I have previously professed my appreciation for thunder tea rice but it is not a common hawker dish, at least in the east, so when I see it I must try it.

This stall encompasses the entire coffee shop, tucked away off Sims Ave. The area is surprisingly peaceful considering how close it is to the hustle and bustle of our red light district.

The hawker asked if I wanted vegetarian or regular, I did not ask what the difference was, but the regular came with dried prawns, umami oompf.

The flavour was quite different to what I had come to expect from thunder tea rice. Perhaps this is a more original flavour, savoury with noticeable tea tannins. As a wine drinker I find this pleasurable. The soup is measurably grittier and creamier, as if some nuts were ground into the “thunder tea”.

I only ordered a small, but the portion sizes here are generous. The brown rice bowl came with your standard mix of cabbage, beans, tofu, preserved radish, peanuts. The green vegetable served with it was interesting though, reminded me of sayur manis, the vegetable you commonly see on menus in Sabah. I’ve only ever seen it served once before in Singapore at Tekong Seafood Restaurant.

You can’t go wrong with this bowl of thunder tea rice.

Price: $4.50

Coffee shop: Thunderbolt Tea by Boon Ley Traditional Hakka Lui Cha
Address: 129 Geylang East Ave 2, Singapore 380129
Hours: 9am - 2pm