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Prawn and Crab Roe Dumplings 2025 might be barely starting but it does seem that an up-and-coming food trend in the Singapore F&B scene may be that of establishments serving up freshly-made dumplings — Singapore has seen the very first outpost of Yuen Kee Dumplings / Yuan Ji Yun Jiao 袁记云饺 opening at Fortune Centre fairly recently; it does seem that yet another establishment of its type has set up shop within Grantral Mall at Clementi. We found ourselves ending up with the Prawn and Crab Roe Dumplings since that was pretty close to what we had previously ordered at Yuen Kee Dumplings / Yuan Ji Yun Jiao 袁记云饺 as well. It does take some time for the food to be prepared since the folks at ZHANGJIYUNJIAO / Zhang Kee Dumplings had mentioned that most of its dumplings were wiped out since lunch service — there was not much time to recover from the influx of orders throughout the day and the dumplings ended up being made on-site on demand. The Prawn and Crab Roe Dumplings from Prawn and Crab Roe Dumplings are more akin to that of Chinese-style dumplings as opposed to the Hong Kong-style ones that we had experienced at Yuen Kee Dumplings / Yuan Ji Yun Jiao 袁记云饺; as such, expect a slightly thicker and less delicate dumpling skin for the dumplings at ZHANGJIYUNJIAO / Zhang Kee Dumplings in general. That being said, the dumplings are still considered to be decently packed with fillings that does give it a good chew nonetheless; for the Prawn and Crab Roe Dumplings, it was the prawn that delivered that bouncy bite while the umami-ness of the crab roe can be detected in the broth within the dumpling as well. #jiaksimipng #jiaklocal #sgfood #burpple #burpplesg

Pork Noodles (Dry) Legacy Pork Noodles is a name that one shouldn’t find unfamiliar — these folks are one of the earliest names to have brought in the JB-style pork noodles into Singapore; widely-raved about when they had first opened their doors at Tai Thong Crescent. These folks had recently opened a second stall; situated within Food Haus at Blk 421 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, this location of Legacy Pork Noodles is situated beside the drinks stall within the coffeeshop. We went for the dry variant of the Pork Noodles, while opting for Mee Kia for our choice of noodles. This was the exact dish and combination that we had went for whilst visiting their Potong Pasir outlet for the first time. The bowl of noodles did come tossed with the same familiar black sauce and came with pork lard; we had also requested the noodles to come spicy and hence a scoop of chili was also added. The chili does provide the noodles a note of umami-ness similar to dried shrimp whilst carrying a deep savouriness from the black sauce that it came with; whilst the fried pork lard was crisp without being particularly greasy, we did recall them being slightly more generous with it at their Potong Pasir location. Moving on to the bowl of soup, we really liked how the pork was being executed; all of the pork elements don’t feel like they were doused in seasoning just to rid off any porky stench that it might have carried, but the meat was inherently sweet and provide a juicy, bouncy bite and tasted really homely. That being said, the soup did feel less tastier than our experience with it at Potong Pasir; the soup certainly looked more clear and less cloudy from the residue of the minced meat that had disintegrated over time — this resulted in a bowl of soup that didn’t really provide much of that kick that we were hoping for anyway. The soup now comes with one crispy beancurd skin that soaks up the soup yet still retained some element of crispness while at it; the greens also adding an element of crunch at the same time. #jiaksimipng #jiaklocal #sgfood #burpple #burpplesg

