Dumpling Delights

Qun Zhong Eating House
21 Neil Road
Singapore 088814
Tel: 62213060
Closed on Wednesdays


Chinese pizza

I was recently delighted when my brother led us to this under the radar hole-in-the-wall family-run restaurant. Lying on the fringes of the central business district area, the street was quiet except for this bustling joint. It was packed when we arrived with customers patiently waiting outside as directed by the captain of the service team. Thankfully we were a slightly larger group (by one) than the people that came before us, so the captain deemed us worthy to sit in the medium sized table right at the back of this small place.

Dumplings are the main order in this restaurant and so from the dumpling selection, we selected the traditional Beijing pot-stickers dumplings, Shanghainese xiao long bao and an unusual sounding dish, a Chinese pizza. Let’s start with the Chinese pizza, does it really exist? In this shop, a Chinese pizza is more or less a more contemporary and flatter version (imagine a flat pie) of the pot-stickers. Stuffed with the same scrumptious filling of minced pork and chives as the pot-stickers, the Chinese pizza is made from a rolled out sheet of dough, its edges crimpled with dexterity then deep-fried until its pastry turns a crisp golden brown, producing something tasty, crunchy and interesting. And the xiao long pao were pretty parcels that burst with tongue-burning flavoursome juices.

To fill up and finish off, we had cha chiang mian (peking meat sauce noodles) and a crispy pancake filled with red bean paste. The cha chiang mian was good but nothing much to scream about and the crispy pancake (topped with sesame seeds) oozing with the sticky sweet red bean paste was a satisfying way to end. The best part of the meal: a satiated appetite and a bill under $50 for four.