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20 Food Spots At Yishun & Sembawang That You'll Want To Take Unpaid Leave For
Brace yourself as we head north today to discover all the food spots that give Yishun and Sembawang something to boast about. From traditional hawker favourites to ice cream cafes, there's always something to eat there any time your hunger pangs strike.
Most of the places in this list are a walkable distance away from Yishun MRT station, so dress cool, come hungry, and let's start exploring these 20 food spots in Yishun and Sembawang.
Yishun sembawang food guide -
North-dwellers and laksa lovers will surely be familiar with 928 Yishun Laksa. Hailed as one of the top must-try laksas in Singapore, be prepared to join a long queue at any time of day. Here, laksa is an all-day affair.
The Laksa (S$3.60 for small) comes in a bowl chock full of ingredients, including chopped bee hoon (rice vermicelli), tau pok (fried puffy beancurd), crabsticks, bean sprouts, cockles and half a boiled egg. Try ordering an extra portion of cockles—they go really well with the mix.
Yishun sembawang food guide - 928 laksa
The soup is particularly noteworthy; the coconut milk is distinct enough against the spiciness, resulting in a flavourful and slightly sweet broth. It isn't the spiciest laksa, tending more towards the milky side.
Ditch the chopsticks; all you need is a spoon to scoop the bite-sized pieces of chopped bee hoon as you slurp everything up. If the hunger pangs are stronger that day, opt for the large size at S$4.10.
Blk 928 Yishun Central 1, #01-155, Singapore 760928+65 9731 9586Mon to Sat: 9am – 6pm
2. Yishun 925 Chicken RiceYishun sembawang food guide - Yishun 925 Chicken Rice
Yishun 925 Chicken Rice has been faithfully dishing out their signature boneless chicken for over 20 years, establishing their place as comfort food for the nearby residents.
Yishun sembawang food guide - Yishun 925 Chicken Rice
Not many places are able to steam their chicken to perfection, but here, you'll find that the meat is tender and fragrant. Get sharing portions of chicken at S$15 and S$30 for small and large sizes respectively. Alternatively, if you're dining alone, you can get a single serving at S$4.20.
Blk 925 Yishun Central 1, #01-249, Singapore 760925+65 6924 7742Daily: 10am – 8.30pmFacebookWebsite
Yishun Sembawang food guide - Coba Coba 2
Coba Coba is a cafe serving homely and affordable nasi ambeng (an Indonesian dish served with rice and an assortment of sides). Their name refers to the Indonesian phrase 'try try' that is used endearingly by elders to coax the young to try unfamiliar food. Already, the place evokes such a strong feeling of family and home.
Yishun Sembawang food guide - Coba Coba 5
The Deluxe Nasi Ambeng (S$43.90 for two pax) comes with 14 different ingredients on a generous platter, making for a great sharing meal. Some of the highlights on this dish are the sambal goreng (fried tofu, tempeh and long beans in spicy coconut sauce) as well as the beef rendang, which is tender and flavourful.
If you prefer something smaller, they also serve noodles, such as the Mee Rebus for S$4.50, which would be more suited for single diners.
156 Yishun Street 11, #01-06, Singapore 760156+65 6382 2622Wed to Mon: 7.45am – 7pmClosed on TueFacebookInstagramWebsite
Yishun Sembawang food guide - hao bang general wholesales trading
For all the croissants and pancakes we hanker for, sometimes we just want to circle back to the old-school bakeries. This is where Hao Bang General Wholesales Trading has your back.
yishun sembawang food guide - hao bang general wholesales trading
Situated across Block 928, this bakery is most well-known for its huge floss breads. The most expensive is the BBQ Chicken + Ham + Cheese + Egg version, priced at S$15. They also have all sorts of other tasty bakes like Walnut Butter Cake (S$4) and Chicken Char Siew Shao Bao (S$1.50 for 1 piece, S$4.50 for 3 pieces).
