It’s an unspoken rule of thumb that international cuisine served locally isn’t quite as bona fide as locals presume. Juxtaposed to the real McCoy, these disparities could range from the subtle tweaking of taste (such as adding the spicy “oomph” factor to cater to our local palate) to an outright unlikeness in presentation. As far as the hackneyed expression “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” is concerned, the question remains if this adage be applied to something as idiosyncratic as food.

But hold your phone calls to the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) for now. Though much damage has been done to our pride (and stomachs), all is not lost.

The remedy I propose comes in the form of a modest café situated in Tampines North Community Club (CC) where Mr Lester Poon, General Manager of The Peak Cafe, begs to differ.

“[The Peak Cafe] serves genuine Hong Kong (HK) food,” Lester quipped in Mandarin. “This is what sets us apart from other HK styled cafés, like Xin Wang. They might be able to fool the locals [here in Singapore] but not those of us from HK.” With 30 years of experience under his belt in the food industry, who else better than to state such an aggrandizing statement?

“This is real HK style, something which is new in Singapore,” he said, with a dash of sarcasm. “Although there has been a rising trend of HK themed cafés, the flavour of HK is not brought out.” He added that the chain of Crystal Jade Restaurants, however costly they may charge, is as good as it was going to get for our local foodies. “At The Peak Cafe, we offer prime quality HK delicacies at reasonable prices.”

With such an asseveration, it was with much anticipation that I headed out to The Peak Cafe to sample their fare.

The first step into the establishment brings back a fondness one would associate with scenes from “A Kindred Spirit”, a popular HK television drama. White washed walls, wooden chairs and tables. It’d be easy to mistake the glass doors as a time machine of some sort that automatically transports the user back in time to HK in the early 1990s.

To the untrained eye, the café might seem exceedingly plain with its trademark white walls and wooden furnishings but truth be told? From the Chinese Nationals working there to the metal counter nearing the back of the café, much attention has been paid to the overall ambience of the place, down to the very last piece of HK magazines sprawled lazily across the table at the entrance.

Not for the indecisive, the menu boasts of 300 dishes with a wide array of choices comprising of old favourites like dim sum to western classics like chicken chop. The choices are carefully categorised; there’s even a section for eggs!

The baked rice with pork chops and Portuguese sauce ($6.80) comes highly recommended from Lester. On first bite, the dish is tantalising. Topped with imported Portuguese (from Macau, no less!) sauce, it’s adorned with succulent pork chops and fried rice with egg shreds. However, the creamy mush proves to be a tad too rich on the palate after a subsequent few mouthfuls. The pork chops were generously portioned and filling to say the least. On a whole, the dish was baked to near perfection, though it was a little burnt.

Also while you’re at it, do try their signature steamed pork dumplings ($3). The dumplings are served piping hot in a bamboo basket and Lester promised that, “[it’s] better than Din Tai Fung’s award winning ones.” It might sound boastful to say the least, but it’s not far from the truth.

The restaurant also guarantee s that if there’s no gravy in the dumplings; patrons can feel free to approach the staff for an immediate change.

While the dumplings might not be able to fit into the shoes (or rather mouth) it’s rumoured to fill, rest assured that it’s still good enough to keep you wanting more. And at $3 for 4 pieces, who could resist?

But the best part is yet to come. In my opinion, what really sets The Peak Cafe apart from the pretenders would be their house specialty drinks. One such beverage deserving of mention would be the salted lemon with 7-Up.

The lemon has been marinated with salt and sundried for several months to accentuate the unique blend of lemon tanginess and the savories of salt before finally reaching the taste buds of the patrons. The soothing concoction is said to soothe the throat and is proving to be very popular amongst customers.

On the other hand, the café is not without its fair share of drawbacks. The biggest one would be the waiting time. The duration between ordering and getting served is inexplicably long, even during non-peak hours. Expect at least 10 minutes before delectable delights reach your table, 20 minutes if it’s during peak hours.

Summing up, the dining experience at The Peak Cafe is definitely above average with its authentic HK fare. The service staff is generally friendly, although they may appear to be hassled at times because of the large crowds the café manages to draw, especially during peak periods. Besides that, the café is also giving away free Red Bean Mountain (more affectionately known to locals as ice kachang) ($2) with a minimum purchase of $5 till the end of Apr. And it looks like this HK café is giving the others a run for their money, in more ways than one.

UrbanWire rates it 4 stars out of 5

The Peak Cafe is located at 2 Tampines St 41 Singapore 529204. It is open from 6 am – 1 am daily.