Chef-In-Box Vendcafe opens at Ang Mo Kio and Lakeside MRT – here’s what we think of the latest high-tech food trend
Singaporean foodies love their juxtaposition – on one hand, we’re ardent defenders of our historic hawker heritage; on the other, we’re just as eager to jump onto tech-driven food fads like molecular gastronomy and UberEats. The latest of the latter is Chef-In-Box VendCafe, which has just opened its doors at Ang Mo Kio and Lakeside MRT station.
The concept aims to provide hungry commuters with a convenient and affordable way to grab a meal on the go. By dispensing food via cashless payment (Android Pay, Apple Pay, contactless credit cards and transport cards like EzLink, and NETS FlashPay) from giant vending machines, the concept aims to eliminate queues and waiting time. The concept offers two vending machines – one which dispenses cold food that can be microwaved on site or at home, and a second which dispenses hot food ready to eat. While this is certainly an intriguing concept, the most important factor will always be the quality of the food. We got the opportunity to try five dishes from Chef-In-Box and here’s what we think, taking into account that this is convenience food and not a gourmet experience.
Hainanese chicken chop rice ($4): 4/10
Microwaving a dish with sauce and fried dishes packed together never works out well, and the Hainanese chicken chop rice is proof of that. This one brought back terrible memories of military ‘cuisine’ during National Service.
Paella with salmon patty ($5.90): 8/10
Chef-In-Box ventures beyond local favourites with dishes like its salmon paella. No salmon fillet though – the yellow spiced rice comes with a flaky salmon patty and a topping of… black pepper sauce? The dish is very far from what Spanish paella should be, but despite the dish’s failed Spanish aspirations, it’s an example of what good convenience food can be.
Thai green curry rice ($4): 8/10
This dish is tied with the salmon paella for best Chef-In-Box dish we tried. The green curry was fragrant, spicy and had a generous portion of chicken and brinjal. The rice,however, was rather dry, but nothing the lashings of curry couldn’t fix.
Spaghetti bolognaise ($4): 5/10
This is exactly what you’d expect from microwaved Italian food – rubbery spaghetti, sour bolognaise, and post-dinner contemplation on why you didn’t just go to a proper Italian restaurant.
Fried white carrot cake ($4): 7/10
This one was a pleasant surprise. The white carrot cake was firm and came with a generous portion of really fresh shrimp! Being swindled by convenience food is practically a fact of life these days, so I can’t emphasise enough how much I appreciate getting a good portion of meat in a dish. The carrot cake chunks were firm and the entire dish wasn’t swimming in oil. My only gripes here were the lack of wok hei (can’t be helped) and the lack of chilli.
Our verdict?
One major disappointment about the concept is that VendCafe is not a cafe; it’s really just a space with a vending machine and a microwave. The food itself is hardly something we’d rave about, but the convenience is the main draw. Bottom line? We’d still choose to brave a hawker queue for our carrot cake, especially since it’s the same price.
Chef-In-Box VendCafe, Ang Mo Kio and Lakeside MRT Stations.