Yi Ke Guan Review: First Mee Siam Steamboat And Hor Fun Chai Tow Kway In Singapore

My parents and I hardly eat together, so the rare zi char dinners with relatives are when I get to sit with them, and share dishes from the same plate. While the flavours of the classics are key, the test of a good zi char stall is the variety they wrestle out of limited elements.

Yi Ke Guan is a newly opened zi char restaurant with Singapore’s first mee siam steamboat, and interesting dishes like an omelette filled with chai tow kway (carrot cake) and hor fun . Mee Siam Hot Pot And Fried Milk Puffs At Katong | Yi Ke Guan Food at Yi Ke Guan We went straight for Yi Ke Guan’s Mini Steamboat ($18+) . Small slices of taupok were swimming in it as it started to boil, and the steam got under way to carry up the smell of mee siam.

The broth was thin but sweet and flavourful, just like mee siam in the form of soup. The rest of our food kicked off to overcook and were hard to scoop up as they broke into bits.

With a bowl of Thick Beehoon ($3+) to cook in our mee siam steamboat, it felt like a filling meal. It was served with five slices of pork, two large meatballs, and the same vegetables and mushrooms. The broth had the same consistency, but had an odd taste that was like a cross between the sourness of tom yam and the savoury spiciness of ma la .

The meatballs reminded me of the taste of fish balls, but textured with bits of meat. After the seafood set, this felt lacking in quantity, especially since it looked more substantial in the menu, with twice the slices of pork.

We tried Wok Noodles ($3+) with this and ate it as it cooked, so we felt its texture change with each new spoonful we pulled up. Both noodles didn’t absorb the flavours of the broth, so I’d encourage you to eat them with the soup to make your meal yummier. It was the first time we heard of Radish Fried Hor Fun ($8+/$10+) so ordering it was an absolute must.

They remained moist and soft though parts of the omelette’s surface were fried till crusty, with edges that were slightly crispy. The prawns were evenly spread out, so it was easy to get a bite of meat in my mouthfuls. The prawns felt satisfying with their business flesh, and they weren’t too thick since they were halved.

The saucy chilli was the best, as its tang deepened the flavours of the omelette, making it savoury while keeping it from feeling jelak. Our order for a small portion of Radish Fried Hor Fun looked quite large, but felt like one meal on its own.

Fried milk is less common in zi char stalls so we were interested to try it.