Lad & Dad — Proper British Comfort Food Minus The Hefty Price Tag

Update: Lad & Dad has ceased operations at Maxwell Food Centre and has opened a gastropub in Tanjong Pagar Plaza.

Perhaps odd that in the middle of Maxwell Food Centre, where you’d normally expect to find your typical Singaporean fare, is a stall that sells not-so-typical British food. What we mean by that is—quintessentially British comfort food without the quintessential British price tags.

Opened by a father-and-son duo (hence the name Lad & Dad), this humble stall has been the best place to bless our stomachs with the wonders of proper and affordable English food.

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Their menu has been through multiple changes since it’s inception and has since been simplified down to 5 items on the menu, putting out the best of the best recipes they have and focusing on only the taste and quality rather than overcomplicated dishes.

Without haste, we ordered their best selling dish, the Beef Stew (S$10). The humble bowl was generously filled with the brown herb gravy, with chunks of beef and carrots sticking out through the surface. While they also offered other sides like homemade mashed potatoes, fusilli pasta, soft buns or a mesclun salad, we felt like the Calrose rice would go best with the stew.

We were only provided with a spoon for this dish, and we absolutely understood why. The beef chunks were so tender that all you really needed was a spoon to break it apart. With a good mix of lean meat, tendon and fats, not much chewing was required honestly. Combined with the rich, earthy taste of the stew, each mouthful of rice and beef was absolutely divine.

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Let no one say “What’s so good about just sausage with potatoes?” ever again. Their Bangers N Mash (S$8) was an absolute gamechanger, and completely rewired our perception of the usual (and otherwise, a little pathetic) chicken franks. Using fresh English pork sausages, each snap of the skin oozed more of its glorious robust flavours into the gravy and mash.

Unlike most mashed potatoes that tend to be either too dry, too mushy or just plain bland, theirs was far from it. It was both smooth and chunky, with a rich taste of potato and butter without being overwhelming or too cloying. Light on the taste buds and tongue, it complemented the intense pork sausages extremely well.

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Of course, we couldn’t stop ourselves from creating our own little masterpiece. We took a little bit of every element and placed it on our spoon, and trust us when we say that was probably the most indulgent bite we’ve ever had.

They are, indeed, serving up “proper comfort food” and you’d be hard pressed to find anything like them for such drop-dead attractive prices. Kiss goodbye to the days of blowing money at overtly posh places, because Lad & Dad’s got you fed like a king.

Lad & Dad
7 Tanjong Pagar Plaza, #01-108
Singapore 081007
Tel: +65 9247 7385
Mon to Sat: 12pm – 12am
Nearest Station: Tanjong Pagar