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When catering companies face challenges such as labor shortages and rising food costs, it is gratifying to find a restaurant that not only survives, but also maintains pre-pandemic food standards.

In the Sichuan Village on Mosque Street, the food is as delicious as when I ate there in 2019.

Many of the dishes are popular takeaways, such as the handmade leek dumplings ($10 and 5) and the must-try signature spicy chicken dices ($13).

The owner Cai Bing, 53 years old, Singaporean, originally from Jilin, northeast China, opened the shop in 2006 because she likes the spicy flavor of Sichuan cuisine. Thanks to simplified work processes and well-trained workers, she managed to maintain consistency in food quality, many of whom have been with her since the restaurant opened.

The dumplings are made from scratch and have a springy texture. Garlic chives, not leeks, are used for succulent fillings and marinated minced meat.

Unlike many other versions, its spicy chicken is full of spicy flavor, but not spicy. The chicken breast is marinated in a mixture of spices including cumin, deep-fried, and then quickly stirred with dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns. Even if you order takeaway, the chicken is still crispy.

Spicy diced chicken is marinated in a mixture of spices, deep-fried, and sprinkled with dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns. ST Photo: HEDY KHOO

Offal lovers will love the fried pork intestines ($14). The intestines were turned over and washed thoroughly to remove odors. Then they are simmered and deep-fried, and finally stirred with dried chilies and other spices.

For these two dishes, you can request the spiciness you like-light, medium or spicy.

Another dish I recently tried is Fried Pumpkin with Salted Egg Yolk Sauce ($10). Instead of artificially tasting salted egg yolk powder, high-quality salted egg yolk is used here. The pumpkin is cut into thick strips, fried with potato flour, and then poured in salted egg yolk sauce. Each piece is crispy and soft in texture.

Each piece is crispy and soft in texture. ST Photo: HEDY KHOO

The grilled food is seasoned carefully and the amount of cumin is just right. The items to try are grilled pork ($1 per skewer), grilled pork with enoki mushrooms ($1.50 per skewer) and grilled golden mushrooms ($3), which are grilled enoki mushrooms without skewers.

Boiled mung beans ($8), edamame cooked with star anise, are a delicious side dish.

An interesting product is cold noodles ($7) served in broth. This dish is similar to Korean mul-naengmyeon, produced in northeastern China near North Korea.

This restaurant uses soba noodles from South Korea and adds pure flavor mushroom vegetable soup. ST Photo: HEDY KHOO

This restaurant uses soba noodles from South Korea, with a clear mushroom-based soup, with tomato slices, kimchi and cucumber strips. The standard version comes with beef slices, but there are also versions without beef.

Location: Sichuan Village, 2/3 Mosque Street Subway: Chinatown Business Hours: Daily from 10.30 am to midnight Tel: 6226-3316 Information: To order, please visit CWRJ's website

For each main course of Cornerstone Pasta & Grill, you can choose sauce and two sides. ST Photo: HEDY KHOO

The price of Cornerstone Pasta & Grill may be a bit higher than the western food stalls of the coffee shop, but its dishes are worth the price.

Its signature Har-chong Chicken Chop ($7.50) is a crispy and juicy boneless chicken thigh, perfectly marinated and deep-fried. The shrimp paste gives this dish a unique seafood flavor, but it does not overwhelm the meat. The secret behind the particularly crispy batter is the use of tempura flour.

You can choose sauce and two sides for each main course. Har-chong chicken steak is served with spicy homemade sambal Malay sauce, but the chicken is so delicious that it does not need to be decorated.

For side dishes, you can choose homemade coleslaw and herb potatoes-boil the potato pieces, deep-fry them, and add them to the aromatic mixture of herbs such as oregano, thyme and cumin.

Cheryl Sou, 30, and Huang Wenting, 44, have no professional cooking experience, but they excel in serving bistro-style dishes.

The mushroom soup ($3) is homemade with fresh mushrooms. It comes with a crusty and airy French baguette coated with margarine and vanilla minced garlic. The soup is carefully decorated with garlic croutons, fried shiitake mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms, and sprinkled with a little freshly chopped parsley. It tastes homemade, far ahead of the crappy milky white cans served at many other western food stalls.

The soup is carefully decorated with garlic croutons, fried shiitake mushrooms and Shimen shiitake mushrooms, and sprinkled with freshly chopped parsley. ST Photo: HEDY KHOO

For those who have not reduced carbohydrates, you can order seafood and seafood spaghetti ($7.90) off the menu. This sauce is homemade with canned tomatoes, which are pureed and simmered with bay leaves and other herbs for two hours. The resulting sauce is sweet and has an appetizing taste that complements prawns, sand clams and Pacific Dolly fish fillets. My only complaint is that the shrimp is too salty.

The two slices of pork tenderloin ($7) in the grilled pork chop were tender, and the buttery corn was crunchy and delicious, even though the mushroom rice was boring and boring.

The grilled pork chop was tender, the butter corn was crunchy and delicious, even though the mushroom rice was boring. ST Photo: HEDY KHOO

The filling of the full cheese Quesadilla ($7.50) contains various cheeses—Nacho cheese sauce, a mixture of mozzarella and shredded cheddar cheese, and grated Parmesan cheese—but the filling is too salty. However, the homemade tomato sauce, red onion, coriander and vanilla sauce including chili powder and hand-squeezed lime juice are refreshing in taste.

The side of the mentaiko fries ($4.90) has a little shrimp in the mentaiko sauce, but the fries quickly lose their crispness.

French fries quickly lose their crispness. ST Photo: HEDY KHOO

Location: Stall 3, 01-526, Block 159 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 Metro: Mayflower Opening hours: 11 am to 9.30 pm (Monday to Wednesday and Friday to Sunday), 4 pm to 9.30 (Thursday) Tel: 8023-7823 Information: Delivery can be purchased on foodpanda, Deliveroo and GrabFood

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MCI (P) 031/10/2021, MCI (P) 032/10/2021. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. The number is 202120748H. Copyright © 2021 SPH Media Limited. all rights reserved.

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