Charly T @ The Cathay

Charly T is a small diner situated at The Cathay. It's specialty is its roast chicken, and in a way it is very much like Kenny Rogers Roasters. 

I baulked when I first heard how much their whole chickens cost - $42? True, it comes with four sides, but still... I can buy a whole chicken from NTUC for less than $7 and roast it myself! 

So the real reason why I came here was because I had two BigDeal vouchers ($15 for $30 each). 

Deep fried calamari rings, $9

A decent dish you can do with or without. I don't know what the sauce is, but it was slightly sour, which I felt wasn't really suitable for the calamari.

Charly T half chicken - $24, with 3 sides

The chicken was not bad, but for this price, it was definitely not worth it. At least it wasn't too dry, especially the breast. I do recall Kenny Rogers Roasters' chicken breast being so dry that I would need to eat it with some of their macoroni cheese.

The chicken also comes with 3 sauces, which was also one of their so-called selling points. While the sauces tasted quite special and good, I didn't think they were really necessary.

Macoroni and cheese, coleslaw, butter garlic rice

The macoroni cheese was quite poor; it tasted bland and a bit artificial. Kenny Rogers Roasters' macoroni cheese is still my favourite. The coleslaw was average, but the butter garlic rice was not bad.

Moroccan beef sticks with roasted potatoes, $16

The beef was nicely medium, so it was still quite juicy. This helped to cover up the slight lack of beef flavour. I guess they use New Zealand beef, which is cheaper but not as flavourful as Australian beef.

CT Fries, $8

I found the fries to be the best of all. Deliciously hot and slightly crispy, I had to refrain from finishing the whole bowl, if not I wouldn't have enough space in my stomach for the chicken and beef. 

So would I come here again if I didn't have any vouchers? Well, I would consider it only on Mondays, when they have their whole chicken promotion - $30 for one whole chicken with 4 sides (normal price is $42). Other than that, I wouldn't even step one foot in.