K.K. Kitchen Review: Unique Okinawan Dishes And Curry Rice By Ex-Restaurant Chef In Toa Payoh

Drawing from their prior culinary experience, the couple offers two Okinawan dishes at the hawker stall, alongside common favourites such as bento sets, curry rice, and donburi. Kitchen One of these Okinawan dishes is Bitter Gourd Stir Fry with Pork, Egg & Tofu , AKA goya chanpuru.

For the uninitiated, Okinawan cuisine is known for its Chinese influences, which is encapsulated in the chanpuru’s stir-fried nature. This is one of those instances where the bitter gourd leaned sweet, complementing the egg and tofu nicely.

Per to The pork, some savouriness to the dish, but was a little tough for me. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the saba ended up being my favourite dish.

For one, it was completely deboned, which took away much of the annoyance that usually comes with eating saba. Paired with a squeeze of lemon and the soya sauce-based dip provided, the salt-grilled saba was packed full of taste and thoroughly enjoyable. As I opted for the saba set, my meal as well came with a bowl of rice.

I topped up $2 to get their Seasoned Mixed Rice ($3 a la carte) , another Okinawan dish comprising short-grained rice cooked with pork, seaweed, shiitake mushroom and carrot. In addition known as kufa jushi in Japanese, the Seasoned Mixed Rice reminded me of Yonehachi’s okowa, which is a similar steamed glutinous rice dish with seasonal components. The rice was well-cooked, allowing the umami-laden flavours of pork, seaweed and shiitake mushroom to permeate each grain.

The set as well came with a small appetiser, which includes half an Ajitama egg, shredded pork, and pickles. The egg and pork were a little too sweet for my taste, but it’s worth noting that my palate does lean towards savoury flavours. We tried their Tonkatsu Curry ($7) , and it certainly did not disappoint.

They were generous with their portions, which ensured that I enjoyed a good ratio of curry, rice, and meat with each spoonful. The curry was flavourful, peppery, and slightly sweet, while the tonkatsu was well-seasoned, but slightly dry.

In spite of its rather ulu location, there was a sizable number of people at the coffee shop when we visited on a Thursday afternoon. While its location might not be the most convenient, it’s certainly worth a visit if you’re nearby, or are craving Okinawan dishes.

If you’re looking for more food to try in the area, walk over to the neighbouring stall Wu Da Ma Xiao Chi Dian for hand-torn mee hoon kueh and razor clams at just $6.50!