Chinese

The fries are drizzled in sticky balsamic vinegar sauce - have not tried this combination previously and it is not bad. Pretty addictive.

The stir-fried cabbage with bacon has so much wok hei and a drizzle of chili oil gives this dish a little boost - love this too.

This is sooooo good! The oyster mushrooms are plump and juicy and they are thoroughly infused with the aroma of sesame oil, rice wine, basil and garlic. A must order!

The soup is very herbalicious and the aroma of the sesame oil and shaoxing wine really comes through. The pan fried chicken thigh is tender and the mee sua, black fungus and gogi berries goes really well with rich broth.

The Sichuan spicy sauce is really spicy - not for the faint hearted! The noodles has a nice texture. The dumplings have thin skin and generous pork and prawn filling.

This is my first time trying 卤肉饭 with a herbal twist and the herbal braised pork belly actually works! The pork belly is very soft and the Taiwanese garlic sausage is a good addition to the rice bowl.

The rice bowl comes with braised beef shank, pickled cabbage, fried egg and lots of spring onions. The beef shank is tender and the runny yolk ties everything together.

I had gua bao in Taiwan before and this is literally gua bao on steroids - the gua bao is huge and the filling is literally bursting out of the steamed buns, in a good way. The braised pork belly has a good fat-meat ratio, though the meat portion can be a little softer. The pickles complement the savoury pork belly and I love the generous sprinkle of roasted peanuts!

We also ordered Chinese Meat Pancake 肉夹馍 ($4.80) - the braised pork belly is soft and savoury and the pastry is crisp and flaky.

Apart from noodles, I also tried the Pickled Cabbage Fish Soup ($7.50) and Fresh Lemon Fatty Beef Soup ($8.50) with rice. Both soups are refreshing and flavourful, and it comes with a very generous amount of enoki mushroom, beancurd skin, tofu, preserved vegetables and glass noodles.

Warming Rice Noodle 无名缘米粉 is a popular rice noodle chain from China and the first Singapore flagship branch is in Chinatown (201 South Bridge Road). I have passed by this place a few times but this is my first time trying it!

The Signature Rice Noodles with Minced Pork ($6.80) is really good. The soup is tangy, fragrant and slightly spicy, and it goes well with the minced pork, preserved vegetables and peanuts. The rice noodles is softer than normal thick beehoon and I love the flavours packed into this - delicious!

We had a really satisfying and wallet-friendly lunch for 7 pax at Dong Bei Ren Jia 东北人家 recently!

We ordered:
- Sautéed Hot and Sour Shredded Potato with Green Pepper 酸辣土豆丝 ($6)
- Green Bean Noodle, Carrot and Cucumber Salad 东北大拉皮 ($8)
- Shredded Cabbage 手撕包菜 ($8)
- Fried Vermicelli with Minced Meat 肉末粉条 ($10)
- Sautéed Tomato with Egg 番茄炒鸡蛋 ($8)
- Double Stir-Fried Spicy Sliced Pork 回锅肉 ($14)
- Sweet and Sour Pork 锅包肉 ($14)

The food is great - I truly enjoyed every dish that we ordered. Special shout-out to the hot and sour shredded potato that is crunchy and refreshing, the fried vermicelli with minced meat that is super garlicky and very fragrant, and the sweet and sour pork that is different style from the tomato-based 咕噜肉 found in zichar stalls. The thick and tender pork cutlets are fried and coated in a sweet and sour sauce made from vinegar and sugar - love this!

Would love to come back again!