Chinese Cravings

As the younger folks say nowadays

This SLAPS.

That's it, that's the review.

One of their Signatures, but this was just alright to me. Tofu cubes were served hot, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Flavour was similar to the Japanese shichimi, but pretty light on taste.

Small store in Sunshine Plaza that always has a crowd of people at meal times. Came with a group of 6 and this was what we got.

What was nice:
- Golden eggyolk lava buns ($5.30 for 3) easily the best item on the table. Their bestseller and for good reason. Soft and fluffy bao encasing hot and gooey salted egg custard. Amazing.
- Bolo Charsiew Buns ($5.50 for 2) were crispy on the outside and piping hot on the inside
- 'Spring is in the air' Cheong Fun ($5.80) was so unique I had no idea what to expect. Seemed like a popiah with cabbage, carrots and prawn fillings which was also crispy? And wrapped in a smooth silky cheong fun skin? Actually tasted pretty good especially with the accompanying sweet sauce.
- Queen size siewmai ($5.50 for 4) were huge and chunky
- Carrot cake w/ XO sauce ($5 for 3) was decent but the XO sauce was standout
- Lupcheong glutinous rice ($7.80) was pretty good, save some of the XO sauce for this. Would have been better with some chilli shrimp paste, but I didn't ask

What I would skip:
- Xiaolongbao ($5.50 for 3) was forgettable but still alright
- Bolo Butter Buns ($5.50 for 2) literally the same as the charsiew buns but without the fillings and instad comes with lurpak butter, but at the same price
- Vinegar pig trotter ($9.80) too vinegary for my liking but had a decent amount of meat
- Sausage yam cake ($5.70) and Chee Cheong Fun ($5) was nothing outstanding

Really popular eatery with tables pilling out into the walkway by the road. Come early to get the air-conditioned indoor seating! We were unfortunately seated by some trash bins but one of the staff kindly shifted it away.

For the food, we ordered:
- Shredded Cabbage: great crunch and delicious
- Sauteed Hot And Sour Shredded Potato With Green Pepper: pretty average but potato strips are always good
- Preserved Egg With Tofu: done think the flavours meshed together well
- Stir fried Pork and Vermicelli with Celery: pretty addictive, would recc this
- Stir Fried Chicken With Fried Chilli: barely any fried chicken, and pieces were tiny as well. Wouldn't order this again.
- Guobaorou: Sauce on the tangier side, meat were thin strips that was tough to chew, but the batter had this interesting mochi-ness. But would skip this.

Portion was pretty decent and the taste was surprisingly good. Tastes like Kolo Mee for those who know. I liked it, especially after adding some Lao gan ma for a bit of spice. Also got the mushroom sides for $2 cos why not?

Tomato broth akin to HDL's tomato soup but not as thick and umami. Still good though! The biggest surprise was the chicken cutlet - there was still a crunch even though it was drenched in the soup when served. Not bad! But the token dispensing for the ice cream was spoilt is something, so the staff gave us ice cream which was kept in a cardboard box in a cooler bag. As you would have guessed, the ice cream wasn't frozen and was semi-melted. Meh.

The 2 pax set comes with the paper-wrapped fish, 2 drinks, 2 bowls of rice, and a vege platter. We chose the river fish in pickled peppers sauce. Supposed to be mid spicy but it was still pretty spicy. Fish was meaty and the staff will come over to unwrap the fish after the timer rings, so you'll get perfectly cooked fish. We added on extra items midway through so we had to turn up the heat longer, making the fish not-yet-eaten overcooked, so do take note to order at the start. Overall, $60 for 3 pax to share, pretty exp but worth the experience.

Returned for the fantastic Milky Soup Pork Noodles, and this time decided to try one of their Signature sides, the XO Turnip Cake. The little balls of turnip had a crisp exterior and soft chewy interior, and tasted as good as it looks. The mound of beansprouts on the side also provided a good amount of delicious crunch. My only complaint would be that the portion size could be better for this price as I counted a grand total of 12 small cubes of the turnip cake - the beansprouts could even keep all of them hidden from sight!

New in town is Zok Noodle House, a Chinese restaurant chain hailing from Malaysia specialising in HK & Macau dishes. Their menu is extensive and well-put together, with every flip of the page making me want to try something new. Seriously, the menu makes every single dish featured look so damn good!

We settled on the Milky Soup Pork Noodles ($13.90) and the Curry Noodles ($13.90). The broth of the pork noodles had a surprising depth of flavour with the milkiness and garlickyness coming together well with the rich pork broth. Loved the multitudes of pork belly slices, minced meat chunks, and pork liver within too. The curry noodles were also decent, with rich curry broth accompanied by charsiu, wantons, taupok, Beancurd skins and a scattering of veges. However, this couldn't compare to the Ipoh-stylr curry mee that's still my love.

Don't forget the self-service condiments bar for those who need chilli to complete their meal - their sambal is legit delicious, spicy and complete with chunks of haebee to give an umami bite. Finish the meal with a a simple but comforting cup of HK-style Milk Tea ($3.50 +$1 iced).

Tender and fatty ribs in a sweet-savoury sauce with fried ginger. Glorious with the garlic and chilli padi. Also comes with a bowl of herbal BKT soup.

Decent bowl of seafood soup, but can't compare to Yan Ji. But there were plenty of dory chunks as well as prawns and minced meat, pairs well with the homemade tangy chilli.

50% off for 4 pax and above, which came up to about $157 in total for 4 of us. Pretty worth it I would think, considering the variety of dishes you can order and the Peach Garden quality you will expect. Standouts were the prawns (both steamed and fried variations), the peking duck, and the double boiled chicken soup. Highly recommended if you have families or friends who love Chinese fare!