DESCRIPTION
Craig Road begins from the junction of Neil Road and Keong Saik Road and ends at Tanjong Pagar Road. Named after Captain James Craig, an officer in the Merchant Service Guild and member of the Freemason Zetland Lodge, this road along with two other nearby roads Duxton Road and Duxton Hill was once a residential area for the poor. Rickshaw pullers, prostitutes, dock workers and gangsters set up home along the street. However, due to rapid urbanisation following Singapore’s independence in 1965 Craig Road gained an image makeover.
Currently part of the Tanjong Pagar Conservation Area, the road has become an upscale spot populated with shops, restored shophouses, terrace buildings, eating places, pubs, residential and commercial establishments (Craig Place, The Pinnacle, Chinatown Plaza) and other interesting sites like the Duxton Plain Park and Poo Thor Jee temple.
Korean barbeque joints and restaurants are aplenty in this area too. Despite the competition, one of the mainstays is Twins Korean Restaurant by twin chef-owners Park Woo Jae and Park Sung Jae. Tucked in this corner shop house on Craig Road with a unique east meets west wall mural on the exterior wall facing Duxton Road by local artist Justin Lee, the minimalist and industrial-looking “chi mac” (fried chicken and beer) place serves a wide variety of Korean fried chicken – original, onion, cheese, soy, yangnyum, kkangpungki, dakgangjung and chicken BBQ. They only use fresh chicken instead of the frozen ones to retain the flavour and juiciness and use their home-made special sauces for the marinade. They also carry in their menu authentic Korean food favourites like their signature jjambbong (spicy seafood noodle) and army stew, stir-fry glass noodles and other Korean street food items such as tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) and seafood pancake. If you fancy some dessert, they can also whip up the good ol’ bingsu (Korean shaved-ice dessert with sweet toppings) or they can serve Korean beer topped with ice cream.