Gourmet Paradise (HDB Hub)

Portuguese Egg Tart ($4.50/4)
⭐️ 4/5 ⭐️
🍴This unassuming bakery at Toa Payoh HDB Hub has no digital presence. After years of strolling by, we decided to give it a try and left impressed by this hidden gem. At $4.50 for 4 or $6 for 6 pieces, it’s also one of the more affordable egg tarts around.

Unlike the short crust Hong Kong versions, these Portuguese egg tarts had a gloriously crisp puff pastry. The 5+ layers of crispy goodness reminded us of perfectly flaky croissant layers (recommend toasting them before eating), and went well with the egg custard 😋. We appreciated that it wasn’t too sweet although felt that the egg custard could be slightly smoother and eggy. Also would have preferred - slightly higher filling : crust ratio, as while we were fans of the crispy pastry, they leaned towards the buttery and oily side. More egg custard would have provided a better balance to cut through some grease.

📍50年 Taste of Tradition (near Nine Fresh Desserts), HDB Hub, 520 Lor 6 Toa Payoh, Singapore

Insta: cafehoppingkids

📍 Gourmet Paradise, Toa Payoh Hub
Run-of-the-mill popiah, nothing fancy. But here they used double skins which made it a bit thick for my liking. An upside is that the popiah was really filled to the brim with ingredients.

This was pretty saucy and came with veg, prawns, clams and pork. Noodles were nicely chewy, but a pity it didn’t absorb the flavour as much - think it might perhaps be better if taken away and the noodles get to sit in the sauce bit longer. Their chili helped to spice it up though!

If you’re not a sweet potato noodles fan, they have other carbs you can pick, like normal vermicelli, mee sua, lor mee, etc.

📍Pu Tian Delights
Gourmet Paradise (HDB Hub)

Vegetarian Bee Hoon
with stir fried cabbage and soy braised beancurd

Popped by for a snack whilst I was in the area! This mixed muah chee ($3.50 for medium) came highly recommended, and it definitely lived up to expectations. Pillowy soft and perfectly chewy! Was great that the peanut and sesame weren’t too sweet, although I could do with more toppings.

Laksa YTF ($4.80)

Price for 6 pieces with noodles is $4.20. Add laksa gravy for $0.60. The laksa gravy is not that thick and I wished it was more aromatic with more shrimp and chilli taste. However, it was thin enough to drink on it's own and with the ingredients. Ingredients quite fresh too.