A Taste of China 🇨🇳 中国风味

The spice was mild, and I was expecting a bit more tang, but the broth was still flavourful. Loved the silky egg tofu and crunchy bean sprouts—and they’re generous with the fish slices. The enoki and tomato added a nice touch too. Paired with fluffy white rice, it made for a comforting meal, though I do wish the sourness came through a little more 》$13.80 / Double Set

📍 Culiang Yufen 粗粮渔粉 | #01-26

Shredded potatoes stir-fried till just tender with a light crunch, and tossed in a tangy vinegar-based sauce with hints of chili and garlic. It’s a classic Chinese comfort food with a zesty twist that I cannot miss 》$6.80 / Small

Spicy and fragrant chicken pot with thick and savoury broth, filled with endless chunks of chicken tender to the bite. The broth tastes quite similar to the mala hotpot sans the numbing effect. Additional side dishes are available (chargeable) for add-ons.

Thanks to Burpple Beyond, we get to enjoy 30% Off Total Bill ✌ (U.P. $32.80 / Medium)

Fish covered with green peppers and topped with peppercorns. The recommended fish to go was limbo fish. It was grilled to crisp on the skin with tender and succulent flesh underneath. The fish was really fresh, smooth and falls off the bones easily. I always go for this flavour for its numbing > spicy flavours and it's great for people who love spicy food yet are not able to take too much spiciness (chilli oil).

As advised by the staff, I pushed the peppercorns into the gravy to make it more numbing to the mouth. I also added enoki and potatoes which were placed under the fish to let it simmer and absorb the savoury flavours from the gravy. Instead of pairing it with rice, I choose to go with plain noodles (similar to la mian) which turn out quite good with the numbing and slightly salty gravy 》$68.85

The skin on these XLB was tender and soft. Although the skin tends to be on the thicker side and not as prettily folded up, it holds the soup and fillings much better. The fillings were well marinated and flavourful with a bursting mouthful of soup in each bite. The broth in the XLB leans on the sweeter side but I like that it's less oily. This is definitely a bang for the buck at just $5.

Perfectly seared dumplings to a crispy golden bottom with tasty fillings. The skin has a nice combination of crispy and chewy on the other side with sweet and savoury flavours of fillings underneath. Every piece was stuffed with a substantial amount of filling and extremely value-for-money 》$7

When asked about their spice level, I was told to go for 小辣 if I am concerned it may get too spicy and that is how my MXG order cooked bland, not numbing and not spicy at all. It kind of ruined my MXG craving on a cold night 》$12.50

📍 Wang Zai Kitchen 旺仔小厨 | #01-03

If you’re looking for Chinese skewers and want to enjoy BBQ food without getting smoke in your eyes then this is the place you have to visit. The skewers are grilled and placed over a platform with candles to keep the food warm. Their menu is also extensive which gives a good choice of variety. The only downside is the skewers get heavily seasoned with the same seasoning which leads to having similar tastes with different textures across all skewers. I would suggest giving the rather bland lotus root a miss and try the Sichuan spicy noodles that became my favourite dish that night.

Sichuan Tasty Lotus Root 》$5.80
Sichuan Spicy Noodles 》$7.80
Grilled Enoki Mushroom 》$6.80

The Shanghai spring roll was served crispy, crunchy and golden brown on the outside, moist and well-cooked with braised cabbage inside 》$7.20 / 6 pcs

A small Chinese restaurant hidden under an HDB block in Ang Mo Kio that serves pretty good Chinese dishes. Unlike the usual Chinese restaurant, they have limited seatings and menu but are good enough to make you walk out with a satisfied belly. We went ahead to order some of their signature/recommended items such as xiao long bao, pan-fried buns and spring rolls.

The pan-fried buns (生煎包) are my favourite! Pan-fried buns have been a Shanghainese staple that differs from the traditional version of xiao long bao where it holds more soup and is fried upside down - fluffy on top and crispy at the bottom 》$6 / 4 pcs

4 Steps to ordering grilled fish
• Choice of Fish
• Choice of Flavour
• Level of Spiciness
• Choice of Sides

Their recommendation was patin fish but we thought it was too huge for us since it's one size only and we went with sea bass that comes in S and XL sizes. Other choices of fish include golden snapper (M/XL) and flounder (M).

The recommended flavours are spicy numbing, spicy fragrant and mushroom herbs. Other flavours include pickled cabbage, hot & sour, fermented black bean and fresh chillies. There are also 3 levels of spiciness - Mild (微辣), Medium (中辣) and Extreme (大辣) to choose from. Lastly, choose some sides to go along with the broth and fish.

We got the small sea bass in spicy fragrant (一品香辣) flavour and a mild level of spiciness. The fish was grilled to perfection, firm and crisp on the outside, tender and juicy inside. The broth was light, fragrant and packed with a good amount of blended spices. The different level of spiciness is altered using chilli oil and are available to add-on upon request. We also ordered a portion of handmade noodles and it goes so well with the broth 》$32 + $5.80 Handmade Noodles

Hot and sour fish with pickled mustard greens. The pickled mustard brings bold, punchy flavours cooked with pumpkin paste, ginger, yellow pepper, star anise, shallots, dried peppercorn and bay leaf. The fermented pickled mustard gives out some appetising acidity and zesty taste.

I like this mix of sour and savoury flavours with hints of spiciness. The recommended sides to go with this soup were beansprouts and tapioca noodles. Each portion of soup also comes with the standard seabass, two sides of choice and a bowl of rice. They ran out of seabass even as early as 6PM in the evening hence top-up for groupers 》$12.80