Eight Minutes. Eight Ideas. One Doraemon Pocket. "What if we could create meals that cook themselves?"
That was the little spark we handed Ashka and Cherishma at Xin Den — and off they went! Eight minutes, eight ideas, and one wonderfully alive table. No wrong answers here, just imagination let loose while the food made its way over. This is the Genius Challenge, and it just might be our favourite thing that happens at Xin Den. It's that lovely moment where dinner becomes a playground for the mind — and honestly, we look forward to it just as much as our diners do.
It begins the way all the best things do — with a question. When you settle in at Xin Den, we might slide a worksheet your way with a single, playful "what if" printed at the top. The clock gives you eight minutes. Your happy little mission, should you choose to accept it, is to dream up eight ideas in response. There are just three gentle guardrails to keep things grounded: each idea should be desirable — something people would genuinely love; feasible — something you could actually imagine building; and viable — something that would still make sense a year from now. Within those lines, though? Anything goes. Truly anything. And here's the sweet little secret we've learned watching table after table take it on: the magic isn't in the eighth idea, or even the cleverest one. It's in the joyful scramble to fill the page. The first two or three come easily — the sensible ones, the safe ones. But around idea number four, something wonderful shifts. The obvious options run dry, the pencil hovers, and then somebody at the table grins and blurts out something gloriously ridiculous. That's the moment it all comes alive! The laughter loosens everyone up, ideas start bouncing between friends, one person's half-thought sparks another's, and suddenly you're not just answering a prompt — you're inventing together.
The Experience
That's really the heart of it. It's the way a quiet table leans in and lights up. It's two friends earnestly debating whether a self-cleaning cooker is actually possible, then dissolving into giggles over the silliest idea on the sheet. It's the friendly little tick of the clock turning an ordinary dinner into a shared adventure, one that ends not with a winner, but with a page full of dreams and a table full of grins. It's design thinking, really — the same creative spark the world's best innovators chase but reimagined as something joyful you can do between courses, with your favourite people, laughing the whole way through. You come in for a meal, and somewhere between the appetiser and dessert, you happily discover you're an inventor too.
The Ideas
And oh, did Ashka and Cherishma deliver! In eight short, buzzing minutes, they filled the whole page with brilliance: Pre-cooked meals and mixers, ready in a flash Electricity-free steam heating pads for quick, easy warmth A clever machine that does the prep and the cleaning up A leftover recipe book to help households love their food and waste less Induction-based appliances for speedy, fuss-free cooking A lunchbox that cooks the meal tucked right inside it. You can almost feel the momentum building down the list — the ideas growing bolder and brighter with every box. And then came the crown jewel, the most promising idea of them all, the one that made the whole table light up: "Having a Doraemon Pocket." We smiled at the idea, it was definitely unexpected. Then we paused and really thought about it. Then we found ourselves genuinely, hopelessly wishing it were real!
Why We Love This
That right there is the magic of the Genius Challenge. It was never about landing the "right" answer. It's about the pure joy of dreaming together, the laughter and chatter that spill across the table, and the warm little truth at the heart of it all: no idea is too big, too small, or too wonderfully far-fetched to belong here. Every worksheet left with us gets read, cheered for, and lovingly kept. Each one is a tiny window into how beautifully differently we all see the world — and a happy reminder of just how much creativity is tucked into an ordinary evening out, waiting for the right nudge to come dancing out. Because at Xin, we've always believed a great meal should feed so much more than just appetite. Thank you, Ashka and Cherishma. What a joy you two were. Genius, well and truly fed!
The Genius Challenge is ongoing at Xin. Pop in on your next visit, pick up a worksheet, take on the prompt, and leave your ideas with us — you just might find them celebrated right here on xin.community!
