Yoshi’s Kitchen: Fusion omurice from $5.50, fresh kueh lapis in flavours like black sesame & gula melaka

Omurice nasi lemak. It sounds weird together, but if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. A creamy, tender omelette draped over fragrant, fluffy nasi lemak. Why anyone hasn’t done this earlier, I don’t know – but it exists now at Yoshi’s Kitchen. 

Yoshi’s Kitchen is located in Toa Payoh West Market & Food Centre on the 2nd level, tucked away at the corner. The first thing I noticed upon reaching the stall is the TV screen playing cat videos, and the cat-themed icons and graphics. It turns out that “Yoshi” is the name of one of the owner’s 3 adorable cats (the other 2 being Maneki and Tomi), whose photos can be seen on the refrigeration unit. 

Yoshi’s Kitchen sells nasi lemak bowls with a Japanese-inspired twist – each rice bowl is draped in a “tornado omelette”, and sides like karaage or saba fillets. There are also freshly made kueh lapis in a variety of intriguing flavours.

What I tried at Yoshi’s Kitchen

Since I had come here with a dining companion, we decided to get two different rice sets for variety. I ordered Mentaiko Chicken Karaage (S$6) and added on a slice of Bacon (S$1). My companion decided that he was “going big or going home” and got The Ultimate (S$11.90). We also picked up 2 different flavours of kueh lapis: Original (S$2.40) and Pandan Gula Melaka (S$2.80). 

The rice sets were served in pretty enamel dishware, which was a nice change from the usual plastic plates.

The Ultimate is Yoshi’s Kitchen’s version of a “big breakfast”, consisting of a large plate of rice and fried goodies. It’s heaped with a whole sausage, a slice of bacon, two chicken wings and a hash brown. The sausage, bacon and hash brown tasted exactly as one would expect them to taste, if a little over-fried. 

At first, we thought the chicken wings might be har cheong gai, but upon taking a bite, we realised that was not the case – they were still fairly tasty and nicely spiced.

The Mentaiko Chicken Karaage features chunks of chicken meat in the same coating as the fried chicken wings. Mentaiko mayo is then drizzled over and torched (which would explain the karaage’s slightly charred exterior).

Mentaiko mayo easily has a spot in my (small) list of “favourite condiments”, but this version at Yoshi’s Kitchen tasted slightly off. The mayo had a strange sour taste, and didn’t really work with the flavour of the chicken. 

Both of us agreed that the omelette was executed very well. The egg was cooked to a perfect doneness, slightly creamy and tender. We wished that the rice had more lemak to it though. 

I quite liked the sambal served with the rice, although my dining companion remarked that he found it a touch too sweet. The drizzle of sauce on the egg didn’t add much to the dish as the sambal overpowered it.

The Original Kueh Lapis was soft, slightly chewy and coconutty. The sweetness level was just right and it was easy to wolf this treat down. The Pandan Gula Melaka caught me off guard when I bit into it – it was filled with warm gula melaka which dripped everywhere. Sugary mess aside, this one was easily my favourite out of the 2 (my dining companion on the other hand, liked the Original better).

After we finished, we introduced ourselves to the owners at Yoshi’s Kitchen, and they handed us a 3rd kueh lapis to sample. It was a new flavour, Black Sesame (S$2.80). They said customers had wanted an option that was more savoury rather than sweet, and so Black Sesame was born.

This kueh lapis was just as good as the rest in terms of overall flavour and texture, but we felt that the taste of black sesame could be taken up a notch. 

Final thoughts

While some aspects of the food could be improved, Yoshi’s Kitchen serves up a comforting plate of nasi lemak that adds a fresh take on the local favourite. The kueh lapis is stellar, and I would gladly come back again for them. 

Expected damage: S$5.50 – S$11.90 per pax

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