Craving for a soothing bowl of hot rice porridge and Ter kah (pork knuckles) at midnight?

Head for new Taiwan restaurant, Shin Yeh on level 2 of Liang Court. It opens for lunch and dinner till 2am.

You can choose plain porridge or one with sweet potatoes, Taiwanese Min style which is Hokkien in origin.

Partner your porridge with pork knuckles and a plethora of Taiwan homestyle dishes, especially if you are dining with your clan or clubbing kakis.

Two stars on the big menu are pork knuckles and oyster omelette.

At recent tastings, we found the knuckles well cleaned and stewed till tender. Most of the fat had been removed through boiling and the knuckles cooked with two kinds of Taiwan soy sauces which are picked by the restaurant chain's HQ in Taiwan for its outlets.

The pork knuckle sauce wasn't too dark or overly spiced like some Hokkien versions here. Shin Yeh's trotters went beautifully with the rice gruel. The sauce was flavourful on its own and truly lip-smacking what with the gelatin of the pork skin having already melted in the sauce.

The pork trotters came with a treat - stewed groundnuts. Oh, wines are also available, in case you want a good red to pair with your trotters.

Go with a group of four or more people to share the dishes as they are too large to share between two unless you order only one or two dishes to go with your porridge.

The oyster omelette is also highly recommended. It's fried to a light crisp with a generous amount of oysters unlike the local hawker version where stumbling upon an oyster was almost akin to striking a lucky draw.The accompanying chilli sauce was sweet as opposed to the sharp, vinegary type served by local hawkers.

To balance the meaty dishes, we had a fresh green veg (ya cai) resembling crisp local lettuce - it was lightly fried to retain its natural flavour.

Other Taiwan-Hokkien style dishes to go with porridge are braised pig's intestines, fried pork liver in a sweet sauce, chai poh omelette (preserved white radish and egg), and white bait and clams cooked in a miso sauce (miso and other Japanese dishes are a legacy of Japanese rule once upon a time).

Many of the dishes are homestyle, cooked according to guidelines followed by Shin Yeh's outlets.

Other Taiwan dishes you can try here are calamari fried with ginger, you tiao - crispy dough fritters - with the almond cream tea, Taiwan spring rolls (popiah), deliciously smoky roasted mullet roe and the aromatic san bei ji (3-Cup Chicken or chicken fried with basil and garlic), a dish notoriously copied by some Singapore cze cha outlets.

And if you want to splurge on a banquet, no problem. You can find upmarket dishes like abalone, shark's fin, Taiwan-style Buddha Jumps Over The Wall abd  live seafood here. The restaurant  is also a suitable wedding venue (mximum 30 tables) and birthdays.

Taiwan cuisine is mainly inflluenced by Hokkien or Fujien food but its variety covers middle and southern regions of China, including Hakka flavours.

So you can find regional dishes like sharksfin and cabbage served in a hotpot and Huaiyang-style steamed cod.

Two popular desserts are the muah chi (mochi) pieces coated with peanut powder and sugar and slightly chewy almond jelly (made with starch instead of agar. The Taiwanese would describe such texture as "Q Q" like the jelly 'bubbles' you find in Taiwan tea.

You can also find the "Q" factor in the pork knuckles.

Ask for a window seat. You will be rewarded with views of the Singapore River, Clarke Quay and Riverside Point while you chomp on your knuckle.

Read more reviews of Shin Yeh here: -> Tung Lok's latest jewel
and Humble fare rich in flavours

Shin Yeh
#02-19 Liang Court Shopping Centre
177 River Valley Road
Tel: 6338-7337
Opens daily from lunch till 2am
If you're going for supper, you can still enter Liang Court from the main entrances and take the lift up to second floor. Or drive to the carpark and take the lift.