Was actually wanting to try out Kopifella’s Matcha Milk/Earl Grey Milk Toasts but wasn’t aware that they do not serve up toasts past a certain hour (was told that they did not serve them during the afternoon) — and that was how we chanced upon Syiok; a relatively new stall that I was told had only opened for six months at Beauty World Food Centre. The stall is located relatively close to Zheng Xing Desserts (i.e. the stall which serves Tau Suan that originated from Albert Centre Food Centre), occupying the corner-most unit of the said row of stalls.

What initially caught my eye were the Nyonya Kueh, but a further look at the stall and it’s offerings and we found out that they actually do have their own ovens and do offer quite a variety of pastries that they claim to actually have baked in-house (think a baked Mochi pastry that features peanuts, as well as assorted flavours of egg tarts) — pretty interesting for a stall located in a hawker centre.

While the blueberry and raspberry flavoured egg tarts are likely to appeal to children being flavours that seemingly carries fruit jams, I was drawn to the Orh Nee Egg Tart given how I am a big fan of yam paste (haven’t you noticed it yet?) in general. The Orh Nee Egg Tart comes generously filled with yam paste — the egg curd seemingly just topping off the entire layer of yam paste that hides underneath. Whilst one could taste a light eggy sweetness from the egg curd, I liked how the Orh Nee wasn’t too sweet here — instead, it emphasises on the earthy notes, whilst being reasonably smooth though also carried a slightly fibrous texture that suggests that the yam paste is likely to be made in-house rather than employing the use of a commercially-made paste; quite a fair bit of effort placed into the execution for the item. The cookie crust beneath held up pretty well to the heft atop; all that without crumbling into a mess and isn’t too sweet or salty as some of the bigger brands may tune their crusts to.

In comparison, the Apple Egg Tart felt a little more predictable with its flavours, but was a great choice nonetheless. The caramalised apples were seemingly filled within the tart as well as topped off over the egg curd — think McDonald’s Apple Pie fillings (though less sickly sweet) with quite a good portion of diced apples spread around for a soft crunch. While I was expecting the Apple Egg Tart to be on the sweeter side, I was pretty impressed how this didn’t turn out overly so; still pretty well-balanced in my opinion.

With much hype placed on egg tarts lately with the opening of joints like Tai Cheong Bakery, Hang Heung and Joy Luck Teahouse in Singapore, it is interesting to see how there are some indie bakeries and establishments out there whom are also making egg tarts with their own twist. Syiok’s existence may not be quite well known at this current juncture, but the effort placed in their egg tarts is pretty commendable — while they may not be the best out there, it is certainly one of the hidden gems that has yet to be truly uncovered in the West that is worth trying whilst being in the area at least once for.