IVINS Nyonya Specialties Peranakan Casual Dining @ Heartland Mall, Kova

Nyonya Craze!!

My princesses and I decided to explore Kovan for brunch. We initially intended to visit Lola’s Café (we will post the review shortly) after seeing all the yummy instagram photos which the foodies posted however our glorious Sunday morning was dampened by the heavy showers 🙁 The queue at Lola’s Café was very long – approximately 1.5hours and hence we decided to catch a quick bite @ Heartland Mall instead.

And.. we chanced upon this Nyonya restaurant hidden at one corner of the shopping mall!

We were actually attracted by the foodie fragrance coming out from the restaurant as we skipped our breakfast for this brunch outing and hence we could withhold the temptation any longer and popped into the restaurant (before we faint of hunger).

Restaurant Name: IVINS Nyonya Specialities Peranakan Casual Dining

Location:

205 Hougang Street 21

#02-00 Heartland Mall

Singapore 530208

Tel: 6288 7922

Operating Hours: Daily, 11:00 to 21:30

Le’ Ambience

Foodie Photos at the entrance 🙂

Crowded and Crammed Dining area

I was actually pretty attracted by the Peranakan culture after watching the infamous Singapore drama on Mediacorp Channel 8 – “The Little Nyonya”. 

The Little Nyonya Theme Song:

Hence I had no qualms in trying out this Peranakan Restaurant despite the premise is slightly crammed. The décor still maintained its Peranakan Style somehow and I like the sight of their Nyonya Kuehs (Traditional Nyonya Pastries) being displayed on the colourful pottery. 

Nyonya Kuihs for display @ the counter 🙂

Le’ Menu

Traditional Nyonya Cuisine galore!!! 

Menu Cover Page

Le’ Food

Ang Cho Teh (Iced) (SGD2.00+)

Ang Cho Teh (Iced) (SGD2.00+): Red Dates with Longan Drink

This is Red Dates with Longan Drink. This drink tasted sweet with the Longan and refreshing too!

Homemade to perfection ~

Kee Peow Soup aka Fish Maw Soup (SGD6+) 

Ordered this during my second visit with Sweetie Muffin.

Kee Peow Soup aka Fish Maw Soup (SGD6+) 

Muffin is a soup lover and we found this clear broth rather tasty just that the fish maw was tad to little. 

Ayam Buah Keluak (SGD7.90+)

Chicken Braised in thick tamarind gravy with buah keluak nut

Ayam Buah Keluak (SGD7.90+): Chicken Braised in thick tamarind gravy with buah keluak nut

This is one of the nice dishes featured in “The Little Nyonya”. We ordered it immediately after seeing the “Bestseller” indication on the menu and were glad we did!

Very Instagram-worthy indeed!

The dish tasted mildly spicy and chicken meat is tender. The gravy goes really well with rice too and we loved this dish a lot!

Kuah Lada Ikan Pari (SGD7.90+)

Stingray in tamarind and pepper gravy

Kuah Lada Ikan Pari (SGD7.90+): Stingray in tamarind and pepper gravy

Not much stingray meat in it though. The gravy tasted alright but I still prefer the gravy from the Ayam Buah Keluak 🙂

Honey Pork (SGD7.90+)

Lean Pork Strips Stir-fried in Special Honey Sauce

Honey Pork (SGD7.90+): Lean Pork Strips Stir-fried in Special Honey Sauce

I love this dish too! The pork tasted slightly burnt and I love the honey glaze on it – its just soooo fantastic!

Lady Fingers Sambal (SGD5.00+)

Boiled Okra served with Special Sambal

Our healthy dose of veggies 🙂

Daun Keledek Lemak (SGD6.50+)

Sweet Potato Leaves and Sweet Potato Slices served in Coconut Gravy

Daun Keledek Lemak (SGD6.50+): Sweet Potato Leaves and Sweet Potato Slices served in Coconut Gravy

We ordered this during our second visit as well. This gravy had a tint of coconut fragrance but not over-powering the entire dish.

Close-Up

In fact, I quite liked how this dish is prepared 🙂

Nasi Puteh (SGD0.80+)

Steamed Rice

Can Can flattened her steamed rice on her plate.. Does that make the rice tastier??

How can we not order this to go with the dishes? Rice is our staple food!

Nasi Kunning (SGD1.00+)

Coconut Flavoured Rice

This yellow rice is cooked with coconut milk and turmeric.

Nasi Kunning (SGD1.00+): Coconut Flavoured Rice

As the colour resembles a pile of gold, it is often served during festive occasions as a symbol of good fortune and dignity.

Pulat Hitam with Yam (SGD2.00+)

Black Glutinous Rice with Yam, drizzled with Coconut Milk. Served Hot.

The dessert tasted way too healthy. Why? Because I do not taste much sweetness in it 🙁

There are some longans found in the bowl but nah, just not sweet enough to satisfy my cravings.

Pulat Hitam with Yam (SGD2.00+): Black Glutinous Rice with Yam, drizzled with Coconut Milk. Served Hot.

Pulat Hitam with Ice-Cream (SGD3.00+)

Peranakan version of Coke Float – Glutinous Black Rice, served with Vanilla Ice Cream. Delightful!

This tasted slightly sweeter and better than the hot version as ice-cream is added.

However, I realised that the dessert was a disappointment as their Pulat Hitam was warm (not chilled) and the ice-cream melts quickly into the hot mixture resulting in a room temperature dessert 🙁 

Pulat Hitam with Ice-Cream (SGD3.00+): Peranakan version of Coke Float – Glutinous Black Rice, served with Vanilla Ice Cream. Delightful!

Overall, I would not recommend their Pulat Hitam (both hot and cold versions) unless you are suffering from diabetes and wanted some comfort food with minimal sweetness.

Le’ Service

The service is pretty prompt. Whilst we were fretting over what dishes to order, 2 staff passed by to ask if we are ready to take our orders.

Overall

Overall, we enjoyed the food there and the pricing is very reasonable – there was no service charge, only GST and we spent under SGD30 for 2 pax!

Will visit this place again if we have cravings for Peranakan foodie 🙂

We practically cleaned our plates during our second visit

Pricing: ★★☆☆☆
Food: ★★★☆☆
Ambience: ★★◐☆☆
Service: ★★★☆☆

Up Next:

Lola’s Cafe @ 5 Simon Road, Kovan

P.S.
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