Tham’s Roasted Delights – Ex-Imperial Treasure Chef Sells Peking Duck in Coffeeshop

The newly renovated Food Haus is probably one of the most Instagram worthy kopitiam in Singapore. Besides housing famous brands such as Bangkok Street Mookata, Chiangmai Thai Kitchen and Ng Guan Chilli Pan Mee, the neighbourhood coffeeshop in Ang Mo Kio also plays host to Hola Western stall and Tham’s Roasted Delights.

I heard Tham’s Roasted Delights sells Peking Duck ($50 for whole), so we went to try it today! They only start preparations after lunch and the roasting time is approximately 45 minutes to an hour. Due to space constraints, they only roast about 10 ducks a day. Hence, advance order is recommended.

Max Tham, the chef and owner of Tham’s Roasted Delights, will carve the skin of the Peking Duck skilfully into thin crispy pieces at your table. While the duck lacked an alluring smokiness, the skin was delicious and shatteringly crispy. It was great on its own, or with just a dip of sugar, and even better when paired with hoisin sauce, sliced cucumbers, scallions and a thin crepe. Don’t take too long with your photos, eat it as soon after it is freshly cut.

When you order Peking duck in restaurants, the remaining meat is usually cooked in a style of your choice — stir-fried with noodles, made into soups etc. Because this is a kopitiam setting, there are limitations when it comes to the cooking methods. They can only slice the remaining meat for you to enjoy which was, unfortunately, a little tough for my liking. But for the price we are paying, no complaints lah.

Having previously worked in restaurants such Imperial Treasure and Crystal Jade, Max has, naturally, chosen to once again specialise in Cantonese-style roasted meats.

Besides Peking Duck, they also serve Roast Duck, Roast Pork and Char Siew. They also have Gui Fei Chicken which was unfortunately sold out during my visit. The chicken is dunked in a pot of brine infused with herbs, hence the meat is supposed to be moist and really tender. Can’t decide which meat to get? Go for the best of all worlds with the 4 Combo Platter ($24)!