Cargill Cafe — Restaurant in Victoria Park

I pass by this place quite often. From the outside it looks like another lunch bar. As it was just that before the new owner took place. A friend then recommended me to try this place as now it offers Taiwanese food.

I ordered a mixed bag. For entree, I tried their fried sweet potato balls. They were crunchy, freshly fried, with soft centred filling (caution, the filling was super hot, eventho its tempting to eat them all in one go, just don't!). They were super yum. I ordered their fried fish (snapper) and it was just as good but with no chips available, I ordered their squid rings instead and they were perfect.

Their Mi Sua with fried chicken was another good one but I think a little bit more noodle would be good.

Their fried chicken cutlet combo came with vegies. Not sure about the bamboo shoot as one of the vegies as its smell was rather strong. The fried chicken to me was one of the best Taiwanese fried chickens in town. They hit the spot.

I had their sweet black tea in a bubble tea packaging $3.5 for drink. It was good but it also gave a faint hint of coffee. Not sure whether it's suppose to be that way.

Overall, I enjoyed my lunch. It was an experience to dine in a what looks like a lunch bar but with a twist. Place looked small from the outside but it's quite spacious inside. Looking from the price point, it was on a slightly expensive end. Food was mostly...

Craving for some Taiwanese dishes, we decided to head to Cargill Cafe. It was quite late and we arrived around 8.15pm. There were still a couple of other tables with diners. The staff politely informed us that kitchen closes at 8.30pm and restaurant closes at 9pm.

After placing the order, we got the self service cutlery and tap water, while I scooped some of the best chilli oil/ condiment for dipping. Then I got distracted by the selections of Taiwanese drinks in the fridge and decided to get a malt drink. It tasted a little bit like a not-bitter not-too-sweet stout which we really enjoyed.

We ordered a bowl of meesua (wheat vermicelli) in soup with Taiwanese fried chicken chop, a minced pork rice and a side of braised hard tofu. The tofu is a cold dish. It was nice and firm, and it has a good five spice and sesame oil flavour while not being overwhelming. It's great to accompany my rice which has just enough minced pork topping to go through the whole bowl of rice. And I just love the short grain rice that's used which has a chewier texture. The meesua soup was warming and starchy, and with the addition of optional vinegar, it's elevated to another level. It is really appetizing with the vinegar's sourness cutting into the thicker soup of the meesua. Lastly the fried chicken chop was juicy, hot and it's got a nice layer of crispy batter.

Needless to say, it's...

Word of mouth. That's the only way you will end up finding this place.

Not only is location is well hidden, the sign outside says Cargill Cafe...ONLY! From the outside, there is not a clue about the main draw... the authentic TAIWANESE FOOD. Why? The only reason I can think of is that the business is just a hobby and they don't want to get too busy.

Yes, they do sell fish and chips. But I doubt if anyone went there because of the fish and chips. I will never know. Because the Taiwanese food is so good I can't find any reason to eat fish and chips there. We tried the fried chicken with rice vermicilli soup (meesua), taiwanese tempura (fishball chips?), fried king oyster mushroom and 3cup chicken with rice (thai basil stirfry chicken). Everything is wonderful especially the fried chicken.

The 3cup chicken with rice comes with two nice servings of vegetables like all balanced meals should be. Very healthy stuff. The stirfried chicken is called 3cup because it is cooked with equal parts of soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil traditionally. Plus thai basil, onion and garlic of course.

If you have not tried taiwanese tempura, SKIP IT. It's a nostalgic snack that can be underwhelming in terms of taste. Not that these people didn't do it right, it's just the nature of the beast.

Will definitely be back with the kids to try more items on the menu. Good stuff. Highly...