8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro

Ordered the Lu Rou Fan 卤肉饭 as advertised on its poster. It’s pretty good but the servings at this restaurant are pretty small. It’s not cheap too. Makes me think about the really inexpensive 小吃 street food scattered all over Taiwan.
The omelette was pretty sweet too. Had a few noodle dishes and the bill came to $ 30 plus.
They keep playing Jay Chou songs over and over again. Seems he is the brand ambassador or that the owners are crazy over him.
There’s another outlet in town at Beach Road — on the opposite side of concourse

We were out loitering before a movie, and decided to grab some nosh. There’ve been a couple of new joints sprouting about Joo Chiat and upon realising that 8 Degrees serves Taiwanese nosh, we understandably made a bee line there. Perhaps the hook that this place is going for is Taiwan’s most famous export, Jay Chou? His face is splashed across the menu and walls, and albums playing on repeat. Good for fan girls but. not so good for non fan girls. Cringe.
Layout is spacious with cute mismatched fabric chairs. Service is prompt; then again, it was about 9pm and only three tables were occupied. We ordered the stewed pork rice, cold noodles, spring onion pancake and eggplant with pork floss. It did seem a little too much then, for two girls in the later part of the evening, but portions emerged rather small. Not dismal small, but kid sized small — the stewed pork rice in totality was probably the size of a tennis ball. And there’s no stewed egg, the blasphemy! But before anyone cries blue murder, I have to qualify that the meat was flavourful, soft and tasty, and overall you’d wish you had a pair. Of tennis balls masquerading as stewed pork rice.
Cold noodles weren’t too shabby, al dente to the bite, delicate veg garnishing complemented with a drizzle of sesame dressing. I did wish there was more dressing though; I do love me some sesame sauce and generally prefer my noodles on the soppier side. Spring onion pancake was an interesting take on the classic, being softer and doughier than what I’m used to. The eggplant too was expertly fried, with a dousing of pork floss sitting prettily atop. Yet another twist to the classic was the batter encasing the eggplant; not sure what it was but it tasted like yellow noodles, with a strong alkaline taste at the end. Hm. Not really up my alley, this one.
Lots more to discover on the menu, and the fried chicken is calling my name. Looks like this is going to be my go to supper joint from now on.