Wallet-Friendly Noodles and Dumpling
Dumpling Darlings offers surprisingly affordable handmade noodles in a neighbourhood filled with pricey restaurants.
How far can two twentysomethings with absolutely no experience in F&B go in the industry? For June Tan, 29, and Foo Choo Kiat, 31, surprisingly far. Barely out of SMU, the two then-friends — they got married last year — were just 26 and 28 years young when they opened Lola’s Café at Serangoon in 2013, which serves an array of brunch faves. They followed up with its gastro twin, On The Table at Pasir Panjang, another crowd-pleaser, in 2014. Their third venture in 2016 didn’t do as well, though — Suzette, a dessert café at The Esplanade, shut down two months ago. But from the looks (and taste) of things, Dumpling Darlings is likely to be yet another feather in the pair’s culinary hat. After all, the month-old diner at Amoy Street is already blazing through 1,000 dumplings a day. No wonder: that hipster area is filled with pricier sushi joints and angmoh restaurants — a bowl of noodles at Dumpling Darlings starts from just $5.