Wontons were silky but char siew was dry. Aunty batted our request to upsize away: this dish was a literal one size fits all. I would not have much to shout about – if not for the sauce. Straight crowd pleaser. My noodles were wet and suffused with flavour. Didn’t think wet noodles would ever work – consider me surprised.

🏅 8/10
💭 Small portion, delicious sauce, can try!!!

Not a fan, sorry. The cheap chicken rice black sauce was stark as a sore thumb. Too salty, way too much black sauce. No harmony in the flavours at all. One of the worst carrot cakes I’ve had.

🏅 1/10
💭 Forget it

The oil pooling at the bottom of my bowl gave me one of the worst guilts of my life. This was fragrant, savoury, porky: sinfully good. The noodles had a nice bite and carried the medley of flavours incredibly well. Pro tip: mix well and have sips of the ginger soup to cleanse your palate.

🏅 9/10
💭 DIE DIE MUST TRY

Le Shrimp is Paradise Group‘a way of jumping on the new age novelty ramen bandwagon. The broth is thick, creamy, suffused with crustacean goodness and distinctly prawny. Wontons were silky, prawns were fresh. You have the options of Chinese la mian (perfectly soft, not that al dente crap), rice vermicelli or flat rice noodles. Would’ve liked to pay a bit less thoug, for just 4 wontons a bowl.

🏅 9/10
💭 Must try

Pancakes came to us in their hot, fluffy, wobbly glory! Best enjoyed by slathering a bit of homemade butter and a small dollop of whipped cream. I usually eschew whipped cream, but this one was light on the palette and moderately sweet. Pancakes could be softer though. (FYI: Store policy compels you to order the same number of items as there are in your group size.)

🏅 8/10
💭 Price is on the steep side

Can you enjoy Korean food without chilli? Kim Dae Mun offers a resounding yes. Having eschewed the spicy gochujang (red chilli paste) and the spiced sweet sauce, I was pleasantly surprised that the bibimbap itself presented a wonderful profundity of flavours: Sweetness from the diced eggplants, savoury relish amply coating the bulgogi strips, capped by a hot peppery thrill from the marinated tofu and a zesty sharpness from the pickled vegetables. More than just value for money, this dish was an absolute feast.

🏅 9/10
💭 Must try

The Gold Standard: Thin and translucent dough exterior encompassing a small mound of savoury pork filling, bathing in a generous quantity of sweet, sapid broth.

I cannot begin to describe how good, how delightfully toothsome this carrot cake was. The white radish cubes were mantled by a thin, fried egg exterior, which was smoky and crispy right down to its edges. It’s rare that any carrot cake achieves such an even texture – the fried egg usually comes in scattered chunks. I quickly discovered that this was achieved by tossing the white radish in the egg mixture before spreading it over a wok and frying over high heat. What a decidedly simple but clever tack, and no less effective.

Without intending to carp, I might have been a little put off by the 45 minutes wait and the surly owners. But all it took was one mouthful to tell me this dish was worth the wait.

🏅 10/10 A+ first class honours
💭 DIE DIE MUST TRY

Having partaken in their Signature Shoyu, I expected nothing less of its counterpart (another signature). The broth had a briny crustacean tang; it was tastefully perfumed by black truffle, which danced ever so fleetingly on my tastebuds. The flavours melded together ever so beautifully.

🏅 10/10
💭 MUST TRY

Alone, the soup was light, sweet, and well-populated with ingredients. I loved that the mee sua made the soup so viscous that I no longer needed carnation milk. (Lower cals than thick bee hoon btw.) Also loved that the fish slices were soft, evenly cooked, and absolutely devoid of piscine odour.

🏅 10/10
💭 Must try

What to expect: soft, slow-cooked shredded pork cheek pillowing on ribbons of al dente linguine, carpeted over spiced tomato sauce and a shower of Parmesan. Absolutely loved this dish.

I have an awful weakness for full-flavoured gelatos, and this hit all the right spots. Rich, just a little rougher in texture but no less creamy. Some of my favourites include their “Sea Salt Caramel” (pictured behind) and “Hazelnut” (pictured behind). I was delighted to find that the sweetness was kept to a judicious level. But their “Mocha Chocolate” (pictured in front) carries the day for me: sensually dark chocolate beautifully suffused with espresso that came through so intensely.

🏅 10/10
💭 DIE DIE MUST TRY