Block 925, Yishun Central 1, #01-241, Singapore 760928+65 6755 1673Daily: 8am – 9.30pmFacebook
Yishun Sembawang food guide - Thailand Street Food
Thailand Street Food in Junction 9 Shopping Mall is the place to go for some tasty and authentic Thai cuisine without breaking the bank.
For a light bite, try the Pandan Chicken (S$8 for 4 pieces). These savoury morsels are wrapped in pandan leaves by hand before being fried to a crispy exterior.
Yishun Sembawang food guide - Thailand Street Food
Of course, you'd probably be hungrier than that. From the mains, try out the Tom Yam Fried Rice (S$6 for small, S$10 for large) for a smoky, tangy meal. Though lighter on the spice, it's no less fragrant. You can also choose between chicken, pork or seafood for this dish.
18 Yishun Avenue 9, Junction 9 Shopping Mall, #01-03, Singapore 768897+65 9699 5959Daily: 11am – 3pm & 5pm – 10pmFacebookInstagram
6. Baker's Brew StudioYishun Sembawang food guide - baker's brew
Baker's Brew Studio established its beginnings at Jalan Tampang, Sembawang, offering baking classes and delicious cakes.
For a local slant to your dessert, try the Ondeh Ondeh Cake (S$7.50 per slice, S$59 per 6" whole) for a beautifully intricate indulgence made of moist pandan sponge cake, grated coconut, gula melaka, and coconut swiss meringue buttercream.
Yishun Sembawang food guide - baker's brew
For a variety of different cakes, opt for Baker's Brew's Best Six V3.0 (S$65), consisting of 6 cake slices in the flavours of Ondeh Ondeh, Earl Grey Lavender, Roasted Pistachio and Rose, Kochu Yuzu Pear, Yubari Melon Peach and Hokkaido Strawberry Shortcake.
6 Jalan Tampang, Singapore 758950+65 6635 7166Daily: 11am – 8.30pmFacebookInstagramWebsite
Yishun Sembawang food guide - sembawang traditional claypot rice
Right next to Baker's Brew Studio, Sembawang Traditional Claypot Rice serves up its signature fragrant claypot rice and popular bee hoon dishes.
Yishun Sembawang food guide - sembawang traditional claypot rice
The Traditional Claypot Rice (S$8.80 for small, S$18.80 for medium, S$19.80 for large) features a sizzling bowl of chicken, mushroom and Chinese sausage that pair comfortingly well with the charred rice drizzled in black soy sauce and oil.
If noodles are more of your thang, there's also the LaLa Bee Hoon (S$5.80 for small, S$9.80 for large) for a homely dish of clams with noodles.
4 Jalan Tampang, Singapore 758948+65 6757 7144Daily: 11am – 10pmFacebookInstagramWebsite
8. White Restaurant 三巴旺百米粉White Restaurant, probably most famous for their white bee hoon, has also expanded since its early beginnings at Sembawang. Now with 8 outlets, they've definitely made themselves more accessible to those in the east and west.
Yishun Sembawang food guide - white restaurant
A small plate of Original White Beehoon is yours at S$9.35, with a flavourful wok hei depth and smooth, slightly starchy gravy. Though it may be less endowed in colour, the aromas and textures make up for it.
Though they have sprouted across the island, there's always a sense of nostalgia dining at the OG outlet, where they first started. If you live near or have the time to spare, I'd recommend making the trip to Sembawang for the experience.
22 Jalan Tampang, Singapore 758966+65 8827 5578Daily: 10am – 9.30pmFacebookInstagramWebsite
9. Holy Cow CreameryYishun Sembawang food guide - holy cow creamery
Who doesn't love a nice cafe to chill out over ice cream? It's true when they say that there's a second stomach for dessert.
Holy Cow Creamery offers a wide range of ice cream and sorbet flavours. Of course, ice cream isn't complete without a carb, which in this case, is their Charcoal Waffles (S$6).
