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Have been passing by this stall named Fivestones for quite a while whenever we are at Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, though we had never ever bumped into them being open for business whenever we are here — these folks are actually located at the ground floor of Hong Lim Market @ Food Centre; they can be found along the same stretch as other notable stalls such as Zheng Ming Cha Shi 正明茶室, 小龙传奇 The Legend Roasted Meat Rice & Noodle and also the now-defunct Dong Fang Hong Sotong Ball Seafood Soup. Fivestones is one of the newest stalls to have moved into the entire stretch of stalls there — the stall does come with a flashy signboard that mentions that it is “AI-powered”, while the stall also sports a neon signage that is difficult to miss. It does seem that the stall adopts the namesake “Fivestones” due to its emphasis on serving up Samosas; the shape in which the Samosas are being made are similar to that of the “stones” in the nostalgic local game of “Five Stones”. Apart from their Samosa offerings, Fivestones also serves up a number of bakes which includes Chocolate Brownies, Almond Financiers and Banana Cake — just to name a few.
Got to try the Potato Samosas which are the only one that is retailed in a portion size of three pieces at $2 — the other variants such as the Mutton Samosa and Butter Chicken Samosa do come slightly bigger, though this would cost $2 for a single piece instead. One thing to note is that all Samosas at Fivestones are actually made in-house; freshly-prepared on site on the day that they are displayed and sold. The Samosas does remind us of the ones that House of Samosas serves up; came in a triangular shape and also not particularly uniformly sold due to the handmade nature of the Samosa. Taking a bit into the Samosa, the Potato Samosas does come with a slight crunch on the exterior with a little bit of tension required to pull apart — there was a bit of a note of chickpeas that could be detected within the pastry skin of the samosa. Inside, the potato filling is sufficiently moist and soft; think mashed, boiled potatoes that have been marinated with spices like cumin and garam masala for that familiar spiced and savoury note that it carries. We did feel that the Butter Chicken variant of the Samosa tasted much similar to that of the Potato Samosas that we have had; not that all similar to the butter chicken that we are more accustomed to that are served at mamak-style establishments out there — each piece does come with chunks of chicken that provided an extra bite.
The Almond Financier would be the highlight for us here; coming in a slimmer but lengthened form, we liked how the financier came with a firm but moist bite — a little like how one would expect an almond frangipane layer within a tart but with a browned exterior from the baking process. Considering so, it does come with a hint of almond aroma and nuttiness as one takes a bite into it as well — definitely one of the better Almond Financier that we had come across thus far. Despite being situated in a food centre that is well-patronised by folks coming from all corners of the island, Fivestones does seem more like a hidden stall that only those whom know will be familiar with — apart from how it is hidden in a row of stalls that faces the market component of the market and food centre, the tricky operating hours of Fivestones also makes the spot difficult to discover; we have passed by the stall multiple times, though the only day we had managed to give them a try was during noon on a Friday which was the only time we had spotted them being open. We do feel their Samosas are fresh and decently-made with lots of passion for the craft and hard work behind the scenes, though we also understand that Samosas might not be something that many would be able to relate to — their rendition (and especially the Potato ones) are worth a try for those whom are open to give their Samosas a go to see how they differ from the usual that we are familiar with. That being said, it was the Almond Financier that really blew us away during our trip there — definitely would like to give their Dark Chocolate Brownies a go if we ever get the chance to pass by them being open the next time!
