Zhang Ji Yun Jiao 张记云饺

2025 might be barely starting but it does seem that an up-and-coming food trend in the Singapore F&B scene may be that of establishments serving up freshly-made dumplings — Singapore has seen the very first outpost of Yuen Kee Dumplings / Yuan Ji Yun Jiao 袁记云饺 opening at Fortune Centre fairly recently; it does seem that yet another establishment of its type has set up shop within Grantral Mall at Clementi. ZHANGJIYUNJIAO / Zhang Kee Dumplings 张记云饺 can be found within the ground level of Grantral Mall at Clementi; these folks had taken I’ve the former premises of the now-defunct Rongji Cafe 荣记咖啡店 which only had a brief period of operations. Being more of a casual diner where it is expected to be a quick turnover of its tables, much of its dining space is actually along the shopping aisles of the mall — the shop unit only features a dining table good for four (4) pax, with majority of the space being dedicated to its kitchen. With that in mind, the establishment is designed in a way that is more functional than for form, though one can still see the dumplings prominently displayed in the display shelf as well as posters illustrating their offerings all around the establishment. Being an establishment that places a heavy emphasis on its dumplings that is freshly made on-site, the dumplings are available in steamed format or pan-fried; there is a also a line-up of soup wantons that one can go for, while the menu also features sections dedicated to Xiaolongbao, Sheng Jian Bao and Rice Noodles as well.

There is definitely no reason why anyone would give the dumplings a miss at an establishment that serves up freshly-made dumplings made on-site — considering the number of variations of flavours that ZHANGJIYUNJIAO / Zhang Kee Dumplings offers for their dumplings, it was difficult to make a choice on which to exactly go for. After much deliberation, we found ourselves ending up with the Prawn and Crab Roe Dumplings since that was pretty close to what we had previously ordered at Yuen Kee Dumplings / Yuan Ji Yun Jiao 袁记云饺 as well. It does take some time for the food to be prepared since the folks at ZHANGJIYUNJIAO / Zhang Kee Dumplings had mentioned that most of its dumplings were wiped out since lunch service — there was not much time to recover from the influx of orders throughout the day and the dumplings ended up being made on-site on demand. The Prawn and Crab Roe Dumplings from Prawn and Crab Roe Dumplings are more akin to that of Chinese-style dumplings as opposed to the Hong Kong-style ones that we had experienced at Yuen Kee Dumplings / Yuan Ji Yun Jiao 袁记云饺; as such, expect a slightly thicker and less delicate dumpling skin for the dumplings at ZHANGJIYUNJIAO / Zhang Kee Dumplings in general. That being said, the dumplings are still considered to be decently packed with fillings that does give it a good chew nonetheless; for the Prawn and Crab Roe Dumplings, it was the prawn that delivered that bouncy bite while the umami-ness of the crab roe can be detected in the broth within the dumpling as well.

Since we had ordered our portion of the Prawn and Crab Roe Dumplings as part of a set meal, it also means that we are entitled to having unlimited servings of their “cold dishes” that patrons can help themselves to at the self-service station within the shop unit itself — all with a beverage of the patron’s choice. We are not exactly certain if the side dishes made available at ZHANGJIYUNJIAO / Zhang Kee Dumplings are served on a rotational basis or if they are fixed, but the dishes available on the day of our visit includes shredded potatoes in chili oil, black fungus and broccoli in chilli oil, and beancurd skin in chili oil. No surprises here when it comes to all of the cold dishes that they have to offer, though they were good to have and the fact that they are free-flow is pretty much a plus to us. During our visit, we had also given their Pan-Fried Dumplings a go; we initially wanted to give their Chives & Egg Dumpling a go for the portion of pan-fried dumplings that we were ordering — we were then told that they were out of Chives & Egg Dumplings for the day, and were offered Chives & Pork Dumplings as a replacement. The pan-fried dumplings do take slightly longer than the steamed dumplings to be served up to the table. First impressions based on the aesthetics of the dish and we did note that the pan frying of the dumplings weren’t quite consistent across all the dumplings — some carrying a lighter shade of brown. The ones carrying a darker shade of brown did carry a slightly more crusted texture that we preferred over those that came with the lighter shade of brown. The Chives & Pork Dumplings are packed slightly less generously as compared to the Prawn and Crab Roe Dumplings, though we did find that the amount of filling was adequate and the dumplings still carried flavour nonetheless. It is noted that there is still broth contained within the dumpling itself, though the more dominant flavour profile here in the Chives & Pork Dumplings was the chives — something which also went in the same direction as our preferences.

Despite being the same sort of establishment conceptually, ZHANGJIYUNJIAO / Zhang Kee Dumplings’ offerings does feel vastly different from what Yuen Kee Dumplings / Yuan Ji Yun Jiao serves — ZHANGJIYUNJIAO / Zhang Kee Dumplings’ dumplings do seem more familiar to that of the Chinese-style dumplings that one would be able to find being served up at eateries serving mainland Chinese-style La Mian; we do feel that we would prefer the dumplings at Yuen Kee Dumplings / Yuan Ji Yun Jiao for the variety of sauces and flexibility of ordering them with noodles apart from the fact that the dumplings from Yuen Kee Dumplings / Yuan Ji Yun Jiao also felt more refined. There is also quite a number of teething issues that ZHANGJIYUNJIAO / Zhang Kee Dumplings is experiencing as newly set-up operation that would impact the dining experience; the messy crowd control and long waiting times for food, as well as the unavailability of several items on the menu after orders had been placed being things that one might face when giving them a visit — hopefully these would be resolved as they get smoother with their operations over time. Whilst probably not the preferred dumpling establishment for us when it comes to Chinese-style, freshly-made dumplings on-site, it does give the folks around Clementi a little bit of different dining option in the neighbourhood; while the ‘hood has seen an influx of eateries serving up mainland Chinese-style establishments sprouting up all over the town centre in recent years, it is not to be denied that ZHANGJIYUNJIAO / Zhang Kee Dumplings is an dining establishment that strays away from the norm of such establishments that are already in operations there.