Oasis Taiwan Porridge – Idyllic Dining in the Park

Many of you are probably already familiar with oasis Taiwan porridge. For 35 years, this riverside restaurant occupied a standalone building beside kallang basin, becoming a landmark in its own right. To many families, it’s a popular gathering place. I have friends who grew up going there for family dinners during special occasions.

But in land-scarce Singapore, buildings with a rich history or sentimental value are being torn down to pave the way for modern developments. Likewise, oasis had to suffer the same fate when it closed down in March this year to make way for the upcoming sports hub.

Thankfully for its many loyal patrons, oasis opened again a month later in Toa Payoh town park — right opposite my office! In keeping with its tradition, the restaurant is still a standalone building. It even overlooks a large pond that should give its customers a sense of nostalgia.

Naturally, a colleague of mine who has fond childhood memories of patronising the restaurant was eager to visit it again. So one weeknight after getting out of office, we simply crossed the streets and had our dinner there!

We ordered a number of classic zi char (home-cooked fare) dishes which, on hindsight, was quite a large spread for two persons. But since we were so excited about the meal, we wanted to sample as much as possible!

Fried Chicken with Spices
SGD7++

A staple dish for me when it comes to zi char is kung pow chicken. The closest thing we could find on the menu was the fried chicken with spices, which turned out very disappointing. The taste of garlic (the only spice I could detect) totally overpowered the dark sauce, which made eating it a highly unpleasant experience (and I don’t even hate garlic).

I’m usually a big fan of chicken (any form) but in this case, I simply couldn’t bring myself to eat much of it. If anyone is looking to have chicken here, I heard that the deep-fried salted chicken is good. But stay away from this one.

Fried Kang Kong (Chinese Kale) with Chili and Belachan
SGD6++

Another staple zi char dish for me would be fried kang kong (chinese kale) with chili and belachan (fermented ground shrimp). I have had enough renditions to know that when it comes looking soupy like this, it ain’t gonna be good. And I was right. The entire dish was bland, forgettable and once again, disappointing.

To be fair, the two dishes mentioned above taste best when they are cooked on roaring fires commonly witnessed in hawker center stalls. This allows the food to absorb wok “heat”, the special flavor that results from quick, high-heat frying. The process is probably absent here because when cooked in small portions like this, the food simply gets overcooked.

Sotong (Calamari) with Sambal
SGD7++

Luckily, the sotong (calamari) with sambal fared much better. The sambal sauce had just the right amount of flavor and kick to satisfy a spicy food lover like myself. I would have preferred sotong rings though, and a bigger portion, please.

Clay Pot Beancurd
SGD１0++

If I had a choice, I would rather not have any form of tofu (except when it’s the fried tofu at Sakae Sushi). So I was pleasantly surprised to find myself liking the clay pot beancurd. It was very satisfying to have the delicious beancurd in your mouth with the flavorful soup oozing out. The taste was somewhat reminiscent of bak ku teh (pork rib tea). Yum!

Almond Jelly & Longan
SGD5++

After a successive progression of these dishes, desserts are always a welcome relief. To complete your meal, oasis offers a range of popular choices such as almond jelly and herbal jelly. Pretty standard stuff, and safe too.

Herbal Jelly
SGD5++

So the overall standard of the food here may not be overtly good, but that should not deter loyal followers from its 35 year old customer base, judging from the long queues on weeknights. With the idyllic feel of a park setting, many people would find dining here rather peaceful and relaxing, especially for families. Oasis is definitely here to stay.

Oasis Taiwan Porridge
Toa Payoh Town Park
303 Toa Payoh Lorong 6
Singapore 319393
(65) 6346 4418
Service:
www.oasisbay.com.sg

For now, I must mention something that really put the stinker on the whole dining experience. One thing about restaurants that really irks me, besides refusing to serve water, is when they charge you for something without letting you know in advance.

When our bill came, we were certainly not prepared for the number of items that were charged to us without warning, such as the little plate of peanuts and a $3 plate of something (that I can’t even remember since we virtually left it untouched) that were served to us the moment we sat down.

So people, never assume that these things are complimentary simply because they look cheap. Always check with the waiter(ess) whether you would be charged for that cup of Chinese tea you didn’t drink, or the basket of keropok you didn’t order, for example.

I have had such encounters at quite a number of restaurants, notably Asian ones, including oasis and Bali Thai. Trying to make a quick buck by overcharging customers for cheap items that they haven’t asked for, nor have been told about, I’m sorry, that’s just low. What’s disturbing is that many more restaurants are doing it and people in general are willingly, or unwillingly, paying for these things without putting up a fight.

Come to think of it, I should start a blog post titled “10 things restaurants can do to annoy customers”. Now, that would be fun.