I was at Chinatown hawker centre recently and was walking around, undecided on what to eat.
When I am about to cover the last row of shops at the hawker centre, I chanced upon this stall that had a queue of about 6 people.
The stall sells only 3 items: Yam cake, Radish cake, Peanut porridge.
I had a craving for yam cake earlier in the day and that craving helped me decide to try this stall out.
I ordered the mixed platter of yam cake and radish cake, and a bowl of peanut porridge.
Here’s the verdict:
- - Yam cake: This is steamed in a 50cm circle tray, and the owner cuts pieces to fill each customer’s order. It is done Cantonese style, with a generous sprinkling of white and black sesame seeds. The yam cake is dark purple. This is one of the better ones that I have had. You can eat it on its own or with the sweet brown sauce and/ or chilli.
- - Radish cake: Also steamed in a 50cm circle tray, it has dried shrimp in it. Also delicious. Recommended.
- - Peanut porridge: Cantonese style smooth porridge, with soft peanuts. Eating there costs 70 cent, while takeaway is $1.
I liked what I ate, so I ordered two packs of mixed yam cake and radish cake to go.
This stall opens at 5pm in the evenings and will close when they sell out. This is usually about 7pm.
I recommend ordering the mixed yam cake and radish cake, so you can try both and see which you prefer.
Do go and try them out!

Last week, while I was on leave, I was thinking of a place for lunch.
Only 1 restaurant came to mind, and I brought my lunch partner here to try their lunch set menu.
I have been here before and I recommended going for a set lunch and their grilled octopus leg.
Here’s the verdict:
- Vuelve a la Vida: This was like a cerviche, but with added tomato juice added in. It had fresh prawns, fish, Clam and avocado in a Tomato Cocktail. It was served in a cocktail glass in a small bucket of ice and topped with a crispy flat taco with pieces of sliced avocado. The tomato cocktail was tangy and complimented the seafood in it. It was a refreshing appetiser.
- Burrito de Pollo: Burrito with Charcoal grilled chicken, Chihuahua Cheese, Rice, Beans, Avocado and Lettuce. The chicken was nice and tender. I could taste that it was charcoal grilled, with its slight smokiness. Definitely a tummy filler, if you are eat this dish all by yourself.
- Pina con Piloncillo: A dessert consisting of Caramelised Roasted Pineapple, Chantilly ice cream and topped with freshly grated Lime Zest. The roasted pineapple was cut and placed on a plate and topped with the caramelised sauce from roasting the pineapple. The Chantilly Vanilla ice cream was home-made and eating it with the grated lime zest was nice and refreshing. Try it!
- Grilled Octopus Leg: This was the highlight of our meal. Ever since I had this a few weeks ago, I cannot get it out of my mind. You get a charcoal oven-grilled octopus leg atop corn cream on a plate garnished with black garlic paste and Tajin Ash. The octopus is succulent and gives a good bite. The corn cream has chilli flakes in it that makes it a tad spicy. It complements the octopus. Must-try!
The lunch sets are good value and it is a good opportunity to try what the restaurant has to offer on the extensive ala carte menu.
Recommended!

This new restaurant located along Mohamed Sultan Road has been in the news recently for being the only restaurant that serves Fugu exclusively throughout its menu.
We had the Daikokuten Fugu Course @ $250 per pax. For this set, the fugu that we have is farmed. Understand from the manager that most Fugu eaten in Japan is also farmed, instead of being wild-caught. The restaurant offers wild-caught fugu, but only for the most expensive set meal @ $580. For this, you need a five day reservation in advance to secure your order.
To handle Fugu (Puffer fish), the chef has to be certified. We were glad to know that the chef have over 20 years of experience working as a Fugu chef in Fugu capital – Shimonoseki, wich is the largest harvester of Fugu in Japan. The fish has been processed in Japan before it is air-flown to Singapore, so you have less worry about the poison from the Fugu.
I had the opportunity to watch the chef who hails from Kobe in action, plating the Fugu into a work of art on a plate.
This was a 9 course meal, and the highlights were:
- Appetiser: Cut pieces of Fugu simmered in a sweet soy sauce. The fish absorbed the sweet soy and was lovely. I liked it so much that I even drank the leftover sauce in the bowl!
