Lee Kwang Kee Teochew Cuisine

Lee Kwang Kee Teochew Cuisine
212 Toa Payoh Lorong 8 #01-53

https://www.facebook.com/212teochewcuisine/

Jing Tai Lan Fish Head Steamboat (SGD $65 Set)

The Chinese Teochew Restaurant That Does Everything

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 7
Value for Money: 6
Spent about SGD $29 per person.

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Established in September 2014, Lee Kwang Kee Teochew Cuisine is, at its heart, a Chinese Teochew casual restaurant. But to state what they do is difficult, ranging from traditional Chinese Teochew Zi Char, to fish head steamboat, to everyday dining economic rice, to Chinese Cantonese Dim Sum, to braised delights. But far from being a Jack-Of-All-Trades, Lee Kwang Kee Teochew Cuisine manages to achieve a quality that's at least passably decent to above average, and the constant crowd during peak meal periods is a testament to their standards.

Ambience at Lee Kwang Kee Teochew Cuisine is modern functional, with a touch of Oriental glam. Repurposed from a typical coffeeshop, the place is fitted with warm lighting and large modern communal dining tables. There's a private room, and ample outdoor seating. Only the kitchen and serving area is decorated, in dark mahogany wood and a fusion of Chinese lanterns against French chandeliers, with bright signage proclaiming their signature dishes.

Service at Lee Kwang Kee Teochew Cuisine aspires to restaurant standards. Staff are welcoming and polite, and accord each table personalised attention... though they mostly converse in Chinese Mandarin. They show good product knowledge and familiarity with the menu, and assist in arranging dishes when serving orders. I note they efficiently clean up when diners leave. However, they still retain a charmingly brusque heartland vibe in their interactions.

Food at Lee Kwang Kee Teochew Cuisine is naturally, focused on Chinese Teochew cuisine. The menu is vast, with over 100+ dishes, including signature classics like fish head steamboat, fried oyster omelette, braised duck, steamed pomfret fish with preserved sour plums, cold crab, and more. Portions are sized for communal group dining, and it's best to visit with at least 4 people or more. Prices are semi-reasonable for a heartland restaurant, budget about SGD $29 per person for a meal here.

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Lee Kwang Kee Teochew Cuisine Signage

Lee Kwang Kee Teochew Cuisine Exterior

Lee Kwang Kee Teochew Cuisine Interior

Light Petals

Menu Dim Sum

Seating

The Har Gow / Har Kao / Steamed Prawn Dumpling / Crystal Prawn Dumplings (SGD $3.60 for 3 pieces) has a medium thick, sticky skin that yields with a light chew, releasing the juicy sweet savoury filling of deshelled fresh prawns / shrimp mixed with fish paste within.

Har Gow / Har Kao / Steamed Prawn Dumpling / Crystal Prawn Dumplings (SGD $3.60 for 3 pieces)

Har Gow / Har Kao / Steamed Prawn Dumpling / Crystal Prawn Dumplings

Har Gow / Har Kao / Steamed Prawn Dumpling / Crystal Prawn Dumplings

The Xiao Long Bao / Shanghai Pork Dumplings (SGD $3.60 for 3 pieces) has a medium thin dumpling skin that is a little too fragile, being unable to properly support the ample gravy and filling of minced pork within. But at least it has a properly savoury sweet salty flavour. Decent enough.

Xiao Long Bao / Shanghai Pork Dumplings (SGD $3.60 for 3 pieces)

Xiao Long Bao / Shanghai Pork Dumplings

Xiao Long Bao / Shanghai Pork Dumplings

The Siew Mai / Shu Mai / Sui Mai / Steamed Pork And Shrimp Dumplings (SGD $3.60 for 3 pieces) has a lovely juicy meaty bite to texture, with a clean sweet savoury flavour from the tightly packed filling of minced pork and deshelled prawns / shrimp. A lone wolfberry / goji berry lends a dash of colour, and a slight herbal flavour. Good!

Siew Mai / Shu Mai / Sui Mai / Steamed Pork And Shrimp Dumplings (SGD $3.60 for 3 pieces)

Siew Mai / Shu Mai / Sui Mai / Steamed Pork And Shrimp Dumplings

Siew Mai / Shu Mai / Sui Mai / Steamed Pork And Shrimp Dumplings

The Steamed Shrimp Tofu Beancurd Skin Roll (SGD $3.60 for 3 pieces) has thin chewy tofu beancurd skin rolls, stuffed with a sweet savoury juicy bouncy filling of fish paste and deshelled prawns / shrimp. It's alright.

Steamed Shrimp Tofu Beancurd Skin Roll (SGD $3.60 for 3 pieces)

Steamed Shrimp Tofu Beancurd Skin Roll

The Pai Kuat Tau Si / Steamed Pork Ribs Black Bean Sauce Style (SGD $3.60) has meaty chewy morsels of savoury earthy sweet pork ribs on the bone, marinated in black bean sauce, garnished with sliced chili. But the best thing on the plate was the thick but tender cubes of yam / taro, with delicate earthy sweet flavour. Overall, pretty good.

