Wo Peng Cuisine @ Furama Hotel, Singapore

Helmed by Platinum award-winning Hong Kong chef, Julian Tam, Wo Peng Cuisine aims to deliver authentic flavours of Cantonese cuisine in Singapore. Moreover, Chef Julian Tam is the pioneer of introducing traditional poon choy as a festival new year delicacy. Wo Peng opened its doors in Furama Hotel in the year 2010, albeit slightly run-down, the place reminded me of the typical Chinese restaurants (such as Red Star), with dull carpets and tinted lights. But.. it's usually these places that serve the most authentic food.

Food Tasting: IPPIN Cafe bar @ Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore

Nestled along the stretch of Mohamed Sultan Road, IPPIN cafe bar serves unpretentious home-cooked Japanese meals along with imported teas and alcoholic drinks. The interior is cozy and home-styled with a touch of industrial design and simplicity, and even house a beautiful sake bar and kitchen. Besides meals, IPPIN is also a small, atas Japanese mama-shop, which you can get your Japanese essentials at one place. 

This cafe bar was first introduced to Singapore by Ayumi Fujishiro with the intentions of helping her father set up IPPIN in October 2014. We had a short chat with the lady herself, and was astonished to find that she actually speaks Singlish despite the short exposure. Uh uh siol, not bad sia.

Blisshouse @ Clarke Quay, Singapore

Enter the whimsical world of Blisshouse, a fairytale-themed restaurant which serves Western cuisine amongst beautifully crafted gardens and fountains (and even a carriage!) that you might only discover in Disney movies. Photo opportunities are aplenty, making this place a well-desired venue for events such as solemnisation ceremonies, birthday parties and product launches, etc. In fact, the day we were there, there was some ongoing filming where there were parlour chairs and a grand piano set.

Ambience definitely scored high for Blisshouse, and service was pretty good as I would have expected. The service staff were attentive and dishes did not take long to arrive. Food-wise, there were some negative reviews from friends' experience and through my prior research, hence to be utterly honest, my expectations were not high for their offerings.

Mei Heong Yuen Desserts 味香园 @ Chinatown, Singapore

Before meeting my girlfriend, I did not even know that this specific type of powdery shaved ice existed - and that would had been a total waste. Nowadays, instead of your typical ice desserts, such as ice kacang and chendol, people are having bowls of towering shaved ice, which are usually flavoured and topped up with syrup, diced fruits and jelly cubes. Well, with all the new desserts stalls starting to appear in the local food scene, you might ask, "where is the best dessert place, or has the best snow ice?" Although the answer might be ambigious to some, Mei Heong Yuen, or better known as 味香园 is one dessert place to head for.

Being featured in several newspaper articles and television programmes, Mei Heong Yuen is also proud to be one of Singapore's Chinatown Heritage Brand, an initiative by Chinatown Business Association to introduce long established heritage brand names to visitors. Despite being in business for years, its standard still remained the same, unlike some restaurants who slacked on their standards after quite some time. And, if you are still wondering why the name sounds familiar, the owner of Mei Heong Yuen also owns the famous Farmer Brand peanut - the logo features a farmer holding a spade and a bunch of groundnuts with the other hand.  

 

Shifting the focus back to the shave ice, Mei Heong Yuen has one the best ones in Singapore. Their Mango Snow Ice (S$5.00) is a good thirst quencher on hot days, with the flavoured ice matched with fresh mango puree and mango cubes. The strawberry version (S$5.00) does not lose out as well, being a good lover of the adorable-looking red fruit, I am bias towards to this shaved ice, paired with fresh strawberry slices and jelly cubes.

Another favourite of mine - Yuan Yang Snow Ice (S$6.00), a perfect combination of black (sesame) and white (almond), which comes complete with roasted almond slices and grass jelly cubes. If you like the hot yuan yang paste, I am pretty sure you would take a liking to the cold version as well.

Expecting no less from the owners of Farmer brand peanuts, Mei Heong Yuen is also highly acclaimed for their smooth Peanut and Walnut paste (S$3.00). Recently, Mei Heong Yuen has once expanded to fit the large crowds, and it is now occupying three shops allocation. On top of that, they do have another outlet at the basement of Ion Orchard as well. It is small and often over-packed, therefore if you're eating in a big group, do head to their Chinatown outlet.

Mei Heong Yuen Desserts 味香园

Tel: 6221 1156

Opening Hours

Sun-Fri, PH: 10.30am – 9pm

Sat: 10.30am – 10pm

65-67 Temple St

Chinatown

Red Star Restaurant @ Chin Swee Road, Singapore

Red Star Restaurant is conveniently located at Chin Swee Road, which is just a short 5 minutes walk away from Chinatown station. Usually flooded with diners, especially the elderly who came to gather and reminisce the nostalgic ambience. I love how they are still using the classic quaint pushcarts, which contains trays and baskets filled with freshly made dim-sum.

More often than not, Red Star Restaurant has always been the preferred choice when it comes to choosing a dinner place for dear grandma's birthday. Besides serving your usual dim-sum fix in the morning, this Mandarin restaurant which is opened by four well-known chefs in the 1970s, whipped out pretty decent Cantonese classics as well.

For example, their signature Yam Basket topped with assorted ingredients is a favourite of many. Its crispy exterior covered the soft, piping hot yam cake, matched with a couple of savoury seafood and vegetables,  this delectable dish is one of the must-tries. 

Chicken with Assorted Vegetables was a tad bland for my liking. Nevertheless, I like the unique idea of combining ham with chicken chunks, topped with creamy egg sauce.

Fried Fish Slices in Sweet and Sour Sauce was average. Nothing to rave about, as I usually do not eat fried fish slices, but when I do, I love it when it's soaked in broth.

We also had their spinach leaves, which turns out to be too clumpy. I just wished they'd put more eggs in it.

一品锅, also known as Royal Pot consists of an array of vegetables and seafood, including a generous portion of the luxurious sea cucumber.

Generally, Red Star Restaurant is an ideal place to head to if you want the nostalgia it brings, which is great for family gatherings, especially when there are elderly. Other than that, food and service were pretty average, as there are definitely better ones out there.

Red Star Restaurant

Tel: 65325266

Operating Hours

Daily: 07:00 - 15:00

Daily: 18:00 - 22:30

 

54 Chin Swee Road

#07-23

Chin Swee Area Office