- Lightly boiled Fugu Skin: The skin of the Fugu is boiled for a short time and sliced into long thin strips. You can eat it raw or with the finely cut chives and ponzu. We even tried cooking it in the steamboat and it gave a different texture.
- Thinly-sliced Fugu Sashimi: This was beautifully plated on a plate and too nice to eat! The fish was cut thinly and the translucent texture allowed you to admire the decoration of the plate it was on.
You take a piece, lay onto your plate, put about 3 cut chives onto it, some grated radish, roll it up and dip into ponzu. The fugu is nice and has a good bite, unlike any sashimi that you will eat. The fish was firm and definitely fresh!
- Hiresake: This was hot sake steeped with fried Fugu fins. After placing the covered cups on the table, the manager took off the lid and lighted a portable fire-starter. The alcoholic fumes ignited for a brief 5 seconds before he covered the lid back on. After several seconds, we took our first sip.
- Deep Fried Fugu: Fugu Cheek Karaage. This was one of my favourite dishes for the meal. My dinner partners all agree. The fugu fish cheek were cut into pieces and coated with batter then deep-fried.
- Grilled Milt: This looked like white sausages. It is actually Shirako, or sperm sac of the Fugu fish. We got the grilled version, instead of the steamed version. You can eat it by itself or add the salt or dash of lime, which was served on the side
- Fugu Hotpot with Vegetables: We got a tray of steamboat goodies and a hotpot on a portable gas stove. The tray included cut pieces of Fugu cheek, mushrooms, vegetables and Japanese clear noodles. The broth was dashi that has been filtered to give a clear soup with a piece of Konbu (Kelp) in it. After the soup is brought to a boil, the fire is lowered, the konbu is removed and the manager proceeded to put in the cabbage, fish and the rest of the ingredients in. After a few minutes, the food is cooked and we helped ourselves to the hotpot.
- Fugu Porridge Japanese style: When we were done with the Fugu hotpot, the manager removed all the cooked items from the hotpot, leaving only the soup behind. Soup was added to top it up, and the Sous chef (who handles cooked items for the restaurant) came to cook the porridge. He added the cooked Japanese rice, brought the soup to a boil, before lowering the heat and adding in beaten egg and stirring it in. This was followed by finely-cut Japanese spring onions and seaweed. Served together with Shio Konbu (Salted kelp), the kelp added some saltiness and a tinge of sourness to the dish. Otherwise, the porridge didn’t have much taste.
- Seasonal Dessert: The dessert for the day was yuzu sorbet. This was imported from Japan and I could taste and bite the yuzu pieces that is mixed into the sorbet. Refreshing and nice!
No Japanese meal would be complete without sashimi, and we had a sashimi moriawase, which had botan prawns, salmon belly and Hokkaido Scallops. They were fresh and nice. I especially like the scallops which were sliced into 4mm pieces and interlaced with sliced lime. The lime added a nice citrus-sy flavour to the scallops.
My first time trying Fugu was in Fukuoka, Japan about 6 years ago. I am glad that I can now enjoy this delicacy right here in Singapore, without the need to fly to Japan!

I have heard of this restaurant from various people over the past months and decided to try them when I was in the neighbourhood last week.
We were out shopping and when we finally were looking for a place for lunch, it was 4.30pm. We went to the outlet at #04-28, but they were closed, as it was their break time, between lunch and dinner time.
The lady working there suggested I visit their other outlet at #03-89 instead, which is open throughout, as the third floor outlet do not have the afternoon break time, and open throughout.
So my ‘lunch’ partner and I went to the third floor outlet. It was located at the back corridor, away from the building atrium.
There’s bar counter seating for 4 pax and several tables in a row, seating up to 10 pax.
I spoke to the chef and he said the menu at this outlet is smaller than the one on the fourth floor, as they can only use induction cooker and the small gas burners. They have a limited menu, and we ordered the following items:
- Salmon Sashimi: $2.90, This was a special priced item, as the restaurant is celebrating their 2nd anniversary! Incidentally, the day we dined was the last day of the promotion. We spotted quite a few tables ordering this dish several times.
