O'nya Sayang

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For the complete review, follow this link: http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2015/02/onya-sayang-paya-lebar-square.htmlOnya Sayang at Paya Lebar Square is the second sister restaurant from the Dulukala Peranakan Restaurant that made its name in Beauty World Centre Bukit Timah. While Dulukala Peranakan Restaurant is a family business that cooked all its food in its property, O'nya Sayang provide a more modern bistro casual dining atmosphere. This outlet, in the newly open Paya Lebar square is the second branch after the Tampines Mall outlet. O'nya Sayang is founded and helmed by Executive Chef Zhan Ho, a third generation Peranakan Chef. He basically grew up in the kitchen and learned how to cooked authentic Peranakan cuisine from his mother. Due to certain constrains in operation, O'nya Sayang incorporate modern F&B method such as central kitchen to control the quality and the consistency of its dishes. In line with the current trend, he also created new dishes using traditional ingredients.We started our tasting with Ayam Keluak Fried Rice Set ($14.90). The set come with fried rice, ayam buah keluak dish, achar, sambal and prawn crackers. This is an creative play on from the traditional Peranakan Dish of Ayam Buah Keluak. The rice is al-dente, tasty yet not overpowered by the cut fresh chilli in it. It has a good Wok Hei (breath of the wok) and the ayam buah keluak is tender and succulent. Bakwan Kepiting Soup ($12.90) and Lor Bak Noodles set ($12.90) follow soon. The bakwan kepiting balls are springy and flavourful. The broth is robust, however you can't really taste the crab meat. More like a pork ball instead. The Lor Bak Noodles provide a different option to the normal rice dishes in a Peranakan restaurant. Noodle is thin and springy, goes nicely with the lor bak sauce. The braising sauce was light and not overly sweet. The set also come with Otah, where it has a nice texture and you actually have a good bite of the fish in the otah. Babi Pongteh ($13.90), Chap Chye ($10.90), Assam Fish ($16.90) and Seafood Chilli Garam ($15.90) are typical Peranakan traditional dishes. Pork Belly are used in the Babi Ponteh Dish. Bean paste here is very subtle and not overpowering, while the fats from the pork belly is just lovely. The chap chye is all right, the vegetables complements each other and absorbed the braising liquid. Like most Peranakan dishes, it tasted better with fully white rice. Check out mine, decorated in Goat outlook by Little Miss Bento, who recently published her bento book. Seafood Chilli Garam looks like a Peranakan Seafood Combo Hot plate. The Chilli Garam is secret family recipe from Chef Zhan Ho. Looks slightly oily and it packs of spicy punch. You can find ingredients such as prawns, octopus and batang fish. One bite and I quickly reach for my water to put down the fire in my mouth. For Assam fish, red snapper was used. The assam is combination of sweetness and tanginess from the tamarind sauce. Similar taste to Gulai Ikan for Indonesian dish. Its good. Beef Rendang Bread Bowl set ($12.90), another new idea using traditional ingredients. The beef rendang stuffed into bread bowl produced by a traditional bakery. It is then baked to crisp, with a unique rough texture. The rendang is sweet and tender. It will be better if the chuck of beef contain more fats, so the meat does not look dry. There is a additional curry on the side if you want to dip your bread into it. I like the presentation. Of course the meal won't be completed without the peranakan desserts such as Chendol ($4.90), Chendol Ice Cream ($5.90), Sago Gula Melaka Ice Cream ($5.90) and Ondeh Ondeh 5 pcs ($5.90). The ice cream in the desserts are actually coconut ice cream, sourced by Chef Zhan Ho, which use Thai coconut. The ice cream is creamy like coconut cream but with a well balance sweetness. Meanwhile the Gula Melaka used is the Indonesia version that give more intense flavour but reduced in sweetness. It is nicely complement Chendol and Sago Gula Melaka. Kudos to the Chef that willing to look outside of the box to keep improving its dishes. We actually made a mistake in tasting the ice cream version of the Chendol first. When we get to the traditional version of the chendol, it was just blown away by the ice cream version. For the onde, a warning must be given here. Don't cut it, just pop the whole onde in your mouth. Make sure you close your mouth before you bite it, as it just explode in your mouth. The skin is slightly dry, probably it was displayed all day. Overall, I really enjoyed our meal here. The traditional and modern Peranakan Cuisine is good, and the ice cream desserts are a must try dish. There is not much different in quality between the dishes we ate here with those cooked in the kitchen premises. I hope Chef Zhan Ho keep pushing the boundaries of Peranakan Cuisine and come out with more modern Peranakan dishes. So if you are in Paya Lebar Square, give this place a try. Cheers!! Thank you very much to Hannah Chia Food Trail and O'nya Sayang team for the invitation. continue reading

