Xing Hua Lou at Heartland Mall Kovan

Xing Hua Lou is a newly opened restaurant at the humble Heartland Mall at Kovan.  When I dined there on 18 Sep 2018, their credit card POS machine had not even arrived, only cash and NETs payment were available.  The cashier told me that the credit card POS machine would only come the next day.

The interior design is simple but elegant.  The size of the restaurant is quite small, mostly 2 or 4-person tables, with a few big round tables for bigger parties.

Pork Belly with Garlic, $9.90+

We ordered pork belly with garlic as out appetizer.  The way they make this dish is different from others.  You can hardly see any garlic in the plate, but when you pick up a slice of the pork belly, the taste of garlic is obviously there.  I suspect they soak the cooked pork belly into a garlic sauce.  The overall taste of this dish is good, especially if you wrap the pork belly around a slice of cucumber.  Cucumber is fresh and light in taste, matched with the stronger flavored pork belly, in particular the fat portion, it is a pleasant combination.

Spinach in Supreme Soup (Small), $10.90+

The spinach in supreme soup is good too.  The best part of course is the supreme soup.  It is rich in flavor, and importantly, fresh.

Fried Xing Hua Vermicelli (Medium), $16.90+ 

While at Xing Hua Lou, you just can't not to order fried Xing Hua vermicelli.  Xing Hua (兴化) is a small place in the city of Pu Tian in Fujian Province, China.  Their vermicelli is famous for being the thinnest vermicelli, and it is naturally sun-dried, compared with machine-dried.  Once you mention Xing Hua, people naturally will think of Xing Hua vermicelli.

The vermicelli here is fried with a lot of ingredients, including prawns, vegetables, mushrooms, eggs, etc.  The medium portion is actually quite big, even for two guys.  If you order some other dishes, you may consider ordering just a small portion.  The taste is not bad.

Chinese Cabbage with Tofu and Lala Soup, $16.90+

Last but not least, we also ordered a pot of Chinese cabbage with tofu and lala (cockles) soup.  A big pot of milky soup arrived at our table, and the smell spread all around.  I, in general, don't like to have lala, or anything to do with lala, as it might not be fresh, and prone to cause diarrhea or food poisoning.  Luckily, the lalas in this restaurant are mostly fresh.  The soup is super tasty, with the sweetness of the lala, and the Chinese cabbage.

Overall, it is a satisfying meal at a reasonable price. In total we paid $64 for the two of us, with very full stomach.