Address: 91 Defu Lane 10, Swee Hin Building #01-01, Singapore 539221

I’m not much of a zhi char person. It’s my gal pals, I tell you. When we go out, we always gravitate towards our comfort zones - safe, clean, air-conditioned shopping centres.

However, having heard such great things about this place from other friends, I was really looking forward to this dining experience. Also, I recently had dinner with the aforesaid gal pals at the owner’s new chi-chi Chinatown restaurant, Taste Paradise, and had emerged from it suitably impressed (and my wallet somewhat lighter). But that’s another story.

Anyway, since mon amies weren’t so keen on a zhi char dining experience, I coerced my family into making the trip with me instead. Mon copain dutifully came along as well. Despite all the warnings that this restaurant was in a real ulu industrial estate, it was a breeze to find. Or perhaps, I’m just a very good backseat driver, ha!

I though to myself - if I was going to have to mingle with the hoi polloi and swat mosquitos all night (hur hur), it had better be worth it. So I did my research, accordingly, and ascertained from friends and the trusty internet community that the best dishes here were the (i) crab in superior stock with vermicelli (S$36); (ii) baby-back ribs in honey-pepper sauce (S$12); (iii) frog legs with chicken essence (S$7.50 per frog plus S$4 extra for the chicken essence); and (iv) homemade beancurd in mini wok (S$10). I ordered all of them. As a concession to healthy living (coughcough), I also ordered a vegetable - sambal sweet potato leaves (S$8, emphasis on the word “sambal” - the wonder-sauce for boring veggies) and the steam fish with salted turnips (S$45, this dish came highly recommended by the waitress…possibly due to the highly indicated price tag).

Voila!

The baby-back ribs did not disappoint me. I’m a big fan of meat drizzled in sweet sauces (think miso-yuzu, cranberry, orange, honey-mustard mmm…) and I loved the sweet and savoury honey-pepper combination. I also enjoyed the beancurd, which was fried (my favourite all-time cooking style) until a golden brown colour and liberally drenched in a tasty, gooey sauce.

While I had no complaints about the frog leg and crab, they were not outstanding either. In particular, the crab came in a clear, sticky, thickened broth that was distressingly healthy-tasting. As I daintily separated the crab shell from the meat within, I could not help thinking longingly about the delicious burst of flavours one could get if I could just dip the crab meat in some pepper sauce, chilli sauce, whatever-sauce from any of those seafood restaurants in East Coast or No Signboard. Sigh.

As for the sambal sweet potato leaves, it was..well.. average. The sambal was definitely not one of the best I’ve tasted, and everyone knows its the sambal that makes the vegetable palatable. Speaking of sambal, the sambal chilli that they provided us with was also…average. It was not spicy or intense enough, and there was just no kick to it.

[editor’s note: eaux has obviously omitted the description of the fish. Seeing that it was highly forgettable, I cannot blame her. However, due to my slightly anal nature, and the fact that I was there, I will fill in the details. The fish was cooked in a way that is common with the cantonese style. Drenched with light soy sauce and garnished with spring onions and turnip bits (or chye poh). The flesh of the fish was wooden and there was no discernible freshness. The only saving grace was the crunchy and irresistable turnip bits. However, there is only so much turnip bits one can monopolise before the rest of the dinner mates give me…erm..the person the evil eye.]

Perhaps my expectations had been set too high, but I came away mildly disappointed and with the feeling that the place was over-rated.