Saw the 2021 Bib Gourmand label when walking past looking for a dinner in the area. So we immediately sat down at one of the tables on street level and ordered some random dishes from the menu. So here is what I can say: All three dishes were spot on. First dish were stir fried prawns with leeks and ginger, 12$ a piece. The buggers were ginormous, juicy and succulent. Next up was frog in a clay pot covered in a tangy, dark sauce. Loved it. The frog had plenty of meat on the bone and was super tender. Last dish was sea cucumber with mushrooms in a gooey sauce. Mushrooms could have been mistaken for abalone, that’s how good this was. Beers were ice cold, the prices were pretty decent for what you get and service was friendly and efficient. Just one recommendation: Grab a table on the street, so outside the actual restaurant. Inside it is pretty ugly. But well you come here for the food not the atmosphere.

Don't even attempt to come in here without a reservation, especially for large groups. The place is jam packed, too noisy for any meaningful conversation and uncomfortable tight sardines-like seating. Prawns in the hor fun must have shrunk a whole lot from my memory of their old shop. Though still delicious this was. As was the Yong tau foo. Despite instructions to serve food slower due to the smallish table and tight uncomfortable seating, all our ordered dishes arrived all within 10 minutes. Leaving next to non manoeuvring dining space. Very decent zhi char with its own high points but losing points on the dining experience.

Kok Sen is a household name among Zhi Char fans. I have heard so much about this place and finally went to Kok Sen for dinner. They don’t take reservations so go at your own risk. We arrived before 6 pm and managed to secure a table for 2. The restaurant is situated along Keong Saik Street. They have 2 units and is air conditioned. The restaurant is spartan in decorations but is functional. It gives you an old school feel and inspire nostalgia. The customer service is average. We ordered the fish meat soup. This is probably the only dish that is good and worth its salt. The soup is tasty and it is generously accompanied with decent slices of fish. The tofu in meat and salted fish sauce is average at best. We ordered the fried ho fun with seafood and it is a tad too dry. The prawn paste chicken dish is also dry and lack flavor. The broccoli is also average. Overall the food is nothing like what I heard from my friends. The only saving grace is that the price points are reasonable. It will not bankrupt you. Maybe if I can marshal a bigger group, we will try the crabs and seafood dishes.

Highly Recommended 👍🏻 One of Singapore Michelin Guide recommended All the dishes ordered are delicious 😋 The Big prawn hor fun 🤩 🦐 the prawns are large and the gravy 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🤤 must try ! Especially the Golden Dragon Chicken.The skin is so crunchy the meat was so special like meat ball with whole chicken part 🤤 Overall food are so delicious 😋 No regret 😋 sure will come again.

Everything was so good, very well deserved be a Michelin Bib Gourmand authentic Singapore local food. There are a few must try’s - the big prawn noodles/ Ho fun; golden dragon chicken; Yong Tau Fu, braised bitter gourd with black beans. We have been here many times and it never fails us. Restaurant is always very crowded, it is better to make a reservation. Service is good and food is served without a long wait.

Grub 🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲 Dricka 🍷 Price 🔪 🔪 🔪 Vibes 🏮 🏮 🏮 Service 🙇 🙇 🙇 🙇 Parking 🅿 🅿 🅿 Overall 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 Cantonese cuisine. The must have here is the Big Prawn 🦐 horfun. Casual dinning atmosphere with focus on the food. Good stuffs to pair with 🍷. A Cantonese institution for wok hei (smokey sense - think wok fried rice straight to plate)

The hor fun and fermented beancurd vegetable are delightful. However, the curry fish head didn't meet expectations. Overall, the other dishes are satisfactory

Super bad. Cannot even cook proper chicken. I waited 40-50mins for a chicken. Ordered TWICE. Came out RAW TWICE. How can you mess up a chicken? Ultimately, super bad experience and will never come back again. Even if they offer me a free chicken, i think its going to be RAW AGAIN. Super bad. The staff meal came out faster than my 1 chicken.

Haven been here for some time decided to come back here again to try the dishes. Am quite satisfied that the food is still of standard and the consistency hasn't changed much. Food wise is still good and the speed they serve food seems to be pretty fast now. Ordered the usual signature dishes and they were all very satisfying. 1st time trying the golden chicken, a little expensive but worth it. Also 1st time trying the beef with bitter gourd and it was really good. My usual favourites are the claypot Yong Tau Foo and the prawn Sang Mee. As usual this place attract crowds so there was quite a queue when I arrived. Thank God they do actually allow reservation for groups bigger than 6 so it's a good tip to find a group to share the food and skip the queue. Definitely deserves the Bib Gourmand.

