East Treasure Chinese Restaurant in Joo Chiat Singapore 东宝之卧虎藏龙

We gathered at the newly opened East Treasure Chinese Restaurant 东宝之卧虎藏龙 in Joo Chiat Singapore. The comfortable restaurant have a few tasty unique signature dishes which use good quality fresh ingredients, and are well executed yet prices are friendly to the wallet.



It's Chef and Sommelier Alvin's 21st birthday 🎂😄



East Treasure was opened less than a month - its kitchen is led by veteran Chef Francis Chong Wui Choong whom I first met at Unique Pot 煲正肉骨汤 (Tan Boon Liat Building) and Long Jiang Classic at Clarke Quay. Chef Chong hailed from KL and came to Singapore in 1988. He started at the (now closed) famous seafood restaurant in Ulu Sembawang and later at Long Beach Seafood. Chef Chong's dishes have touches from his KL background and stints in top Singapore seafood restaurants - emphasis on quality ingredients served in relatively robust flavours.



East Treasure in Joo Chiat is a small intimate space but it felt comfortable and family oriented. The simple but comfortable furnishings were well spaced out. East Treasure is a new brand under the Astons Group famed for their steaks at friendly prices. Astons have added East Treasure to its stable of 9 brands, all with the philosophy of serving good food at the best value.



First up was a large pot of Crocodile Tonic Soup 固本培元鳄鱼汤 enough for 3-4 pax (price $32++).



I like this crocodile soup - it had a medium body with savoury sweet flavours and subtle herbal undertones. I had pieces of fin, skin and a rib in my bowl. The fin and skin were smooth gelatinous, and the rib was fall-off-the-bone tender.



Crocodile's natural flavour is very mild (milder than terrapin), so most of the flavour came from the savoury sweet herbal soup. I will order this crocodile soup again in future visits.



皇妃粉丝大生虾 Concubine Prawn with Glass Noodles (price $7.80 per 100 gram).



This a robust tasting savoury dish. The creamy innards (hepatopancreas) from the large river prawn 大头虾 head dissolved and infused deeply into every strand of tender glass noodle. The deep, layered savouriness with subtle crustacean sweetness was quite addictive and I look forward to eating this again at future visits.



味增生煲金鳯鱼 Stewed Tilapia fish in a claypot (price $3.80 per 100 grams).



The dish was made with live Tilapia fish.



This dish reminded me of KL where they are very good with Tilapia dishes. The fish was meaty and stewed in a thick miso shoyu based sauce with layers of savouriness undergirded with subtle garlic, ginger and scallion taste. The thick, white tender Tilapia meat had a slight gentle squeakiness to the bite. The natural fresh fish sweetness complemented the savoury sauce. The natural earthiness of Tilapia fish was hardly perceivable and well masked by the savoury sauce and ginger.



四川脆皮樟茶鸭 Housemade Roast Duck Flavoured and Smoked (price $28++ half bird / $56++ whole bird). We can smell the characteristic aroma of smoked duck as the waitress brought the beautifully plated dish to our table.



The tender pinkish juicy meat and strip of fat were rich with savoury sweetness and slight duck gaminess. The well browned skin had a subtle crisp. It tasted a bit like smoked ham but the texture was smoother and softer.



I asked myself - why settle for the usual roast duck when I can get juicy smoked duck with crispy oil bathed skin for about the same price 😛



This is a Must Order - 黄油膏蚧泡飯 Crab in Creamy Stock with Rice Crisps (price $58++ per pot).



The creamy rich stock was made by boiling free range chicken. The creamy richness and yellow colour came from dissolved hepatopancreas 蚧膏. The savoury sweetness of the kampung chicken was layered with crustacean savoury sweetness from the crab.



In the claypot was tender rice cooked Teochew porridge style in rich stock. It was topped with golden rice crisps, yam crisps, scallion, parsley etc.

Wonderfully rich savoury sweet flavours and nice mix of soft and crispy textures. There's also sweet crab meat to complete the meal. This dish alone is worth making a trip to East Treasure.



榄菜蒜片炒蒜芯 Olive Vegetable with Sliced Garlic (price $10++).



锅气客家小炒皇 Wok Fried Chives Flower Hakka Style (price $10++).

Even the obligatory fried greens were done with flare at East Treasure (though prices remained reasonable). Both were nicely executed with good wok hei and served with well balanced flavours that complemented the fresh vegetable's natural flavours.



杏汁黑芝麻雪糕 Housemade Black Sesame Ice Cream with Infusion Almond Syrup and Mint (price $4.80). Cold sweet dessert at the right level of sweetness with real sesame and almond taste (without the "cockroach" taste of poor quality almonds).



👉 Good food, interesting unique signature dishes by veteran chef, nice environment, competitive pricing. East Treasure Chinese Restaurant in Joo Chiat Singapore 东宝之卧虎藏龙 is definitely worth a try. I shall be back, especially for the smoked duck and pao rice (crab soup porridge with rice crisps) 😋



Restaurant name: East Treasure Chinese Restaurant 东宝之卧虎藏龙 
Address: 328 Joo Chiat Road #01-01 Singapore 427585
GPS: 1°18'32.2"N 103°54'09.2"E | 1.308934, 103.902554
Tel: +65 6247 7545
Hours: Lunch 11:30am - 2.30pm | Dinner 5:30pm - 10:15pm

Non Halal

Date visited: 15 Aug 2018


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