- Wafu Spaghetti: $10.90, The spaghetti was served in a shape of a squid, with the mentaiko cream sauce on the plate and topped with sakura ebi roe. It was good! Highly recommended, especially for those who love mentaiko.
- Ebi Fry Salmon Aburi Roll: $16.90, A whole deep fried prawn rolled with avocado, cucumber and rice into a rice roll, then topped with salmon and mentaiko cream and flame broiled. We got two rolls for this order. It was good.
- Okura Ponzu: $4.90, Sliced cooked lady’s finger in a ponzu sauce. I couldn’t get enough of this dish and ordering another would be too much. Recommended.
- Yamaimo Teppan: $8.90, Chinese yam that has been grated and placed on a small hot plate that has been heated and served to our table. On the top, the grated yam is partially cooked, while the
They are generous with their wasabi.
We enjoyed our meal here and would definitely be back again. Try it!
 

My colleagues and I were looking for a restaurant for a team lunch and we chose this restaurant, as they have their signature roast duck and other ala carte Chinese dishes that we could order to complete the meal.
We went to the outlet at Serangoon Nex mall.
It is my first time at this restaurant chain and here are the highlights of my meal:
- Golden Lotus Roots with Pumpkin: This is a new item on the menu, and its like an appetiser. The lotus root are cut thinly and deep fried, before being tossed with salted egg yolk and pumpkin sauce. Good!
- Fish Maw Thick soup with Seafood: Each of us had a bowl and the soup was tasty. The ingredients were also generous and not measly. You can add vinegar and pepper to your own liking. Not bad.
- Duck Roasted with 10 Wonder herbs (Condonopsis Root, Foxglove Root, Liquorice Root, etc): The duck cooked this was touted to revitalise mental stress and promote longevity. The sauce is sweet to taste and I realised that the ‘younger age group of under 30’ preferred the duck prepared this way. I found the sauce a little sweet for my liking and it detracts from the roast duck. I preferred the duck roasted with Angelica Herb.
- Duck Roasted with Angelica Herb: The Angelica Herb health properties include nourishing blood, promote blood circulation amongst others for better health. This was my favourite dish. The duck sauce is salty, not sweet like the duck roasted with 10 wonder herbs. I went for second and third helpings.
- Braised Pork Belly: You get a slab of braised pork belly atop vegetables. The pork belly was cut on the skin in 2cm x 2cm blocks. It was tasty, but a little fatty for my liking. The guys in the group polished it up quickly with their individual bowls of plain white rice.
- Deep Fried Kai Lan with Pork Floss: Sliced Kai Lan stem are sliced, stir-fried and placed in the middle of the serving plate. The leaves of Kai Lan are then finely chopped and deep fried and placed surrounding it, followed by pork floss. This dish was unique and yummy!
- Fried Shrimp Egg: Fried beaten egg with shrimp. It was OK, something that you can cook at home.
- Homemade Wheatgerm Tofu with diced seafood and vegetables: Wheatgerm juice is mixed into the tofu and left to set. It is fried as a block and placed in a serving dish with diced seafood and diced vegetables in a starchy sauce.
- Stir Fried Seafood Bee Hoon with Fish Sauce: I couldn’t really taste the fish sauce, as the noodles were dry. It was alright., with pieces of prawns and squid stirred with the noodles.
- Osmanthus and Wolfberry Jelly: Set in round jelly mounds, the jelly had Osmanthus flowers and wolfberries in it. A nice dessert to round off the meal.
The good thing about this restaurant is that the portions for their food come in small, medium and large sizes (with corresponding pricings). Thus you can customise each food order to suit your group size easily.
For drinks, I had:
- Chrysanthemum Tea: Unlike chrysanthemum tea that you find elsewhere, this had some herbal taste in it. The restaurant added some herbs in the brewing process, so it has a slight medicinal taste. But it was alright for me. They sell it by the glass, unlike if you order Chinese tea, which is refillable.
- Lime and Sour Plum Drink: My colleague loved this and had a total of 3 glasses for the whole meal. The lime juice was refreshing and the addition of the sour plum added a sweet and sour flavour to the drink. Try it!
It was a good meal at Dian Xiao Er and I will definitely be back again for some of my favourite dishes and try out new ones.
Recommended!