Be prepared to queue for your table, especially if you want to sit in the air conditioned restaurant. Overall the service is really good. Staff will recommend the right portions for you after you’ve named all the dishes you want to order. The food tasted really good and the bittergourd was our favourite. Sadly the infamous hor fun wasn’t to our liking. I found it odd that the sauce was a little spicy and so everyone on the table didn’t like it. However the prawns were huge and fresh. The other dish that I liked was the claypot yong tau foo. The stuffing was made by the restaurant so it has a different taste and feeling from what you get outside.

Shiokness in every delicious slurps of their Har Meen prawn noodles, soup and big, yes BIG juicy sweet fresh prawns! The soup isn’t any ordinary prawn noodles base, the taste is unique, with a punch of spiciness & har mai for you to chew. This shop has lived up to its Michelin star status. Will certainly be back to try out their other dishes. Saw my neighbour having the Crab Yong Tau Foo, I’ll certainly be back for it!

Disappointing meal , the bitter gourd seems to be pre cook n heat up in microwave. When serve the bowl is hot but not the food. Yong tau foo n the ngor xiang is equally Disappointing. It only took less den 10 mins after they place our order. Hor fan taste normal. Only for Prawn paste chicken is hot n good.

This is my first time after they move to a new and comfortable dining space (same street in Keong Saik Rd). Seats a bit cramped but with better ambience. We had to share our table with other diners. We are here for their renowned Big Prawn Horfun. Somehow I felt that it was a bit different but it’s still good. At Kok Sen, every bite is a celebration of culinary excellence.

It's been a while since I've been back and I've forgotten how good this ZhiChar place is. Every dish we had was amazing. I particularly liked the Bittergourd Pork Rib dish, which has amazing wok hei and balance. The claypot Yong Tau Foo was also exceptional.

Date of Visit : Fri 9 Sep 2022 Time : dinner around 6 Parking is a problem here. No queue. We were shown to a table in the aircon room. A notice was up saying that they are shifting soon to the beginning of the same street. All items were good. The prawn noodles sauce was slightly too salty and spicy.

The restaurant can sit around 11 tables so there is a persistent long queue outside because everyone is waiting for a seat. What stood out to me among the 8 dishes that my table ordered were the prawn paste chicken, hor fun and sweet sour pork. While they were not extremely spectacular, I would say these were nicer than the average tze char place. The total bill for 12 pax was $200+ (exact amount unsure), which I thought was pretty cheap considering we ordered big portion for all the items. Saw in the restaurant that they have put a notice indicating that they are shifting in Sep, so keep a look out for it if you plan to try the food.

Moonlight horfun is good but the big prawn hor fun is even better with chilli! Silky and luscious, it’s a very satisfying meal. The rest of the dishes are quite good too. Can call to ask for a reservation.

Everything we got was delicious. This zichar knows what they're doing. I'd highly recommend the prawn hor fun, prawn paste fried chicken, and tofu with minced meat. The portions are big, we only needed 4 dishes to feed 4 people. It's on the expensive side for zichar but still worth it

Recommended Cantonese zichar. They have recently revamp the place and there is aircon seating! Went a few times, this time did not order their signature dishes but the ordered dishes were still tasted decent. Hei zhor was quite different from what is outside and tasted abit like sotong ball. Cereal prawn was good, finished the whole plate of cereal 😋

Food is delicious! Serving portion is large (photos as shown are all small size serving), generous with the ingredients, zi char dishes in an air conditioned restaurant setting, absolutely value for money. Highly recommended 👍🏼

This is my first try after its move and renovation. I brought my colleagues along. We came on a weekday lunch, a few minutes before their opening time and there's already a queue forming. The indoor dining was full by 12.20pm. We ordered the big prawn hor fun, kang kong, frog with spring onion and ginger, yong tau foo. Service was really quick. Food came within 10 minutes after we ordered. The hor fun broth was eggy, spicy, and the right thickness. It's still my favourite. Kok Sen did one small improvement and that is the food is not as salty. I prefer food that it is less salty. It was my colleagues first try. We loved the food and the standards were maintained. The new space is more modern, cleaner and very pleasant. Will come back again!

