When Mum told me we were going to lunch with relatives at some Bedok North Restaurant, I immediately thought of Chin Lee Restaurant (coincidentally I will be heading over for lunch there this coming Sunday yay!). So when I found out it wasn’t, I was slightly disappointed because I really enjoyed my previous meal at Chin Lee.
She told me it’s this restaurant called Jing Long and I thought to myself, “just another typical chinese restaurant with an awfully corny name” because initially I thought it was worded as 金龙, meaning Golden Dragon, and with the abundance of Chinese Restaurant’s named along the lines of Golden Peony, Peony Jade, Dragon Pheonix etc, you can’t really blame me.
The real name of the restaurant was actually 金隆. My Mandarin sucks but I think it means prosperous and then again, that’s pretty much what every other chinese restaurant name means anyway, be it literal or metaphorical.
Anyway, having come across too many overpriced CNY menus, I got to say that Jing Long’s menu is pretty value for money. Our party of 12 pax had their 9-Course Set Menu priced at $368++ and added an extra dish as this menu was meant for 10 pax.
The CNY staple dish, Yu Sheng. Instead of the customary Salmon, I think it was Saito Fish (of Malaysian Origin) that was used instead.
Though the Sharkfin was lacking in both quantity and quality (we all love thick chunky ones with more bite, don’t we?), the thick broth was actually very flavourful.
While most dishes from Chinese Restaurants can be replicated at home, I find that one of the most difficult endeavors would be steaming a fish as perfectly as what you would get in restaurants. At home, I have always encountered times while the fish tail is steamed perfectly, the mid-section tends to have uncooked areas, and if the mid-section is steamed perfectly, the tail would be overcooked. Somehow, Chinese Restaurants are able to get the best of both worlds so as usual, I throughly enjoyed the Steam Red Grouper here.
We proceed on to the Roast Chicken Crusted with Sesame Seeds. The Sesame Seeds added a nice crunchy crisp but I found the chicken meat rather dry and bland.
We also had a lovely serving of Braised Sea Cucumbers, Fish Maw, Topshell and Mushrooms, topped with an umami rich gravy. Love the sea cucumbers here, rather soft and springy which is the kind I like, in contrast to the really chewy bitable ones.
I love the colours of the Scallops and Assorted Peppers, though I found the Scallops not as plump and fresh and I would have ideally hoped for.
The extra dish we ordered was Jing Long’s signature Coffee Pork Robs. Really tasty with a nice tender texture, the hint of coffee was barely discernible. This is one dish which will thrill both coffee and non-coffee lovers alike.
However, if I had to choose my favourite dish of the meal, it definitely had to be the Chili Butter Prawns. It was genius to fuse chili and butter, 2 highly popular ingredients in local cooking to come up with this awesome dish. The sauce coating the prawns was so darn tasty and I was desperately sucking on the shells to maximize this experience, not forgetting to suck on my fingers one at a time after I was done shelling the prawns of course. To get this excited over prawns, imagine what would happen if crabs took its place instead…swoons…
A passable Lotus Rice with Chinese Sausage. Adding sambal in it adds an extra element on the taste factor.
The meal ended on a high note with a pleasant and simple Mango Sago Dessert.
Just like Chin Lee Restaurant, Jing Long Seafood Restaurant is another Coffeeshop turned Restaurant success story serving unpretentious affordable Chinese cuisine.
Bon Appetit!
JING LONG SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
BEDOK NORTH AVENUE 2, BLK 412 #01-152
TEL: +65 6442 9398
