Paradise Dynasty, 乐天皇朝

Spicy Szechuan Crispy Chicken ($14.80++), Pan-fried Shanghai Pork Bun ($4.50++)

La Mian served with Double-boiled Chicken Soup ($11.80++)

After an enjoyable lunch at Paradise Dynasty, we returned to find out more.

Given their 8 flavours Xiao long bao (8 pcs, $14.80++), the group still pretty much preferred the original (6 pcs, $7.80++).

The recommended crispy chicken is something you would wish to pack back for Dad to go with his beer. The double-boiled soup is clear yet so flavoursome, you would want to nourish your hubby with. Their pan-fried pork bun is delightfully devilish. Be coming back.

Steamed Bullfrog with Pickled Chilli ($19.80++), Lettuce Roll with Homemade Sesame Sauce ($8.80++)

西北人家, Xi Bei Ren Jia

Since visiting China, I came to love cold rice noodle. They called 'liang pi', 凉皮 or 'liang fen', 凉粉. This kopitiam stall at 722 Clementi West St 2 probably serves the best in Singapore. An appetizing dish that's tangy, spicy yet refreshing at the same time. I could finish a bowl by myself.

The ramen are the regular fare, and the fried dumpling less desirable. But they serve large egg+chives pancake ($1.50 each) with generous filling. Do remember to get it.

Cold Rice Noodle, 凉皮 ($3.50)

Braised Beef Ramen ($4.50)

Fried Dumpling ($5)

China Dumpling Stall @ 87 Whampoa Drive

Xiao Long Bao ($3.50, 6 pcs) 

Guo Tie ($3.50, 6 pcs)

After Crystal Jade; after Paradise Dynasty, thought it would be tough finding a Chinese dim sum that delights in the hawker center, but we did! It is this little stall in 87 Whampoa Drive kopitiam, ran by a hardworking and friendly China lady.

Were definitely impressed with the pan fried dumpling (Guo Tie)! The good soup dumpling (Xiao Long Bao), and the plump and meaty fried dumpling. Kept us returning.

Fried Dumpling ($4.50, 6 pcs)

Paradise Dynasty, 乐天皇朝

Lettuce Roll with Homemade Sesame Sauce ($8.80++)

Frankly, I have been shrinking from Paradise group of restaurants. Having visited their Canton Paradise; the meals left me much dehydrated. Paradise Dynasty today, is definitely a better experience.

Lettuce roll is refreshing for an appetizer. Then some light, nourishing pork bone soup, which pleasantly delighted me. Their signature meat dumplings are impeccable. The shredded pork to be wrapped with Chinese crepes are both engaging and flavory for our lunch group.

Fish fillets served in interesting bamboo basket raises up many of our handphone cameras. Haha. Just take care to order only their lighter dishes; i guess a visit to Paradise can still be enjoyable.

La Mian with Seafood in Signature Pork Bone Soup ($13.80++)

Signature Original Xiao Long Bao ($12.30++)

Fried Rice with Shrimps and Preserved Vegetables ($11.80++)

Stir-fried Prawns in Spicy Bean and Tomato Sauce ($18.80++)

Stir-fried Shredded Pork in Black Bean Sauce, with Chinese Crepes ($13.80++)

Steamed Garoupa Fillet served in mini Bamboo Basket

中国拉面, Zhong Guo La Mian Xiao Long Bao

Szechuan Spicy Wanton, 紅油抄手 ($4.50, 10 pcs)

Dinner is a pool of vinegary oil.

The image is deeply etched in my mind. Nothing horror about it, but i was really lapping in every spoonful. Amazed myself, at how much i'm enjoying the smooth skinned dumpling in the swamp of hot zesty oil! The diet plan was thrown out of the window.

The hand kneaded steamed buns are great as well. Take less photos, and eat them warm. Tear away its thin, firm skin; slurp in the warm soup within. This is wonderful.

Steamed Mini Buns, 小笼包 ($6, 10 pcs)

La Mian with Fried Bean Sauce, 炸醬麵 ($3.50)

Maybe i'm missing a good bowl of Zha jiang mian too much. It's hard to find a decent one in Singapore. Think we have chanced upon the best ones tonight. Almost swallowed my tongue, in a haste to savor my favourite China noodle!

Surely, this is one of the best stalls serving out China cuisine in a Singapore hawker center; all at very affordable pricing and generous portion. Now, you got a queue to join at the Chinatown Market and Food Centre.

Stall #02-135

乔记面馆, Qiao Ji Noodle House

You like pancake with stuffing? I love it.

It is a basic staple food in China, but in Singapore we tend to pay a premium for it. This stall (#01-72) we are visiting at Blk 90, Whampoa Food Centre serves an economical one. Only a dollar fifty for a palm-sized piece. And they were fattened with stuffing!