The best thing about these waffles is that they remain fluffy on the inside even as the edges crisp up. That's one of the hallmarks of a good waffle. Pair that with some of their premium ice cream flavours, such as Rocher and Chocolate (S$4 for single scoop, S$7.50 for double scoop). I love the camaraderie of sharing ice cream on waffles with a friend.
292 Yishun Street 22, #01-291, Singapore 760292Sun to Thu: 11.30am – 10pmFri & Sat: 11.30am – 11pmFacebookInstagramWebsite
10. Bei Sheng Taste of Thailand 北胜泰国小食Yishun Sembawang food guide - bei sheng taste of thailand
Bei Sheng Taste of Thailand is a zi char (cook and fry) place that sells Thai-Chinese cuisine. They're often packed with customers and long queues.
Some of the most popular dishes here are the Thai Deep Fried Fish Delight ($22 for small) and Pineapple Fried Rice ($5 for small). The fish, though fried till crispy on the outside, retains its tenderness and moisture on the inside.
Loved for their consistent quality and affordability, it's no wonder that people flock here on the daily.
Block 701A, Yishun Ave 5, #01-01, Singapore 761701+65 6756 4883Wed to Mon: 11.30am – 2pm & 5.30pm – 10pmClosed on TueFacebookInstagram
11. Chong Pang Nasi Lemak 忠邦椰奖饭Yishun Sembawang food guide - chong pang nasi lemak
Chong Pang Nasi Lemak is the place to go to satisfy the late-night rumbles.
Customise your nasi lemak with your choice of ingredients, including Chicken Drumstick (S$2.50-S$2.80), Sambal Sotong (S$3.50) and Ngoh Hiang (S$1.30). Whatever sides you pick, don't leave out the juicy, crispy Chicken Wing (S$1.80), which is arguably one of their most unrivalled strengths.
Still not convinced? The myriad of other ingredients to add include Sambal Prawn (S$2.50), Otah (Mackerel) (S$1.70) and even a Sushi Roll (S$1.30). You'll be spoilt for choice!
447 Sembawang Road, Singapore 758404+65 9655 1868Daily: 5pm – 6.30amFacebookWebsite
Seoul Kitchen is one of the gems of the north, with fried chicken in multiple deep, tantalising flavours.
Diners flock to this Sembawang eatery for their super affordable KBBQ and fried chicken buffet, priced at just S$20.90++ per pax.
In 90 minutes, indulge in a free-flow of KBBQ meat like Pork Belly, Teriyaki Chicken and Marinated Beef. They also have pre-cooked dishes such as Korean Fried Chicken and Jap-Chae. I don't know about you, but all this for just S$20.90++ sounds like a good deal to me.
435 Sembawang Road, Singapore 758398+65 6483 0818Daily: 12pm – 11pmFacebook
13. The Daily ScoopYishun Sembawang food guide - the daily scoop
Whether you're here for a quick ice-cream stop or an indulgent waffle sesh, The Daily Scoop has something for you. Their huge display of ice cream flavours will compel you to return to try them all out.
Some of their cult-favourites are the Kookie Monster and Simply Chocolate. Get a single scoop for S$4.50 or pair your favourite two flavours together for a S$8.50 double scoop.
The ultimate indulgence here, though, is a single scoop of ice cream perched atop their warm, fluffy Classic Waffle for S$9.50. They even have a Churro Waffle (S$10.20) and Mochi Waffle (S$10.20), each coming with a scoop of ice cream.
369 Sembawang Road, #01-05, Singapore 758382+65 6754 1233Mon to Wed, Fri & Sat: 3.30pm – 9pmThu: 4pm – 9pmSun: 2pm – 9pmFacebookInstagramWebsite
Yishun Sembawang food guide - 618 Sim Carrot Cake
Stans of black carrot cake will be disappointed to know that 618 Sim Carrot Cake only serves white carrot cake. Meanwhile, inside, I'm smugly grinning.
Treat yourself with a hearty plate of White Carrot Cake (starting from S$4), with the option to add on prawns (from S$6). The chye poh (preserved radish), prawns and chives fried together with the mix adds more fragrance and crunch to the entire experience.
