Craziness runs in my blood but i am still surprised that i agreed to the Great Kon's suggestion to travel all the way to Yuhua Village for get-together lunch on a weekend!
He had, in fact, mentioned Zai Shun a few times over the past few years, before it was even awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand but strangely; i kept thinking the eatery was in Bukit Batok when it was actually located within the Jurong East precinct.
Despite being a one-stall coffeeshop (other than the drink stall), the place was filled with hungry diners! Many people were standing next to tables with near-finished dishes so that they could take over once the existing group stands up; it's also common to share tables with total strangers.
Its Michelin accolades! We got a table in no time; our skills were honed by years of training living in Singapore where locals swarmed the hawker centres and it can be insanely hard to secure a table just to have your meals.
Kon, the regular, helped to queue and order the food. The signature dish to order is NOT the curry fish head; almost every table had a steamed fish and it's important to lock in the fish you want before the stall runs out of fishes!
Next step after the fish; go for the individual dishes that were displayed the tze char style where you tell the server what you want. Apparently, there were a few popular dishes and the one we really want (har cheong chicken wings) was already sold out.
Nevertheless, we still managed to get our hands on two dishes!
Vegetables - ordered simply because the Great Kon believes the old school food philosophy that we need to have some greenery to balance the meal. p.s. it's okay tasting.
Salted Egg Bitter-gourd Omelette - you can guess what the popular dishes are by looking at what the other tables have and the bitter-gourd omelette is clearly a favourite! It's a strange combination of saltiness and bitterness and i do find the overall taste palatable despite not loving bitter-gourd for my entire life!
Braised Pork with Yam - said to be a hakka dish, i am more accustomed to the usual Hokkien style braised pork with thicker cuts that my dialect group would eat with steamed buns.
While this wasn't as sweet as the Hokkien version, it wins us over with its tender meat and a layer of fat that's soft and almost melty! Kon literally cleaned up his bowl of white rice by drenching it with the braised sauce! Remember to eat it with a slice of yam!
Steamed Red Grouper - the arrival of the star for the lunch! p.s. the Kon said this fish was chosen purely because its eyes were bright and clear; a criterion for fresh fish in the wet markets.
The freshness was definitely there and in the words of the Great Kon, the fishes at Zai Shun were always steamed to perfection. No doubt about his words as you would know once your teeth sink into the soft, yummy fish meat!
I regret not bringing my mom along for this meal as she would have appreciated the fish a lot more than I do! Oh well, i can't bring her anyway as it was "vegetarian" day that day.
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Address
253 Jurong East Street 24, #01-205,
Singapore 600253
Map
As above.
Operating Hours
7.00 am to 3.00 pm
(Closed on Wednesdays)
Prices
Frankly, we can't make out the pricing for each dish from the handwritten receipt but we figured the fish was S$45.00, rice was S$0.50 a bowl. Total paid was S$70.50
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