Chinese Cravings

Moody and atmospheric restaurant with perfect lighting; vibes alone are enough to impress a date. Service was also top-notch, always polite and with a smile. Food-wise, the dishes we ordered were all presented beautifully and delicious.

Our favourite was the Oriental Bolognese ($26) which was capellini pasta in an asian-inspired pork ragout sauce. The onsen egg added creaminess to it and the sauce was the standout of the dish. Equally as good was the Find the Chicken in the Chillis ($19) - the the dish doesn't deviate too much from the ubiquitous la zi ji of Chengdu cuisine, except perhaps I wished there were more of the popcorn chicken because after a few morsels I was, true to its name, finding if there were any more chicken in the chillis. The Yu Xiang Eggplant ($17) was mentioned in several reviews, but personally I thought it was just average, with the eggplant being small in portion and slightly too mushy in texture. The mozzarella balls and spring onion 'biscuits' also didn't really add to the dish. Overall felt that this dish was a bit of a mess. We washed all the food down with a glass of Bird's Rebujito ($18) which was refreshing.

Overall, the food had some hits and misses but I think the vibes and service made up for it. Would return to try their Sharing Menu for Two.

Another renowned store in Golden Mile, this time serving a dry beehoon with chilli sauce. Think Satay Beehoon but instead of satay sauce it's a chilli mixture sauce. Taste was pretty good, but for $4.50 i thought the ingredients could be more generous. Would eat this if I had the craving and queue was short, but this isn't a store I would travel all the way to Golden Mile for.

Accidentally stumbled upon this store with a long line at 10am and being the Singaporean that I am, I joined the queue. When the store only sells one dish - chee cheong fun in various styles, in this case - you know it's gotta be good. Besides the classic shrimp and charsiu cheong fun, they also offered interesting varieties like Chai Poh and Hongkong--style. As my stomach had limited space for only one dish, I went with the Hongkong-style ($3.50) - freshly made and steamed in front of you, the generous portion of thin silky smooth cheong fun was rolled and then drenched in a combination of sesame sauce and a sweet sauce. I added on the fried shallots, spring onion, and chilli and the result was just a flavour explosion in my mouth. So, so, SO good. Now I'm salivating just dreaming of the next time I return to try their other cheong fun renditions. Be prepared to queue; the chef only prepares two at a time and people WILL order multiple.

Stumbled upon this place at the new Parc Komo while I was searching for food around the area. Had the Butter Pork Rice ($8) with a cup of Iced Lemon Tea ($2.20). Prices are certainly steep while the quality of the food is just decent. The sambal chilli is damn good though.

Comforting and light-tasting chicken broth paired nicely with the vege and seafood platter. Platter had a wide variety of seafood and meat but they were somewhat on the smaller side. Steamed chicken was nicely flavoured with the light soy sauce, but the meat could be more tender. Chicken rice was great though! Special mention to the pork satay which was tender and fatty in the right places, and was so good with the peanut sauce.

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.