[CLOSED] Yum Sing!

It is the chai tow kway or fried carrot cake we all know, except that this was made and served in slabs instead of how it’s usually cut into pieces. Wrapped within a layer of fried egg, the radish cake is also fried alongside some savoury preserved radish. Slightly oily, but this is definitely gonna load your carbs intake high yet bland on the tastebuds. Consider requesting for chili to inject some flavour.

Say what, a $6 chendol? It’s a single portion too, by the way. Keep in mind the elevated hawker fare here are served at the touristy Clarke Quay. A usual shaved ice drenched with coconut milk, palm sugar and topped with kidney beans and green chendol. Excluding the fact that it’s pricey, I like that it wasn’t overwhelming with coconut milk but could also do with more palm sugar as it is indeed just that bit you see in the center of the shaved ice. Would say that the amount of kidney beans and green chendol were pretty generous.

Of the sharing sides that we had, I would highly recommend the prawn paste chicken wings. Despite their unassuming looks, a bite into the crispy batter revealed how flavorful and juicy they were. The fermented prawn paste taste came through pretty strong but not overly fishy nor salty. Only downside, it’s pricey for $2.50 per piece of mid wing.

We also had the sambal sotong served on a hot plate with watery sambal chili like an acidic yet tomato gravy. Would have preferred the sambal to be of the usual thicker consistency and slightly more spicy. The sotong, though, was chewy and of reasonable portion.

Awww, just look at that luscious egg yolk sitting right in the middle of the hor fun. Precisely the reason why we wanted to try this. Just like the CKT, flat rice noodles were stir fried in a savory sauce reduction with bean sprouts, chives and sliced onion, yet again missing the smoky wok hei. I stole a bite off the prime beef slices; how tough it was to tear them apart.

Looking very much like its hawker version, Yum Sing serves this CKT that’s fried using flat rice noodles with Chinese sausages, chives, bean sprouts, sliced fish cake, eggs, prawns and cockles in a soy sauce mix. Surprisingly, I found quite a handful of small cockles in this single portion. Prawns were pretty fresh too. While the basic taste of the dish was on point, it was missing the crucial element - wok hei. Disappointment can be expected.

Dining at the newly opened @yum.sing by Putien felt like I traveled back in time with the neon lights, old-fashioned iron window grilles, and even a counter that looked like a pawn shop in place. Waves of nostalgia set in when I saw merry-go-round horses on the ceiling at the dining area with marble tables and rattan chairs, in front of the stage meant for live performances. Truly living up to the restaurant’s concept inspired by the New World Amusement Park.

Paying homage to true blue Singaporean cuisine, Yum Sing serves a variety of single portion hawker dishes at pretty affordable price on enamel plates. Additionally for it’s Hokkien Mee stir-fried with meat and seafood, one would be delighted to spot the traditional opeh leaf. I would usually look at how ‘wet’ a fried hokkien mee is; for this one, it was slightly wet but not drenched in the broth. My friend felt like it had a strong meaty taste, but I could do with stronger umaminess from a richer broth. While the sambal chilli packed a punch, it was also tangy.