Fried Black and White Carrot Cake from Good Spice Carrot Cake (好味萝卜糕).
Found in Pek Kio Market & Food Centre (#01-20), this shop is well known for serving up an old school version of the said dish, focusing on the flavours and cake itself. Also one of the rare stalls that offered both options in the same dish at $3, with the single flavours at $2, this allowed me to enjoy both kinds to taste their differences. Wanting to experience how basics were done right, I visited them one early morning to be their first customer of the day.
Taste: 6.5/10. The aroma of the dish was not very strong, and also showed in its flavour being on the milder side. Perhaps that was what was meant by old school, where you could focus on the cake, but I preferred having a stronger taste profile. The black version had the sweet dark sauce to elevate its taste slightly, but its white counterpart was a bit bland for my liking. The amounts of radish was also minimal, which might have helped in bringing more flavour
Texture: 7/10. The cake in both versions were extremely soft in texture, and put my mediocre chopstick skills to the test. They were cut into reasonably sized pieces that were very easy to chew, with the generous portion of eggs adding some variation in texture. The black version had some caramelised bits of dark sauce for a mild crisp, but both versions did not contain much of the radish which I missed for a crunch. It gradually became quite flat, as the textures were quite one dimensional
Overall: 6.8/10. I was not sure what to expect out of this shop, but I am glad I was able to enjoy a rustic plate of carrot cake, without the frills and keeping it simple. While I cannot say this was my favourite plate, it was still a decent one that showcased the cake as its main star. Again, the black version would be my preference between the two because of its taste and textures, but I am sure the white would appeal to certain customers with different tastebuds.
The prices and opening hours may vary.