Now we love to dip them into the vinegary sauce, complete with ginger strips. Yum.

韭菜盒子, Chives Pancake ($1.50)

猪肉馅饼, Pork Pancake ($1.50)

葱花饼, Spring Onions Pancake ($1.50)

Ri Ri Hong, 日日红麻辣香锅

Prawns, Dried Cuttlefish, Chicken, Pork, Glass Vermicelli, Beancurd Skin, Oyster Mushrooms, Black Fungus,

Winter Melon, Ridge Gourd, Broccoli, Taiwan Lettuce 'Mai Cai' ($35, include 1 rice)

Our first encounter with the Mala fragrant hot pot was here, in 2014. It was our first, and best experience of Mala pot. But my China friends kept peddling - the Ri Ri Hong at People's Park Food Center. And we made it today, on a cold rainy day, which is perfect for the spicy meal.

Most stalls (almost all) allow you to pick the ingredients, in the amount you want, then proceed to weight each and charge you accordingly. Here, RRH has a standard serving size for each type of ingredients you picked - 6 prawns mean 1 serving and price, you can't take 4 prawns. We didn't know that. So we ended up with a huge bowl, as we are used to picking up a variety.

The Mala spices doesn't stand out from the rest. It was fairly average, or a little disappointing. Now, we don't understand RRH's overwhelming popularity. We were lucky to be early, because the snaking queue shocked us when we were finished for the night.

有朋, You Peng Noodle Dumpling House

"Xiao Long Bao", Steamed Dumpling with Soup ($7, 10pcs)

The Beauty World Centre used to be our Orchard Rd - where we shop for New Year clothing and feast in celebration at its al fresco food court on the 4th level. Then in the 1980s, the Beauty World was probably 'the' entertainment center of the Jurong district.

Today is my revisit of the place after... ... 28 years!

It was decided for the visit after reading some rave reviews about this China dumpling stall. Alas, food isn't exemplary. We couldn't agree with the sauce of the 'Zha Jiang Mian' because it just isn't how we like it. The filling of the dumplings was standard and routine. You can skip this stall if you are looking for the best, else it is decent eat.

The most rewarding experience today is the chance to step into the old shopping mall again, after the 28 year absence. And finding everything still looking familiar - the same shops! the layout; the floor tiles...!

"Zha Jiang Mian", Special Sauce noodle ($3.80)

Guo Tie, Fried Dumpling ($6, 10 pcs)

海春板面, Hai Chun Ban Mian - Fresh fish slices in one of Singapore's most quiet corner

Ban Mian ($2.80)

Fish Porridge ($3.50)

Strictly speaking, you wouldn't recommend this stall (#01-06 in Blk 1A) in the categorizes of gourmet food, but the faithful stall which stays open during the Chinese New Year festive and offers large serving of their mains with fresh fish slices clearly won our hearts. This is also some quiet dining in laid-back Tanglin Halt Food Centre. You go slow on weekends, don't you?

Being one of Singapore's most remote hawker centre, business is good at Hai Chun; many residents going for their fresh fish slices vermicelli soup/ or porridge, dine-in or packing away - that's how the stall caught our attention actually.

We enjoyed their slurping hot Ban Mian equally; their fried dumplings were just to fill the gap of the overly healthy dinner.

Fried Dumpling ($4)

Sichuan Mala Fragrant Pot, 麻辣香锅

We are always enthusiastic to trying out new food in the neighborhood hawker centre; particularly foreign cuisines which look appetizing from the patronizing tables. But sometimes, we didn't know what or how to order!

Sheepishly, we asked the stall owner, "What is this that you have? How do we order? How do we eat it? Which are the popular ingredients to have?" And now we know that 'hot pot' doesn't always implied steamboat.  

Our ala-carte for 2 pax, with 1 rice ($11.90)

The friendly hawker at the Alexandra Village Food Centre recommends the beef tripe, cabbage and instant noodle pack that we missed; while Ric got down to picking up as many varieties of food as he can.

Our selection - beef, pork, cuttlefish, enoki mushroom, king mushroom, shimeji mushroom, beancurd skin, taupok, pig's skin, spinach vegetable, black fungus, lotus roots, mung bean sprouts, instant noodle pack and my favorite thick vermicelli (濑粉)!

Vegetables               $0.80/ 100g

Meat Type               $2.50/ 100g

Fungus Type           $1.80/ 100g

Seafood Type          $3.00/ 100g

Minimum amount to order is $4.

The hawker weighs our selection with us, then proceed to cook and spicy up the dish with Mala sauce, spring onions, sesame seeds and roasted peanuts! This big bowl of mildest spice level is hot enough for us to douse ourselves with chilled sugarcane drinks and still numb our lips! At the same time, the taste is novel and temptingly spicy - we couldn't stop eating!

