put through highly recommend this to start.

Then the Malaysian chef decided to whip us up with a Penang style char Kueh tiaw man this dish had so much flavour from the wok and from the highly skill led chef at the helm and to accompany this savagely delicious dish we had the Balinese style pork with sticky black sauce this is something incredible the pork is fried somehow is crispy and soft at the same time a true marvel and lathers in a sticky sweet sauce just outstanding.

Not only is the food delicious the owner is an excellent conversation he has been in the same place for over 20 years and has a lot of knowledge about the area great for a chat with dinner as well.

We will definitely be back again till next time my friends….

Delicious food and friendly staff!
We were seated and served quickly at 8: 30pm on a Saturday night with no booking. Very impressive, I would definitely come back again

It's hard to believe that others have found this place to be so appealing. Maybe the grunginess has its supporters. As for the food - definitely over-priced. I had a seafood laksa that had tasteless bits of fish and rubbery, flavourless bits of squid floating around it. The bean curd cubes could have come from any commercial kitchen. They were even more rubbery than the squid.
We dined in. I knew there was to be a 10% surcharge to the total bill. I would have been more accepting of this surcharge had the meal met my expectations - raised as a result of referring to positive reviews.
There are definitely other venues that serve really good laksas and at realistic prices.

As a singaporean, this is the closest singapore food i have eaten in Melbourne. Rlly nice food and friendly service

I give 5 star for this restaurant. I had eat all the food nearly 6month and sometimes I ordered different food. The taste is very nice and similar Singapore style. The most important is the ingredients very fresh! Laksa taste very perfect. Fried Kuey Teow very nice. All the food NOT so oily. Highly recommend this restaurant love the food so much.

A truly transporting and delicious experience with a richness and complexity of flavour that is Singapore away from home ~ always a pleasure to eat here

Wow! The dining experience there was great! It's a cosy place that serves yummy Singaporean food. The fish curry was the best curry I have tried in Melbourne and the Lor 29 Fried Hokkien Noodles was just like the ones I ate in Singapore! We also loved the Char Kway Teow, Toa Payoh Char Tao Kway and Loh Bak. The entire dinner was more than scrumptious! Thank you for the yummilicious food.

What a wonderful food, wonderful family, and wonderful corner! This gem has been here for 21 years, and I hope keeps giving so much goodness to the neighbourhood for many more years.

Purposely drove there just wanted to try Singaporean food. When reached the front door, saw a matured lady who looked like the owner of the place. I mentioned to her that i needed a table for 3, she just blankly stared at me and my whole family (with no expression) and said "can not! ". I asked why? She said "full already" while pointing to the dinning area, i said i could wait, she just said she didnt know for how long. The whole time while talking to her, she gave me the impression that she didnt bother to have any more customers, she also talked in a rude tone (kind of reminded me of typical hawker's aunty in Singapore). I felt offended and not welcomed at all. She didnt say anything further and just got back to her kitchen, as for us.we wasted 20mins to drive there just to get rejected. What an awful awful arogant service especially when it came the owner! They just didnt bother at all!

We love this place and have been coming for many years. Every time we bring someone they absolutely love it. We come for the sambal eggplant because it’s bloody amazing! Had a great convo with the lady owner who passionately talked about how she makes the sambal paste. Cute authentic local family business, very happy to support them and hope they can be around for another 20 years.

Had a great chat with one of the staff and she suggested our dishes. It was a great selection. Food was really tasty and unique.

Great place, delicious food.
The Old Raffles Place has a wide varieties of food and the overall food will make you salivating. Hainanese Chicken Rice is a must try dish here.
Really great place to eat in. Eat in here will give you a feeling that you eat in Singapore, even though you are in Melbourne.
Pictured here are Hainanese Chicken Rice set, and Old Raffles Lobak.

Ordered the pepper beef and snow peas. It came with 4 snow peas and a half filled container, very disappointed given the price. Stick to the noodles if coming here

Racecourse Chat kway Teow and Nasi Goreng were Delicious! Great value and soooo yummy! Delivered by Doordash. All went well! Very happy. Thank you!