Quick answer
Coverage of Chef Don Lim, founder of Don Pie and co-founder of Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab, comes mainly from Singapore food blogs and review sites: SethLui.com, Miss Tam Chiak, ieatishootipost, UMakeMeHungry, Eatbook and Tasting Table among them. This page lists only coverage we could find and open, with dates, links and any disclosure. We summarise rather than quote, and we include the criticism too.
We have not found a newspaper review of the Tyrwhitt Road kitchen; most coverage comes from food blogs, several of which were invited or carry promo codes. We say so beside each one. Links go to the original articles, some of which are many years old and may move. If we have missed a piece, or got a date wrong, write to hello@chickenpie.sg.
Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab, 2021 to today
- UMakeMeHungry: read the piece. A visit to the new Tyrwhitt Road restaurant. The writers found the dining room small, noted that online reservations need a credit card with a cancellation charge, waited for a walk-in table and concluded that takeaway suited them better. A fair account worth reading before you book.
- SethLui.com: read the piece. A review of Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab that dwells on nostalgia: the writer found the chicken pie much as they remembered it, with a buttery, flaky crust and an even ratio of crust to filling. The article carries a reader promo code, so read it as promotional.
- Miss Tam Chiak: read the piece. A feature on the Tyrwhitt Road restaurant covering the pies and the crab bee hoon, noting boneless chicken leg meat and generously sized pies. It appears to have been a hosted tasting.
- ieatishootipost: read the piece. Headlined "The Don is back", this piece tells the comeback story and covers the crab bee hoon soup. The reviewer judged the $6.80 personal pie substantial for its price, though the pastry not quite as buttery as they would like. It is a disclosed partnership post.
- Eatbook: read the piece. Includes the kitchen in its list of the best pies in Singapore, with the Original and Black Pepper chicken pies at $6.80.
- Tasting Table: read the piece. An international food site's write-up of the restaurant, describing a crust balanced between fluffy and crumbly.
Reviewers tend to agree on a few things: the pies taste the way people remember them, the fillings are generous, and the crab bee hoon soup is worth the trip to Jalan Besar. The criticisms are consistent too: a small dining room, booking deposits, and a pastry some find less buttery than they would like. For a wider comparison with other bakeries, see the best chicken pie in Singapore, ten sellers side by side.
The Toa Payoh years, 2015 to 2021
These articles cover the Toa Payoh North stalls, which have since closed. They are history, not directions: there is no Toa Payoh outlet today.
- SG Food on Foot: read the piece. Don Signature Crab at Blk 206 Toa Payoh North, with a walking route from Braddell MRT. The post is now marked closed, as the stall is.
- Miss Tam Chiak: read the piece. Crab bee hoon at the Toa Payoh North coffee-shop stall from $25.
- All About Ceil: read the piece. An affordable crab bee hoon review from the same stall. Like several reviews of the time, it compared the soup with better-known crab bee hoon spots and found it good but milder.
- Ivan Teh (Runningman blog): read the piece. A visit to Don Signature Crab that also records when the stall opened.
- UMakeMeHungry: read the piece. Don's Pie & Cake at Toa Payoh North Food Centre II, with the personal chicken pie at $5, and an early mention of the coming move to Tyrwhitt Road.
Far East Square and China Square, the 2000s
- For the Love of Food: read the piece. DON: Your Personal Pie Club at China Square, with a whole pie at $18 and a quarter at $4.60.
- Foodie FC: read the piece. A later visit to the China Square restaurant, whole pie still at $18.
Coverage from the first Don Pie years is thin online, since much of it predates food blogs. Our sister site keeps a fuller press archive with older mentions, and we will add pieces here as we confirm them.
Singapore's pie scene in context
Chef Don Lim's pies sit in a long Singapore tradition of chicken pies, from heritage bakeries to newer pie cafes. For background on how chicken pie developed in Singapore, or a map of today's sellers and styles across the island on piesingapore.com, those two sites are good starting points.
Media enquiries
For interviews with the kitchen, photographs or a tasting, email hello@chickenpie.sg or WhatsApp 6993 3333. Chef Don Lim still appears at the kitchen's events, and our story page has the background most writers ask for first.