Oink Noona: Xiao Ya Tou, Tanjong Pagar
"Do not focus so much on the future you lose the importance of today" is probably the verse that I need to hear the most recently. I do not know the future and yet, I keep to think so much about it. I wonder if I lose my focus on enjoying the present moment. Sometimes in order to refocus back to what's important in life, you need to chill a little bit with your best buddy in tow to accompany you or listen to your random crap in life. If that's what you want to do at the moment, you may want to come to Xiao Ya Tou at Duxton Hill in Tanjong Pagar.
Xiao Ya Tou is a hipster restaurant which looks like it came straight away from the retro era of China (or Hong Kong, maybe?). The interior design of Xiao Yao Tou is like Central's but times two. I wonder if my parents used to come to this kind of restaurant when they were dating each other.
Xiao Ya Tou starts serving dinner starting from 6PM. Sliders are interesting but only available after 9PM. I suppose Xiao Ya Tou offers them as accompaniment to alcohols. My dinner buddy is actually looking forward to Xiao Ya Tou's unagi benedict but unfortunately the dish is only served for Sunday brunch. Oh well, probably I will only come here for brunch on Sunday when I don't feel like laying around on my bed, which is highly unlikely. Besides the unagi benedict, Xiao Ya Tou offers other quirky dishes such as Crab and Lap Cheong Omelette (SGD 9) and Spicy Brussel Sprout (SGD 12).
Checking out the utensils which looks like Blue China, while waiting for the drinks to come. Xiao Ya Tou has a pretty extensive selection of alcoholic drinks and cocktails. Some of the interesting concoctions include Milo and Yakult as the ingredients but the serving for these drinks is definitely not for two people (we are not heavy drinkers either) so yeah, too bad...
...we ended up coming back to a fix of caffeine, wherever we go. Hahaha. The chai latte (SGD 6.50) is served in the way that I like, not too sweet (I'm a fan of Chai) and my dinner buddy enjoyed her matcha latte (SGD 6.50) too. We just wish the cup can be a bit bigger with the price tag of SGD 6+.
We ordered one dish from the small plates section, one dish from the big plates section and one carbo dish to share amongst the two of us. The Cheezy Pork Sausage (SGD 10) are a combination of sausage, rice cake, spring onion and lettuces drenched in garlic soya sauce. Not bad at all, although anything that have rice cake inside will make me happy nonetheless.
Based on review in Burpple, one of the most order dish in Xiao Ya Tou is its XYT Ayam Percik (SGD 26), which is a cheeky rendition curry chicken by Xiao Ya Tou's chef. The curry is rich and yet, not spicy so you can definitely take it if you don't like spicy food. It taste better than it looks, we finished the whole plate of chicken. #chicoverdose
Being Indonesian, I love to devour all types of fried rice, especially those which come with fried shallots. Goes well with the ayam percik as well although on second thought, white rice is probably more suitable to pair with ayam percik as the chicken dish is quite rich and strong in flavour.
6 Duxton Hill, Tanjong Pagar.
Xiao Ya Tou's opening hours:
Monday and Tuesday: 11AM - 11PM
Wednesday and Thursday: 5PM - 11PM
Friday: 11AM - 12AM
Saturday: 9AM - 12AM
Sunday: 9AM - 5PM