Pai Kuat Tau Si / Steamed Pork Ribs Black Bean Sauce Style (SGD $3.60)

Pai Kuat Tau Si / Steamed Pork Ribs Black Bean Sauce Style

Seeing as they've mostly executed this ingredient well in several forms, we tried the Pan-Fried Yam / Taro Cake (SGD $2). The yam cake / taro cake has a slightly crisp exterior, with a soft moist interior, and is studded with dried Chinese sausage and dried shrimp, giving this a bold savoury sweet earthy flavour. I wish the edges were slightly more crisp, but it's still decent enough as is.

Pan-Fried Yam / Taro Cake (SGD $2)

Pan-Fried Yam / Taro Cake

The signature dish here is the Jing Tai Lan Fish Head Steamboat (SGD $65 Set). Sufficient to feed 3 - 4 people, this Steamboat is served with a generous Platter Of Vegetables and Platter Of Red Grouper Fish, and the bubbling hot Steamboat soup / broth is packed with hearty ingredients within. The soup / broth is a light fish head and sour plum stock, with good sweet savoury sour herbal flavour, and can be refilled throughout your meal.

The name 'Jing Tai Lan' or 'Cloisonné' refers to a technique for decorating metal objects, using a combination of painting, sculpturing, metalwork, gemstone setting, and glasswork. This is applied to the copper Steamboats here, resulting in each being a showpiece work of art. Heated by charcoal fire, it stays warm and bubbling during your meal.

Jing Tai Lan Fish Head Steamboat (SGD $65 Set)

Jing Tai Lan Fish Head Steamboat

Steamboat - Platter Of Vegetables

Steamboat - Platter Of Red Grouper Fish

Steamboat

Steamboat

The Steamboat comes packed with ingredients - crisp Spinach, crunchy Chinese Cabbage, and tender Golden Mushroom, all with delicate vegetal earthy sweet flavour. The Red Grouper Fish is bouncy tender in texture, with a light meaty bite, and a clean sweet savoury flavour, so fresh. Completed with stringy savoury sweet Egg Floss, soft Yam / Taro with a light earthy sweet flavour, and wobbly smooth Tofu Beancurd that is slightly more dense than usual to prevent it breaking up within the delicious Steamboat soup / broth.

Steamboat - Plate Of Cooked Ingredients

Spinach

Chinese Cabbage

Golden Mushroom

Red Grouper Fish

Egg Floss

Yam / Taro

Tofu Beancurd

A staple bowl of White Rice (SGD $0.50) to accompany a meal. It's standard white rice, and pairs well with gravy dishes.

White Rice (SGD $0.50)

The Braised Broccoli With Shiitake Mushroom (SGD $10 / $15 / $20) has fresh, crunchy, vegetal sweet florets of broccoli, alongside tender chewy braised shiitake mushrooms which have an earthy savoury flavour. However, the portion is really small for the price, making this rather expensive.

Braised Broccoli With Shiitake Mushroom (SGD $10 / $15 / $20)

Braised Broccoli With Shiitake Mushroom

The Chinese Teochew Fried Oyster Omelette (SGD $12 / $18 / $25) here is less tasty than the regular hawker versions... seems this is more 'healthy' with less oil. The egg omelette isn't as fluffy or as crisp as I'd like, but at least the oysters are fresh, large, and juicy, bursting with briny salty sweet flavour. Didn't enjoy this as much as I expected, likely wouldn't order again.

Teochew Fried Oyster Omelette (SGD $12 / $18 / $25)

Teochew Fried Oyster Omelette

The Sweet & Sour Sliced Garoupa Fish (SGD $35 / $50) looks different from the menu picture. But it was forgiven slightly, as it's pretty tasty. The thick slices of tender flaky red garoupa fish are fried, and coated in a rich sweet and sour sauce, giving it a bold sharp sour sweet savoury flavour. Delicious, and pairs well with white rice. Portion size could be bigger for the price though.

Sweet & Sour Sliced Garoupa Fish (SGD $35 / $50)

Sweet & Sour Sliced Garoupa Fish

The Chinese Teochew Cold Crab (SGD $50 per crab) features a medium sized male crab, with plenty of milt within. The crabs are steamed with ginger and Shaoxing rice wine, then quickly chilled. It has a lovely delicate texture, with refreshing sweet briny salty flavour. Also rather expensive.

Teochew Cold Crab (SGD $50 per crab)

Teochew Cold Crab

Teochew Cold Crab

The Yam / Taro Paste With Pumpkin And Gingko Nuts (SGD $4.50) and Yam / Taro Paste With Pumpkin (SGD $4) features rich, thick, gloopy, creamy mashed yam / taro, with bold sweet earthy flavour. The stewed candied pumpkin is super sweet, I would recommend not stirring in the whole chunk. The gingko nuts are nicely chewy, and lend a contrasting texture. Both desserts are pretty good, just need to tone down on the sweetness by having less of the pumpkin.