Best 9 Taiwanese Restaurants & Stalls to Try in Singapore!

With more travel lanes opening up, many are itching to take the first flight they can to their desired destinations. Unfortunately, travelling to Taiwan requires quarantine so that is putting a bit of a dent in our plans, so why not curb your cravings by feasting on the best Taiwanese cuisine in Singapore? From breakfast fare and street snacks to full-fledged classic meals, here are our top picks for Taiwanese food!

5 Little Bears

Located in the basement of Paya Lebar Square, 5 Little Bears is run by a Taiwanese owner who named the eatery after his five children. It’s a popular choice for takeaways during lunch hour. You’ll be able to find a variety of Taiwanese favourites and street snacks such as Beef Noodles ($9.50), X Large Chicken Chop ($4.80) and Crispy Sweet Potato ($3). Of course, there’s nothing quite like Braised Pork Rice ($5) and 5 Little Bear’s version had the perfect balance of meat and fat perfumed with spices from the gravy. It was also quite the well-rounded meal with crunchy bok choy, pickled vegetables and a braised egg atop a bed of pearl rice. The Salted Crispy Chicken ($4) was coated with a good amount of batter, and was dusted with salt and pepper, but it’s best eaten with the side of chilli powder which will instantly transport you to the streets of Taiwan. 

Abundance

A short walk from Redhill MRT station, Abundance is another hot spot for office workers on their lunch break. This is where you can find beef noodles, fried rice and one of the best Gua Bao ($7.90) I’ve ever had. Think a large slab of melt-in-your-mouth pork belly that has been braised to perfection, paired with hand-roasted peanuts, pickles and coriander that only served to further elevate the bao. Their Beef Noodles ($16.90) were not to be outdone as well. And if you still have room for dessert, try the Peanut Ice Cream Roll ($6.90), another popular Taiwanese street snack that sees vanilla ice cream, peanuts and coriander rolled up in popiah skin. Prices are a little on the heftier side here, but I can guarantee that the quality of the food is well worth it. 

Eat 3 Bowls

When it comes to Eat 3 Bowls, you can choose to dine in a Taiwanese drama-style classroom theme at Crawford Lane or a bright train station on Pasir Panjang Road. The “three bowls” the eateries are named after are Braised Pork Rice, Chicken Rice and Oyster Intestine Mee Sua. The lu rou fan’s sticky short-grain rice has a liberal amount of gravy drizzled over it and comes topped with a mound of deliciously fatty meat. The combination of shredded chicken and caramelised shallots in the Chicken Rice is nice and moreish. We’re also fans of the garlicky and vinegary fragrance of the umami-filled bonito-based broth in the Oyster Intestine Mee Sua topped with plump briny oysters and chewy intestines. There are also familiar bites and drinks such as Salted Crispy Chicken and Fresh Milk with Brown Sugar Pearls, and even outlet-exclusive items like Sauteed Beef Cubes with Garlic at the Pasir Panjang eatery!

Hei Lun Shi Tang

Eat like the Taiwanese do with Hei Lun Shi Tang’s homey bento meals. Tucked away in Queensway Shopping Centre, the kiosk serves their meals in metal bento boxes and focuses on ingredients and techniques to create a homey feel. Made with japonica rice and top-grade Duroc pork, the Signature Braised Pork Bento ($5.50 for small, $6.50 for large) is quite the well-rounded meal complete with vegetables and a hard-boiled egg. The braised pork is stewed in superior soy sauce and rice wine from Taiwan for hours. While the pickled vegetables were on the sweeter side without much acidity to them, the carrot chunks were well-cooked through, the shiitake mushroom juicy and the cabbages well-seasoned. Besides bentos such as Stewed Pork Belly, Pork Cutlet and Fried Chicken, you can also find other dishes like Scallion Oil Noodles ($3.50), Taiwanese Curry Rice ($5.50 for small, $6.50 for large) and Gongwan Soup ($4.50). 