Mocha Walnut Crumble Muffin It does seem that bakehouses that are located within hawker centres are getting rather common of the late; whilst most of such establishments have opened their doors within the area around town such as that of Cat in the Hat at Golden Mile Food Centre, My aunty’s bakery at Market Street Food Centre, as well as Lian Hup Heng and Petite Krumbs which are both located in Amoy Street Food Centre, there also has been the opening of divine bites that is situated within the heartlands at Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre. Turns out, such an establishment can also be found in the North; introducing The Bakehouse at Marsiling Mall Hawker Centre — it is said that the establishment had already started business in the food centre since November 2024. With only a couple of muffins and some financiers to choose from, we found ourselves going with the Mocha Walnut Crumble Muffin; this was one out of the three (3) muffin flavours that was still in-stock when we dropped by in the early afternoon on the weekend. It does seem that the focus at The Bakehouse is very much on their muffins — sinking our teeth into the Mocha Walnut Crumble Muffin, we did find that their muffins were of a consistency that was suitably dense; there are some muffins out that here a little clumpy and difficult to swallow after a while, but the muffin from The Bakehouse still feels pretty much manageable throughout the whole portion. Being a muffin with a mocha element, there was a light note of coffee that perfumes throughout the muffin; all that whilst the chopped walnuts helped to add a note of nuttiness and an element of crunch while at it. One can also find clusters of crumbles atop the muffin, giving the muffin yet another dimension of crunch that is lightly sweet. The overall level of sweetness for the muffin is pretty adequate; definitely not one that felt like it was overly so. #jiaksimipng #jiaklocal #sgfood #sghawkers #hawkersg #burpple #burpplesg #ourhawkerculture

Hoki Fish Sando Sando has been one of those establishments that we had been looking forward to visit for a number of years when we had first heard about them — these folks have been operating from their space in Alexandra Technopark for quite some time, and the location and its operation hours does make it a little difficult to plan on a visit. That being said, these folks do seem to be ready to expand their operations in recent times, and have opened a new location within NTP+ just a short walking distance away from Lorong Chuan MRT Station with the turn of the new year. The menu at Sando describes the Hoki Fish Sando to come with elements such as Fried Hoki Fish, Burger Sauce, Mint Cream, Lettuce and Cheddar Cheese. Taking a bite into the Hoki Fish Sando, first impressions will be how soft, light and fluffy the buns were — it does seem that the folks at Sando had grilled the buns before assembling the Sando altogether. Considering how the Hoki Fish Sando involves the use of fish, it is also noted that the Hoki Fish Sando will be the item to go for for those whom do not intend to have an item that is too heavy. The Fried Hoki Fish comes with a fried batter that is almost akin to that of what can find in true-blue English-style fish & chips; crisp without being greasy whilst tightly encasing the moist flesh of the fish within and not particularly greasy. We did feel like the combination of the burger sauce and mint cream does seem to end up with a flavour profile that felt rather similar to that of tartar sauce; that slight zing and tang that kept things refreshing whilst giving a creaminess to the fish — the cheddar cheese providing a slight savouriness while the lettuce and purple cabbage added an element of crunch. #jiaksimipng #jiaklocal #sgcafe #sgcafes #sgcafehopping #cafehoppingsg #cafesg #burpple #burpplesg #instafoodsg

Taro Toast Seems like the trend for Yam / Taro / Orh Nee Toast is all the rage now — whilst SuuKee Coffee is the one that had been at the forefront of it all with them being the ones whom have brought the item to the mainstream in recent times, it seems that old-time names have been starting to introduce the said item into their limited time only menu. After all, what is more appropriate than the Chinese New Year to release items that comprises of Yam elements? Turns out, Toast Box aren’t the only ones thinking about it — Kopitiam has also released their very own version of the Taro Toast which is available in ala-carte ($2.80) or as a set with two soft-boiled eggs and a beverage ($4.80); the item is available at Kopitiam food courts from 1 January 2025 to 28 February 2025. Giving this a try does remind us on why we had not necessarily preferred Kopitiam’s version of the Kaya Butter Toast all along — the bread itself is one that is a little too dense with a texture that is a little grainy and rough; not too mention how it also comes thicker than what other establishments like Ya Kun Kaya Toast and Toast Box serves up. Considering so, the toast itself carries a bit of a texture that one would expect out of wholegrain bread, though one that is also particularly clumpy and not quite easy to swallow as well being a tad on the drier side of things. We did note that the Taro spread here does carry a stronger flavour than the one we have had at Toast Box; itself coming in a consistency different from the smoother and creamier one that Toast Box has — whilst this also meant that the fragrance of coconut milk and earthiness of taro is more pronounced, the spread also came with a grainier and lumpier texture than is similar to some commercially-made Kaya jams that further amplifies the texture of the bread which wasn’t something we necessarily preferred. The slice of butter comes cold and is of quite a substantial thickness — liked how it is buttery enough without being overly salty in a way that would overpower the taro spread. #jiaksimipng #jiaklocal #sgfood #burpple #burpplesg

