The old-school charm faked us. Food was basic. Eat for fun. This bun for example was nothing like Hong Kong's.
If you are craving traditional Chee Cheong Fun with sweet sauce, glutinous rice, yam cake, soon kueh, Laksa or bee hoon with pork trotters, this is the go to place in Bukit Timah. Not necessarily the best tasting but I must say I am impressed with their long list of comfort food and they even have Cantonese sweet desserts (糖水).
I’ll be back.
Yummy black sesame paste and almond paste from le tian Tian .
Forgot about the rest of the desserts - not up to par :)
Really soothing for a dry throat and the crazy weather .
I say skip the black sesame paste ( which was clumpy) and go straight in for the almond paste .
Smooth velvety almond paste which is very close to the standards of my homemade one .
Enjoyed the not too sweet desserts that this establishment makes .
I’d prefer this outlet over their Raffles Place outlet . Food here is fresher .
Although their “ah balling” (also known as “tang yuan”) are not made in-house, we found them lovely too. Smooth and not too sticky, the round rice balls come in two choices of filling: peanut or black sesame. The latter was our pick. Each serving has four of the balls in a bowl of clear, lightly sweetened ginger soup.
In our quest for dessert tonight, we stumbled upon “Le Tian Tian”, a little shop in the basement of Bukit Timah Plaza that serves very good black sesame paste.
Created from scratch in-house, the thick, smooth liquid has a delicate fragrance and isn’t too sweet.
Le Tian Tian specialises in Hk style hot desserts but they whip up very good small treats like yam cake , fried bee hoon and glutinous rice.
When I crave for an authentic yam cake in the evening , I would zoom straight to this no frills eatery .
Lots and lots of yam is used in this yam cake so you won’t be expecting a “ yam cake” that is actually only made of flour and artificial seasoning or food colouring .
You get the real stuff here.
Paired with some fried shallots and sweet sauce that has been diluted so that it’s not cloying sweet , this yam cake is faultless .
And only at 3 dollars 💵 for so much work ...
Don’t expect much service though - it’s a eat and go place .
Tastes like home ...
I love how well executed this glutinous rice is .
The rice is cooked till perfection - neither too soft Nor too hard.
The rice is well seasoned and generously cooked with dried shrimps and sliced mushrooms .
Topped with fried shallots - this makes a perfect in between meal treat.
The Star here is really the fluffy egg and the tasty white bee hoon more so than the braised pork.
Sometimes you’d just like breakfast for dinner. And a moist plate of homestyle white bee hoon is probably a best choice when you need something light but satisfying.
Black gold
In a sleepy corner of the basement 2 of Bukit Timah plaza is a dessert shop that is my to- go place for a reliable hot Hk style dessert.
They do pretty good walnut paste , almond paste , black sesame paste , some local desserts (black glutinous rice , Tau suan, ginger/ peanut soup with dumplings ) and cold desserts like flavoured ice shavings / chendol etc .
I love their black sesame paste especially because it is so smooth and rich in genuine sesame taste. The desserts here are also not too sweet and never starchy which is a big plus plus point :)
I love how they do everything so well - try their glutinous rice , chee cheong fun , fried bee hoon , rice dumplings ( Bak Zhang).
It’s the to- go place for a light lunch / dinner and for a good variety of hot/ cold desserts .
This is one of my default places for excellent yam cakes ( and desserts... when I am too busy to make my own ) .
I call this a yammy yam cake because it is packed with lots of yam flavour ( both within the flour mixture and also in the form of bite sized yam cubes ) .
The. yam cakes that you get from most other places are usually made with of lots of flour , seasoning and artificial colouring and almost no yam.
Pair this lovely yam cake with their homemade sambal and this is really a lovely tea time treat.
This cafe serves really good homemade nonya and Hokkien Bak zhangs and stir fried bee hoon that is available throughout the day.
For their dessert review , do check out my earlier post on their black sesame paste.
This is one pure thick goodness of grounded sesames. The sesame aroma was strong and the dessert did not feel like it was cloying with starch ( which many other dessert places resort to to reduce costs) The sweetness level was just nice. Probably one of the best sesame pastes in SIngapore . I would have given it a Number #1 ranking only if it was a little smoother - but if it's packed with all that sesame goodness - I am not complaining :) At SGD 3.30, it is definitely worthwhile . Recommended to share .
I was lured into eating this Nonya Zhang (SGD 3.30) after hearing from the shop owner how her customers would pre order this dumpling by the dozens . The glutinous rice was perfectly cooked - with a nice bite that wasn't mushy . The meat filling was very generous and fragrant. One of the best Nonya Zhangs found rather unexpectedly in a dessert shop. Their other popular handmade items are their steamed yam cake which is very authentic in taste and generous with the use of yam , the steamed glutinous rice and their chee cheong fun . Their Hot desserts such as the almond paste and sesame paste are also quite authentic or at least one of the better ones you can find in Singapore. Any better , you will have to do it yourself .
From Le Tian Tian, a new dessert shop at Basement 2 of Bukit Timah Plaza which serves a variety of Chinese desserts (e.g. Yam Paste, Mango Snow Ice, Glutinious Rice with Ice Cream, Sesame Paste etc.), waffles and local bites (e.g. Chee Cheong Fun, Fried Bee Hoon, Kampong Nasi Lemak etc.). The presentation does look funny, and the pudding is served strangely lukewarm with inconsistent textures throughout — some parts more eggier than the rest and way denser too. This pudding tastes similar to having a custard version of a Kopiko candy, and awkwardly comes with sultana raisins all over that just doesn't feel like they should be in there. Might be back to try the Chinese desserts some other day though.
Le Tian Tian is situated at Bukit Timah Plaza, 1 Jalan Anak Bukit, B2-06, Singapore 588996. Currently operating hours are from 9am to 8:30pm (Mon to Fri), 8am to 8:30pm (Sat & Sun).
So we decided to have sesame paste and their popular chendol. Oh yes, there's a pokéstop while you eat dessert here too.
