Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Pu Dong Kitchen

Pu Dong Kitchen
271 Bukit Timah Road
Balmoral Plaza, #B1-02
Tel 6732-8966

I have driven past this building so many times and have never really thought about it as a dining destination. On ground level, that is what is visible as you drive by are: Waffletown, Big Bird Chicken Rice and Spizza, what is invisible and in the basement is this little Shanghainese restaurant called Pu Dong, where the food is piping hot, tasty and of course, oily.

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We were seated next to a family of mainland Chinese whose shoulders we kept peeping over, hoping to catch a glimpse of what they were eating and perhaps what we should order, but it appears that this place is a favourite with locals and those who come for a taste of home. From our neighbouring table, we gathered that the braised pig leg in brown sauce looked like a sure winner and with the reassurance of the waitress we ordered that along with several others.

We started with a cold appetizer of chicken “pu dong” style with special sauce, which was a concoction of vinegar, soy sauce, chopped ginger and sliced spring onions. The cold pieces of chicken had to be dipped in to the sauce, and the first hit of favour was salty and then a little sweet, a good way to whet your appetite, but the breast meat of the chicken was a little dry and powdery.

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Next up we had a duo of dumplings, xiao long pao and the pan-fried meat buns. With the first, I had success in keeping the sweet broth in the delicate skin, which performing the delicate operation of dipping my dumpling into the vinegar and topping it with ginger, but with the latter, my first bite into it witnessed my pan-fried meat bun squirting its tasting juices unto the table, nonetheless, it was still all good and delicious.

The zha jiang mian here is slightly different from the version that I usually have at crystal jade, instead of mince meat, luncheon meat is used, it is slightly spicier and I really liked the texture of the noodles.

Then came the pièce de résistance, braised pig leg in brown sauce, where the meat was tender and gently pulled away with little resistance. And our last dish was braised eggplant with shredded pork in chilli sauce, which looked to be first fried in the wok for a slightly charred flavour and then braised. Both were delicious and fabulous with white rice.

It’s good, a great discovery hidden in the basement, maybe that’s good too, less obvious to the public that drives by, less hassle in trying to get a table.

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5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

darn it - i thot i was the only one who knew abt pu dong kitchen. did u know - they have been open since 1997/98? and back then, their food was equally delicious too! :)

1:56 PM  
Blogger joone! said...

I had no idea that they had been lurking in that basement for so long! What do you usually have when you are there?

4:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, stumbled upon your food blog while surfing. Great stuff you have here! I keep a food blog too!

BTW, have you been to Qun Zhong Eating House/Jing Hua Xiao Ci at 21 Neil Rd? Their xiaolongbao is very juicy and their zha jiang mian is delicious!

10:58 AM  
Blogger joone! said...

Hi Sim, thanks for dropping by! I have been to Qun Zhong, i love their xiao long bao and their chinese pizza!

11:40 AM  
Blogger tigerfish said...

And I thot I was the only one who knew Pu Dong kitchen at Bukit Timah too!

9:23 AM  

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