Signature Pork Dumpling One of those establishments that we had gotten to know of its existence through the social media page would be that of Xi Chu 喜厨; these folks are situated within Geylang West Community Club, which is in turn a stone’s throw away from Upper Boon Keng Market & Food Centre and a bit of a walk away from Kallang MRT Station. These folks occupy a shop space that is pretty near the pick-up / drop-off point of the building; the shop space it has taken up being one that is of a reasonable size for the sort of establishment that it is. The Signature Pork Dumpling is one of the items that is being listed in the Dumplings section of the menu — the Signature Pork Dumpling could be described as the most basic version of of the dumplings that they have to offer considering how the other dumpling dishes that they have to offer would be the Spicy Chili Oil Dumplings, and the Shrimp & Meat Dumplings. All dumpling dishes come in a serving size of five (5) pieces; whilst the menu does not describe the elements that are involved with the various dishes that they have to offer, the Signature Pork Dumpling does come in a pool of vinegar that puddles at the bottom of the dish. Giving the dumplings a go, we did find that the Signature Pork Dumpling here comes with silky smooth dumpling wrappers that were incredibly slurpy, though the wrappers do come off fairly easily from the meat fillings leaving the meat fillings pretty bare. The vinegary sauce does help to provide a slightly tangy note to dumplings, though we do note that the meat fillings don’t really carry any particularly strong meatiness whilst being all firmly packed and bouncy in its chew. #jiaksimipng #jiaklocal #sgfood #burpple #burpplesg

Japanese Curry Puff Only got to know about their existence of A Star Curry Puff when we were around Kallang Leisure Park fairly recently — these folks had seemingly sprouted up within the mall occupying a space that is relatively close to the entrance of the mall from Stadium MRT Station. A concept by the folks behind Hansfort Pte. Ltd. (also seemingly the company that runs the outlet of Au Croissant at Kallang Leisure Park), A Star Curry Puff is an establishment that seems to have aspirations to being a fresh contender to the myriad of Nanyang Kopitiam-themed dining establishments that have been opening up all across the island in recent times. Decked in a retro design that mimics that of an old school Of all the items that we had tried, it was perhaps indeed their curry puff that left the strongest impression with us. A Star Curry Puff does serve up quite a variety of flavours of curry puffs such as the Curry Chicken & Egg Puff, Rendang Chicken Puff and the Bacon & Egg Mayonnaise Puff, though the one variant that really caught our attention was the Japanese Curry Puff. It is worth noting that the curry puffs that A Star Curry Puff serves up are slightly on the smaller size when compared against the likes of Old Chang Kee’s Curry O. The puff pastry of the Japanese Curry Puff can be described as light and flaky, though not necessarily crisp nor was it exactly buttery — we did note that the puff did not necessarily feel greasy however, though some crispness would probably work out well nonetheless. The filling of the Japanese Curry Puff was what impressed us however; coming with a curry gravy that is still moist, the filling of the Japanese Curry Puff reminded us of what we would have expected to come with the Japanese-style curry donuts or Kare Pan — came with various chunks of root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots, all that with a curry gravy that is slightly sweet, earthy and lightly peppery. Overall, the level of spiciness was pretty mild, and this should still work well even for those whom have a lower tolerance to spiciness in general. #jiaksimipng #jiaklocal #sgcafe #sgcafes #sgcafehopping #cafehoppingsg #cafesg #burpple #burpplesg #instafoodsg

