Yi Jia Village Seafood Restaurant (億家村海鮮館) - Head Chef moved from 一 to 億

• Operating Hours: 3 PM to 12 AM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: 20 Toa Payoh Lorong 7, #01-298, S310020
• Food I had: Herbal Chicken (药材鸡), Fried Tofu (家乡豆腐), Spare Pork Ribs (排骨王), Melon Prawn Balls (蜜瓜虾球), Fried Lotus with Long Bean (炸莲藕炒长豆), Fried Man Tou (炸馒头), Chilli Crab (辣椒螃蟹)

If you stay around Toa Payoh, "一家南村海鮮館" might sound a little familiar to you. A few years ago,  一家南村海鮮館 was featured in Channel 8's  variety show - 煮炒来咯 featuring Pornsak and Lee Teng. Since then, this zi char stall has been very famous, with many people coming down to this little heartland during weekends / special occasion. 

Very soon, the coffee shop owner decided to increase their rental over and over again, till one day, the owner of 一家南村海鮮館 decided to shift their business to another coffee shop within the same area. Business has continued to be good, and very soon, a small coffee shop was not able to accommodate the crowd. Many tables were occupied at the open area outside the coffee shop, and the owner had received several summons from the authority for breaching the rule, such as blocking the passageway etc. The owner had finally decided that they want to start up a restaurant themselves, and that was how they shifted out of Toa Payoh Lorong 7 to Macpherson. The main chef from 一家南村海鮮館, however, decided that he wants to be his own boss, did not go over with the owner. He has since then become the owner of the new 億家村海鲜馆 and being the owner and the chef himself, the taste of the dishes served at this zi char stall was 100% the original taste previously.

Look at the crowd, it was already full house when we reached there at 6:50 pm. The server had to open a table for us without shelter when we arrived. We were lucky that it did not rain during our visit. 

There were many people waiting for tables. Lucky we did not have to wait for too long!

The herbal chicken was actually recommended by the server and so we decided to try. The sauce was slightly thicker, similar to the texture of the gravy from hor fun, and it was infused with herbs-- from dang gui to ginseng- was very well-cooked. The chicken was also tender and easy to peel, it is a dish that is suitable for all ages to try. 

My personal favorite dish from this stall is definitely their 家乡豆腐！Special type of tofu is used in this dish, which they are imported in daily from Malaysia. The tofu is smooth and soft, and I really like the way how soft and silky it is as compared to other tofu. This tofu is somewhat similar to egg tofu, but it is definitely smoother than that. It is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside - mixed with the sweet brown sauce with abundant of spring onion and 菜圃, this dish is a must try dish if you visit them! 

The next dish served to us was the 排骨王. A dish that is commonly seen at every zi char stall, it is another dish you may want to try when you visit them! Unlike other 排骨王，the meat they used had no bones, and is slightly softer as compared to other places.

Next came was the Melon shrimp ball, which was also recommended by the waitress. It was supposedly the highly raved dish since it was featured on Channel 8's variety show 煮炒来咯. I would say nothing to shout about tastewise, the shrimp ball does not have any melon taste, and luckily it does not have any, it might not even taste any good if it is.It is pretty much a decent dish, but I preferred their cereal prawn ball (麦片虾球) than this.

Another dish recommended by the waitress was the fried lotus with the long bean. Well, the Lotus was very crispy as it was sliced until very thin, and it just tastes like fried tapioca chips! it was very delicious in my view, but the Lotus and long bean did not compliment each other and I think it can be made into a separate dish.

Fried mantou arrived before chili crab, the skin of the bun was not that very crispy, however, it does still preserve the fluffiness of the bun inside. I will totally love this fried mantou if it's served with condensed milk, but this time it was meant to be served with chili crab. 

If you are looking for the most typical and enjoyable dish during your trip in Singapore, it is hard to look past chili crab. Basically, chili crab is a seafood dish where stir-fried crab is coated with sweet, savory and spicy tomato based sauce. The gravy is an impeccable combination of spiciness, sweetness, and saltiness, complementing perfectly with mantou. The crab was absolutely fresh, and the perfect combination of the sweetness of its flesh to the spicy and sweet tomato sauce is really.... "HOLY CRAB!" 

Will I return to this place? Of course! It has not disappointed me when I'm here every visit and their service was usually quite fast even on a dinner peak. But there is something to take note - do consider carefully if you want to take the waitress recommendations, as their recommendation might not be as nice as they've claimed.