San Shu Gong Private Dining

If you pick the special Teochew dishes (like the raw crab with roe, chicken soup with innards, braised goose with foie gras), the cooking is really exceptional. Other dishes are good but not extraordinary. Excellent service - super efficient, polite, and professional. Expensive but not overpriced.

After sitting on my wishlist for many months, I finally got to dine there, thanks to @terence.jee’s invitation for us to join him, @lesterjuay and KS (@chanksters) at @sanshugong.sg. Although the words “private dining” appear in the name, this place is more like a small restaurant with a main seating area and a private room (bookings for this is through bossman Roy Oh and requires a minimum spend of $600).
Having visited a couple of times before, KS knew exactly what to pre-order but of course we added more items to the list. Below is a rundown of all that we stuffed ourselves on that evening:
1. Salted Yellow Roe Crab ($108++) - They do it really well. Dipping the crab in the housemade tangy chilli is a must as it adds an extra kick.
2. Shirako with Chinese wine - A “special of the day” recommended by the bossman, this had a nice aromatic sauce to complement the creamy cod sperm sac.
3. Sour Plum-infused Cherry Tomatoes ($8++) - Popped these chilled babies for a refreshing juicy hit.
4. Deepfried Sea Cucumber - Proving to be as amazing as we’d heard, the gelatinous braised sea cucumber was coated in an extremely thin layer of umami crunchiness that elevated it to another level.
5. Chicken Stuffed In Pig’s Stomach Soup ($88++) - Outstanding! I had been looking forward very much to this dish and it delivered in grand style. While the mildly peppery broth was rich in collagen and strong in the fragrance of gingko nuts, what I enjoyed a lot as well as were the fall-apart tender chicken and gently springy pig’s stomach. Immensely delicious with fresh-cut chilli padi in soya sauce.
6. Ngoh Hiang ($12++) - I am usually neutral about this item but @sanshugong.sg’s was superb. The minced pork and shrimp filling was bold in five-spice seasoning and the water chestnuts were cut large, so the sweet and juicy crunch they introduced, was apparent.
7. Braised Combination Platter ($44++) - Consisting of tofu, goose meat, goose wings and pig’s large intestines, this was a traditional dish executed on point.
8. White Bittergourd ($28++) - The vegetable proved more bitter than I anticipated, but the minced Iberico pork and fried flounder fish were good foils for it.
9. Pan Fried Oyster Omelette ($15++) - Impeccably done with a proper crisp on the top and slight chewiness underneath. Another must-order in my opinion.
10. Kway Teow Fried with Vegetable Stems and “Chye Por” ($18++ for a medium portion) - Heaving with “wok hei”, it’s a solid choice for a closing carb.
11. Pan Fried Teochew Kueh ($10++) - The mochi-like balls with a “liu sha bao” style of salted egg custard and taro (yam) filling, were appealing.
12. Teochew Tau Suan with Gingko Nuts - Giving it a lift was the bright fragrance from dried citrus peel.
13. Deepfried Water Chestnut Cake ($5++) - Our unanimous favourite from amongst the desserts. The contrast of the shatteringly crisp battered coating and the gooey soft filling was out-of-this-world. Talk about ending with a bang!

Thank you very much Terence for bringing your sake to share with us. #nocorkage