Din Tai Fung 

Anyone who eats at Din Tai Fung from time to time has a go-to order. Still, that has not stopped the restaurant from jazzing up its offerings once in a while. It has brought back some old favourites, as well as a new dessert for March and April.

The Steamed Tom Yum Xiao Long Bao ($10.90++ for four pieces) leads the charge, making a temporary return islandwide until April 30.

The dumpling is about 40 per cent bigger than the original version of the dish and filled with a spicy, sour soup. It is a bolder, more aromatic take on a familiar favourite and will certainly intrigue fans of Thai cuisine.

The chain is also reintroducing a trio of premium dishes at selected outlets, including the succulent Steamed Cod Fillet With Superior Soy Sauce ($36.90++), available exclusively at Marina Bay Sands and Paragon. 

Diners visiting those outlets, as well as restaurants at One Holland Village, Great World and Jewel Changi Airport, can also order the Deep-fried Handmade Tofu With Lotus Roots & Mushrooms ($12.50++) – dangerously addictive, as crispy things tend to be – and the delightfully tangy Cantonese Sweet & Sour Pork ($21.90++).

There is also a new dessert, just in time for Easter. The Cocoa Wafer Bun ($3.50++ for one piece, $9.90++ for three pieces) is a curious addition to the menu. Stuffed with a crunchy chocolate ganache and topped with crushed hazelnuts, it flies in the face of the rest of the menu’s Asian flavours. 

It might thrill younger diners, but those who fear overly sweet desserts might want to keep to the restaurant’s regular offerings instead. 

Prices stated here may vary across restaurants.

Where: Various outlets
Open: Operating hours vary across restaurants
Info: dintaifung.com.sg

Obba Jjajang Express @ Toa Payoh

South Korean food franchise Obba is everywhere these days. 

Most prominently, it is found in Tanjong Pagar, where a row of ever-popular, ever-crowded restaurants serves up Korean barbecue and comfort dishes like jjajangmyeon, or black bean sauce noodles. 

More recently, it has expanded into several heartland locations through its more affordable offshoot, Obba Jjajang Express. And it shows no sign of slowing down: New outlets have sprung up in Orchard and Toa Payoh in March alone. 

I visit the Toa Payoh outlet one Tuesday evening and order a chicken jjajangmyeon ($11) – advertised as a must-try dish with five stars and two exclamation points – and spicy seafood noodle soup, or jjamppong ($10.50). 

These are pretty steep prices for a meal in a coffee shop, but nonetheless a welcome alternative compared with their prices at the Tanjong Pagar restaurant – $15 for jjajangmyeon sans chicken leg and $19.90 for jjamppong. 

And for that price, you get a pretty decent Korean meal. The noodles are springy and chewy, perfect for slurping with abandon. They mix well with the black bean paste – glossy and viscous, with chunks of onion and minced meat lending it an earthy fragrance. 

I could have done without the chicken leg, however. Though generous in sizes and crisp in all the places untouched by the sauce, it is not nearly as fresh and juicy as I had hoped. 

Thankfully, the jjamppong hit all the right notes. The punchy, briny broth comes loaded with mussels, shrimp, clams and various vegetables.

Do not be put off by its flaming red colour. It is only mildly spicy – just enough to jolt your tastebuds awake, but not so overpowering it sends you scrambling for a glass of cold milk. 

Where: 01-372, Block 184 Toa Payoh Central
MRT: Toa Payoh
Open: 11am to 3pm, 5 to 9pm daily
Info: obba-sg.com

Pawa Bakery

“What is for breakfast?” asks the sign outside Pawa Bakery in Cecil Street. 

It takes me an embarrassingly long time to answer that question. The bakery is not big, but its shelves are stacked with baskets of bagels and buns, all glossy and golden and calling out to me. 

I eventually settle on the three bestsellers: casarine toast ($5.30 for a loaf), shio pan ($2.30) and snow dew bread ($3.50). 

I cut a slice of the casarine toast first and it is like biting into a cloud: not the wispy clusters of water vapour that hang in the atmosphere, but the fluffy pillows you find in cartoons and illustrations. I savour each chewy bite, then reluctantly store the rest of the loaf away. 

The shio pan is marvellously fun to eat too. It may look plain – it is a humble bread roll with few garnishes save a light sprinkling of flaky salt – but is surprisingly tasty.

Small, buttery and bouncy, it can be wolfed down on the go or enjoyed slowly in private. I only wish I had the chance to try it fresh out of the oven. 

Timing is also key when it comes to getting the most out of the snow dew bread, a long roll stuffed with cream and blanketed in milk powder. 

“Eat this right away,” the cashier tells me three times as she stuffs a dry ice pack into my bag. I nod, then embark on a 40-minute journey home. 

I pay the price with a soggy, limp roll that is more cream than bread. The milk powder has dissolved into the crust and is barely perceptible.

I am left wondering what could have been – what crisp textures, what subtle nuances of flavour might I have enjoyed, had I only followed instructions? 

I will be back and, this time, I will not dilly-dally.

Where: 01-02 Plus, 20 Cecil Street
MRT: Raffles Place/Telok Ayer
Open: 8am to 6.30pm, Mondays to Fridays; 10am to 5pm, Saturdays
Info: @pawabakery on Instagram