I’ve always found one-dish hawker stalls incredibly impressive; imagine perfecting that one dish so well that your entire livelihood is dependent on it! 618 Sim Carrot Cake at Yishun takes it one step further; not only do they only sell carrot cake, they only serve up white carrot cake.
While it’s in the Yishun neighbourhood, the nearest MRT station is actually Khatib, and it’s a good 10- to 15-minute walk from the station.
Located in a small coffeeshop, 618 Sim Carrot Cake shares the space with the now-defunct Fatty Handmade Noodles 肥肥板面, a lor mee stall and a fish soup stall. The queues for this carrot cake stall are legendary, and they’ve even implemented a buzzer system so that customers don’t have to physically stand in line.
That said, I actually visited the carrot cake stall earlier, before the pandemic rolled in.
618 Sim Carrot Cake is helmed by second-generation owner Stanley, who joined his parents in frying carrot cake after quitting his full-time job.
What I tried
Staunch supporters of black carrot cake will not be pleased to discover that 618 Sim Carrot Cake only offers white carrot cake. I’ve always preferred white to black carrot cake anyway, so it wasn’t a problem for me.
618 Sim Carrot Cake serves up White Carrot Cake (S$3.50/S$4.50), with the option to Add On Prawns (S$5/S$7). After placing my order, I hung around the stall for a while more to watch how they prepared the carrot cake.
They actually prepare the radish cake chunks in advance, which meant that they can speed up the cooking process once the customers have ordered. Yes, it’s cooked to order, so your plates of carrot cake will always be piping hot when you enjoy it.
This also means that the radish cake cubes are double-fried, and packs that much more smoky flavour.
Fried to crispy perfection with beaten egg and chye poh (preserved radish), the White Carrot Cake is then topped generously with chives and even more chye poh on the side. They use a secret seasoning of their own concoction, which really brings the carrot cake up to mouthwatering levels of tastiness.
I nibbled on a bit of chye poh before diving into the dish proper, and I was rather surprised that it wasn’t overly salty. In fact, the chye poh was crunchy, slightly sweet and the right amount of salty.
The radish cake cubes held together quite well within the omelette, though some loose bits will be left on the plate as you eat since it’s soft enough to break off with the chopsticks. I ended up bringing the plate to my mouth and sweeping up the loose crumbs of carrot cake—it was just that good!
For those who want something with more flavour, add on some prawns. When the plate arrived, I initially couldn’t really find the prawns. After digging around, I realised that they diced up the prawns and mixed them in with the radish cake cubes.
This actually helped to distribute the prawns much more evenly throughout the dish. Instead of two or three whole prawns, now you’ll get to enjoy prawn chunks in every other mouthful.
You may also have noticed that the White Carrot Cake With Prawns didn’t come topped with chives. Pick up a piece of the carrot cake, and you’ll realise that 618 Sim Carrot Cake actually cooked the chives into the carrot cake! While it’s slightly less crunchy this way, I liked how the fragrance permeates throughout the carrot cake pieces.
Final thoughts
The portions are also extremely generous; I ordered the S$3.50 option, and it’s more than enough for two to share. Or a full meal for one, if you have a strong craving for carrot cake.
If you happen to stay around the area, you can consider popping down and grabbing a packet or two. Bring it back for your family, and share the joy of piping hot carrot cake!
Expected damage: S$3 – S$6 per pax
Price: $
Our Rating: 4 / 5
618 Sim Carrot Cake
618 Yishun Ring Road, Fujo Eating House, #01-3230, Singapore 760618
618 Sim Carrot Cake
618 Yishun Ring Road, Fujo Eating House, #01-3230, Singapore 760618