Taste of Jiang Nan 江南味道 (Maxwell Food Centre)

Taste of Jiang Nan 江南味道 should not be an establishment that is a stranger to those whom have been visiting Maxwell Food Centre in the past year — the stall, which specialises in mainland Chinese fare, is situated in the middle aisle of Maxwell Food Centre; iconic stalls that are within close proximity to Taste of Jiang Nan includes that of Danlao 蛋佬 (best known for its scrambled egg rice bowls) and Fu Shun Jin Ji Shao La Mian Jia 福顺烧腊面家 (most notable for their roast meats; often garners a long queue before it opens for the day). Taste of Jiang Nan had been on a hiatus for quite a while; that being said, the folks behind the establishment did announce that they have since reopened their doors in late May 2023. Perhaps best known for their Din Tai Fung-style egg fried rice back then, it seems that Taste of Jiang Nan has since ceased serving up that item at least for the next four months — this is also highlighted in the same social media post which they had announced their return to Maxwell Food Centre. In place of the old menu which they were serving prior to the hiatus is a new menu that seems to be a little less varied than the old one — the new menu mainly comprising of noodle dishes such as that of Chicken Soup Noodles and Red Oil Dumpling Noodles; just to name a few. There is also an emphasis on their dumpling items as well. Taste of Jiang Nan has also hopped onto the Sheng Jian Bao (i.e. pan-fried pork buns) craze with the revamp of their menu; they do offer three different variations of Fried Buns (as they call it) in their revised menu as well.

Much like the other establishments that serves up Sheng Jian Bao, the Fried Buns at Taste of Jiang Nan 江南味道 does require some waiting time to be prepared — patrons will be passed an electronic buzzer after their orders are taken and payment is being made; the Fried Buns do require a waiting time of approximately 10 minutes, and patrons will be paged to collect their order from the stall once they had been prepared.

Ordering two variants out of the three Fried Buns which they have to offer, we went for the Original Fried Buns and the Curry Fried Buns (both being ala-carte orders) — an individual order of the Fried Buns consist of three pieces of Fried Buns; there is no way of visually distinguishing between the Curry Fried Buns and Original Fried Buns until one takes a bite into them. While the Original Fried Buns were the more conventional ones here, they were our favourite. It seems that Taste of Jiang Nan had absolutely nailed the textures of the Fried Buns here — served piping hot, some caution needs to be exercised when biting into the Fried Bun. Coming with a browned bottom, we absolutely loved their version of the Fried Bun that comes with a crispy, crusted bottom with a fluffy bun that stays firm and in shape despite one taking a bite into it. Most Sheng Jian Bao that we have had elsewhere do feel a little greasy, though the Fried Buns at Taste of Jiang Nan felt reasonably so; didn’t quite feel like it lacquered a layer of oil on our lips. Caution is required in taking a bite into the Fried Bun because the bun is well-filled with piping hot broth inside; the light yet savoury broth is pretty much akin to what we are used to getting inside Xiao Long Bao elsewhere — all that while there is a good portion of meat filling within. The meat filling is nothing short of being tender and soft to bite; the filling also did not carry much of a porky note as well. The difference between the Curry Fried Bun and the Original Fried Bun being in the filling and the broth — the broth is pretty much the same one that came with the Original Fried Bun though spiked with a bit of curry flavour; the meat also seemingly marinated with curry spices as well. Whilst not as punchy as the local Indian / Chinese curry that we are familiar with, they did carry a slight hint of spiciness and a flavour close to that of Otak-Otak which we found to be rather interesting.

We do recall that there are some folks whom were quite enthusiastic about Taste of Jiang Nan’s food back before they took a hiatus (including a colleague of ours); their return back to Maxwell Food Centre at where they used to be is probably exciting news to their regulars — this is especially so considering that their operating hours were rather inconsistent in the days leading up to their hiatus. That being said, we did attempt to make a visit to Taste of Jiang Nan more than once on their stated operating hours for lunch service — all attempts being unsuccessful; we only managed to visit them when we dropped by Maxwell Food Centre for dinner on a weekday evening, so this might be something worthy to note for those whom are intending to make a trip down to Maxwell Food Centre to give Taste of Jiang Nan a try. While it is a bit regrettable that the Egg Fried Rice that we have been hearing about is not part of the menu at this current stage, we remain hopeful that it will make its return to the menu after a period of time which they had indicated on their social media post — only time will be able tell if they eventually do. Having tried only their Fried Bun offerings at this current juncture, we must say that we are pretty impressed with what they have to offer; their variants of the Sheng Jian Bao being one of the most memorable that we have came across thus far. It is needless to say that we will be returning to Taste of Jiang Nan for their Fried Buns some time soon; perhaps also to grab one of their noodle dishes while at it as well — something for us to look forward to considering the stellar Fried Buns that they have serve up!

Pork chop with scallion noodles. The noodles were really springy. It is abit oily but not until you will feel jelat. Even though it looks plain, the noodles are quite flavourful. The pork chop is crispy on the outside and tender inside. It is really one of the better bowls of noodles.

Honestly one of the juiciest Chinese style pork chops out there. If you’re “on a diet” you can opt for this, if not, get it with their fried rice!

Always my go-to comfort food at Maxwell.
It’s seasoned well here and if you love the chili oil, opt for the noodles!

I also tried the 排骨面 Pork Chop Noodle ($7.50) and the fried pork chop reminds me of Din Tai Feng’s pork chop. The pork chop is well marinated, soft and fragrant, and the portion is big. I asked for some chilli to go on the side and this is one satisfying bowl of noodles.

The 红油抄手面 Red Oil Dumpling Noodle ($6) is tangy, spicy and full of fragrance from the fried garlic and scallion oil. The noodles are not too soft and the dumplings are plump and juicy. I wasn’t expecting to find such a nice 红油抄手面 in a hawker centre - love this!