We saw the “Soon To Open” sign at Mall of Asia a few months ago. My foodie beau Anton was delighted that one of his favorite Singaporean restaurants is finally coming to Manila. With over a dozen locations in Singapore and one in Vietnam, Xin Wang Hong Kong Café is famous for its menu of Chinese and Singaporean street favorites.

My first taste of Xin Wang was during my first trip to Singapore in October. I had the dry chili noodle with filled fishballs for SG$6.90 and a mug of iced Hong Kong yingyong for SG$3.20.

When we visited Xin Wang’s first Philippine location in Mall of Asia last week, I decided to order the exact same thing to make a decent comparison.

The dry chili noodle was plated differently. Instead of being mixed evenly with the noodles, the brownish-reddish chili sauce was topped over the noodles, making it look a bit unappealing. But the savory taste was the real deal—it brought me back to the days of my Singapore food trip, where fresh chili sauce was part of many Singaporean dishes I tried.

My noodles’ oily chili sauce made puddles around the plate, which went well with my stuffed fishballs and basic steamed Chinese cabbage, as I slurped the noodles down to the last spicy strand.

My steel mug of iced yingyong made the scorching Manila heat more bearable. For the uninformed, yingyong (also called yuanyang or yinyong) is a popular beverage in Hong Kong where brewed coffee is mixed with sweet milk tea, giving it a distinct caffeinated flavor that doesn’t overpower the way regular coffee or espresso does. Whether taken iced or hot, yingyong makes a good beverage any time of the day.

Xin Wang’s colorful and glossy menu features over 200 other mouthwatering dishes. Regular customers love the meaty Hong Kong-style rice plates, cheese-baked dishes, and unique selection of fusion desserts such as snow ice and French toast.

Next time I’m ordering the butter pineapple bo lo bun, P95, and cheese-baked rice with chicken chop, P225.

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