Strawberry Cone The Golden Arches had released yet another limited time-only soft serve flavour pretty recently; the entire line-up is dubbed Berry Burst, which sees a whole slew of items involving the use of a strawberry-flavoured soft serve that is featured in their product line-up such as that of the Cone, Sundae and McFlurry offerings — think items like the Strawberry Cone, Strawberry Twist Cone, Strawberry ChocoCone, Strawberry Twist ChocoCone, Strawberry Bliss Sundae, Strawberry Hot Fudge Sundae and the Strawberry OREO McFlurry. The Strawberry Cone is the most basic variant of the lot — this features the standard wafer cone and just the strawberry soft-serve being swirled atop of it. The strawberry soft-serve comes with a pink hue in the same way that one would expect it to be. Flavour-wise, the strawberry soft-serve does seem to be predictable but in a pleasant manner; it does seem that the folks at McDonald’s have leveraged the use of their strawberry sauce that is used for their Strawberry Sundae since the strawberry soft-serve does come with a similar flavour profile less the overly sweet and slightly artificial note that comes in the finishing notes of the sauce. Otherwise, it would be likened to that of the said strawberry sauce with a milkier ending note similar to the base flavours of their usual vanilla soft-serve. The strawberry soft-serve is also noted to come with a slightly more dense consistency that also doesn’t melt as fast as their vanilla soft-serve. Overall, a flavour that is worth a try at the very least. #jiaksimipng #sgfood #burpple #burpplesg

Nangyi Thoke Located within the Kim San Leng coffeeshop in Pioneer Point facing Soon Lee Road, this isn’t the only location that one can find Kay-Tu Myanmar Cuisine in Singapore; their other outlet is located at 90 Boon Lay Place which is slightly more accessible, being housed in a coffee shop in the former Savoy Theatre. Kay-Tu Myanmar Cuisine is very much like the typical Myanmar cuisine stall that serves up both Myanmar-style mixed economy rice as well as some cooked dishes that includes noodle dishes too. For the uninitiated, the Nangyi Thoke is essentially a Burmese chicken chili noodle salad — though Kay-Tu Myanmar Cuisine does not describe the elements that come with the Nangyi Thoke, some sources does mention that the noodles comes with elements such as chickpea flour, sliced onions and hard-boiled egg which can all be observed within the portion of noodles that we were being served with. Other elements that we did also noted in the Nangyi Thoke at Kay-Tu Myanmar Cuisine would include chunks of chicken and coriander. “Nangyi” in the dish’s namesake refers to the thick, round rice noodles that is being served up with the dish; think something a little similar to that of laksa noodles but broader — considering how this comes tossed in chili oil, this makes the noodles all the more slurpier. The chickpea flour that has been mixed into the noodles adds an earthy note with a slightly starchy texture similar to that of finely-mashed potatoes; the chicken chunks being especially tender. The fried chickpeas provided the dish with an extra element of crunch which was a good contrast to the bouncy and slightly chewy noodles; the coriander cutting through the savoury and carb-y feel of the dish – the Nangyi Thoke also does come mildly spicy and should be manageable even for those whom have lower tolerance to spiciness in general. It also comes with a slight zing from raw onions and the lime zest that is presumably added before being served. #jiaksimipng #jiaklocal #sgfood #burpple #burpplesg

Maple Glaze Donut Tim Hortons has been making quite an aggressive expansion in the Singapore market after the success of their very first outpost at VivoCity — since then, the Canadian coffee shop can be found at several locations all over the island. These folks had recently opened their very first location up north; interestingly situated within Woodlands Health Campus (connected to Woodlands South MRT Station), the Tim Hortons outlet can be found at Level 1 at Tower B — this does make them located some distance away from all the other F&B concepts that can be found within the compounds of Woodlands Health Campus, though it does also occupy quite a sizeable shop unit that is more spacious than a few of their other locations here. If there is one donut that we would stick to whilst visiting Tim Hortons, it would definitely be their Maple Glaze Donut — the donuts at Tim Hortons are available from 10am onwards, and that these are baked in batches throughout the day which ensures patrons do get a reasonably fresh one whenever they drop by a Tim Hortons outlet for them. The Maple Glaze Donut isn’t an unfamiliar item for us considering we have had the same item during our very first visit to Tim Hortons in Singapore at NEX — a twist to the usual donut, the Maple Glaze Donut sees a maple-infused glaze instead of the usual sugary glaze or sugar crystals that one would find for a typical donut. Have always found Tim Hortons’ donuts to be pretty enjoyable where they are pillowy soft and fluffy despite its slightly dense looks — also doesn’t come anywhere greasy like how a deep-fried donut would be like. Considering the infusion of maple in the glaze above the donut, this added a nice floral note to the inherent sweetness of the glaze — the sweetness of the entire donut also being pretty well-controlled here. #jiaksimipng #sgcafe #sgcafes #sgcafehopping #cafehoppingsg #cafesg #burpple #burpplesg #instafoodsg

