Taiwan Night Market Foodcourt – Cineleisure

When I first heard about the Taiwan Night Market Foodcourt in Cineleisure opening mid-last year, I was exhilarated as I have not been to Taiwan for at least 4 years and I really missed some of their street food

As more reports surfaced about the food court, I made sure I avoided the initial opening and visited only late last year when the hype died down. I was still expecting the food court to garner a substantial crowd amongst the youth hanging out around the area but I was surprised by the emptiness

To be fair, I visited during a weekday late afternoon so there could be more crowd later in the evening. The entire space spans 8000 square feet and can seat up to 300 diners. This new concept was brought in by the Fei Siong Group which worked with local Taiwanese food operators to bring this to life

There are over 19 kiosks and 5 mini restaurants with notable favourites like salty crispy chicken, taro beancurd desserts, bubble tea, peanut roll ice cream, sweet potato balls, oyster mee sua and more. The mini restaurants feature hot pot and stir fry dishes which are also popular dining dishes for tourists in Taiwan

As I visited after lunch, I made sure I only got a couple of items to do a dipstick test on the food. Before my visit, I spoke to a popular Taiwanese YouTuber and they told me some of the food was quite authentic in taste whereas some was just off. The price was also acceptable for some dishes and too much for some. Some of the things we got; were the Frogs Lay Eggs drink which is basically like a grass jelly drink with boba, sweet potato balls, grilled pork intestines with onion and chives as well as the glutinous sausage wrapped with Taiwanese pork sausage

Personally, the dish which I most looked forward to was the sausage dish as I missed this the most and it was just extremely disappointing. The rice was dry and missing flavours from the sauerkraut vegetables and the pork sausage was burnt slightly and was bland in flavour. This dish cost me SGD 8.50 and it was totally not worth it. I could order Taiwanese sausage from Redmart and grill it better at home. The grilled intestines were heavily dosed in sauce and cumin to cover the flavour of the intestines so we found it quite mediocre as well. The drink and sweet potatoes were ok in taste but the price was slightly pricey

Overall, as a dipstick test, the food at the Taiwan Night Market really failed me. For the price I was willing to pay for dishes a fraction of the price in Taiwan, I would at least expect the standards and flavours to be authentic and very delicious. Since I did not try other dishes in the food court, I cannot say the same for all the stalls but at least for now, I will save my money for a trip to Taiwan to get authentic flavours

Address: 8 Grange Rd, #B1-01 Cathy Cineleisure Orchard, 8 Grange Rd, #B1-01, Singapore 239695

Operating hours: 11.30 am to 9.30 pm