Satay with no sauce? Woman tries Singapore food at restaurant in Beijing

What better way to be introduced to a country than by its cuisine.

Kerryn Lee, who goes by Kerrynlee on TikTok, brought her Chinese friend to a well-reviewed restaurant serving Singaporean cuisine in Beijing called Xing Yi Hui (which translates to City Garden).

It was likely her friend's first taste of Singaporean food, and she completely "fell in love" with it.

Kerryn took to TikTok recently and shared a clip of what they ate at the restaurant.

@kerrynlee My Chinese friend fell in love with Singaporean Food🤣📍星怡会, Beijing🇨🇳 #china #sgfoodie #fyp #date #travel #food #asia #beijing #shanghai #chinatravel #singaporefoodie #sgfood #vlog #singapore #chinafood #kayatoast #tiktoksh ♬ original sound - 小欣 Kerryn Lee

There were Thai dishes on the menu but those were swiftly dismissed. This meal was going to be made up of Singaporean dishes alone.

The two diners were served free prawn crackers as appetisers before they got on to the main items.

Where's the sauce?

Four sticks of satay costs 33 yuan ($6.19), and while the price wasn't unexpected (given the restaurant setting), something was missing from the dish.

"I was expecting a peanut sauce but nope, it was some random sauce [instead]," Kerryn said, disappointingly.

Taste-wise was decent enough and ditto for her friend.

She likened the flavours to New Orleans chicken wings but did note how "dry" the satays were.

Not the best of starts but their meal got progressively better with kaya toast and laksa as the upcoming dishes.

Sweet coconut jam and butter between toasted bread, who would have trouble munching that up?

Kerryn's friend was having her first try of kaya toast and enjoyed the sweet filling, describing it as "quite nice" for breakfast.

Another must-try for newcomers to the cuisine is laksa.

Being from Penang, Kerryn couldn't help but slide in a slight diss by calling it curry laksa instead.

Her friend didn't find the yummy coconut broth spicy at all.

It seemed like she enjoyed laksa without being completely blown away. Bak kut teh, however, was a different story.

Often paired with a bowl of rice, the dish consists of pork ribs simmered in a broth of herbs and spices.

"The pepper taste is so strong. While I was drinking it, I felt warm. Very nutritious," she said.

Their hearty meal for two came up to 180 yuan, which Kerryn found to be reasonable.

Having tried Singaporean food in Beijing, Kerryn felt like she understands why there are "so many" Chinese tourists in Singapore.

Her advice for locals like us is to simply not take the food here for granted.

ALSO READ: SIA uniforms, mistranslated menu in Singapore-style Beijing restaurant's got us scratching our heads

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