Aunty Judy invited me for dinner at San Shu Gong Private Dining. It's a nice evening of good Teochew cuisine and great company.
The restaurant at 135 Geylang Road is about 5 minutes walk from Kallang MRT station.
Though the restaurant says San Shu Gong Private Dining, it actually operates like a typical restaurant that takes reservations and accept walk-ins.
But, there are apparently two dinner sessions or turns - at 6pm and 8pm i.e. the 6pm people got to vacate at around 7:45pm. Anyway, there was ample time and the staff were very nice and flexible about it.
Chilled Cherry Tomato Marinated with with Sour Plum (price $12+).
These pickled cherry tomatoes were tempting us while we waited for everyone to arrive. They were full of juice and tasted savoury, tangy, sweet. I ate more than one 🫢
They have a large trough of ice where customers go to hand pick the fresh fish and seafood they like.
Double Boiled Whole Chicken Stuffed with Pig's Stomach in Peppery Soup (price $138+).
Our first dish was a rich chicken soup with pork maw stuffed in the cavity.
The chicken looked so succulent and soft, swimming in that thick creamy golden looking bath.
The chicken soup was just wonderful, wonderfully calming, comforting like the proverbial chicken soup for the soul. It was smooth and tasted mildly savoury in layers with subtle umami, pepperiness and sweetness. Flavoursome!
Must order.
The little fish cakes, steamed then lightly pan fried to a slight golden sheen and crispness outside before serving. Nice gentle savoury sweetness in a tender slightly spongy springy moist little flattened fish ball.
Next, a quintessentially Teochew comfort dish - leather jacket fish stewed / braised in fermented bean paste sauce.
I love the softness of leather jacket flesh and how they are so subtly sweet. The fermented bean paste sauce added umami and savouriness that complemented the fish's sweetness.
I order leather jackets whenever it is available at restaurants.
What's this UFO? 🛸
Pan Fried Oyster Omelette (price $16+).
This was the first time I saw the classic Teochew icon, orh chien done this way. The thin pancake of sweet potato starch, egg and oysters seared to golden brown served with the crispy side up.
I like the crispy twist of San Shu Gong's orh chien. All the familiar umami, savoury, eggy, lardy, briny tastes of the Teochew classic are still preserved in this interpretation. I just miss the gummy sweet potato starch a bit though for most people the extra crispness more than make up for it.
Goose liver (left) and tofu (right) in a sloshy savoury sauce. Very nice umami savouriness in rich creamy smooth thick slices of goose liver in a savoury sauce.
Steamed shark with radish in gently savoury sweet sauce. A comforting tradition of Teochew cuisine.
The shark meat was soft and subtly sweet, complemented by savoury sweetness from the sauce.
Braised Carabineros Prawn with Mi Sua in Seafood Broth (price $12+).
Elevated hae mee / prawn noodle 😁
The Mediterranean carabineros prawn flesh is softer than their Southeast Asian cousins. But, the umami quotient is much higher, and deeper. This umami savouriness in the soup and especially the prawn head pervaded the whole dish. The soft slurpy mee sua was the perfect noodle to absorb the soup's rich umami flavours.
I chewed and sucked up every bit of umami juice from the head.
If you are a prawn noodle lover, must order this. At $12+, it is not that much more expensive than some of the famous hawker / coffeeshop names.
Wok Fried Kai Lan with Dried Sole ($18+).
The obligatory greens nicely done with a layer of umami savouriness from the sauce and fried ti poh.
Creamy coconut milk with shredded coconut pulp.
Tao suan.
Orh nee or yam paste. Proven fertility booster 😳 🫢 Would token bits of sweetened ong lai / pineapple complete the dish?
Singapore president-elect recounting his happy experience with orh nee 👍
Sweet fried yam stick.
Overall, we had a great time at San Shu Gong. I like the relaxed, casual atmosphere, the fresh ingredients, and carefully prepared dishes by chef Roy Go and his team. The service staff were friendly and professional too.
I need to come back to try other dishes. The usual suspects such as braised duck, braised goose, chye poh kway teow, etc., come to mind.
Written by Tony Boey on 2 Sep 2023
🎗 Opinions in this blog are all my own as no restaurant paid money to be featured.
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The FOH and BOH staff all chui huay lim alumni. They left when CB happened in 2020 and started SSG.
ReplyDeleteThey do not accept walk ins. The customer service is so crap. I called twice to ask if need to reserve, say no need and advised me to walk in from backdoor as it is closest to carpark. When i did as advised, staff stared at me like I am some premordial sinner and started arguing with me that it is impossible that someone told no need to reserve because they are 3 months full and they could not even recognise their own number on their website and insisted their scrawled hp number by the door is the official reservation number despite me showing their own website. I swear I will never ever go to that place again.
ReplyDelete