自然海鲜酒楼
Address: Blk 56 Lengkok Bahru #01-443.
Tel: 6474 0911 (Air-Con), 6471 0253 (Non Air-Con)
Open for lunch and dinner dailyZi Yean Restaurant, started by chef Fok Wing Tin, 48, made his name in Singapore in the 1990s at Empress Room in Raffles Hotel and later Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant in what is now the Holiday Inn Atrium Hotel.
This Hong Kong restaurant, which had its roots at Stirling Rd for more than a decade, moved into its current premises a year ago. The open-air zhi char stall which it was famed for remained, and a new air-conditioned restaurant serving more upmarket dishes was added, the two sections seperated by the kitchen.
Leslie working hard to get the right angle....
Leslie, Za, Martin, Damien, Byron and me were down at Zi Yean Restaurant this afternoon to sample the new menu which the chef has come up with. While the new dishes are introduced in time for the Chinese New Year reunion dinner crowd, they will be available all the time on the menu.
*** Prices are quoted based on a serving for 4 persons. ***
For starters, there is the Roasted Duck's Tongue ($12).
This is the 风肝卷 Deep Fried Chicken Liver Roll ($12), which will appeal to all those who don't mind eating innards.
Personally, I don't really accept innards well, aggravated by my recent food outings where I had a "oyster overdose", which leaves an unbearable aftertaste. But this was alright for me actually, and those around who could take it recommended it.
Next up is the Braised Abalone with Mushrooms ($25). As we know, abalone tends to get too hard if we overcook it, but tasteless if we underdo it and the meat does not absorb the stock, but this was perfectly done!
It was juicy yet not too soft, and we were quite surprised to note that the abalone used is the everyday variety, and the secret lies in simmering it for long hours. The mushrooms were also great, with similar chewiness that simply compliments the abalone.
The abalone dish is only the second best dish of the meal... we haven't gotten to the top dish of the day, and the honour goes to the Braised Dog Duck ($24). Why dog? The duck is prepared in the same manner dog meat are prepared, right down to gravy, execpt that duck meat was used.
Biting on a piece of gravy-draped meat, the taste just oozes out of layer of skin and the meat just melted in the mouth. The gravy itself is worth the money, and we sampled it with a small bowl of their signature ramen, which turned out to be a great combination!
Pomelo Skin ($10) is a favourite dish in Hong Kong, but we weren't quite being able to appreciate it because of this fact.
The pomelo skin is not really its skin of course, but the flesh right below the skin, or the "husk".
Next we had the XO Prawns ($5 per 100gm, min. 300gm), which comes marinated in sweet plum sauce.
The prawns are immersed in XO before marination and cooking it. The general conclusion here is that the sweet sauce is overpowering the taste of the prawn, but it is still your good ol' prawns after all and I would recommend it.
The last of the new dishes is the Pan Fried Beef ($12). It reminded me of those you get in steakhouses, but cooked in Chinese style.
No gravy, just a bed of onion, but it is enough to blow you away.
One of the "4 Heavenly Kings" in Zi Yean, the Emperor Chicken ($16) is a dish not to be missed after making all the way here.
The steamed chicken comes stuffed with sweet 梅菜 (Mui Choy, or Preserved Chinese cabbage) on the insides to complement the meat.
That is all. I will be giving the next foodie session next Tuesday a miss; the theme will be Adam Road Food Centre.
