Juniper
Hakkayu @ Sunway Pyramid is located at G1.122A, G1.122B & G1.122C
Originating from Guangzhou, China and established in 2013, Hakkayu is opening next week at Sunway Pyramid. As the name of the chain of restaurants suggests, they specialise in traditional Hakka cuisine. There are 5 outlets in Singapore, at Jewel Changi Airport, Northpoint City, Jem, Parkway Parade and VivoCity. Their specialty and best-selling dishes include Hakka Salt-Baked Chicken, Hakka Stuffed Tofu, Yam Abacus Seeds, Traditional Hakka Pork Soup (Intangible Cultural Heritage) and Cantonese Char Siu.
As you step into this new restaurant, you are greeted by shades of green on the walls and chairs. There are different size tables to suit the different number of customers. It feels very soothing and comfortable. Best of all, you can watch the chefs at work through a clear panel while waiting for your food to be served. You can observe how they bake the sakt-baked chicken for 50 minutes in sea salt and how they prepare the Stuffed Tofu.
The drinks here include cold Ya Shi Xiang Oolong tea and pineapple lemon tea as well as hot green and white teas. I love the pineapple juice and oolong tea as they just taste so good. I even wanted to take some home! These can be shared with family and friends as there is quite a lot in each container. Both cold beverages taste very fresh and are made in-house.
The Pork Soup has a very generous serving of pork. At some restaurants, you get just a few strips of pork but here, the bowl is full of pork. They use spring water and every 2 hours, the remainder of the soup is set aside and customers are served from a fresh pot of soup. They use Sarawak Pepper in this soup so it’s excellent quality. In case customers want an even stronger taste, some pepper is served on the side along with spring onions. This is just the appetiser I needed to whet my appetite for the main courses.
Pork Soup
The Pork Soup has a very generous serving of pork. At some restaurants, you get just a few strips of pork but here, the bowl is full of pork. They use spring water and every 2 hours, the remainder of the soup is set aside and customers are served from a fresh pot of soup. They use Sarawak Pepper in this soup so it’s excellent quality. In case customers want an even stronger taste, some pepper is served on the side along with spring onions. This is just the appetiser I needed to whet my appetite for the main courses.
Now the Salt-Baked Chicken comes in half or whole portions but I was rather surprised at the size of the half portion. The meat is shredded by hand rather than cut with a knife. The meat is tender, moist, juicy and the fragrance of it hits me as soon as it is served. A delightful aroma that makes me in the mood for the food. Growing up, I ate salt-baked chicken regularly as my mum is Hakka so this dish brought back some memories. It takes 50 minutes to bake the chicken. There is a 50% discount on the Salt-Baked Chicken (be it half or whole) for Hakkayu members (easy to scan and join at the outlet) from their soft opening on 18th Nov 2026 till 31st Dec 2026. Totally worth it as half chicken can feed 3 people minimum.
Cantonese Char Siu
Most of the time, I do not eat char siu as I don’t like how it is prepared. I find many restaurants’ version to be too dry and tough but at Hakkayu, the char siu is juicy and moist as it has the ideal proportions of fat and lean meat. There’s a lot of satisfaction in this dish and I say this as a non-char siu eater.
It has been years since I last ate Hakka abacus Seeds. Made from yam/taro and tapioca flour, Hakkayu’s is chewy without being starchy and there is enough garlic in this dish to make it fragrant enough. Totally a palate-pleaser. I don’t think I need rice if I order this dish as it is so filling.
Then we have one of the stars of the meal – Hakka Stuffed Tofu which is definitely not your average Stuffed Tofu. The minced meat in the tofu has been fried so well that I can feel a slight crispness. It totally complements the soft and melt-in-your-mouth tofu. They are of a generous size too like all the other dishes.
After all these, if you are still craving for more, try the Traditional Cantonese Claypot Rice with Cured Meats. Again, I don’t like Cured Meats but the Cured Meats in this claypot rice is too aromatic and mouth-watering to resist. There’s enough in this claypot to be shared by at least 3 people.
No, Hakka Green Kueh is not like ang koo although it does bear some resemblance. The dark green colour comes from leaves as does the very pleasant unique aroma which I absolutely love. These are the tastiest Hakka dessert ever.
Having tasted such lovely flavours and textures, I’ve got to go back for more soon especially for th Salt-Baked Chicken, Stuffed Tofu and Green Kueh. These are my top 3 picks from Hakkayu.
