Hakka Yu, translated as Hakka Language in Mandarin, is a famous restaurant serving Hakka dishes in Guangzhou since 2013. With over 80 outlets in China, their first overseas outlet opened in Singapore Jewel in December 2024
Since my mum is a Hakka, her attention was immediately caught when she saw postings about the new Hakka restaurant in Jewel. I quickly made a reservation to bring her to try out some of the traditional dishes
The restaurant is a semi-open concept, with shoppers in the mall able to glance into the restaurant at the diners. The main attraction was this huge pot of salt-baked chicken structure since their most iconic dish is the salt-baked chicken. The restaurant was shaped in a semi-circle shape so you can also view the open concept kitchen from the table
We ordered some of the key Hakka dishes like the Salt-baked Chicken baked in coarse salt to seal in juices and served in an earthenware container. The Hakka Stuffed Tofu, which is made with stoned, ground handmade tofu with minced pork and pan-fried with a rich, savoury sauce. The next dish was a personal favourite, which is the braised pork belly and dried mei cai. The first few dishes were quite a delight, with most of the flavours very on point. The chicken was savoury with the salt-baked flavours, but slightly drier than I prefer. The pork belly with mei cai and stuffed tofu tasted like a homely dish and was perfect with rice
Some other dishes we ordered were the suan pan zi ( abacus seed ), crispy fried fish with sweet and spicy sauce and spicy fried pig intestines with onions and vegetables. The abacus seeds were chewy and flavourful, and I really liked how the dish had minimal accompaniments but yet it was big on flavours. The crispy fish was fresh and springy, and the sweet chilli gave the otherwise bland batter a balanced sweetness. The intestines were a favourite for my nephew, but they had a very strong boar taint smell, so not everyone would like them
Overall, the service was prompt and friendly, and they were very attentive to our requests. The dishes were quite authentic in terms of Hakka flavours, but of course, to a pure Hakka like my mum, some dishes were still lacklustre. I do personally like the pork belly with mei cai and stuffed tofu, which reminded me of the dishes in my mum’s hometown
Address: 78 Airport Blvd., #03-220/221/222 Jewel Airport Changi, Singapore 819666
Opening hours: 11.30 am to 10.00 pm
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