Yishun Sembawang food guide - 618 Sim Carrot Cake
With generous portions enough for sharing, this fried carrot cake definitely counts as a crowd-pleaser. To the fans of black carrot cake, don't hang back. Come and give this a try; you just might like it.
618 Yishun Ring Road, Fujo Eating House, #01-3230, Singapore 760618Wed to Mon: 6.30am – 1pmClosed on TueFacebook
yishun sembawang food guide - Munchi pancakes
With a modern take on traditional min jiang kueh (traditional thick pancake with fillings), Munchi Delights reinvents these chewy, airy pancakes in flavours such as charcoal and matcha (ground green tea leaf powder). For S$1.60, try the Matcha Pancake With Peanut for a throwback to childhood.
yishun sembawang food guide - MUNCHI PANCAKES
Whatever flavour you pick, their pancakes retain the airy, chewy consistency that makes min jiang kueh so iconic and satisfying. For a further break from tradition, opt for their unique flavours like Oreo Cheese (S$2.30) and Earl Grey (S$2.30). There's no other min jiang kueh shop in Singapore that does it like Munchi Pancakes.
51 Yishun Avenue 11, Yishun Park Hawker Centre, #01-43, Singapore 768867+65 8312 6203Daily: 8am – 8.30pmFacebookInstagramWebsite
yishin sembawang refresh - ichi umai
The well-hidden Ichi Umai is a hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant within Junction 9 in Yishun, with affordable contemporary Japanese dishes. To make things better, they don't have GST or service charge.
yishun sembawang refresh - ichi umai
For sashimi fans, try the Ajisai Sashimi Moriwase (S$18.90), which comes with 3 pieces each of yellowtail, swordfish and scallop sashimi. The Bara Chirashi Don (S$15.90) is a fantastic rice bowl topped with soy marinade sashimi cubes and sweet shrimp.
I couldn't get enough of the Ryu Chizu Roll (S$12.90), a unique fusion maki roll topped with nacho cheese sauce. Of course, for something a little more classic, why not have the Kuri Buta Katsu Kare (S$14.90), a fantastic take on the traditional Japanese curry rice?
Yishun Avenue 9, Junction 9, #01-19, Singapore 768897+65 8887 1976Daily: 11.30am – 3pm & 5.30pm – 9pmFacebookInstagramWebsite
yishun sembawang refresh - Oh My Don
Oh My Don could be considered one of Yishun's best kept secrets—this humble coffeeshop stall in Yishun is helmed by a former hotel chef, bringing atas donburi bowls to the comfort of the North.
What stands out most about Oh My Don is their incredibly affordable prices—the Beef Steak Don with Truffle Ponzu comes in at only S$10.90!
yishun sembawang refresh - Oh My Don
Topped with a luscious onsen egg and tender beef cubes, this dish perfectly ties together the savoury ingredients with the citrusy sweetness of the ponzu and the earthier aroma of truffle.
Don't miss out on the other offerings like the Japanese Curry Meatball Don (S$8.90), Salmon Don with Mentaiko Sauce (S$8.90) and the Korean Glazed Pork Belly Don (S$6.90).
431 Yishun Avenue 1, #01-01, Singapore 760431Mon to Sat: 11am – 9pmInstagram
yishun sembawang refresh - golden chef
Golden Chef was founded by 3 young men from Johor Bahru, 2 of whom met while they were working as chefs at Jumbo Seafood. This Yishun stall specialises in claypot rice, with some unique Western-fusion creations on the menu.
yishun sembawang refresh - golden chef
The Cheesy Half Shelled Scallops & Fresh Prawn Claypot Rice (S$9.80) is like a combination between lasagna and baked rice nested within a claypot. The seafood elements are most commendable, with perfectly cooked scallops and succulent prawns.
For something more classic, Golden Chef offers the Signature Chicken Claypot Rice (S$8.80). This classic claypot dish stuns in every way, possessing all traits that a good claypot rice should have. It's no wonder that this establishment managed to garner rave reviews just a short while after opening.
