Entree Kibbles: Chin Lee Restaurant (深利美食馆) - Serving Teochew Cuisine @ Sembawang's Canberra Plaza [Singapore]

Sunday, May 08, 2022

Chin Lee Restaurant (深利美食馆) - Serving Teochew Cuisine @ Sembawang's Canberra Plaza [Singapore]

If memory serves me well, it was the Great Kon who told me that a popular Teochew restaurant in Bedok, Chin Lee Restaurant, had set up a branch at Canberra Plaza, which is just an MRT stop away from where I live.

Hence, when my family started planning for a get-together given the relaxation of safe management measures, the restaurant became the favorite choice given the close proximity and also the fact that the food would appeal to my elderly parents.

It wasn't my first time to Canberra Plaza but I didn't realize there was such a huge space available for the restaurant's operations. There was this spacious lobby that could easily accommodate two large tables for 10 persons and an interior dining area that stretched all the way in!

Our table for nine persons. A reservation was made beforehand even though our lunch was at 2.00pm. Nevertheless, the restaurant was still about 80% full, which was quite a feat given that it's at quite an obscure location within the plaza.

The first page of the menu clearly spelt out necessary information before you start ordering. I think it's great that there was a serving guide and that there was a mandatory cover charge of S$2 per person for Chinese tea, water and wet tissue.

A pot of Chinese tea for the table first! I was famished as this was my first meal for the day and the dish I am most looking forward to could only be served at the end of the meal as it's a dessert. Whatever the case, let's start with other dishes first.

Coffee Pork Ribs - I think I first had this at either Mellben or Uncle Leong Seafood and the interesting flavor totally blew my mind! This didn't taste strong of coffee with a flavor that could have been more immersive; the meat under the marinade was tender though.

Salt and Pepper Cod Fish - no one can resist the delicious taste of cod fish, especially when they came deep fried, without any bone! Batter had chilli flakes and there was a light tinge of numbing, pepperiness.

Sweet and Sour Pork - served in pieces that were thinner from the norm, I love the crisp exterior; while not the best, they were not bad but mom found them to be a bit on the sweet side.

Famous Homemade Beancurd - ordering this would mean the kids were with us as our typical adult-only-meal seldom involve beancurd; just like we would only order fish when mom was with us.

Silky soft tofu that was fried and then topped with a generous amount of minced meat, my recommendation is to have it with plain rice as it was slightly salty in my opinion.

Teochew Kway Teow - said to be the signature, this was like the kway teow version of san lou bee hoon; flattened with the top side being pretty charred!

This was super good; my simple explanation would be they tasted like dry hor fun with wok hei and bites of preserved radish (cai po) in every mouthful! Personally, I actually prefer this over san lou bee hoon.

Fried Oyster Pancake - at S$24, this wasn't cheap and while there were crispy edges, the starch ratio was high. The taste of oyster was there but this wouldn't be something I will order in the future. I would save some money by going to Hup Kee at Newton Circus Hawker Centre, which serve a mean plate of fried oyster.

Homemade Teochew Prawn Ball - known as hae cho, this is a dish I hardly order since my mom's version is the best! However, when one is at a restaurant focusing on Teochew cuisine, it's hard not to give it a try. A small portion, with just four balls, will do.

Surprisingly meaty and the taste was legit not bad.

And of course, it tasted heavenly with a dip in the sweet sauce!

Teochew Traditional Sio Bee - also one of the chef's recommendations, don't you think they look like siew mai?! We didn't know what it was and just order a medium portion.

Should have gone with the small as it had a strange, strongly flavored taste that I do not have the vocabulary to describe. After I google, I realized it had an ingredient I dislike; bamboo shoots!

Teochew Yam Paste - the dish I was looking forward to throughout the meal; even though the kids do not like this traditional dessert, we asked for a large (good for ten persons) as Alex and I would likely be able to clean up the plate, if the taste is good.

Very smooth consistency; thanks to the thick layer of oil! Yam paste was delightful with strips of chestnut providing a nice, crunchy texture! Having the pumpkin helped to elevate the taste but it was bland; another issue was the pretty raw ginkgo nuts. Other than the two problems, it was definitely one of the better yam paste I had in recent times.

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Would be back for the yam paste and the teochew kuay teow. I also noticed that dim sums are available during lunch and I am sure to patronize again! p.s. we did have some dim sums but I prefer to leave them for another review next time.