Sik Bao Sin (Desmond's Creation)

Sik Bao Sin (Desmond's Creation) is a small zi char restaurant at 592 Geylang Road, between Lorong 34 and Lorong 36. Zi char means Chinese dishes cooked to order and shared with rice. The cooking here is old-school Cantonese, from a menu of just 13 dishes.

Chef Desmond opened the restaurant in 2014, after working at the Sik Wai Sin restaurant. The Michelin Guide describes him as a second-generation owner-chef who sticks to traditional recipes. In the Michelin Guide Singapore 2026, Sik Bao Sin holds a Bib Gourmand, the guide's award for good quality, good value cooking.

What to order

The short menu is built for eating with rice, so come with a few people and share several plates. The restaurant names three signatures:

• Steamed fish head: a classic of Cantonese home cooking.
• Tofu prawns: prawns cooked with soft tofu.
• Kailan beef: beef stir-fried with Chinese kale. It is known for its wok hei, the smoky taste from a very hot wok.

The Michelin Guide calls the sweet and sour pork the chef's own signature. It is cooked to order, so expect a short wait. The inspectors also like the ginger chicken, glazed in a mild chilli sauce and served with pickled ginger shoots. They suggest the kailan with prawns too.

The rest of the menu stays with home-style classics:

• Steamed pork with salted fish
• Bitter gourd with pork ribs
• Prawns with a special sauce
• Kangkong (water spinach) with belachan chilli or garlic
• Watercress soup and black chicken soup

Several dishes come in small or medium sizes, which helps when you are a pair or a small group. There are also seasonal dishes that are not on the printed menu, so ask what is available that day.

Good to know before you go

• No bookings: the restaurant does not take reservations. It is dine-in and takeaway only.
• Payment: the Michelin Guide notes that credit cards are not accepted, so have another way to pay.
• The room: it is a simple, air-conditioned dining room, a cool break from the heat of Geylang Road.
• Diet: pork appears in several dishes, so check with the staff if you avoid it.

Nearby

Geylang has plenty of other places for a casual meal. For chilli crab and other seafood, try No Signboard Seafood (Geylang). For a bowl of noodles, try Jalan Sultan Prawn Mee. Hawker fans can head to Old Airport Road Food Centre, a large hawker centre with dozens of stalls. See more restaurants in Geylang and Paya Lebar, or browse our lists of Chinese and dim sum restaurants and hawker favourites. The Sik Bao Sin website has the full menu.