My Personal Rating: 4.5* My family and some friends I have brought to this will never say no to this place! Now in this new venue, well, they have moved here for over a year from the old place a few hundred metres in the middle of Keong Saik Road, opposite Tong Ah Restaurant. This Cantonese restaurant is always busy, hustle and bustle every time I dine at this restaurant. Leslie, who is in charge of running the place, is friendly and accommodating every time when I visit and his hospitality makes my dining experience even more enjoyable. My favorite dishes are most the signature dishes at Kok Sen. Golden Dragon Chicken, Big Prawn Hor Fun, Claypot Yong Tau Fu, Bitter Gourd Pork Ribs, are always in my mind before I step into the place. This evening, I ordered the Sour Cabbage Seafood Soup as starter since it was raining out there and the air conditioning is quite cold; other dishes including the pre-ordered Golden Dragon Chicken, Prawn Hor Fun, Bitter gourd Pork Ribs, and tonight I ordered their Stir fry Black Pepper Beef. The Sour Cabbage Soup was very appetising and refreshing. Packed with sour, savoury and smooth punch. Refreshing!! The ingredients: prawns, squids, pork slices, tomatoes, were all fresh and well cooked; sour cabbages gave the solid sour kick! It was a good decision to order this soup 😄 Golden Dragon Chicken’s crispy skin and tender squid paste fillings were good contrast in texture and taste. The accompanying sweet sauce and chilli sauce added another dimension to the dish. Bitter Gourd Pork Ribs was well braised, savoury, not too bitter, meat was tender and well seasoned. The surprise was the Stir fry Black pepper Beef. Smoky, spicy and fresh black pepper sauce, tender meat, really hit the spot and made me wanting for rice, lots of rice!!! The staffs here work fast and service was good considering how busy the place is. All and all, another pleasant dining experience at Kok Sen Restaurant 🥰🥰🥰 Will be back for more with my family again, soon 😋

Worth visiting, I was there about 5:30pm. No queue but the place already packed. The service was great, friendly & helpful! Food was delicious & portions are quite big. No for dates, as the seating is a bit squeeze to accommodate more diners. Wide variety of food available.

Recommended by a friend! There is a very very long queue so if you’re dining in, please make a reservation! We dabao the food back home! The food is incredible, and definitely is above the usual zi char. Seafood big prawn hor fun is a must try! The minced meat tofu is very good too, with a very generous portion of minced meat. Price wise, of course it is on the pricey side. Expect to spend more than 100 for a decent meal for 4pax.

Overall, decent place to get some zichar food. Portions are very decent and the quality is there. 1. Kangkong was very good, not too spicy. They had plenty of onions with sambal so it was a unique twist 2. Cereal chicken was a sizeable portion and very tasty 3. Salted egg prawns were plump and very tender The biggest downer: Unfortunately, the fish soup had some bugs inside. In the first round, there were more than 5-7 bugs within the soup. We were speculating that they originated from the vegetables. - team managed to quickly replace the dish - however in the second dish, we found a few more small bugs. - we then decided to just remove them on our own as there were much lesser.

We were all ready to brave the heat to satisfy our craving for the Big Prawns beehoon soup. Pleasantly surprised that they have moved a few doors down and now air-conditioned. One of the few restaurants that does pure prawn stock and it’s excellent. Appreciate that the food is served piping hot.

We came very hungry and looking forward to some good flavors, and we were not disappointed. Thank you Kok Sen family for taking care of us and your delicious, generous food. If you visit Lombok sometimes please let us know, we would love to host you as well 🙏

Wow. Amazing food. I really enjoyed it here. The Big bowl prawn hor fun, sambal kangkong, claypot Yong tofu and barley water are all so delicious. I highly recommend if you don't mind some spice! 😋

Pretty good. The noodles are amazing. They don't look exactly like "model food" but the taste is great. Massive prawns, springy noodles. The food definitely live up to its Michelin recommendations. Service is quite cold.

4+ stars. Famous Michelin bib gourmand restaurant. Food quality: Delicious and nicely done Cantonese style food. Food portion / Price: Reasonable portions at restaurant prices. Service: + Fast to serve food - but because they’re so busy it may be difficult to catch waiter for additional orders or extra chill for example - cleaners attitude can be better, I barely avoiding spilled all the remaining soup and sauces on me & my bags when trying to clean the table Crowd: Always long queues and full of people. We went at close to 9pm on weekend and restaurant was almost full though we didn’t need to queue. Payment: Card or cash accepted.

