Best eats of 2024: Best new hawker – Yoshi’s Kitchen

Where: Yoshi’s Kitchen, 02-01 Toa Payoh West Market & Food Centre, 127 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh
Open: 9am to 9pm (Tuesdays to Fridays), 8am to 4pm (weekends and public holidays), closed on Mondays
Tel: 8062-5633
Info:

instagram.com/yoshiskitchen33

Opened on March 6, hawker stall Yoshi’s Kitchen in Toa Payoh serves up traditional dishes with a modern twist: steamed kueh lapis in unusual flavours and fusion-style nasi lemak bowls. 

Co-owned and run by Mr Desmond Lum, 59, and his nephew, Mr Herbert Bong, 39, the stall is named after their tabby cat, Yoshi, whose framed photos are displayed on the fridge.

The two bachelors, who do not have formal culinary training, learnt to cook after teaming up to start a takeaway shop in Ang Mo Kio in 2022. Initially, they sold factory-supplied food such as pre-packed nasi lemak, steamed bao and Nonya kueh. 

A year later, they started to prepare their own kueh and nasi lemak after struggling with frequent price increases for the cooked food they bought from suppliers. They eventually decided to open a hawker centre stall, where customers can dine in.

Mr Lum learnt to make kueh lapis (steamed layered cake) during his boyhood by helping his grandmother prepare it. Once he perfected the Original Lapis ($2.40 for a box of two pieces), he moved on to unusual flavours and shapes. 

The Pandan Gula Melaka Lapis ($2.80 for two pieces) is inspired by ondeh ondeh, and has a shard of gula melaka embedded in the middle. When steamed, it mixes with the rice flour and takes on a molten texture similar to kaya.

Also popular is the Osmanthus Goji Berry Lapis ($3.20 for two pieces), which derives its floral fragrance from dried osmanthus flowers. 

The Bandung Lapis ($2.80 for two pieces), made with rose syrup and coconut milk, are steamed in rose-shaped moulds.

Another lunchtime attraction, which draws long queues, is fusion-style nasi lemak rice bowls served in enamelware.

Popular options are the Midwing Nasi Lemak Rice Bowl ($6.50), which comes with four midwing joints marinated overnight for maximum flavour, and the Chicken Karaage and Luncheon Meat Nasi Lemak Rice Bowl ($5.50).

There is a savoury depth from the use of prawn paste, turmeric and garlic, and a touch of heat from chilli flakes. The dish comes with housemade crispy and peppery ikan bilis, as well as housemade sambal chilli. Taking centre stage is the coconut rice covered in a fluffy tornado egg with a splash of teriyaki sauce and furikake (a mix of seaweed flakes, bonito flakes and black and white sesame seeds).

The Chicken Karaage and Luncheon Meat Nasi Lemak Rice Bowl is similar, except that instead of midwings, it comes with large deep-fried cubes of luncheon meat and pieces of lemongrass-accented boneless chicken.