Hua Li Xuan

Good service always has its merits. We meant to try out Ebisboshi Shotengai at Iluma after reading some of the reviews about it but found ourselves at this small eatery called "Hua Li Xuan" instead. We were checking out the different restaurants (and honestly, Iluma has quite a range of them) and decided to "reward" this waiter from Hua Li Xuan for making sincere efforts to tell us more about the dishes on offer as well as their special "mantou burgers". This unique burger claims to be "Singapore's First Oriental Burger" and I found the concept quite interesting. Service of course did not stop at the front doorstep, for the same waiter took the time to go through their promotions and even taught us ways to save money. Thumbs up for the good service.

Peppery Beef Mantou Burger: 4/5


This was really quite delightful. We're accustomed to using mantou (a type of Chinese steamed bun) as a dip for our favourite chilli crabs, but we never thought it could be made into a real burger. It doesn't look much aesthetically, but that's largely because I did away with the lettuce and tomatoes (so much for healthy eating). I chose to have my mantou fried (instead of steamed) and it was a good choice because it came all hot and crispy. The beef patty was very good, but the drawback was that it had to be smaller than regular sized patties to fit the mantou bun. The patty seemed handmade to me, and was nicely juicy and tender. The black pepper sauce used was good too. Since it's only $3.80, I reckon you could order two of such burgers to have a fuller meal.

Hua Li Xuan also has a platter of three mini burgers where you can choose from each of the Mantou Burgers on offer. Seems to be one of the favourite choices amongst some of the customers.

Onion Rings and French Fries: 3.25/5


Add $2 per side when you order any one of the Mantou Burgers. Standard deep-fried side dishes but at least they came hot and crispy.

Crispy Chicken Cutlet La Mian: 2.75/5


Daphne didn't like this very much because there was something about the soya sauce that didn't go down very well with her. The noodles on their own were fine, but it's hard to pull them away from the light gravy. The chicken cutlet was a delight though, nicely deep-fried without being too oily.

Service
Excellent, friendly and helpful.

Price
$3.80 for the peppery beef mantou burger
$2.00 for each side (eg. onion rings, french fries)
$7.80 for the crispy chicken cutlet la mian
$2.00 for a glass of soft drink

* If you're a student, you're entitled to a free soft drink.
** Prices subject to the usual 7% GST and 10% service charge.

Place
Iluma @ Bugis, #04-12.