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| O'nya Sayang @ Paya Lebar Square |
O'nya Sayang at Paya Lebar Square is the second sister restaurant from
the Dulukala Peranakan Restaurant that made its name in Beauty World
Centre Bukit Timah. While Dulukala Peranakan Restaurant is a family
business that cooked all its food in its property, O'nya Sayang
provide a more modern bistro casual dining atmosphere. This outlet,
in the newly open Paya Lebar square is the second branch after the
Tampines Mall outlet.
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| Kebaya - Wall Decoration |
O'nya Sayang is founded and helmed by Executive Chef Zhan Ho, a third
generation Peranakan Chef. He basically grew up in the kitchen and
learned how to cooked authentic Peranakan cuisine from his mother.
Due to certain constrains in operation, O'nya Sayang incorporate
modern F&B method such as central kitchen to control the quality
and the consistency of its dishes. In line with the current trend, he
also created new dishes using traditional ingredients.
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| Ayam Keluak Fried Rice Set |
We started our tasting with Ayam Keluak Fried Rice Set ($14.90). The
set come with fried rice, ayam buah keluak dish, achar, sambal and
prawn crackers. This is an creative play on from the traditional
Peranakan Dish of Ayam Buah Keluak. The rice is al-dente, tasty yet
not overpowered by the cut fresh chilli in it. It has a good Wok Hei
(breath of the wok) and the ayam buah keluak is tender and succulent.
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| Bakwan Kepiting Soup |
Bakwan Kepiting Soup ($12.90) and Lor Bak Noodles set ($12.90) follow
soon. The bakwan kepiting balls are springy and flavourful. The broth
is robust, however you can't really taste the crab meat. More like a
pork ball instead. The Lor Bak Noodles provide a different option to
the normal rice dishes in a Peranakan restaurant. Noodle is thin and
springy, goes nicely with the lor bak sauce. The braising sauce was
light and not overly sweet. The set also come with Otah, where it has
a nice texture and you actually have a good bite of the fish in the
otah.
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| Lor Bak Noodles Set |
Babi
Pongteh ($13.90), Chap Chye ($10.90), Assam Fish ($16.90) and Seafood
Chilli Garam ($15.90) are typical Peranakan traditional dishes. Pork
Belly are used in the Babi Ponteh Dish. Bean paste here is very
subtle and not overpowering, while the fats from the pork belly is
just lovely. The chap chye is all right, the vegetables complements
each other and absorbed the braising liquid.
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| Babi Pongteh |
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| Chap Chye |
Like most Peranakan dishes, it tasted better with fully white rice.
Check out mine, decorated in Goat outlook by Little Miss Bento, who
recently published her bento book.
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| My Meehhh Rice, decorated by Little Miss Bento |
Seafood Chilli Garam looks like a Peranakan Seafood Combo Hot plate.
The Chilli Garam is secret family recipe from Chef Zhan Ho. Looks
slightly oily and it packs of spicy punch. You can find ingredients
such as prawns, octopus and batang fish. One bite and I quickly reach
for my water to put down the fire in my mouth. For Assam fish, red
snapper was used. The assam is combination of sweetness and tanginess
from the tamarind sauce. Similar taste to Gulai Ikan for Indonesian
dish. Its good.
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| Seafood Chilli Garam |
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| Assam Fish |
Beef Rendang Bread Bowl set ($12.90), another new idea using
traditional ingredients. The beef rendang stuffed into bread bowl
produced by a traditional bakery. It is then baked to crisp, with a
unique rough texture. The rendang is sweet and tender. It will be
better if the chuck of beef contain more fats, so the meat does not
look dry. There is a additional curry on the side if you want to dip
your bread into it. I like the presentation.
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| Beef Rendang Bread Bowl set |
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| Check out the beef rendang inside the bowl |
Of
course the meal won't be completed without the peranakan desserts
such as Chendol ($4.90), Chendol Ice Cream ($5.90), Sago Gula
Melaka Ice Cream ($5.90) and Ondeh
Ondeh 5 pcs ($5.90).
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| Chendol Ice Cream |
The ice cream in the desserts are actually coconut ice cream, sourced
by Chef Zhan Ho, which use Thai coconut. The ice cream is creamy like
coconut cream but with a well balance sweetness. Meanwhile the Gula
Melaka used is the Indonesia version that give more intense flavour
but reduced in sweetness. It is nicely complement Chendol and Sago
Gula Melaka. Kudos to the Chef that willing to look outside of the
box to keep improving its dishes.
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| Gula Melaka Ice Cream |
We actually made a mistake in tasting the ice cream version of the
Chendol first. When we get to the traditional version of the chendol,
it was just blown away by the ice cream version. For the onde, a
warning must be given here. Don't cut it, just pop the whole ondeh in
your mouth. Make sure you close your mouth before you bite it, as it
just explode in your mouth. The skin is slightly dry, probably it was
displayed all day.
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| Chendol - Traditional Way |
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| Ondeh Ondeh |
Overall, I really enjoyed our meal here. The traditional and modern
Peranakan Cuisine is good, and the ice cream desserts are a must try
dish. There is not much different in quality between the dishes we
ate here with those cooked in the kitchen premises. I hope Chef Zhan
Ho keep pushing the boundaries of Peranakan Cuisine and come out with
more modern Peranakan dishes. So if you are in Paya Lebar Square,
give this place a try. Cheers!!
Thank you very much to Hannah Chia Food Trail and O'nya Sayang team
for the invitation.
Food
& Drink: 7.5/10
Value:
7.5/10
Service:
N/A
Ambiance:
7/10
Budget
per Person: $11 – 25; $26 - $50
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