The pies and crab of Chef Don Lim, founder of Don Pie and co-founder of our kitchen, have been covered by Singapore food blogs and media since at least 2008, when bloggers wrote about DON: Your Personal Pie Club at China Square. Coverage continued through the Toa Payoh crab stall (2017-2020) and the Tyrwhitt Road kitchen (2022 onwards), including SethLui.com, Miss Tam Chiak and ieatishootipost.
How we put this list together
This page is the outside record that sits behind the Original Don story and our dated timeline. It lists only coverage we have been able to find and read, with a link to each piece. We summarise each one in our own words. We do not quote star ratings, because ratings change and context matters. Where a piece was a partnership, a hosted tasting or carried a promo code, we say so, because you should know when a writer had a relationship with us.
If we have missed a piece, or a link has stopped working, that is our error. This list was last checked in October 2026.
The Far East Square and China Square years (2000s to early 2010s)
For the Love of Food blog, “DON Your Personal Pie Club”, October 2008. A visit to the China Square Central restaurant at 20 Cross Street, recording a whole chicken pie at $18 and a quarter at $4.60. It is one of the earliest independent records of Chef Don’s pies we have found. Read the 2008 post.
Foodie FC blog, “DON Your Personal Pie Club, China Square”, April 2012. A later visit to China Square, again recording a whole pie at $18. Read the 2012 post.
Earlier blog posts from 2006 also describe the pies, with egg, peas, carrots and a flaky crust. We have not listed them separately because we could not re-check the links for this page.
The Toa Payoh years (2015 to 2021)
SG Food on Foot, “Don Signature Crab, Toa Payoh North”, May 2017. A visit to Chef Don’s crab bee hoon stall at Blk 206 Toa Payoh North, dating its opening to March 2015 and giving walking directions from Braddell MRT. The post now marks the stall as closed. Read the SG Food on Foot post.
Miss Tam Chiak, “Delicious Crab Beehoon in Toa Payoh for $25”, 2017. A feature on Don Signature Crab and its crab bee hoon, with the story of Chef Don’s move from pies to crab. The writer compared the soup with better-known crab bee hoon of the time and found ours a little lighter. Read the Miss Tam Chiak feature.
All About Ceil, “Don Signature Crab: affordable crab bee hoon”, August 2017. Another 2017 review of the Toa Payoh stall, with a similar verdict: good value, a lighter soup than some rivals. Read the All About Ceil review.
Ivan Teh, Runninghawker blog, “Don Signature Crab”, February 2019. A visit that dated the stall’s opening and found the claypot crab laksa decent. Read Ivan Teh’s post.
UMakeMeHungry, “Don’s Pie & Cake, Signature Crab”, September 2020. A review of the Toa Payoh Food Centre II stall at 1008A Toa Payoh North, where Chef Don’s pies had returned, recording a personal pie at $5 and noting the upcoming Tyrwhitt Road location. Read the 2020 UMakeMeHungry review.
The Tyrwhitt Road years (2021 onwards)
UMakeMeHungry, “Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab”, July 2022. An honest, mixed review. The writer found the restaurant small, the booking terms strict, and concluded that takeaway suited them better. We list it because it is fair comment and useful to anyone planning a visit. Read the 2022 UMakeMeHungry review.
SethLui.com, Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab feature, December 2022. A feature on Chef Don’s return, describing a buttery, flaky crust, a rich creamy filling, and a pie that took the writer back to childhood. Disclosure: the article carried a reader promo code. Read the SethLui.com feature.
Miss Tam Chiak, Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab, December 2022. A feature on Chef Don’s cooking at Tyrwhitt Road, describing boneless chicken leg meat in the filling and generously sized pies. Disclosure: this appears to have been a hosted tasting. Read the 2022 Miss Tam Chiak feature.
ieatishootipost, “Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don’s Signature Crab Bee Hoon: The Don is back!”, April 2023. Leslie Tay’s long piece on Chef Don’s story, describing the pie’s old-school Hainanese character and judging the $6.80 personal pie good value, while wishing the pastry were a little more buttery. Disclosure: a stated partnership post. Read the ieatishootipost article.
Yahoo Life Singapore, feature on Chef Don Lim’s return. A feature on Chef Don Lim as the founder of Don Pie, and on his comeback with Chicken Pie Kitchen. Read the Yahoo feature.
Tasting Table, on the restaurant and its chicken pot pie. An international food site’s piece on the restaurant, describing the crust as balanced between fluffy and crumbly. Read the Tasting Table piece.
Eatbook, “Best pies in Singapore”, checked in 2026. A round-up of pies across Singapore that includes our Original and Black Pepper chicken pies. Read the Eatbook round-up.
Community reviews
Burpple. Diners’ reviews from 2022 onwards, mostly about the generous filling with chicken, potato and half a hard-boiled egg, and about the lala and prawn bee hoon. Some reviewers say they would not travel for the pie alone. Read the Burpple reviews.
Round-ups by other sites. Two pages gather this outside record in one place: donpies.com keeps a round-up of what food blogs and diners say, praise and criticism together, and Pie Singapore’s profile of Chicken Pie Kitchen places DonChef’s pies alongside the city’s other sellers. Both belong to the same small family of pie sites as this one, so read them with that disclosure in mind.
What you will not find on this page
You will not find awards described as more than they are, quotes we cannot link to, or coverage of other businesses that have used the Don name. You will also not find star averages: they move, and a number without its context tells you very little. If you want to judge the pie, the better test is to taste it, ideally with our seven signs of the original Don pie in mind. Here is where to get the original Don pie.