Set B Was scrolling through social media casually when we found out about Lomak that seems to have recently opened in NTP+ near Lorong Chuan MRT Station — the mall does seem to have seen a recent revamp in its tenant listing, and now sees a bit of a change in the various F&B establishments that currently operate within the mall. Lomak can be found within the ground floor of the mall itself taking over the former premises of the now-defunct Keb’s - German Döner Kebab which is mostly operating as a takeaway kiosk within the mall. The menu describes Set B to come with elements such as coconut rice, marinated chicken leg, sunny side-up, anchovies, peanuts, cucumber and a “Special Mak Sambal”. Considering the operations of Lomak, it is not surprising to find that the Nasi Lemak at Lomak is served in disposable ware. The short grain rice here does seem to have fully absorbed the flavours of the coconut milk that has been added during the cooking process; whilst some grains do come with a slightly harder texture in some parts, the rice is still pretty aromatic and fragrant. The marinated chicken leg is similar to, but not entirely being the Ayam Goreng Berempah that most would be hoping for — whilst being all crisp on the outside and juicy within, the notes of galangal, turmeric and lemongrass aren’t exactly that pronounced as compared to some that we have had; it also does not come with the crispy crumbs and the wok-fried curry leaves that some would be looking forward to having. The anchovies were a little less crispy than what we had expected it to be; a little bit limp considering how we had dropped by the establishment during dinner service on a weekend. That being said, the “Special Mak Sambal” was another element that was a hit to our tastebuds; there’s a good balance of sweetness in the sambal here all that whilst delivering a spicy kick that those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness should be good with — definitely goes well with the rice and anchovies that each set at Lomak comes with. #jiaksimipng #jiaklocal #sgfood #burpple #burpplesg

Pasta of the Day (Tagliatelle al Ragu) The year of 2024 has yet to come to a close when we made our visit to 42 Pasta at Thomson Plaza — that being said, we would suppose that 42 Pasta is perhaps one of the most interesting establishments with a unique character that we have found within a mall thus far for the year. Taking up a space at Thomson Plaza, 42 Pasta takes over the former premises of the now-defunct outlet of IKURA Japanese that is located around the perimeters of the mall. Whilst 42 Pasta may be an entirely new concept to the local F&B scene here, these folks aren’t totally new to the F&B business — they were previously running a home-based business under the name 42 Bakes. The Pasta of the Day during our visit made to 42 Pasta was the Tagliatelle al Ragu — the chalkboard menu which lists the specials for the day has described the Tagliatelle al Ragu to come with Pork & Chicken; we had also seen instances where the Pasta of the Day served up at 42 Pasta are more complex creations, with examples being the Foglie di Vilvo and Potato Ravioli. As mentioned, all pasta dishes served up at 42 Pasta features handmade pasta, and other elements included here that we can observe on the plate includes the tomato-based sauce that the pasta is being tossed with, as well as Parmesan shavings that adds on to the aesthetics of the dish. Digging into the pasta, the pasta comes al-dente with a good bite whilst also not being brittle; a very good texture. Considering how Ragu is essentially a meat sauce, there are shreds of beef that can be found amidst the bright and tangy tomato-based sauce which gave it the meatiness that it should carry; the meat carrying just a whiff of gaminess that one would expect in such a dish but otherwise wasn’t particularly bother. It also came with small chunks of pork where some establishments would describe as pork sausages; these chunks of pork does come with a prominent hint of herbs that were used to further elevate the flavours of the dish — all that whilst not carrying any undesirable porky stench while at it. #jiaksimipng #jiaklocal #sgfood #burpple #burpplesg