上海拉面, Shang Hai La Mian Xiao Long Bao

La Mian with Fried Bean Sauce, 炸酱面 ($3.50)

Szechuan Spicy Wanton, 红油抄手 ($4, 10pcs)

Came to the Alexandra Village Food Centre one Saturday, and it was almost impossible to order from this China noodles and dumplings stall - the ordering queue was so long and crowded...! So it brought us back again, on a weekday.

We ordered our all-time favorites and they were pretty satisfying; especially the hand-pulled La Mian. Now we've got another stall-to-go, up our sleeves.

同心居, Special Shanghai Tim-Sum

Remember 同心居? The well-liked dumplings food stall at one far end corner of level 2 Commonwealth Avenue Food Centre? And they have moved to the Maxwell Road Food Centre which we are this evening.

Prices remain that of 2010, when we last visited. And food standard has even improved - it shall always be the venue for some meaty home-made dumplings; however much we wanted because of the affordable $$!    

Steam Dumplings, 8pcs ($4)

Pei Jing Hor Fun ($3)

荣兴, Rong Xing La Mian Xiao Long Bao

Xiao Long Bao Dumplings, 8pcs ($4.50)

After my exquisite yet unsatisfying meal of Din Tai Fung's dumplings, i was left hanging with this hankering for the real stuff. Ric didn't know that, and was left baffled when i adamantly wanted the xiao long bao from Rong Xing at the Redhill Lane Food Centre.

It was 4 years ago! When i first blogged about them. And today, food never tasted this good; with my insatiable craving to satisfy.

Red Bean Pancake ($3.80)

鼎泰豐, Din Tai Fung

Fried Rice with Eggs ($7.30++)

We never fail to wonder, "Why the perpetual queue outside Din Tai Fung restaurant, always?" Simple and pretty decent food with mid-range pricing might be the reason - the limited menu was quoted by many as boring, but it does make ordering easy which the men appreciate very much, right? My group of guys has been revisiting.

Every table seems to be having their Oriental Salad in Special Vinegar Dressing ($4++) as the appetizer; while i was looking forward to their 18-folds Xiao Long Bao dumplings. One bite and hot juices ooze out, also with traces of crab roe but i remain unimpressed. The taste is very much forgettable. I can't be reminded of that intense flavor from the crab roe Xiao Long Bao from Nan Xiang Xiaolong Mantou in Shanghai, China.

The dumplings played only the supporting. Our guys love to order their fried rice; refusing the noodle. Between 4 of us, we shared 2 servings of it - one was just the plain fried rice with eggs and spring onions; the other plate which i calculated to be more value for money, has a thick slab of luscious pork chop throw in at just $10.80++.

Steamed Crab Meat and Pork Dumplings, 10 pcs ($14.30++)

Steamed Shrimp and Pork Shao-mai, 10 pcs ($14.80++)

新食界, China Fare at New World Cafe

Pork Rib La Mian, hand-pulled noodles ($4)

At the North Spine of NTU opens an air-conditioned Kopitiam, named "The New World" that operates on cashless purchase like the Marche's restaurant - you are given a card to present to each hawker and only billed at the exit when you give the card back to the cashier.

We had our fill of flour; not in a bad way, but because of the large servings, we felt really bloated. Here is some good hand-pulled noodles, as well-textured as you are seeing on the photo above and a good standard of home cooking.

Don't tell me Carbohydrates are fattening. Come, have your fill here!

Seafood and Pork Dumplings, 11 pcs ($4)

京华小吃, formerly named Qun Zhong Eating House

Juicy Steamed Meat Dumplings 'Xiao Long Bao' ($7++ for 7 pcs)

Ric had wanted to get us to the Jin Hua Xiao Chi at Neil road for the longest time. Withstanding the weekend's car parking woes and possible long wait at the restaurant, we were here for the night. Was his effort worth it? Yes.

For our love of China food, we had the thinnest skinned Xiao long bao of our life; most satisfactory bean paste sauce for the handmade noodles; thickly floured but enjoyable pan-fried dumplings and finest hand-kneaded glutinous rice balls for dessert.

It was all pleasurable. Would love to return with Ric again.   

Noodle with Minced Pork and Soy Bean Sauce 'Zhajiangmian' ($5++)

To be fastidious, it would be the 'all meat' recipe of the meat dumplings which we didn't quite appreciate; small serving of the handmade noodles and a Guotie that's very different from the traditional China styled i missed much.

The rice ball dessert is near flawless. Comes with mildly sweet filling of finely grinded peanuts, red beans and black sesame - wonder if we could dictate our preferences? Why was there only 1 ball of sesame?

Mixed Seafood, Pork Dumplings 'Guotie' ($8++ for 10 pcs)

 Sweet Osmanthus Flower Rice Ball Soup 'Tang yuan' ($3++)