We love Tze Char places, had to queue 40 mins after we arrived around 530pm (Sat) Been here once at their previous location further up the road. As usual, we ordered dishes we love, hor fun, chilli kangkong, bitter gourd w/sliced fish, Ngoh Hiang, yong tau foo, beef w/spring onions, roasted chicken + one big bottle Heineken Voila only $150, for 5 of us, can’t be happier. Highly recommended for those who love tze char dishes anywhere anytime

Went there again with my two friends and had prawn paste chicken, kang kong and tofu with meats. Prawn paste chicken is not too oily and you can really taste is nicely marinated. Kang Kong too with the shrimp and sambal is well stir fried. Tofu and meat is marinated nicely with the sauce. Have not been there for awhile but realised they have shifted and renovated. Had a quick dinner with my colleague. The yong tau fu is still as good. Was craving for sweet and sour pork and it just helped.

Good zhi char. Aircon, clean and spacious seating. Service was quite prompt and no nonsense. Above average price. Always packed, reservation recommended.

Old school Canton food that easily withstood the test of time. Good wok hei, great savoury notes and texture. Overall very delicious except that it's slightly pricey. However, easily a local's favourite

Always lovely to eat here with old school yummy tze Char! Phoenix chicken is a rare dish here and definitely a Specialty! Delectable!

Old school Cantonese cuisine with good wok hei! Try coming at 8.30pm onwards which is less crowded. But do note that their last order is at 9.30pm.

Again is a Michelin guide that don't really impressed... After many tried of others Michelin guide foods, need to conclude the White really don't understand/ know Asian foods... Not that this Kok Sen is bad but when it comes to Zi char there's really many many more better one around Singapore... N there others local "mentioned" but that seem so long time ago... Really don't have to comes all the way here to try it, unless u r around the corner... Nothing to rave bout...

5 Stars for Food 1 Star for Service Takeaway If you read the reviews, most agree that the food is good. However if you read about service related to takeaway, it is not good. If you eat there, it seems you will get your seats quite promptly. You will get your food punctually too. But if you order takeaway, you will wait for 1-1.5 hours or more. Anyone can call them up and order takeaway. You can also go there and order. Question you may want to ask yourself before you order takeaway. 1. Do you have time to wait for 1.5 hours for your food? 2. Do you know whether they have a good system when preparing food for dining in and takeaways? 3. Why is it takeaways take so long to prepare but not dining in? 4. Why do they not follow the number in sequence instead of randomly re-use the numbers again? 5. Why do they just give a number without the receipt showing the orders? 6. Why can’t they use a receipt with serial numbers and then serve them accordingly regardless on dining in or takeaways? 7. Do dine-in customers have priorities over takeaways? 8. Some of the people attending your takeaway orders might be very rude. Beware that you might get scolded by him or her. 9. If you order takeaways, make sure you ask the correct person. If he or she just tell you it is not ready without checking, ask another. Let me know whether this is a useful guide for you. Thanks 😊

Michelin worthy indeed. The wokhey in the prawn horfun was crazy, and prawns were huge too. Their claypot YTF had the most flavourful filling too. My go-to for tzechar. Never disappoints!

Loved the old world charm. Food was great, service not too bad, priced a little steep for dishes, but generally a nice place to have a meal with your family or friends.

Up next on the Michelin Bib Gourmand Singapore 2021 List, a visit was made to Kok Sen Restaurant. Located on Keong Saik Street, this restaurant is your typical Zhi Char place with a slight improvement on flavour and price as well. First up was their Prawn Paste Chicken. Darker than some places, the chicken is well flavoured and not too salty. There is some crunch to the chicken but as it is not heavily battered don't expect deep fried crunchy goodness. The meat are from various parts of the chicken so be careful with the bones. Second to arrive is the restaurants's specialty, the Big Prawn Hor Fun. Love the Wok Hei in the sauce and the Hor Fun. This dish is priced a little more due to the use of larger prawns. One grouse about the dish is that there were a lot of shell crunch in the sauce, so perhaps more care can be done there. Finally, to end the night, the top dish at the restaurant was ordered. The Claypot Yong Tau Foo is really good. From the claypot smell to the simmering of the food within, it was a great pairing of fish paste with vegetables. General Verdict: Standard Zhi Char place with slightly upmarket pricing. Dishes are good but may not live up to those who insist that anything more than typical Zhi Char prices should be perfect Queue Situation: Generally no queue but expect some waiting during dinner time after 7pm Prices: SG$30 and above Payment Mode: Cash and PayNow by QR code

