Song Yue Taiwan Cuisine | Taiwanese Homestyle Specialties in Kallang
Recently opened at Kallang Leisure Park, Song Yue Taiwan Cuisine serves up familiar family favourites that focuses on seasonal produce. We enjoyed our meal there and would describe the food as “comforting” and “nourishing”. You can expect herbal soups and other wholesome dishes that would warm bellies. We tried a range of dishes from Song Yue and would return with family for more comforting food.
Before we started our meal proper, we had their home-pickled chilled dishes – Winter Melon Pickled with Fresh Passion Fruit, Pickled Cherry Tomatoes with Sour Plums and Pickled Cabbage and Radish. These are refreshing and crunchy, preparing our appetites for the meal proper. The very first dish that had was the Traditional Ginger Duck ($19.90 for Regular, $36.90 for medium) – setting high expectations for the rest of the dishes that follow. Duck is stewed for hours with thick slices of ginger and black sesame oil. The soup is a bowl of unadulterated goodness with no gaminess from the duck. We were told that Song Yue’s recipe and cooking method makes this soup well-balanced and not too “heaty” so that it can be savoured all year around.Another dish that stood out is the Farm Chicken with Spring Onion ($18.90 for half, $33.90 for whole). Local kampong chicken is lightly poached in a superior broth to bring out its natural flavours, then paired with fresh spring onion and ginger dipping sauce. Drizzle the sauce over a bowl of white rice – yum!The Slow-Braised Pork Ribs with White Radish is a classic with tender prime ribs and sweet white radish simmered over low heat in a soy-based sauce infused with a variety of herbs. I think this is a dish my grandad will like. Apart from the meats, their seafood dishes are also well-executed. This Salt and Pepper Pomfret with Crispy Garlic Chips ($35.90) is one of their more popular dishes. Pomfret is deboned then cut into generous pieces and coated in a light batter before deep-fried to render a crispy and golden exterior. The fish pieces are seasoned with salt and pepper and finally topped with crunchy deep-fried garlic chips.The Pineapple Prawns with Crispy You-Tiao ($18.90) is a dish you frequently see in Taiwanese restaurants. It features crispy battered prawns tossed with pineapples in a light citrusy mayonnaise dressing. Song Yue adds homemade dough fritters stuffed with squid and prawn paste for additional texture and flavour. Kids will like this dish. The Silken Tofu with Pumpkin and Crabmeat ($18.90) harmonises silken white tofu, sweet golden pumpkin with fresh crab meat. A dish that someone joked she will try to recreate at home (will unlikely succeed) is the Crispy Eggs with Black Sesame Oil ($16.90), something that is well-loved across generations. It presents perfectly-fried eggs with crisp edges and a soft oozy centre lightly simmered in a sweet and savoury sauce. This is a “must-have” with rice – in fact, just this an a bowl of rice makes for a simple yet hearty meal. Onto the mains, Ah Ma’s Rice Vermicelli and Taro Soup ($19.90 for regular, $32.90 for medium) pays homage to the nostalgic Tawainese 米粉汤 (beehoon soup). Song Yue uses fine rice vermicelli from Xin Zhu in a rich and aromatic pork bone broth alongside sliced pork, dried shrimp, clams, shiitake mushrooms and fragrant taro. Very homely flavours.For those who prefer rice, their Cabbage and Hokkaido Scallop Stone Pot Rice ($19.90 for regular, $32.90 for medium) is for you. Using short-grained rice from Tai Chung, this classic Taiwanese dish is presented in a piping hot stone pot to give the cabbage rice an additional smoky flavour, and topped with plump seared Hokkaido scallops. I chose the Double-Boiled Apple & Pear in White Fungus Soup to round up my meal as I wanted something clean and light. They also have sweet potato in ginger soup, with mini tang yuan – a typical dessert you can find at Taiwanese night markets.
Apart from hearty 台式料理, they also focus on premium speciality teas, and diners can partake in tea experiential and tea tasting experiences at the restaurant.
