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Telok Blangah coffeeshop stall Liang Ji may be known for its char kway teow , but it makes a mean oyster omelette too.  The dish is the stall’s second bestseller and following the success of its cockle-carpeted “humful” char kway teow last year, boss Dominic Neo, 50, decided to introduce a premium version of its orh luak using freshly shucked oysters from Japan. Priced at $18 a plate , the dish, which the flamboyant towkay calls “atas oyster omelette”, comes topped with five big, succulent oysters. Orh luak is typically served with smaller frozen oyster meat. “I want people to know that Liang Ji is not only good for its char kway teow, we have good oyster omelette too,” Dominic tells 8days.sg . He was thinking of ways to elevate the humble oyster omelette when he had the lightbulb moment. “Some stalls add prawns or sotong but I don’t want to follow others, so I came up with the idea to use fresh oysters. Nobody dares to do it, I will do it,” he says confidently. The stall also offers other local favourites like  carrot cake and with unique toppings like wasabi, pork floss, and cheese sauce. No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from  8days.sg . Cleared $20K debt thanks to viral humful char kway teow In September last year, Liang Ji went viral for its humful char kway teow , which boasts more than 30 cockles. According to Dominic, customers waited in line for up to an hour just to get their hands on the cockle-laden dish, and each day, he sold around 50 plates of humful CKT alone. Most customers were scared by the sight of blood cockles and still went for the basic char kway teow, he says. Still, he sold a lot more plates overall due to the publicity. And now Dominic hopes to recreate the success with his atas oyster omelette.  “Humful char kway teow helped my business a lot. Previously, I was in debt and owed my landlord and suppliers a total of $20K. After 8days.sg featured my stall, business was consistently good for two months and I managed to clear my debts,” he shares. “Now business has dropped by more than 60 per cent. This is why I need to consistently think of new ways to attract customers to Liang Ji.” While some customers have lamented about the $18 price tag, Dominic says “you get what you pay for”. “I use premium fresh oysters. When you eat raw oysters at a restaurant, each oyster costs around $7 a pop. My $18 orh luak comes with five oysters. My profit margin is very thin,” he adds. Taste test We order the atas oyster omelette and the $8 regular version, which comes with eight pieces of frozen oyster meat from Korea. The portion sizes of the two are the same. Regular vs atas oyster omelette At first glance, the premium oyster omelette (bottom) looks visibly wetter due to the juices from the fresh shellfish . We compare the sizes of the two types of shellfish offered here, and the fresh oyster was easily two times bigger, and plumper. The omelette is on the eggy side, with a good balance of crisp edges and starchy bits – just the way we like it, and we were pleasantly surprised that it was not greasy at all. The oysters from Japan’s Murotsu Bay are creamy, slightly sweet and briny. The succulent gems are nicely seared on the outside but raw inside , resulting in an oozy creaminess when you bite into them. Delish when paired with the sharp, tangy chilli sauce. To maintain the freshness of the oysters, the shellfish are kept in the fridge and are only shucked upon order. “I might take the oysters out if there’s a queue, but I will only shuck them when frying the omelette. This is why customers might need to wait around 10 minutes for their orders. Customers’ health is more important,” shares Dominic. The $8 basic orh luak is good too. While we like the stronger smoky flavour, the frozen medium-sized oysters, though plump, taste too metallic, especially compared to the fresh Japanese ones.  If you don’t mind the splurge, go for the atas orh luak, or get the regular oyster omelette and top up $3 for each fresh oyster for a taste of both. Freshly shucked oysters are also available for $15 for a plate of five. Liang Ji i s  at #02-01, 78A Telok Blangah St 32, S101078 .  Tel: 8226 5585. Open daily 11am – 8pm. More info on and . Photos: Pyron Tan No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from  8days.sg .