256 Yishun Ring Road, #01-1005, Singapore 760256+65 9385 3144Daily: 11am – 12amFacebookInstagram
yishun sembawang refresh - Liu Kou Shui
Making a trip down to Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre soon? Be sure to check out Liu Kou Shui, started by a 24-year-old culinary school graduate. The menu consists of 8 different kinds of rice bowls, with the option of switching from white rice to ramen or brown rice.
yishun sembawang refresh - liu kou shui
The Beef Sukiyaki Don (S$8) is topped with sliced beef and sauteed onions, plus a runny egg. Every bite of this dish welcomes a delicious smokey aftertaste, with the creaminess of the egg complementing the other ingredients beneath.
The Mala Char Siew Don (S$7) is another popular pick here—the marinated pork belly is grilled and flame-torched before being slathered with mala chilli oil and a secret sauce.
21 Canberra Link, #01-29 Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre, Singapore 756973+65 9721 0211Mon, Tue, Thu & Fri: 11am – 9pmSat & Sun: 10.30am – 9pmClosed on WedFacebookInstagram
yishun sembawang refresh - ipoh curry mee
Ever tried curry chee cheong fun? This savoury Hong Kong-style creation can be found at Ipoh Curry Mee 怡保咖喱面, situated within A'Posh Bizhub in Yishun. As the name suggests, you can enjoy Curry Chicken Noodles here for S$4.80, though their menu also extends to other Ipoh-style noodle dishes.
yishun sembawang refresh - Ipoh Curry Mee
The Ipoh-style Curry Char Siew & Roast Meat Chee Cheong Fun (S$6.30) dons a deep orange shade. Despite its intense colour, it isn't jelak and is instead fragrant and easy on the palate. The roasted meat and curry combination works surprisingly well too.
For a simple yet satisfying dish, go for the classic Ipoh Hor Fun (S$4.30)—topped with steamed chicken breast and bok choy, you can't go wrong with this.
1 Yishun Industrial Street 1, A Posh Bizhub, #01-12, Singapore 768160Daily: 8am – 8.30pm
The post 20 food spots at Yishun & Sembawang that you'll want to take unpaid leave for appeared first on SETHLUI.Com.
Trdelník: The Czech Food That's Not Czech
(Credit: Alamy)
In recent years, this doughy, sugar-coated sweet has become ubiquitous in Prague. But despite being billed as "traditionally" Czech, the dish was adopted from elsewhere.
In February 2023, newly-minted United States ambassador to the Czech Republic, Bijan Sabet, uploaded some of his first photos as ambassador to Instagram. The now-deleted post included a couple of shots of cobblestone streets near the US Embassy in Prague and a photo of him holding an ice cream-topped trdelník, a popular tube-shaped pastry.
The next day, the Czech press jumped on the photo of the trdelník. "The first mistake of the new American ambassador", read the headline in the daily newspaper Mlada Fronta Dnes. Another Czech newspaper, Lidove Noviny, put it in the spectrum of American political scandals by calling it "TrdelníkGate".
So, what was all the fuss about and how did a pastry cause an international political scandal?
If you join the army of tourists in Prague's historical centre, you'll notice that every third or fourth shop – particularly between Old Town Square and Charles Bridge – features 15cm (6in) tubes of dough slowly spinning horizontally on a stick over burning charcoal and a sign above it proclaiming "Old Czech Specialty". The scent of caramelised sugar and baked dough wafts from these shops, and at each one, there is often a line out the door.
Trdelník has become ubiquitous throughout Prague (Credit: Ivana Larrosa)
Meet the trdelník. Also called "chimney cakes", perhaps because they are long-ish and tubular, trdelník gets its name from the stick it slowly spins on as it cooks over coals (trdlo means "stick" in Czech).
