Plum Village Restaurant

Tucked in the secluded lanes off Upper Thomson Road is this cozy Hakka restaurant. We had about 12 people with us, so there was quite a challenge trying to squeeze into their largest table, which was more like for about 10 persons. Nevertheless, the staff were very helpful in getting all of us seated comfortably.

They have several signature dishes and we ordered almost all of them.

Mei Cai Kou Rou($21.60) was the most likable dish for the most of us. The Mei Cai was sweet, not too salty and the Kou Rou was soft and juicy. A well rounded combination of sweet (Mei Cai) and tinted saltiness (Kou Rou).

Yam Balls($9.00) was the next best dish. It had a unique flavour and texture short of eating or nee. The yam balls were spongy and springy and the gravy had a friend onion taste that made it a unique dish.

Specialty Tou Fu($14.40) was served with 12 pieces exactly. Well actually they "custom" made the dish for the number of people we had. So that means one piece is 1.20. :) The gravy was the favourite part of the dish for everyone. So when all the 12 pieces of toufu were walloped, the gravy was soon smothered dry by everyone.

Salty Chicken($27.60) was served not in one piece but all chopped up to reasonable bite size for everyone. Perhaps that was the most thoughtful thing to do as there was no need to decide how to dissect the chicken with surgical precision. Taste wise it was ok. Something noticable though is that the meat was tender and juicy, and not hard and dry.

Fried Beef with Green Pepper($10) had a soft and chewable texture and was not anything extraordinary.

Overall spent about $105.70 for a meal for 12 persons, so that means about $9 per person which is very reasonable considering that everyone was pleasantly surprised with the quality and uniqueness of some of the dishes. The staff were also very friendly and patient, always serving with a smile. So thumbs up for them.