Fishball Story

Fishball Story is now at Bugis Junction, taking up a ground-floor unit facing North Bridge Road.

Started in 2013 at Golden Mile Food Centre by young hawker Douglas Ng, it takes pride in fishballs and fishcake that are springy and flavourful, and made with yellowtail fish. It has moved to several locations since then, including Timbre+ and Circuit Road.

The Circuit Road shop closes on July 14. Mr Ng says it is because the rent increase proposed by the landlord was too much.

The Bugis Junction outlet is air-conditioned, but it is still self-service - diners pay at the counter after placing their orders. Order numbers are displayed on a board when the food is ready for collection.

The menu has expanded since Fishball Story joined Dodo fishball-maker Thong Siek Global in 2020, with prawn balls, mushroom balls and fish dumplings (her giao) that are made in its factory. These are included in the Premium Fishball Noodle ($6.90), which also come with the signature fishball and fishcake as well as crispy fish fries.

There are other options too, such as having the noodles with laksa gravy ($7.90) or with kway teow in chee cheong fun premium sauce ($6.90). The shop also recently introduced Hakka yong tau foo soup with noodles ($7.90).

The amount of noodles in a standard order is not much, but prices are decent enough for me to add a side order. You can have another bowl of fishball soup ($6), but for variety, a better option is the Sichuan spicy fish dumpling in chilli oil ($6). It is inspired by the popular Sichuan spicy wontons, but using the brand's fish dumplings instead.

Where: Fishball Story, 01-71/72 Bugis Junction, 200 Victoria Street
MRT: Bugis
Open: 8am to 9pm daily
Info: This website

Orchid Live Seafood

The last time I visited Orchid Live Seafood was three years ago when it was still in Bah Soon Pah Road, hidden among the plant nurseries and farms - just before it moved to make way for the area's redevelopment.

It opened in August 2020 at the HomeTeamNS Khatib building in Yishun, but with the disruptions to food and beverage businesses over the past two years, it was only recently that I checked it out.

The current space is a step up from the old place that had a makeshift outdoor area. Now, it looks like a typical air-conditioned seafood restaurant with tanks of live seafood lined up near the entrance.

The menu has expanded too. The signature Live Lobster Porridge, for example, now comes with choices of Southern or Western Australian lobsters on top of the cheaper tropical lobsters (from $72). Until July 25, there is a one-for-one deal on Southern Australian lobsters ($288 for two), so it makes sense to pick that. The second lobster can be steamed with garlic or cooked with cream cheese.

There is also a one-for-one deal on Garlic Steamed Bamboo Clams (usual price $16.80), so that is another option.

Other dishes to order include the Signature Steven Chicken ($16 for eight pieces), which is named after the restaurant's founder. The deep-fried chicken drumlets are coated in sesame seeds and a Marmite and honey sauce. The meat is pushed to one end of the bone for easy eating and stays juicy under the crispy skin. It is also less sweet compared with the last time I had the dish, which is great.

Seasoned Baby Squid ($23) is just as addictive. The whole squids, which are seasoned and deep-fried till crispy, come with three dips - wasabi mayo sauce, sweet sauce and sriracha mayo sauce. You can also have the crispy morsels tossed as a salad with onion and cucumber strips plus a sweet and sour Thai dressing for the same price.

Where: Orchid Live Seafood, 03-01 HomeTeamNS Khatib, 2 Yishun Walk
MRT: Khatib
Open: 11am to 2.30pm and 5 to 10pm daily
Tel:  6756-0311

Yun Nans

Yun Nans, which is one of my favourite restaurants for its affordable and unique dishes, has opened a fourth outlet at Ion Orchard - its first in a central location. The others are at Jewel Changi Airport, Westgate and Nex.

Each outlet had been launched with new dishes and this one is no exception. Those worth checking out include Pomelo Salad With Osmanthus Dressing ($10.90), which is inspired by the popular Thai salad, as well as Steamed Cod With Mei Cai ($32.90), a Hakka recipe. There is also Lychee Prawn Ball ($20.80).

There are Yunnan dishes too, such as Charcoal Grilled Chicken Skin/Gizzard ($2.80 a skewer) and Claypot Rice With Minced Beef And Crispy Red Bean ($24.90). These are delicious and I wish the restaurant would bring in more of such traditional dishes from China's Yunnan province. After all, that is what the restaurant is named after.

Where: B3-17 Ion Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn
MRT: Orchard
Open: Mondays to Fridays, 11.30am to 10pm; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, 11 am to 10pm
Tel: 6514-0828