When I lived in Prague for three years in the 1990s, there were no signs of the trdelník (pronounced: "ter-del-neek"). But starting around 2010, I began seeing more and more shops and street stalls selling them. Employees were dressed in historical garb and signs boasted of the pastry's Czech origins. Search for "Prague" or "trdelník" on TikTok or Instagram and you'll find legions of influencers raving about this "traditional Czech pastry".
The issue is that the trdelník isn't Czech: it's a sugar-coated riddle wrapped in a doughy mystery inside an ice cream-topped enigma of nebulous origins that tourists appear to love. At the same time, many locals say travellers to their country are being duped into thinking they're indulging in something inherently Czech. On a recent visit to Prague, I decided to try to peel back the flaky dough of the trdelník in order to understand this culinary conundrum and how it came to be a favourite "old Czech specialty" among the tourist masses.
According to a Romanian newspaper, the first-known mention of the trdelknik is in a mid-15th-Century manuscript in Heidelberg, Germany. In 1784, it turned up in a cookbook in Transylvania. From there, it seems, the pastry slowly made its way west from Transylvania, anchoring itself throughout Hungary where today it's called kürtöskalács, and eventually finding a warm welcome in the Slovakian town of Skalica. The fact that Skalica became part of Czechoslovakia might partly explain how the pastry ended up catching the attention of Czechs entrepreneurs decades later.
Trdelník are typically baked outdoors over hot coals (Credit: Ivana Larrosa)
The first trdelník shop in the Czech Republic didn't fire up its dough-cooking coals until 2004, when Martin Figura opened a bakery in the country's eastern Moravia region. On his business's website, he claims the pastry comes from Hungary. A year later, another baker, Martin Švarc, opened a trdelník stand in the southern Bohemian tourist town of Česky Krumlov in 2005.
"These people inspired me, and I copied their business," he told me, referring to the first few people who opened up trdelník bakeries in the country. According to Švarc, trdelník shops started opening in Prague a year or two later. In 2015, someone got the brilliant idea to begin offering a scoop of ice cream on top of the dish and the city's new made-for-tourist dessert was complete.
Back in Prague, I met up with Janek Rubeš, a journalist whose YouTube channel, the Honest Guide, has 1.4 million subscribers. In his videos, he reveals some local favourites for eating and drinking in Prague, but he has also been very vocal about the trdelník, which has made him the face of anti-trdelník sentiment in his hometown.
One of the reasons why the trdelník is so popular with tourists in Prague can be boiled down to a simple and effective marketing technique. "My mom used to work for an international restaurant chain, and she used to say: if you can smell it and see it from the street, you're likely going to be enticed to try it," Rubeš said.
Prague doesn't have a street food tradition, but many tourists may not know that (Credit: Ivana Larrosa)
Rubeš isn't the only Prague resident who is annoyed by the ubiquity of the trdelník and its false association with Czech culinary culture. In December 2022, two theatre students at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague made a trdelník-themed project. Anna Hubená, who is studying costume design, created a life-size trdelník costume for Danny Takieddin, an acting student. Scrawled in large letters on the backside of the costume was: "I AM NOT CZECH TRADITION". The two of them hit the streets of central Prague as Hubená filmed Takieddin's interactions with tourists. Sometimes the life-size trdelník with legs would be standing next to trdelník-eating tourists – most of whom didn't get the irony, thinking that the plus-sized pastry was actually promoting a trdelník shop.
"Mostly only local Czechs appreciated it," said Hubená. Takieddin added, "Even a homeless guy yelled out at us, 'It's from Romania!'"
Prague doesn't have a street food tradition. Food here, traditionally consumed in pubs, is meaty, stodgy fare that pairs nicely with a golden-hued pilsner. I can't help but feel that trdelník shop owners are reimagining Czech history for their own financial benefit. The trdelník industry is betting that most visitors to Prague won't have an extensive knowledge of Czech cuisine. Case in point: the American ambassador to the Czech Republic. "I don't blame him," said Rubeš, of the ambassador's "TrdelníkGate" photo. "If you walk through the centre of Prague and see so many shops selling trdelník, you're going to assume it's a big part of Czech culinary culture."
