Food Picks: Expanded menu at Abundance in Tampines, hearty and affordable fare at Dignity Kitchen

Abundance: Outlet-exclusive new dishes

Taiwanese restaurant and craft beer bar Abundance has headed east, opening its third outlet at Century Square on Aug 23. It officially launched its new dishes, which are exclusive to the 70-seat outlet, on Sept 16.

A winning dish is century egg noodles ($13.90++). Bouncy knife-cut noodles are blanketed in a century egg sauce, which has nary a trace of that pungent ammonia taste that some find off-putting. The restaurant specially sources Taiwanese century eggs with jammy yolks for the sauce. Also in the mix is minced pork collar cooked in a savoury and spicy Taiwanese chilli bean paste sauce. 

Springy egg noodles are tossed in a fragrant sauce of sesame paste with a whisper of garlic for the Taiwanese cold noodles ($11.90++). Long strips of Japanese cucumber perch atop the spiral bed of noodles. Grated lemon zest brightens the dish, not only as a garnish, but also by adding zing to the nutty-tasting dish.

A dish that will resonate with diners hankering for honest-to-goodness home cooking is the double boiled chicken soup ($12.90++). The soup looks basic – five pieces of chicken thigh and drumstick steeped in a clear broth with a yellow sheen – but each spoonful is a flavoursome explosion of concentrated chicken broth. Pieces of fresh kampung chicken and chicken broth prepared from chicken carcasses, ginger and spring onion go into the soup, which is steamed in individual bowls. 

While oysters and braised pork rice sound like a gimmicky combination, the oyster braised pork rice ($28.80++ for half a dozen oysters, $38.80++ for a dozen) grows on you.

Abundance uses premium sashimi-grade large, plump Japanese oysters, which taste creamy. They are blanched in pork stock before being nestled in the bowl of braised pork rice. The braised pork and rice are layered such that the flavours permeate the whole bowl.

Save room for dessert. The yammy ice cream bun ($12.90++) is worth splurging on. Abundance has a local ice cream supplier who custom-makes blocks of yam ice cream packed with cubes of yam.

The bun is a deep-fried mantou, which is served piping hot. The filling of ice cream studded with crushed peanut is frozen to prevent it from melting too quickly, so diners can take pictures for the ’Gram. The ice cream is topped with a piped purple layer of yam and sweet potato puree, which adds to the textures of the ice cream bun.

The roasted peanut mochi ($7.90++) and black sesame mochi ($7.90++) have liquid fillings which ooze out when you bite into them. While the housemade roasted crushed peanut and black sesame toppings are exceptionally fragrant, the Taiwan-sourced glutinous rice dumplings are a tad too chewy. 

The new eatery also has an outlet-exclusive house craft beer – the Abundance taro ale ($12++). The burgundy-hued ale uses yam among its ingredients and is brewed locally. While one can hardly detect the tuber in the ale, it is easy to drink and low in bitterness.

Where: Abundance, 01-35 Century Square, 2 Tampines Central 5
MRT: Tampines
Open: 11am to 10pm daily
Tel: 8051-9098

Dignity Kitchen: Affordable fare in hefty portions

Dignity Kitchen, a foodcourt run by social enterprise Project Dignity, serves up generously portioned meals.

Started in 2010 as a single stall in Balestier Road, Dignity Kitchen evolved into a foodcourt and moved to its Boon Keng Road premises – which can seat 80 diners – in 2019. 

There are eight stalls selling a variety of local fare, from laksa to fish and chips. The staff of 60 includes 35 employees with special needs. 

A must-try at Dignity Kitchen is the moist and tender large muffin ($3.50 each). The vanilla one comes with plump cranberries, while the chocolate one is crammed with chocolate chips and topped with one side of an Oreo cookie.

There is a brisk crowd at noon. Diners order and pay at the cashier, before collecting the food from the stall preparing it.

A popular choice is the fish and chips ($7.80), prepared with Malaysia-sourced tilapia. Each plate comes with two weighty slabs of battered fillets on a bed of thick crinkle-cut fries, and includes a fresh lettuce and tomato salad with vinaigrette dressing.

The batter is puffy and crisp, and the interior is suitably moist, but there is a slight hint of muddiness in the fish meat. The dish comes with a little tub of mayonnaise, but it would be better if tartar sauce were provided instead.

Another popular item is the nasi lemak with chicken rendang ($5.80). Boneless chicken thighs are marinated and pan-fried before they are braised in the spice mix. The gravy is packed with the nutty flavour of coconut, but it is a little too heavily seasoned with salt. 

The coconut rice is perfectly fluffy and flavourful. 

Be sure to get the housemade non-vegetarian sambal chilli to go with your nasi lemak. The foodcourt offers a vegetarian version, but the non-vegetarian one wins hands down, as it is packed with flavour from dried prawn and a tangy hint of tamarind.

The chicken laksa ($6), which is prepared with a housemade spice paste, has a rather mild and mellow gravy. Add sambal chilli to amp up the flavour. 

I would prefer less thick beehoon as the noodles soak up most of the coconut milk-infused gravy. The dish comes with shredded chicken, taupok, thick slices of fish cake and one hard-boiled egg.

The claypot rice ($7) is prepared in a customised multi-claypot cooker powered by electricity. This is for the safety of the special-needs staff operating the stall. While there is no scorched rice at the bottom of the claypot, the evenly cooked rice is tender without being mushy. 

You get chunks of boneless chicken thigh, two dried shiitake mushrooms, plenty of xiao bai cai and salted fish, which is blended into floss for the topping. The rice comes drizzled in dark soya sauce. Mix the ingredients together well before tucking in.  

Where: Dignity Kitchen, 69 Boon Keng Road
MRT: Boon Keng
Open: 8am to 3pm, Mondays to Saturdays; closed on Sundays and public holidays
Tel: 8189-7678