Sinmay Kitchen

To the delight of expatriates nostalgic about food from Singapore and Malaysia, Sinmay Kitchen is one local eatery that specializes in Chinese-style hawker food. Despite the scarcity of authentic ingredients, Chef Vincent Gan manages to cook up some authentic-tasting, reasonably-priced dishes.
Topping the list of recommendations is Hainanese Chicken Rice (NT$159), which uses Taiwanese free-range chicken drumstick meat, boiled to the proper degree and then chilled to retain its moisture and tenderness. This dish is served with steamy, fragrant Thai Jasmine rice cooked with chicken stock, spicy chilis and ginger sauces.
Another unique dish is Bai Hua You Tiao (NT$60)–Fried Squid in Crispy Dough. The squid meat paste is mildly seasoned, wrapped in dough and deep fried until crispy, making it hard to stop eating after a few bites. Another representative dish from Chinese in the Straits Settlements is Bak Kut Teh (NT$80)–Pork Ribs Soup. Legend has it that coolies lugging goods at the ports would pick up Chinese herbs such as Dang Gui that fell onto the floor to boil in soup. Sinmay’s pork rib meat is tender and the soup is mildly aromatic.
The kitchen is also offering a new dish, Laksa (NT$169). This curry look-like soup tastes of spices like turmeric, chili, galagal and shrimp paste, and its sweet base note comes from coconut milk, commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine for its cooling properties.
“The quality of Taiwan free-range chicken and squid is quite high. For the Laksa, thick rice noodles are not available here, so we use Ramen,” notes the Chef and Owner Vincent, whose indomitable spirit in overcoming culinary challenges has borne fruit, as witnessed in a full house on a rainy Tuesday night. –By Judy Tan Lee Choo Translated by Anna Yang

新馬小廚 Sinmay Kitchen
南屯區永春東路722號 (04) 2382-5767
722, YongChun E Rd, Nantun Dist
11 am-2:30 pm, 5-8:30 pm (週一休closed Mon)