Full O'nya Sayang review: http://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.sg/2015/02/onya-sayang-tasting-session.htmlAlthough their latest outlet has only been in operation since January 2015, O'nya Sayang has been drawing in the crowds, with dinner service seeing a full house nearly everyday. Little surprise, as O'nya Sayang, which means 'Love of a Peranakan Mother', boasts a true Peranakan heritage in both their food and service. Owner Zan Ho, a 3rd generation Peranakan, ensures that quality of food is consistent with the traditional Peranakan recipes he's learnt from both his mother and grandmother, while introducing his own modern take on a few dishes.Ambience at O'nya Sayang is open and clean, with white walls framing an entirely open dining area. Furniture is modern and comfortable, with long, or wide, wooden tables resembling a canteen, and bright white lights overhead. There is a sense of space, and O'nya Sayang can be rather bustling during peak periods. Decor reflects both the traditional and modern, with classic Peranakan household objects such as vases or clothing along a wall, and colouful modern paintings and artwork along another wall. This makes the place both attractive and interesting!Service at O'nya Sayang is decent, but not outstanding. What I liked is that staff are friendly and welcoming, rather efficient at taking and fulfilling orders quickly, and prompt in clearing and setting dirty / empty tables. However, the relatively new set up also means staff aren't as knowledgable as owner Zan Ho about the intricacies of the menu or the food. I also notice that due to the near constant crowd here, staff are usually kept busy, and as a result, may not be as proactive or as observant as they could be. You'll usually have to request for something before you get it.Food at O'nya Sayang is outstanding, everything we sampled was tasty, delicious dishes packed with flavour. Owner Zan Ho informed us that the majority of food is prepared fresh daily at their central kitchen, and closely monitored to ensure that it's true to his family's traditional recipes. This ensures a consistently high quality at both O'nya Sayang outlets, and also means food can be prepared and served quickly upon ordering. Portions tend to be rather large, individual ala-carte dishes can be shared between 2 - 4 people, while individual set meals are more than enough for 1 - 2 people. Prices are reasonable and comparable to other cafes, budget about SGD $20 per person for a meal.The Ayam Keluak Fried Rice (SGD $14.90) is a fine example of the fusion of traditional and modern. The Ayam Buah Keluak represents the traditional, with the classic dish featuring soft, tender, fall off the bone chicken meat in a savoury, fragrant, robust gravy. The keluak nuts have that signature soft, piquant black paste which is so appetizing. The modern is represented by the Buah Keluak Fried Rice, which uses the remainder of the keluak nut paste along with spices, imparting a beautifully fragrant and savoury taste when fried together with rice. With some heat from the use of chili, the rice takes on the signature piquant taste of keluak nuts, albeit less sharp. Highly recommended!This may well be the most flavourful Nonya Chap Chye (SGD $10.90) I've had. The mix of vegetable are stewed till they have that nice, soft texture, and while the cabbage and black fungus are commonplace, the thing that makes this dish so special is the shiitake mushrooms. The gravy is strong with the flavour of the shiitake mushrooms, and each mouthful is intense with the combination of sweet, earthy, and savoury. Highly recommended!The Chendol Ice Cream (SGD $5.90) is a modern take on chendol, with a smooth, creamy, Thai coconut ice cream replacing the coconut milk and shaved ice. Interesting that it tastes the same, while the texture is vastly different! continue reading

Onya Sayang (a mother’s love) is another franchising business from the Dulukala Peranakan restaurant, already popular for its authentic, home cooked Peranakan cuisines.We visited twice the restaurant within a short span of two weeks, first time to do a food review and second trip was with my parent-in-law to verify the authenticity of this Peranakan delicacy.Located in the Paya Lebar Square which is just a stone throw from the Paya Lebar MRT, this is another new shopping mall opened its door in 2015.Our verdict, we are pleasantly surprised the hearty and homely flavour from Onya Sanyang, quoted my parent-in-law comments; it is definitely one of the better peranakan food in town.We highly recommend the Babi Ponteh, Ayam Buah Keluak, Beef Redang and the Gula Melaka Sago Ice Cream.Please refer to www.ieatandeat.com for details review. continue reading

Must try dishes are beef rendang, bakwan kepeting (noodle) soup, chap chye, assam seafood/fish and chendol ice cream. Sago gula melaka ice cream is also good!The Best of O'nya set is good for two pax and great for tasting 6 different signature dishes. continue reading