Da Shi Xi

Having read glowing reviews online, I decided to head there for my first family weekend eat-​out after I returned to Singapore. We ordered all three items which were highly recommended by the friendly lady-​in-​charge and one vegetable dish.
The food came out consecutively without much pause in between, leaving us with little time to react to the massive serving size of the claypot. The Braised Crab Claypot Rice emitted such an alluring fragrance that we could not wait to dig in. Yet the main star was not the crab but the rice that was cooked with pork belly, garlic and not salted fish but 鳊鱼.
Each rice grain had a nice firm bite to it and was literally dancing in the mouth. It seems that price has raised from $ 45 to $ 50 for one crab but it didn’t matter much since they were so yummy and could probably feed up to 5 – 6 mouths.
I could not tell if the JB Curry Fish Head ($ 28) was authentically JB style but I know it’s the kind of Chinese style Curry Fish Head with the usual brinjals, ladyfingers, tomatoes and cabbage.
I loved the large rectangular pieces of deep-​fried fu-​pi that absorbed all the juices like a sponge. Though the fish was very fresh, the broth that contained coconut milk was too milky and mild. More spices would be definitely be welcomed to set off the fiery sensation.
Meanwhile, the deep-​fried chestnut tofu ($ 14) served with mayonaise were too greasy. Might be better if the chunky rolls were reshaped into smaller servings as each was too bulky and it is easy to get «jelat» just after having one portion.
But I would like to recommend this non-​recommended item, Bitter Gourd with Salted Egg ($ 14). It was not the typically deep-​fried vegetables tossed in salted egg yolk. Instead, each slice of bittergourd is coated with a substantial amount salted egg yolk sauce. It might not be very healthy but an interesting switch from 苦瓜炒蛋.
Despite my fever and a bad sore throat due to the mad heat wave in Tokyo, I scraped the claypot rice CLEAN as it was just SO irresistible. No GST or Service Charges but the service we received from the group of aunties were excellent:) Our meal were overall tasty and reasonably priced too. The best dish? It’s the rice.

supposedly famed cze char restaurant, with its very own celebrity chef, but with rather just-​passable food in sims way. I went expecting a corner-​of-​the-​coffeeshop type of cze char store, but it was instead an open-​air casual family-​style eatery with a small number of tables.
there must be something compelling about this place for some people — perhaps the chef (since I can’t see that it would necessarily be the food) — for they were entertaining a large group of important guests (not to me, but certainly to the restaurant) that rendered the necessity of bringing the dude out the kitchen. I wasn’t likewise impressed though — I could give them the benefit of the doubt: that they had put in so much effort on that table there was none left — but that’s pretty egregious in itself.
’tis not to say that the food is bad, which would be both unfair and untrue. but good food in this genre — cze char, which refers to homestyle casual chinese dining — abounds in this tiny island, with even your humble corner eatery usually dishing up quite decently; and so travelling for this sort of food requires proper good reason.
there was an air of run-​of-​the-​millness in the dishes — properly executed if not spectacularly so — though there wasn’t anything necessarily wrong in them (hang the technicalities): the har cheong gai (chicken wings marinated in fermented prawn paste) were well-​browned and plump, and the prawns in salted yolk sauce were properly coated.
but it was tough to get excited.
the otak (steamed spicy fish paste) and fish head curry are common items — the latter had rather dry fish but a good, thick gravy (which makes me doubt the claim that it has less coconut milk, but what do I know).
but the prize of most disappointing goes to their signature dish of crabs steamed atop rice in a peppery claypot style. it was lacklustre, without any of that sweetness or fragrance you’d expect. the pepper certainly did its best to perk things up — but only just so much so.
and just to finish what seems to have been a litany of whines posing as a review, the best dishes we had are ones not actually on the menu. this restaurant trick is often a double-​edged sword: your regulars/​best customers get to try the best things, almost as a sort of reward for positive patronage, but the other customers who wouldn’t know to order such often leave unimpressed.
in any case, we had this pork trotter braised in a honey sauce — not nearly as sickly as it sounds, with a tender, satisfyingly-​stringy/​muscly hunk of meat braised in a savory sauce just tinged slightly with sweetness. it was a replacement for their dish of trotter with pumpkin sauce (which sounds just as exotic as this one), and it was delicious.
the other great dish was a very simply pan-​seared slab of kurobuta pork seasoned with salt and pepper — unanimously the best dish of the night, but also a rather special not-​of-​the-​menu gift from the kitchen. pity.
but my point is: there is some solidly-​decently cooking here if you’re in the area — dishes are technically executed without flaw — but it’s not a standard that renders travelling out your way to get to, and nothing you couldn’t have at a half-​decent coffee-​shop corner store. good for family gatherings and the like.