Kaki kaki Clarence had a memorable experience with Chef Xu Jingye 徐涇業 during his last visit to Foshan in 2018. Chef Xu, protégé of Cantonese master Chen Daben went on to win many accolades including the Black Pearl Young Chef Award.
Now based in Shanghai, chef Xu's 102 House Restaurant at the House of Roosevelt at The Bund in Shanghai is Michelin 2-Starred ☆☆ and in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 list.
Once a quarter, chef Xu spends a week in Foshan his hometown and offers private dining at 佛山 壹零贰小馆 102 Restaurant Foshan. This humble place was the launch pad of chef Xu's meteoric rise to culinary stardom. Once a hidden gem, it is today like a Cantonese food mecca for chef Xu's fans.
As we were in Foshan during our Guangdong trip, we jumped at the opportunity to experience chef Xu's culinary artistry (at the original place where it all began). For me, this was my first time while for kaki kaki it's a nostalgic redux.
102 House 壹零贰小馆 at Foshan by the Dongjiang River has a different vibe from its more glamorous sister by Shanghai's glitzy Bund by the Huangpu River.
102 House 壹零贰小馆 at Foshan is like the frumpy elder sister. Located in a gritty, rustic old two storey house with an airy courtyard / air well. It has the hyperlocal ambiance which I seek out during food travels.
The kitchen at the ground level. Yeah, in its previous life grandma and grandpa cooked for the family in the tiny space and prayed to Kitchen God 灶君 here.
The tea room at the ground level, traditionally a reception space to receive and meet guests to the house.
Stairs lead to three private dining rooms (bedrooms in their past life) on level two.
Our room has a balcony with a view of the pond next to 102 House. I like the cultural immersion of such dining environments - it adds a seventh flavour to the dishes I am tasting with my palate.
The prix fixe menu for RMB1080 (SGD201 in Apr 2026) per pax.
鹹蝦明蝦球 A great opening dish of huge meaty crunchy juicy fresh sweet prawns stir fried just right with umami savoury sauces, aromatics and a little chili heat. A flying start that heightened our anticipation of more mind blowing dishes ahead.
菜远炒鹰鲳 Second dish, thick meaty slices of pomfret fish and juicy crunchy fresh lettuce stir fried with savoury sauce and aromatics. The aromatic and flavourful sauce was nice though the tender fish slices didn't have the natural sweetness of premium pomfret.
木棉花去濕汤 Third dish, a medicinal soup of complex flavours. The tasty soup has depth of flavours with many layers of savoury and sweet flavours. I love it for its tastiness and the mystic of what the murky brown soup might be made of.
As the name of the soup alludes, the main ingredient is 木棉花 Red cotton. There's a 木棉花 Red cotton tree in the house.
The residue provided clues to the other ingredients that went into the soup.
I can see exotic items like sea snake, scorpion as well as the more mundane pork. I heard names of herbs mentioned which I could not make out 😅
It's hard trying to document experiences when juggling photo taking, eating, discerning flavours and smells, listening to details mentioned about the dishes, taking notes while staying engaged with the banter around the table 😄
I've seen dried scorpions sold at traditional Chinese medicine shops in Singapore and Malaysia since childhood but had never tasted it before. As expected it was gritty, crunchy like a small crab and its flavour reminded me of dried shrimp.
I love this fatty pork. Though most of its flavours had been given up to the soup, the residual natural sweetness still enticed me to eat a few pieces of the forbidden meat fat 😬 🤫🫢
大地炒田腿 Dish four, frog leg stir fried with asparagus, sauce, sun dried sole fish (tee poh) and aromatics. Umami savoury sauce enveloped the meaty frog legs. The tender legs were somewhat chewy, and slightly fibrous. Neither smooth, juicy nor sweet.
菜遠水鱔片 Five, stir fried eel on a bed of nicely blanched kai lan and leek.
I like the tender chewiness of the eel and its subtle sweetness overlaid with savoury aromatic sauce.
Moutai always lifts spirits and makes everything better.
Cheese braised in gentle tasting spices (白芦水 braising stock sans soy sauce). Interesting technique that tastes quite delicious too.
豆酱焖大螃蟹 Crabs stewed in fermented bean paste sauce.
I enjoyed the sweet, roe ladened crabs infused with umami savoury fermented bean sauce.
These crustaceans were not as meaty as Southeast Asian mud crabs but its juicy flesh was rich in umami and sweetness.
瑶柱扒瓜浦 Eight, hairy gourd stewed in umami savoury sweet dried scallop sauce. A good rendition of a much loved comfort dish in Cantonese homes wherever you can find hairy gourd.
蝦子焖青衣 Nine, meaty chunks of parrot fish in an umami savoury dried shrimp sauce.
The fish meat was soft though it didn't have the subtle spring and sweetness of top quality fresh wild sea fish.
果液煎豬扒 Ten, good soft tender juicy pork chop well infused with savoury fruity sweet sauce. Presented in a heap like a stash of round gold coins.
蠟味蒸扇雞 Eleventh, cubes of fresh capon (neutered cockerel) steamed with waxed sausages and aromatics.
The chicken cubes were chewy though tender and tasted naturally sweet, complemented with savoury flavours from waxed sausages, oil and sauce.
鲫鱼蚬肉饭 Twelfth, the rice with carp fish, clams and diced preserved turnip was a winner.
Nice mix of different soft, tender and soft crunch textures, with layers of sweet and savoury flavours.
陈皮红豆沙 Traditional dried tangerine peel red bean soup wrapped up the thirteen course dinner. The red bean soup was soupy, neither too thick nor too sweet - perfect for me. I couldn't discern the sun dried chen pi (tangerine) peel taste or fragrance.
A lot of people swear by this place. Come and try it. This might become a favourite of yours too
Restaurant name: 壹零贰小馆 102 Restaurant
Address: 广东省佛山市南海区桂城石 啃黄洞一巷1号 Guicheng Shiken Huangdong Fangyi Alley No.1 (Jinsancun Unit)
Tel: +86 132 8843 2145
Hours: By appointment only
Written by Tony Boey on 18 Apr 2026
Who is Tony Johor Kaki?
I was honestly waiting for you to wax lyrical about the meal, and that “flying start” really made me sit up 😆 !
ReplyDeleteBut after that your whole write-up kept going “neither this nor that” until it slowly became a bit… meh.
Like not bad lah, but also not the kind that makes you say “wah, must go back again.” Hope I didn’t totally misread your tone!
Tony Boey I definitely remember reading your posts with a more enthusiastic tone before 😆!
ReplyDeleteWe’re heading back to Guangzhou again and extending to Chaoshan this time, so I’m now reading your write-ups with microscopic scrutiny — trying to optimise our calorie load like it’s a mission-critical operation 😂!