Str Tao Taiwan Cuisine

Boasting an impressive menu of over 30 items ranging from mains to street snacks, Str Tao Taiwan Cuisine is worth travelling to an industrial park in Jurong East for. Indulge in classics such as Taiwan Mee Sua with Oyster ($6.80), Street Bombing Chicken Cutlet ($6.80), four different kinds of Taiwan scallion pancakes like Egg with Cheese ($5.80) and Cheese with Pork Floss ($6.80) and nibbles that include XXL Crispy Fried Cuttlefish ($9.80) and Fried Enoki Mushroom ($4.50). As one of Taiwanese cuisine’s must-haves, their Signature Braised Pork Rice ($6.80) is a good place to start. The pork belly chunks are well-marinated with slight herbal infusions. The Taiwan Braised Beef Ramen Soup ($10.80) also won our seal of approval. Look forward to a bowl of deliciously fragrant noodles topped with a good amount of beef shank and preserved vegetables.

True Breakfast

Breakfast is an important part of Taiwanese cuisine and True Breakfast delivers with their assortment of omelettes and sandwiches. Go for a classic Pork Chop & Eggs Sandwich ($5) that sees marinated slices of pork chop and fluffy eggs sandwiched between slices of nicely toasted milk bread. The Meat Floss & Eggs Taiwanese Omelette ($4.50) is also quite the addictive dish of fluffy meat floss wrapped in thin crepe-like eggs and drizzled in a savoury-sweet sauce. When in Taiwan, Scallion Pancakes ($4) are a perennial staple and True Breakfast’s version is gorgeously crispy with a distinctive aroma of scallions permeating each flaky layer. For something more filling, their menu has rice and noodle dishes that are sure to keep your tummies satisfied. The Beef and Tendon Noodles ($12) come with a hearty portion of meat and QQ noods in a rich, flavourful broth. 

Want Food Taiwanese Delights

Tucked away in a corner on Cross Street, Want Food Taiwanese Delights sources most of its ingredients directly from Taiwan to ensure their dishes taste as authentic as possible. One of their more popular dishes is the Taiwanese Braised Minced Pork Rice ($7.90 for a la carte, $10.90 for bento). The bento comes with additional offerings like plump sweet Taiwanese sausages, pickled vegetables, flavourful braised pork with a good balance of meat and fat, and a bed of fluffy grains. You can’t leave without giving the Signature Oyster Intestine Mee Sua ($6.90 for small, $9.90 for regular) a go. While the broth is on the lighter side and the oysters add another dimension of flavour to the dish, the spotlight is undoubtedly on the intestines which are cleaned superbly well and are very tasty. We also love the delectable Taiwanese Salty Crispy Chicken ($8.90). Seasoned to perfection, the chicken meat was tender and had a slight sweetness to it. 

Wen Li Taiwanese Food

Golden Mile Food Centre is brimming with all sorts of good food and Wen Li Taiwanese Food is indeed joins that lineup with their Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice ($3.50). The pearl rice is topped with a blend of braised pork collar and pork jowl, and it’s interesting to see the fats served in tiny little blocks but boy, do they just melt in your mouth. The dark sauce that the meat had been braised in was sweet but not overly so. The real deal, however, was the bright red chilli on the side which added a potent hit of spiciness when mixed in. They also have Pig Intestine Mee Sua ($3.50) served in a thick, full-bodied broth that’s best mixed with the garlic and chilli. The vermicelli is cut into short strands so you can easily slurp it up with the chewy intestines. Make your meal a truly complete one by adding on their Braised Chinese Cabbage ($2/3.80) and Homemade Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken ($3.80)! 

Yong He Toast

A few perennial yet game-changing items in the Taiwanese breakfast scene are you tiao (fried dough fritters), shao bing (Taiwanese-style flatbread) and soy milk — all of which are readily available at takeaway kiosk Yong He Toast in Toa Payoh. All the toasted buns used for the shao bing are freshly baked onsite while the you tiao is fried daily at their Geylang flagship store before being transported over. The Floss + Egg ($3.40) is a classic that sees a fluffy but chewy interior complemented by savoury floss filling and lightly scrambled eggs. There are also outlet-exclusives to look out for and one of them is the Braised Pork + Crisp Fritters ($4). Expect quite the crunch as you bite into the crispy you tiao,  and savour the lightness of the shao bing and flavour of the tender braised minced pork bits. You can opt to enjoy your shao bing a la carte or as a combo with soy milk! 

With this, we hope we can satiate your cravings for Taiwanese food. After all, how could we not be satisfied with XXL chicken, lu rou fan, oyster mee sua and scallion pancakes? Let us know if there are any new places we should add to the list!

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visits and paid its own meals at the stalls featured here.

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