Chinese

Served freshly made with each order, this Chinese flatbread is perfect for a snack or paired with some sides, a light lunch.

The first few bites reminded me of a prata because of how crispy and flaky it was.

The Chinese flatbread is indeed very flat so there isn't much room for fillings, but I could definitely taste some slivers of scallion and chicken here and there. The sesame is also lightly roasted from bring in the oven so I'd say that gives the guo kui it's strongest flavour.

Springy and lightly flavored, Eng's wantan mee is a staple at malls and for good reason too. I love upping the ante with their flaming hot chili and adding the fried prawn fritters to my meal.

🌠@shopbacksg has a deal where you can get 2 bowls for $4.20 that pops up sometimes 🌠

This popular curry rice attracts long queues even on weekdays so you can imagine the snaking queues on a late Saturday afternoon.

I think it's quite overhyped though because I wasn't wowed at all by the curry nor the liao? It all amounted to a whopping $15 too when I didn't even order much meat.

Meat platter ($18) 🍖 8/10

Okay this place has fantastic (and very aesthetic) charsiew. They have this "不见天" (sun don't shine) top-up option to get a more succulent fatty meat that melts in your mouth (+6), which we opted for.

The outside of the charsiew was fantastically sweet and sticky but could be more charred thoroughly in my opinion. The sao rou is actually exceedingly tender and the skin is as crispy as you could hope for.

The regrettable thing is that you can probably get a higher quality of charsiew in hawker stores without having to pay such a premium and without travelling to such a terribly secluded location -- it's located in an industrial area far from any MRT station.

Fried wanton ($5) 🥟 6/10

Okay I have to admit that the wanton skin was quite light and fluffy but the meat inside the wanton wasn't great.

Boiled wanton 10pc ($5) 🥣 5/10

The wanton here really isn't anything special... Stick to the meat!

Hakka crispy pork ($11.80) 🥓 7/10

The pork was quite tender and certainly crispy on the outside, but overall not that special. It was a bit flat and small for its price.

Salted egg shrimp balls ($15.80) 🍤10/10

Golden perfection. These pre-peeled nuggets of joy were springy inside and oh-so-crispy outside. They were coated with a loving amount of glistening salted egg sauce.

I just think there were too few pieces (only 7) for its price but I'll overlook it seeing how these were the best damn salted egg prawns I've ever tasted.

Bamboo clams in garlic kumquat sauce ($12.80) 🦪 8/10

These bamboo clams were succulent and fresh but if you're not a fan of sour food, definitely DO NOT go for the garlic kumquat sauce. The pricks of citrusy sourness is too much for the average person to bear.

Sea bass in fried chye poh sauce ($9.90 special) 🐟 7/10

The way you order fish here is kind of confusing -- you have to write on a chit:
1️⃣ What kind of fish you want (which determines the dish's price)
2️⃣ Whether you want your fish steamed or fried, and
3️⃣ What sauce you want out of 6 sauces.

[yikes i think i've been writing too many emails]

When I ordered the 'fried chye poh sauce', I was expecting the 港式蒸鱼 (cantonese fish) style with added crispy radish on top. Yes the radish was crispy but the sauce was simple diluted soy sauce.

Deep fried sea bass in nyonya assam ($22) 🐟 7/10

Not a big fan of their assam here because everyone knows peranakan food is supposed to taste strong but this wasn't strong-flavoured enough. It was barely sour too.

I liked the crispiness of the fish -- judging by how long it took for them to cook the dish, it was definitely freshly fried. But I think it could have been crispier especially at the head and tail.

Dim sum here is always a treat (except the Chinese tea, which they charged us $4.80 per person 😒)

Special shoutout to the mango shrimp rolls 🍤 (top right), which was a perfect marriage of crispy, sweet, and silky, and the fried pumpkin fritters with pork floss 🎃 (bottom right)!

The bolo buns 🫓 were also perfectly caramelised with that slightly crispy exterior, and of course the shrimp dumplings and siew mai 🥟 were on point too 🤤

Oh -- and if you're wondering what's that carrot-looking thing, that's yam with some fried glutinous rice flour. Made it very chewy outside but not my cup of tea 😂

Lunch sets here go at $16 for an order of noodles, dumplings, and drink. I know I've arrived really late to the party seeing as how @dumpling.darlings gained popularity months ago but I only recently got over a mild fear of dumplings 🤣

At least I can say now that it's worth the hype! I actually really enjoyed the food and fusion bar ambience. The staff were friendly and there was great indie music playing too. Oh, and there's 30% off on #burpplebeyond !

Miso mushroom noodles 🍜 8/10

These noodles look dry but they're full of moist earthiness and fresh mushrooms. I would've appreciated a little more sweetness to give more dimension to the umami miso flavour. Texture wise the noodles are perfect, with the crispy shallots, springy noodles, and absolutely beautiful ajitsuke tamago.

Sichuan pork noodles 🍜 7.5/10

Compared to the miso mushroom noodles, these were notably drier. There was a definite "ma" taste from the pork's noodles but it was a bit jarring because it lacked a fiery flavour.

Passionfruit ginger soda 🍹6/10

This drink is basically sour passionfruit flesh at the bottom and topped with soda that wasn't sweet. Personally not my cup of tea because I wasn't expecting such a strong passionfruit flavour. At least, I expected the soda to be sweet to balance out the iconic piquant of passionfruit.

Salted plum pu-erh 🍺 7/10 (not pictured)

This dark-coloured drink came with foam on top as if it were a mug of stout. When you drink it, however, the overwhelming salinity is quite a shock to the senses. Only order this if you really adore savoury drinks.

Fried Pierogi dumplings 🥟 8/10

These polish dumplings featured a deep fried exterior holding together creamy potato and bacon. They're served atop a smidge of siracha mayo. Not sure about its authenticity but these sure were delicious!

Smoked duck dumplings 🥟 9/10

The chopped up morsels of duck provided ample bursts of smokiness in between crunchy bites of caramelised leek. The heaviness of the smoked meats was countervailed by the sharp balsamic vinegar and rocket salad on top.

Overall, I found the food here rather exciting and refreshing. There were so many flavours in each set (eg. Earthy noodles, smoky duck dumplings, crispy shallots, soft ramen egg) that I was spoiled for choice!

Now going at 1 for 1 until 31 march!

Heard about this through the 百年 @bainiansg telegram group which boasted this reasonably sized bowl of creamy bee hoon and numerous seafood toppings. I found the prawns, clams, crab meatballs and abalone quite firm and fresh, but the real show stopper was the rich soup! The soup wasn't "cheesy" in the sense that it was thick and stringy -- instead, it was watery but tasty in a milky way. Slurped every last drop, but it's a bit small so I wouldn't pay full price for it!

I've probably have said it 10 times but love how immersive this restaurant is and how good their food is, too. The pork shoulder here has tender meat that falls apart from the bone and lots of tendon. To top it all off, it even features crispy skin that packs a decadent crunch!
®️: 9/10

😱😱😱 everyone's jaws absolutely dropped when this arrived on the table because it looked so ridiculously decadent yet mysterious. It even came with a totally extra centrepiece made with sugar to really amp up that wow factor! The flesh within the piles of cereal were huge and even our team of 11 people couldn't finish everything. The cereal was also really tasty and crunchy! This take on the tze char classic was a real showstopper at Long Beach!