It's no coincidence that as tourism numbers have grown in the Czech Republic, so have the number of trdelník shops. In 2003, 20 million foreign travellers visited the nation and there were zero trdelník shops. By 2019, just before Covid restrictions, that number had nearly doubled to 37 million. There are no statistics on the number of trdelník spots in the country, but there is no denying that the trdelník industry has shadowed the rise in tourism.
"This is a cautionary tale about how authenticity, when paired with processes of urban touristification, can become a powerful tool for commodification, deceit and appropriation of third-party food traditions – in this case Hungary, Romania and Slovakia," said Alessandro Gerosa, a professor of sociology at the University of Milan and author of The Hipster Economy: Taste and Authenticity in Late Modern Capitalism. "The hostility from local Czechs seems powerless vis-à-vis the pervasiveness of Prague's growing tourism industry."
The food started spinning on sticks in central Prague roughly 20 years ago (Credit: Alamy)
The trdelník can be seen as a way to appease travellers seeking out something that appears to be authentically Czech – a sugar-coated symbol of how tourism has transformed the city into something it didn't use to be.
Juliana Fischerová, a baker and food writer, said, "The trdelník likely made its way to Prague because of the festival circuit, such as Christmas markets, which was the only time Czechs would see the pastry up until recent times."
Fisherová first started seeing trdelník pastries spinning on sticks in Prague about 20 years ago and remembered she had seen the pastry in Slovakia long before that. "In Prague, it's half the size and twice the price," she said. "The worst crime, though, is that they use very low-quality ingredients at the trdelník shops in Prague. And don't get me started on the quality of the ice cream."
Fischerová says that it won't be long before the pastry enters the canon of Czech cuisine. "Fried cheese isn't inherently Czech either, but it's been eaten here so long that it's now part of our culinary tradition. [It's] on every pub menu all over the country and, with the exception of Czech food historians, no one questions the authenticity of it."
"Authenticity" is a word that popped up over and over in my research on the trdelník. The problem is that "authenticity" is a social construct, a subjective term based on a collective perception, so what may seem authentic to one person could feel inauthentic to another.
Origin aside, people seem to love eating trdelník (Credit: Alamy)
There was an Easter market on Prague's Old Town Square while I was visiting. And to prove Gerosa's point, I asked several trdelník stand employees if the pastry was an authentic Czech product. They all said yes. I then approached a stand selling lángos (fried bread that is indisputably tied to Hungary).
"Is lángos an authentic Czech street food?" I disingenuously asked the woman at the stall. She paused, looked me right in the eye and said, "Yes. It is traditional Czech street food. Like Czech pizza."
Trdelník purveyors in Prague are engaging in what sociologists call "impression management". By evoking an imagined historical community of costume-clad Bohemians cooking the trdelník on a stick over coals, they're not only commodifying the culture of neighbouring nations, but selling visitors a fabricated version of their own.
But does any of this really matter when hordes of tourists are literally and figuratively eating up the trdelnik? Is it really that delicious?
When I finished chatting with Rubeš at a cafe in central Prague, we walked out onto the street together. Rubeš spotted a sanitary worker emptying public rubbish bins and asked the worker, "What is the most common thing that you find in the trash in the centre of Prague?" The sanitation worker rolled his eyes and said, "Trdelník. When tourists eat through the ice cream towards the top, they just throw out the fried dough. They barely even eat the thing."
I have to confess that after witnessing the birth and extreme growth of Prague's trdelník industry over the last 20 years, I had never tasted one. So, on my penultimate day in Prague, I purchased a sugar-coated pastry (minus the add-on ice cream) at a stand at the Old Town Square. It was flaky and soft but so bland it was almost tasteless. Like nearly every trdelník-consuming tourist in Prague, I ate about half of it before it got cold and rigor mortis-like, and then tossed the rest of it in the bin.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed the country where Skalica is located. That has since been updated.
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