Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab

Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab is a casual restaurant at 39 Tyrwhitt Road in Jalan Besar. It serves two things that rarely share a menu: baked chicken pies and crab bee hoon soup. Both come from the same family's recipes.

The story begins with Don Lim, who started baking his chicken pie in 1983 while working in a company staff canteen. He opened his Don Pie shop at Far East Square in 2000 and sold the business in 2014. During the pandemic, Don asked his nephew, Kelvin Leong, to bring the recipe back, and this restaurant opened in 2021. Kelvin runs the kitchen today.

What to order

The Crab Bee Hoon Soup is the dish most people come for. It pairs rice vermicelli with mud crab in a herbal seafood broth. The restaurant uses Sri Lankan mud crabs, which are delivered daily. The dish began as a family meal, and Kelvin's mother taught Don how to cook crab. Later, people walking past Don Pie smelled the broth and asked if they could order it too.

Crabs come in several sizes, so the dish works for one person or a group. Other versions include crab laksa bee hoon, black pepper crab bee hoon and cheese crab bee hoon. There is also a classic chilli crab.

The chicken pie is the other half of the name. Each pie is folded by hand and baked in small batches through the day. You can order a personal pie or a whole one to share. Other fillings include black pepper chicken, curry, beef and a chicken shepherd's pie.

If you would rather skip crab, try the prawn and lala (clam) bee hoon dishes, the drunken prawns or the crab meat fried rice. To finish, or to take home, there is kueh lapis (a layered cake), cheesecake and rich cake.

The setting

The room has wood-panelled walls, high-backed booths and tables by the window. It is fully indoors and air-conditioned. The space is split into two sides. One side is pet-friendly, so dogs and cats can join you. The other side, by the counter, is pet-free and looks into the kitchen.

Good to know before you go

• You can book a table online through the restaurant's website, or get in touch by phone or WhatsApp.
• There are parking lots in front of the restaurant and more across the road at Jalan Besar Stadium.
• Short on time? The pies are also sold at takeaway kiosks in Wisma Atria, AMK Hub, Tiong Bahru Plaza and White Sands.

Getting there

The restaurant says it is about a 10-minute walk from Farrer Park, Lavender and Jalan Besar MRT stations.

Nearby

Tyrwhitt Road is on the edge of Little India. After your meal, take a walk through Little India, or read our list of dishes to try in Little India. For dim sum in the same area, try Sum Dim Sum on Jalan Besar. For more crab, see our guide to chilli crab and seafood restaurants, or browse all restaurants in Little India and Jalan Besar.