Their prawn hor fun has to be one of my favorite things to eat in Singapore. The prawn paste chicken is pretty good too, and the chili that comes with it packs a punch. Can get super crowded on Friday/Saturday evenings, so either come early around 5-ish, or book in advance!

Covid. No queue. So decided to pop in good a quick lunch. Had my usual black bean beef horfan. Lacks wok-hei and a tad too sweet. Sgd7 is affordable but kinda pfff.....

One of the best zi char restaurants in Singapore, there's a good menu offering a great variety of dishes so be sure to come in a group to try more dishes. Everything we ordered was packed of flavour. The slightly chewy texture of the perfectly cooked Yong Tau Foo, the big prawn noodle in the rich and comforting sauce, the nuggets of flavour that were the fried crispy roast pork. You should BYO tissues or napkins.

Tasty zi char in the heart of Chinatown. The portion is big, hence 3 dishes for 2 is enough. The prawn here are sooo big and satisfied to bite. The lady who noted our order is very friendly and attentive. A bit pricey though.

This is my first visit here. Ordered the prawn paste chicken (big), big prawns hor fun (small), fried red snapper and pork. I like the fish and the big prawns hor fun. You can bring your own alcohol with $10 corkage fee. This is not bad but I think there’s definitely better zi char out there. We got seats before 7pm. Suggest to arrive before 7pm before crowd starts coming in.

Craving for the prawn hor fun and it did not disappoint. My friend found it a little too spicy but I am loving it. We both enjoyed the Yong Tau Foo and can't resist sharing a bowl of piping hot white rice to go with it. Happy belly!

1 hour queue, finally seated and served at 8+. Owner's son was apologetic that many of the popular dishes have been sold out but still tried his best to recommend. Very good attitude, chatting with the customers. Food is still good and worth the wait!

Be prepared to wait out if u are visiting during peak hours. Patience is key. But once seated , food is served reasonably fast. The Hor Fun is a must order. If u go by what's on the wall, those are highly recommended. Great food for the price u pay. Best time to go is weekdays after 8 pm.

Didn’t need to wait for a table when we arrived. Service was great and food tasted awesome. Only downside is the waiting time for food to be served as they were very busy. Otherwise it was a really satisfying meal and we’ll be back to try other dishes again.

The hor fun was good with some wok hei and good savoury sauce but the rest of the items we ordered was just normal decent zi char food. Service were thoughtful and I’m impressed. We insisted on ordering every item large size as we had 6 hungry pax but the staff just ignore us and key in medium size for most items knowing that we can’t finish all of it. And he was spot on!! We had to takeaway some of it at the end!! 🙏 I will love eat the hor fun again if there is not much queue!

This is the first time going back after their restaurant went through a refresh, and it seems like the food was tastier then. Don't get me wrong, the food wasn't bad, but it's definitely not worth the wait. Some people wait for over an hour to get seated. I wouldn't. The food is very oily compared to the last time I ate there, and almost everything we ordered was spicy/had chilli by default, without any indication on the menu that it would be spicy. This made it very difficult to let our toddler eat the food that we initially ordered. After 4 dishes were served, we had to order an additional plate of hor fun, with specific instructions that we needed it to be cooked without any chilli. Service was prompt, and the food served quickly.

The shop has recently been renovated but the queue is still as long as ever. They accept credit card now. Try to arrive before they open or be prepared to wait at least 30mins. Dishes are of decent quality given the price. Most people will order the big prawn hor fun, but the regular hor fun (wat tan hor) is equally good if not better with wok hei.

I was excited to take my overseas relatives there for dinner given their bib gourmand status. Unfortunately the hor fun lacked wok hey, steam fish overpriced, overall disappointing from when i was there 5-years ago.

My friend, mr Ken (live in Chinatown) introduced me. I really loved dishes in the first time I’ve tried. Next time I’m gonna be back and talk with the owner more 🤭 He was too shy to talk with my group including 5 girls 🤭